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Some Factors Which Can Affect Sales Performance

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Sales performance is the effort exerted by sales agents which successfully turns into a sale. There are a number of ways to assess the performance of a sales team or individual. There are also several ways to improve sales performance when sales numbers are dipping.

Quotas are the bane of salespeople because it is the immediate and most obvious reflection of their sales performance. The number of successful sales an agent has is the most common measure of their performance. There are other measures to employee performance, such as the rate of improvement or even employee attendance, but results are often the most palpable measure of performance.

Sales performance can reflect on the performance of an individual or the combined efforts of a team. Often a teams performance is reliant on the performance of its best agent. A discrepancy in individual performance could be hidden in the team results. An assessment of performance has to be qualified as being individualistic or as a team effort.

Sales performance is not necessarily a measure of the amount of effort exerted but by the effectiveness of a sales agent in selling his product or service. Sales performance is easily measureable by the number of sales a salesperson is able to make in a given timeframe.

Many sales managers and executive lament the fact that not everyone can consistently achieve their sales quotas. Poor sales reflect poor performance, but employee efforts are not always to blame. There are many possible reasons as to why marketing teams are not able to reach their numbers. A possible reason for poor sales could be an unfriendly economy. An economy on recession would understandably push consumers to more conservative spending and thus sales agents would likely encounter the answer NO no matter how hard they try to close a sale.

A systematic reason for poor sales could be an inaccurate sales forecast. The sales forecast determines the quotas set for the sales teams. A faulty forecast could cast the sales quota too high and thus make it impossible for any team to reach it. No matter how hard a sales team works, if the goal is unattainable there would not be any positive result.

Solutions to improving sales performance are easy to determine once all the facts are put in place. Benchmarking is a possible solution to raising sales performance. A benchmark sets a goal to be pursued. This might motivate salespeople to work harder to reach it.

Alternatively, the agents may simply require more material incentive for them to perform better. A slight adjustment to their commission percentage or performance bonus might spell the difference between average and excellent sales performance.

Sales performance does not always accurately reflect the efforts applied by a sales team or agent. It can be affected by systematic and external factors. It is important to keep in mind that individuals have unique skills and capabilities and it is the duty of a good sales manager to channel each individuals abilities towards a team effort. Sales performance is greatly improved with proper management techniques and the recognition that each person has different capabilities which could be developed to the benefit of the company.

Best Pre-employment Test Use Ability Based Sales Assessment Testing, Not Sales Aptitude Tests

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The old-style pre employment Sales Personality Tests and Sales Aptitude Tests often try to disguise themselves as Sales Assessment Tests, which they are really not. Conventional personality tests are “blind” to the impact of a job applicant’s experience, sales training and knowledge of sales techniques. For example, a fresh college graduate with zero sales experience and a top producing sales superstar with 25 years of sales experience may both score 85% on a Pre Employment Sales Personality Test (or Pre-employment Sales Aptitude Test) if they both share similar personality traits. However, in the real world of selling the sales superstar may outsell the inexperienced salesperson by up to twenty to one. There is a much better way to hire good experienced salespeople, by using a “Real” Sales Assessment Test, as this article explains.

While pre employment Sales Personality Tests or Sales Aptitude Tests may offer some value towards recruiting inexperienced entry level salespeople, there is a much better way of hiring good experienced salespeople, using a sales ability based Sales Assessment Test such as The JOY Tests (TM) of Total Sales Ability (TM) from Dan Joy, Inc.

How Can You Determine Which is the Best Pre Employment Test for Sales?

There is a lot more to success in selling than just personality, aptitude or lack of call reluctance. One can have the right “sales personality” or “sales aptitude” but if they don’t possess or learn good sales skills and techniques, they are not very likely to succeed in the sales profession. There are also people who can call incessantly, but cannot close.

Instead of testing for just sales aptitude or sales personality, the best approach is to test for Total Sales Ability ™. A good sales assessment test can reduce subjectivity and guesswork, and help sales recruitment agencies and corporate sales recruitment people make more objective hiring decisions. The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ from Dan Joy, Inc., are such sales assessment tests. They may be used for pre-employment testing as well as post-hire evaluations for promotion, retention or training purposes.

