For all the account managers, business development managers and account executives out there, ask yourself these two questions: Do you have a sales process and can you articulate it? The majority of sales professionals in staffing do not. One of the most import ingredients to a sales person’s success in staffing is that they have a sales process. They not only have one but they trust it and live by it every day.
Almost every time I go into a company and “peel back the onion,” I’ll find little or no sales process from a corporate or individual stand point. I’m sure many of us can think of large successful staffing firms that follow a strict sales and recruiting process that is enforced by the minute. These large firms have simply figured out the formula. Sales executives typically provide no rhyme or reason as to why they are calling on particular company or a particular end-user at the company. Many sales executives have a very difficult time explaining their call strategy for each prospect they are calling on. For example, do you know if the company you are calling on actually uses contractors? What mode of communication are you using and are you varying the different types of communication for that particular prospect? When do you plan to reach-out to the prospect again and is it documented in your CRM? What do you know about the prospect and the company? If you do use the phone as a tool to communicate (and you should), what will you say, God forbid, if the prospect picks up the phone? These are just a few questions that you should be able to answer with very little problem.
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I’ve met, worked with or managed a small handful of sales professionals who consistently earn several hundred thousand dollars a year in commissions. Some are so busy they have full-time administrative assistants to help with their “busy” work. They come in all shapes and sizes from different parts of the country. Some are older and some younger. Some are men and some are women. The point I want to make is that every single one of these elite superstars have one thing in common: A process. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the same process across the board, it’s just that each one them has developed a sales process that they follow and trust every day.
I propose that instead of spending time thinking about and worrying about your sales pitch, you may want to think about developing a sales process. Happy hunting everybody.
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