Empowering Sales Leaders to Become Sales Champions

Hiring, developing, and retaining great salespeople can make or break your organization. 

I shared my opposition to the downsizing of sales teams and instead underscored the indispensable role they play as an organization’s revenue-generating core. It’s imperative to preserve their resilience, particularly during periods of uncertainty. I always advocate for a retrenchment strategy that doesn’t focus solely on revenue, but rather weighs individual performance metrics. By leveraging thorough evaluation tools, businesses can spot salespersons with considerable potential. 

Here’s a taste of what Wesleyne and I chat about on this episode

• Challenges in hiring and developing and retaining great salespeople
• Importance of understanding salespeople's mindsets and its impact on performance
• Barbara's inside-out approach to thinking for driving growth
• Lack of understanding in hiring the right salespeople and reliance on gut instincts
• How to address sales organization issues faster using empirical data and effective measurement tools 
• How to uncover hidden problems and gaps with the ‘Sales MRI’. 

Key Moments: 

Barbara's career journey [00:00:53] Barbara talks about her career progression from being second in command in sales to starting her own business specializing in sales force development strategies.

Challenges in hiring salespeople [00:01:20] Barbara discusses the challenges she observed in companies' hiring practices, including using guesswork and lacking proper assessment tools, leading to high turnover.

Salespeople's mindsets and their impact on performance [00:03:26] Barbara explains how salespeople's mindsets, such as accepting stalls from prospects and the need to be liked, can hinder their performance and the importance of understanding and addressing these mindsets.

The importance of empirical data in sales [00:11:06] Barbara discusses the significance of having empirical data to measure and improve sales team effectiveness.

The Sales MRI [00:12:17] Barbara explains the concept of the Sales MRI, a deep dive analysis of salespeople, managers, systems, and processes to diagnose sales organization issues.

Hidden sales mindsets and their impact [00:14:05] Barbara offers a free gift, a special report on the nine most prevalent hidden sales mindsets and tips on how to address them for growth.

The Challenges in Hiring and Developing Salespeople

One of the key challenges in the corporate realm was the lack of understanding in hiring the right salespeople. Hiring managers often relied on their gut instincts rather than using tools like sales assessments to pre-screen candidates. Additionally, companies struggled to identify the root causes of underperformance in salespeople.

The Importance of Empirical Data and Effective Measurement Tools

It’s important to have empirical data and effective measurement tools in order to identify and address issues within a sales organization. I shared the concept of a "sales MRI," which involves a deep dive into the sales team, managers, and systems to uncover hidden problems and gaps. This approach allows for a more accurate diagnosis and targeted solutions, rather than superficially addressing symptoms. I compared it to going to a doctor who only asks a few questions before scheduling open heart surgery, when the issue could have been something as simple as indigestion.

A Special Gift for the Audience

As our conversation wrapped up, Barbara offered a free gift to the audience - a special report on the nine most prevalent hidden sales mindsets and tips on how to address them. She believes that understanding and shifting these mindsets can greatly impact sales growth. The gift can be accessed at http://theguide.vip.