The conventional pre-employment Sales Personality Tests or Sales Aptitude Tests are often inadequate for hiring top-producing experienced salespeople, and should not be confused with real pre employment Sales Tests or pre-employment Sales Assessments.

Common Sales Recruiting Mistakes:

A sales hiring mistake can cost an employer up to $100,000 or more. Many sales recruitment firms and employers are deluged with sales resumes, but have no way of knowing who can really sell. So, they often tend to hire someone with whom they “feel comfortable”, who is “like them”, who “looks good”, or who has “industry knowledge”. None of that necessarily means that the person can actually sell.

Same Sales Assessments for Pre Employment Testing and Post Hire Evaluations:

As an employer, you would ideally want to invest in Sales Assessment Tests which can not only be used as pre-employment tests but also for post-hire evaluations for promotion, retention or training purposes. Furthermore, you should be able to test Business Development professionals at different career levels, e.g., a Salesperson, Sales Manager, Sales Director or VP of Sales & Marketing. If the same Sales Assessments can also be used for testing Manufacturer’s Reps, Sales Engineers, Distributors and Franchisees, that would be even better. There is one Sales Assessment Test which does all of the above.

Recommendation:

The JOY Tests ™ of Total Sales Ability ™ from Dan Joy, Inc., meet all of the criteria above for good well-rounded Sales Assessment Tests. For a limited time only, prospective employers can get 10 Free Sales Assessment Tests (Pre Employment Screening Tests) to help them hire great sales executives by following the link in the “About the Author” or Bio / Resource box below or by visiting the website of Dan Joy Inc., directly through any major search engine.

How To Get A Sales Job Without Sales Experience

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Candidates wishing to apply for their first sales job may at first be reluctant to do so due to their perceived lack of sales experience. However there are many things in your background which you can use as evidence of your ability to win over and influence people and therefore your sales ability:

Tip # 1 – “Tailor your resume to suit the job you are applying for.”

When you apply for a job ensure that you customize the resume to suit the industry and company in question. Also make sure your resume addresses the selection criteria mentioned in the job advertisement.

Tip # 2 – “Entry level positions are a good start.”

Be willing to take an entry level position and work your way up. Employers will appreciate your willingness to start at the bottom and learn the ropes first.

Tip # 3
“Research and prepare.”

Salespeople need to be prepared when they make their sales calls to prospective customers. So you need to emulate this at the recruitment interview, i.e. treat the recruitment interview just like you would a sales call and come prepared.

Most importantly, let the interviewer know that you’ve researched their company. For example, tell the interviewer you’ve researched their web site and / or products. Indicate to the interviewer that you have developed familiarity with what they do and what they sell.

Tip # 4 – “Sell your achievements.”

Salespeople need to continually achieve so you need to prove that you are also an achiever. Think of some of your most significant achievements from work or school and be prepared to talk about these in the recruitment interview.

Tip # 5 – “Talk about your powers of persuasion.”

You may not have sales experience but you probably have managed to persuade other people to do something in the past. Think of how you have persuaded someone to do something you wanted him/her to do, and how your objectives were met. Be prepared to talk about your ability to persuade others in the recruitment interview.

Tip # 6 – “Develop an understanding of what sales is about.”

You should have some basic understanding of what sales is all about in order to land your first sales job. So develop some basic sales knowledge such as how to understand customer needs and how to present solutions to your customers.

Tip # 7 – “Persistence pays off.”

Successful sales people are persistent – they pursue a sale in the face of uncertainty despite repeated rejections. So tell the interviewer how you have in the past persisted to achieve a goal in the face of adversity. You may wish to relate how you have pursued your sales career and the steps you have undertaken to achieve that goal.

Sales Training As A Route To Improved Behavior In Business Practice

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Ongoing sales training is essential in any commercial endeavor. The world moves quickly and the world of commerce changes on a daily basic. Keeping up with these changes is a fundamental necessity to being ahead of your competitors and achieving your and your business’s potential.

Sales training provides individuals with the know how to deliver a product efficiently while at the same time understanding the needs of customers and clients. Often it is thought that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to sales is enough to get the job done. This has largely been disproved. A sales person needs to adapt to any situation they are faced with and act accordingly.

