The Quiet Sales Cat – Are they Really Selling?

During the production of our book Sales Cats much discussion was had about the behaviours of those Sales Cats—top gun sales people.

Most people's perceptions are that all sales people are gregarious, loud and ego driven. In some cases, elements of this is true. There is no doubt that self confidence, high energy and resilience rank highly in top performing sales people. So what about the quiet ones?

Today I was building a sales strategy with a CEO of a wonderful small business in Perth when we started to discuss one of his high performers. "He has all the attributes you describe in a Sales Cat and a lot of the competencies you outlined in the Banjar competency model" he commented, "but he is unusually quiet and often says, "I'm not really selling."

"What?" I said, "Not really selling! How could that be?"

The facts are this guy is so comfortable in his particular selling environment he has become the ultimate stealth bomber Sales Cat. He knows his product well, he is experienced in the particular trade he sells into and most of all he clearly understands how his product solves problems and helps the customer see this. He is a true business person who sells!

The tip here is this. Recruit sales people who know their product or service well, however make sure you recruit and coach people that are intimate with the application of their product or service in it's business environment. What problem does it solve? How will it add value to the clients business so they get better? Teach your current Sales Cats about the industry they sell into. If it's retail get a retail person to describe the language, issues and gaps to success in retail.

These quiet sales stars will grow raving fans in your customer base and no competitor will hear it coming.

Boiler

Sales Recruitment - How do we get the best sales people?

Over the last couple of weeks I have been listening to the Banjar tribe and getting feedback on the apparent lack of good sales people and the terrible job recruitment agencies are doing in finding them.

That got me thinking:

Where are the next generation of sales recruits who will become our sales stars?

How do we find them?

Can you test for them at a early stage?

Do recruitment agencies really know how to find the best sales person?

Clearly, in this post GFC world where the order taker is filling the glass cabinet next to the dodo, we need a different approach to recruitment for sales jobs. In our minds, here at Banjar Group, sales recruitment is one of the top three competencies of a good sales manager. You must get this right.

So what to do? Our top tips:

Make sure you are crystal clear about the type of sales person you want and need. Do a cyborg behavior map* to eliminate any guesswork.

Define the characteristics well so that no one in the company is in doubt. Always be looking for the sales cat. They can surface in the most unlikely places.

Design brilliant questions for interviews that reflect sales outcomes for your business. Some examples may be; "Can you describe a time when you had to create a list of new prospects for a certain product," or "Can you describe your current sales process please."

Audition. Yes you heard me. The theatre, Australia's Got Talent, movie producers, all audition to find the best from a short list of hopefuls. Develop a scenario based on your sales environment and give the candidates a room, pens, laptop etc. and ask them to prepare a basic sales strategy and plan of attack to sell X product. Give them 20 minutes to prepare and then have them present back to you. Then go through Q & A. You will very quickly see their sales skills.

Stop accepting recruitment agency data base lists of bad and worn-out order takers. Look far and wide because true sales cats live and work in all sorts of places. They maybe serving at the club, behind the local bar or on the counter at Myer.

Be sure of what you want and go start looking.

Boiler

* Cyborg behavior map – if you have not done this with us please contact me and I will advise how it works mike@banjargroup.com.au