If you’ve read my last few posts. You’ll see that I’ve been discussing the mistakes business owners make ( I have made every one of them- no kidding!) when it comes to getting the right salesperson on your team.
I want to give you as much value as possible, so here are three essential hoops (as I call them) that you might want to consider when it comes to employing new salespeople.
Structure Not Gut
Hoop 1- Company Culture Fit
Company Culture– While we believe that fitting in with the company culture is essential, as demonstrated in the graph on our FREE report, it makes up only 10%.
Don’t get too caught up in ensuring this is a significant part of recruiting.
Create a good job description.
This is a critical factor in hiring good salespeople. When you advertise for a salesperson, what do you ask?
How do you define the role? What are you looking for? What is the remuneration?
*Chet Holmes, one of my early mentors, always did this exercise when advertising for super salespeople.
Write down three initiatives that you would love to hire someone to do in your business.
Three only. Next to each one, do this:
What would it mean to your business?
How would it change your business?
Now list what you could afford to pay such people if they performed.
Do the exercise. This forms the foundation of a good job description.
Hoop 2- Structuring an interview – History of Success.
Once you get the CV’s for the position, look for a history of success. Somewhere, you can see a challenge, a life experience they overcame.
Structuring an interview- A structured interview process makes up 30% or a third of the process (FREE report). That’s a lot. In your structured interview, you should have some questions to ask after reading the CV. Here are a few to start with.
How do you function as a team?
How do you feel about operating in a team environment?
Do you like working on your outside of that team?
Can you tell me when you were asked to do a project independently? What was it?
These questions might get the process moving.
Challenge the candidate– You are hiring salespeople to do a specific job. Human beings inherently will do anything to avoid pain. However, in the business of selling, rejection is part of what selling is, and it can be painful.
If everyone got 100% of the business every time they presented a product, the salesperson would be out of business.
If you are hiring a salesperson to sell your product and prospecting is part of that, would you not at least ask them, “What happens when you get a ‘ No!’ – How do you react?”
Ask them this, and see what happens: “ You know what, I’m not convinced you are the right person for this job.” Observe their reaction. Do they sit there? Or do they do something that indicates they might do the same with a client?
Hoop 3- Assessment Tools
This also makes up 30% of the job evaluation- We take a lot of guidance from these types of assessments and go into more detail here: Download my FREE report. We used to call these the B.S. detector.
We carried these assessments out in my company specifically for the roles we were looking for, in salary and performance-based positions.
Our salespeople had to work alone. We had salespeople sprinkled worldwide, usually unmanaged, working in an unstructured environment.
We had to be clear on what we were looking for. That’s where traits/ behaviours come into play. We knew we had to hire for the task, not just the attitude.
In my next post, I explain what I look for in a salesperson and how I came to that.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, and expanded it into a global media sales and training powerhouse. He was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and 11 languages, generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions, including rugby and travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME!
This is not original, but I thought it might be helpful for all those sales managers who get interruptions every minute of the day.
It’s called “got a minute” meetings, I learned it from Chet Holmes’ book, The Ultimate Sales Machine.I was reminded the other day by a time management coach as we discussed the importance of taking control of your time.
You know those meetings I am talking about.
“Hi Mike, got a minute?”
“Hi Mike, can I see you for a minute?”
“Hi Mike, in a minute, can I see you for a minute?”
Chet thinks there is a simple way around it… here are the steps:
1: You schedule your own time for a meeting… in other words, on your daily calendar you schedule them as appointments.
2: You let your staff know that from “10 am- 11 am today”, I will be doing a “got a minute meeting.”
Post that calendar on your front door, and they can make an appointment anywhere in that hour on that calender.
They are in 10-minute blocks, so you can see six people ONLY in that hour.
They come in with the issue, a possible solution, and they have 10 minutes with you to work through it.
That’s it. You control the time. You might want to run these twice a day or once every other day.
Whatever career you choose in sales, getting help is always good.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training. He was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
“Prettiness is lent to you by youth; attractiveness is purchased with experience.” ― C.M. Waggoner.
Motivating people to negotiate can be a complex process, but understanding what drives them is essential to building a successful sales strategy. One key factor to consider is attractiveness. In this article, we’ll explore what it means to be attractive in a negotiation and how you can use creativity to attract clients.
Attractiveness, in this context, refers to the ability to make your product or service appealing to potential clients.
It’s about creating a sense of value and desirability that makes clients want to engage with you. To be attractive, you need to understand your client’s needs and pain points and position your product or service as the solution to those issues.
One effective way to attract clients is to build an attraction strategy.
A great example of this is the strategy used by NRS Media* at trade shows. They attached a small sachet of paracetamol pain relief for headaches to a brochure.
The headline read, ‘Look everybody has their share of headaches when it comes to selling a XXX (Our product) if you wanted to hook up with us in suite 645 give us a call and we’ll make an appointment.’
The key to the success of this strategy was the way it was delivered. My team walked around the hotel floors after midnight and put the items, which included the paracetamol and brochure, underneath the door of the attendees who were staying at the conference venue.
This created a sense of surprise and intrigue, which helped to attract clients to our booth.
Another example of an attractive strategy could be offering a free trial or demonstration of your product or service, or providing a valuable resource such as a book or whitepaper.
These strategies help to establish trust and build a relationship with potential clients, making them more likely to engage with your business.
In conclusion, attractiveness is an essential consideration when motivating people to negotiate. By understanding what drives clients and using creative strategies to attract them, you can build a successful sales strategy that not only meets their needs but also exceeds their expectations. Remember to always consider their pain points and position your product or service as the solution.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
*NRS Media since sold.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
PLUS: WHENEVER YOU’RE READY…
Here are 4 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.1. Want to become a Sales Mindset Blueprint Member? Every month you get access to an exclusive coaching session with me as well as full access to my sales programme. Get the deets here.