Recognizing and understanding a customer’s individual need is often described as a talent by those that are good at it but the principles behind it can be learned. Adapting your behavior is a big part of this and is something that sales training can offer. As with most situations in life, and particularly in business, the perception of a situation can override the reality.

There is nothing unethical about this; it’s all about creating the right impression and environment with which to achieve an objective or goal. If the wrong impression is created, either through lack of awareness or through inappropriate behavior, then no matter how good a product is or how much it is needed, the chances of making a sale diminish significantly.

Sales training is the best way of ensuring that a person is in full possession of all the tools and tricks they need to do a good, worthwhile job. It is not enough to thing you are affable and approachable and therefore people will warm to you, for some people giving this impression has the opposite effect.

There are several areas that sales training covers which are vital to delivering a good service:

1. Up to date training – The business world is continually changing and so is business law. The excuse of not being aware of what is and isn’t acceptable business practice is no excuse. All sales people need to be aware of what boundaries there are in there particular field. The guidelines will differ from sector to sector.
2. Using the resources available – Many people move through the working day completely unaware of their strengths and weaknesses and as a result they cannot be fulfilling their potential and getting the best results they possibly can. Sales training helps identify these strengths and weaknesses and determine where they are best employed. It also goes a considerable way to improving weaknesses (by the very fact that they are identified) and consolidating strengths.
3. Appropriate behavior – We all understand what appropriate behavior means…don’t we? In business it means something more than just good manners and consideration to colleagues and clients. The behavior appropriate to someone working for a Funeral Director will be significantly different to the behavior appropriate to someone working for a Party Organizer.

There are lots of generic sales training options available but bespoke sales training is the most effective way of gaining important knowledge of all of the above points. Bespoke sales training offers a way for the person being trained to become more involved in the process and put forward requirements that are specific to their business or particular area of interest.

Someone working with government departments or large contracts that could run into millions of pounds will have more need for sale training that is focused on the law than someone who is selling bubble bath. They will perhaps need more emphasis on using their available resources. Whatever the demands of a business, appropriate sales training is always useful.

Disadvantages In A Salesman’s Life

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The disadvantages connected with the work of a traveling salesman are so great that they must be taken into consideration. He is away from home and family frequently two or three or four months at a time. He may find poor hotel accommodations in some localities. He must endure irregularity of meals, poor food often, and loss of sleep caused by the need of making towns on schedule time.

He may be troubled by local train facilities or by driving from town to town in severe weather. He may have to work nights and Sundays to keep up to schedule and to make sales. He often undergoes heavy mental strain in making sales, especially to large customers. The monotony of extended yearly trips over the same routes, with conditions that wear more and more upon a person after several years, leads in most cases to a strong desire for change of occupation.

Then the problem of changing to a profitable occupation or of establishing himself in some other position may become a difficult matter. Unless one is a member of his firm while still a salesman or holds some relation to it of especial importance, he is not likely to find a place with his firm, either in the offices or in the factory. Nor does his experience fit him to go into any other line of work, unless as salesman for a concern dealing in some other kind of product.

In general the traveling salesman, because of the reasons above stated, becomes unfitted for taking up a new occupation as late in life as must usually be the case. The traveling shoe salesman in seeking another line of work most frequently enters a retail shoe store as selling clerk, becomes manager of a shoe department in a store or of a branch store conducted by a factory, or opens a store for himself in some locality where he has found an opportunity during his traveling experience.

In some such cases the firm which he has served as salesman favors him, even to supplying a stock of goods. This method opens an additional outlet for merchandise and is a natural step in the continual change in the personnel of the selling force.

I have made a research into every available source to ascertain the cause and conditions that created that national institution the traveling salesman.

In a musty volume of yesteryear I find a press clipping attributed to a New York newspaper printed in 1847, as follows :

The wholesale stores employ clerks whose business it is to go to the hotels and make the acquaintance of the visiting merchants in order to induce them to buy goods of the firms which employ them. . . .

And later as history is written we find that a few years previous to the War of the Rebellion, ” the house ” frequently sent men on road trips to investigate the credit of customers and to report impressions and conditions in communities.

Very often these emissaries returned with memorandums of orders to be sent, filling, so to speak, between trips to market. This was of course before the days of the mercantile agencies which, as is natural to suppose, came into existence after the traveler had hewed the trail.