Getting Sales Leadership Talent Ready for Current Challenges

Editor's Notes

1. CHUCKThank you for signing up for what is guaranteed to be an action packed Partners breakout session on Accelerating Sales Executive Talent Readiness.       The purpose of this video is to cover the details of the exciting new products we are bringing to market in the sales executive space. Understanding these details ahead of time will allow us to spend the majority of your time during the breakout session practicing and delivering a high impact client sales presentation as opposed to learning the details of the new and enhanced products for the very first time.       This video presentation will take no more than 12 minutes of your time. Thanks for listening.       
2. CHUCK, THEN RYAN COMMENTSNOTE: I would add: Managing sales costs – do more with lessImpact of technology on buyer’s behavior NOTE: I would change “Creating demand creators” to “Creating demand and managing client expectations. The need to create demand, rather than just respond. 3 big skill set areas: Teaching, Tailoring, Leading the Solution/Staying in Control/Navigating. Since 2008 we've seen some unbelievable shifts in the economy and these shifts have changed customer behavior for the foreseeable future. This new environment has created a risk averse posture in most companies that has resulted in spending decisions that require close inspection from multiple functions and executives. However, we already seem to be emerging a bit from this, as in 2010 we've seen that most sales organizations will meet or exceed their sales goals. A recent survey by the Alexander group showed that 85% of sales executives feel they will finish the year at or above their growth targets. The risk averse posture does not seem to be changing though as most companies are bracing for the next business downswing.   At the same time the abundance of information and the broad spectrum of different markets has increased the complexity and requirements for deep and broad analysis. For example, a sales executive might have to answer questions like: In a mature market such as the US, should I pursue the small to mid business market and if so what type of sales resource should I put in place to drive growth there? Should it be an inside sales approach? Or perhaps I should use a fully web-based e-commerce approach? How about a new and rapidly growing market like china? What should my sales coverage look like there? And while the economy seems to be improving, most companies are not yet ready to make significant investments in sales infrastructure to assist with the growth agenda.  Instead sales executives are still being asked to do more with less and to be innovative not only with their market strategies, sales coverage, and positioning of solutions but also with getting more revenue from existing sales resources. This has required them to constantly think about how they need to transform their sales force into demand creators and not just sellers of products.   If the stakes weren't already high enough, most sales executives will be expected to make significant progress against ever increasing growth targets in 3 years or less. If they don't the will likely be replaced.         
3. CHUCKDemonstrating Business Acumen in Client and Internal EngagementsManaging Change (Sales Transformation)Identifying and Developing Provocative Sellers Building Strategic Approach to Business Development and Talent Management
4. CHUCKRyan will tell story about an organization that took aplanful approachChuck will tell a story about an organization in crisis
5. CHUCKDDI summary of sales leader assessment results (hundreds of SL assessments over past 2-3 years, crossing many industries, geographies, global in scope, etc.)Our analysis: Strengths are more short term, day-to-day competencies (shows they are good at closing business). Development areas have long-term implications (for example, shows they may not be able to deal effectively with new economic reality and long sales cycles. To have a strategic, long-term impact on the business, you need these skills.) N=280
6. RYANDDI summary of sales leader assessment results (hundreds of SL assessments over past 2-3 years, crossing many industries, geographies, global in scope, etc.)Our analysis: Strengths are more short term, day-to-day competencies (shows they are good at closing business). Development areas have long-term implications (for example, shows they may not be able to deal effectively with new economic reality and long sales cycles. To have a strategic, long-term impact on the business, you need these skills.)
7. RYANHow do you look for these skills (and whether or not your team has them)? One answer is with assessment tool . . . .
8. RYANRyan will tell story about an organization that took aplanful approach
9. RYANWhen we talk about potential we are talking about identifying people who have certain characteristics that would suggest they are capable of rapid growth. It’s not about how they are performing today or whether they are ready for the next promotion. It’s about whether or not an individual has certain attributes that would enable them to take full advantage of a significant investment in his/her development.
10. RYANTalk about difference between performance, potential and readiness.Could talk about the classis mistake we see: Organizations promote their superstar salesperson, but then they don’t have strong leadership capabilities. Wouldn’t it be nice to know--in advance--who will succeed as a leader and who will fail? Wouldn’t it be powerful to actually predict this in advance—BEFORE you make the investment?But how do you know? There are tools available to help you make informed decisions . . . . ADD: Talk track about HOW you would go about identifying potential. There are tools out there such as LPI. . . . Explain what this is and what it does. Not many organizations use these. It is a real opportunity for competitive advantage b/c it becomes the lynchpin b/c. . . . You should not rely on managers alone because they have zero predictive power in these scenarios . . . .
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14. RYANSay we are going to zero in on Action Learning and Ongoing Development next . . . .
15. CHUCK Now lets shift to what individuals need to do after they have completed acquisition.Improving skills really comes in two stages:Reaching Proficiency—in this stage the individual is still learning the ropes. This stage requires more preparation on the part of the individual. This can also require support from managers/mentors (i.e., role-playing before challenging discussions, observing initial applications, providing feedback, etc.) to make sure that they are applying the skills appropriately. Mastery—this is akin to becoming a black belt. Here they would seek out more informal feedback (from managers, peers, direct reports).
16. CHUCKChuck will tell a story about an organization in crisis
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18. CHUCKTell Avon storyEffectiveness of campaigns/new product launches
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