Try the new ‘7 Days to Sales Success’ framework. Make more sales in 7 days. The framework of everything you need to get started in making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by making more sales.
Join our private Facebook group – The Sales Mindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas. Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here
Work with me one-on-one. If you’re a business owner, small or large or in professional services you might just be a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Jump on a FREE 15-minute brainstorming call with me by clicking here.
As the year unfolds, it’s important to think about creating new habits and rituals for your sales team. Sales meetings can be time-consuming and unproductive if not run effectively, but by implementing a few simple guidelines, you can make them more productive and engaging for your team.
One of the most effective ways to improve sales meetings is to establish agreements that all team members must follow. These agreements should be clearly communicated and reinforced at the beginning of each meeting. Some examples of agreements that you could implement include:
100% participation
Being on time
Encouraging questions and actively listening to feedback
Creating a positive and fun atmosphere
No distractions such as mobile phones or other electronic devices
It’s also important to set strict time limits for meetings, this will help keep the meetings on track and ensure that all important topics are covered. Additionally, clear communication and goal-setting are crucial to the success of sales meetings. This will keep team members focused and motivated throughout the meeting.
In summary, by implementing simple agreements and guidelines for your sales team, you can make meetings more productive and engaging for your team. Encourage participation, set strict time limits, and create a positive and fun atmosphere in your meetings. And remember to always encourage clear communication and goal-setting.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
In our first article on goals for 2022, I talked about overcoming the obstacles that prevent you from accomplishing those goals.
In this article, I will talk about spending time each day to help you stay on track and chunk down the activity you devote to achieving your goals.
Do you know that every day you can create an hour to help fulfil your goals and keep you on track?
The answer is “start” each day a little earlier than your fellow workers.
And plan tomorrow today…
One of my early mentors and previous partners at NRS Media, Brian Duffy, taught me this valuable tip.
Plan Tomorrow Today – I first met Brian when he was a consultant to one of the first media companies I worked for.
He would always sit me down on his visits and ask me this simple question:
“Have you set goals for what you are going to achieve tomorrow? More importantly, have you considered what you have achieved today and congratulated yourself?”
This piece of advice has stayed with me to this day. Most days, I plan what I will do the next day using this simple method.
At the end of each day, I review what I have achieved, taking about 30 seconds to pat myself on the back mentally.
Even if I only managed to complete a couple of tasks, this simple exercise gave me a sense of achievement. If you don’t do this, you honestly feel you have achieved nothing.
Acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small they may seem. Every day is a path to the appreciation of self.
I then look at what I have not been able to achieve due to timing and other factors and place them on my plan for the following day. No judgments.
I then review all the meetings and appointments and place them on my plan for the following day.
Finally, I take about 10 minutes to study my priorities for the month, quarter and year. I select 3-4 goals I want to achieve as soon as I return to my office that are in alignment with these goals.
It works for me; it just might be the tonic for you.
Have fun selling your stuff in 2023.
Mike (Goals are dreams on paper) Brunel.
P.S.
Everyone wants to make more sales in their business – want to know how to do it?
Invest in yourself and enrol in the Sales Mindset Blueprint course; to ensure you’re setting yourself up for selling success.
Here are 3 ways I can help you make more sales in your business – whether your business is big or small.
1. Try the new 7 Days to Sales Success Framework.
Make more sales in 7 days. The framework of everything you need to start making more sales in your business. The Sales Success Framework is based on a simple 7-day challenge. Click here to find out how you can grow your business by increasing sales.
2. Join our Private Facebook Group – The Salesmindset Inner Circle. Get all the latest up-to-date sales ideas.
Every week we do Facebook Live updates on all things sales. Tips, ideas, free coaching, and much more. Join me by clicking here.
3. Work with me One-on-One.
If you’re a small or large business owner or in professional services, you might have a few strategies, tactics and tools away from doubling your lead flow, revenue and impact. Jump on a FREE 15-minute Brainstorm call with me by clicking here.
As we dive into 2023, it’s often a time for reflection, to review both the good and the not-so-good bits.
I am often asked this question by owners and sales managers.
“Mike, what makes a good salesperson, and what should I look for?”
2023 they tell us, is going to be a tough year; I guess the way you look at it, it just might be 365 opportunities to get better.
It might be the time to invest in yourself.
In this article, I talk about hiring the right salespeople.
“What behaviours are the most important for salespeople in this new selling environment?”
“What abilities do you believe will help salespeople in this new selling environment?”
Here is my take on it as you start the New Year.
I will address one behaviour at a time in each blog.
I want to do this because it’s not okay to accept just anyone that shows up in an empty suit.
Having hired hundreds of salespeople, I know what makes the good ones tick.
1. Self-Management
This first behaviour is one of the most important skills I look for in a salesperson. It can be a lonely job selling. Often, you want your sales team to be able to take instructions and make sure they can be confident to be comfortable.
I want my salesperson to be able to focus on their effort to achieve their goals. Why? I do not want them to forever come to me for the answer. Good self-managers work it out for themselves. You want to know that your salesperson can utilise his/her efforts on their task load and attain their daily objectives.
2. Survival Capabilities
In my business, we had a salary and at-risk structure in place. Survival in that environment requires the salesperson to take control of the sales process.
If you can select the person with the motivation, then your salesperson ticks off the first important trait you need to look for –Self Management.
Check out a special video I have put together to help you select the right salesperson for your company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biXKMYnK_eE
If you’re reading this here, I have put together a video on how to hire a salesperson in a competitive environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biXKMYnK_eEI
One Hour a day to Accomplish Your Goals.