For several years Dave Ulrich has raised the awareness
of many of those responsible for Human Resources over the "new mandate"
for HR professionals. In his book "Delivering Results" he writes:
“To ensure that the work of HR contributes to employees, customers and
to the investment of its shareholders, we should boost the development of the
organizational capacity by turning strategies into action. This book reveals
the power of HR strategies in order to influence not only the individual, but
in the performance of the corporation as well, providing executable strategies
that bring results from the production line to the boardroom”
REFLECTIONS ON THE ROLE OF SALES
- Although all functions of a business are important, Sales tend to be more important because their results are like oxygen for an Organization. Without sales a company may cease to exist, even though all other functions are performing optimally.
- For several decades, when some people do not get jobs after multiple attempts, their last resort (besides informal work) is looking for a job as a salesman, with results not always successful either for those who do it nor for the companies that hire them, regardless of high economic and emotional costs for both.
- The profile of a good salesperson is different for each company. It cannot be said that whoever is successful selling for an organization will be a good salesman in any other company. Why? Because every organization has different characteristics. For example, market positioning, reputation of its brands, sales cycle, culture and organizational structure as well as its specific products or services, to name a few distinctions.
- Brian Tracy, marketing expert, in his book "The Psychology of Selling", referring to the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, writes: "Twenty percent of Sellers earn 80% of commissions ... and the remaining eighty percent earn 20% ... That same principle applies to a group of outstanding sales people, because 20% of sellers off the charts - equivalent to 4% of the total - earn, in turn, 80% of the commissions received by the prominent sellers".
Regardless of the percentages indicated above being
approximates, there is no doubt that among those in positions of sellers, the outstanding
are the least.
The relevant questions are:
- Is it important for a company to have a sales force composed of highly productive Sellers?
- How do you know, at the time of hiring them, which ones will be the sellers achieving excellent results for a specific company? ...
The logical answer
to the first question is that of course it's worth having a powerful sales
force. The second, regarding How to identify them?, is outlined in this article
in the case that is discussed below.
We now share with you one of the processes carried out
by Personal Development Analysis (PDA Consultants), a tool designed to
strengthen talent management in companies, based on the studies of William M
Marston in the second half of the twentieth century. The reference process was specifically
focused to define the ideal profile of the Sellers for a major company of mass
consumption products.
For the first
phase of the work, a group of executives from the areas of Sales and Human
Resources who knew about the activities to be performed by their sellers was
invited.
Once the executives
invited were gathered, the session began by talking about their
"vision" of the seller that requires the company nowadays,
considering the competition in the market, changes in management and control
systems that have been put into operation and the ensuing demands of technical
expertise that the Seller must use and were not necessary in the past.
With the
reference framework stated above, the PDA Consultant gave each executive a form
that describes the set of typical behaviors (85) that display the members of an
organization in order for them to individually select which of those they
considered most important for their ideal seller. Later, also as individual
work, executives were asked to choose which of those behaviors most frequently
applied. Once everyone had finished filling their forms, a group analysis was
launched to reach a consensus and ranking behaviors chosen individually, which was
concluded with ten key behaviors that the seller of the company of reference must
apply.
Next, the PDA Consultant asked the executive group,
guided by sales results and performance evaluations, to carefully select two
representative groups from their current sellers. One for the outstanding
vendors and another one for sellers with fair or unsatisfactory performance. The
sellers selected under these criteria were asked to answer the PDA
self-assessment form in order to correlate their profiles with the ideal
profile defined by the executive group. The time it took them to answer the
form ranged between 15 and 20 minutes. Some did it in paper version and others
answered directly online, which is the usual way to answer the self-assessment
form.
Finally, the PDA
Consultant took care of uploading in the system the ten behaviors that the sales
and HR executives had reached consensus over and to the system determined,
clearly and objectively, the "Star Seller Profile" for the company: a
combination of "PDA Axes" that reveal the "profile" of the
person who has the specific natural behaviors to become a great Seller for the Organization.
Such a combination of “5 PDA Axes” forms the basis for "selecting and
managing" the talent of its sales force forward.
WHAT DOES EACH
ONE OF THE 5 PDA AXES OF THE PDA DEFINED PROFILE MEAN?
The five numbers, which can range from 0 to 100 refer to
the intensity or level required for each of the 5 PDA Axis that, in short,
measure:
RISK Axis
High: Points to a person with strong achievement orientation, willing to
take risks, oriented to power and control, willing to accept responsibilities
that involve taking some risks, energetic, always ready to take the initiative.
Motivated by power and prestige.
Low: person who prefers not to take risks, low pressure, someone steadily,
although reserved, cautious and conservative. Motivated by harmony, consistency.
EXTRAVERSION Axis
High: sociable person, oriented to interpersonal interaction, likes to be
visible to others, persuasive, convincing and strives to make others feel
comfortable. Motivated by social exposure and social recognition.
Under: person who prefers to work alone or in small groups, self-sufficient
and focused on problem solving. Differentiate clearly when dealing with
"friends" and "acquaintances". Motivated by having personal
space and privacy.
PATIENCE Axis
High: patient individual, analytical, consistent, with a tendency to
routine and repetitive activities, gives importance to quality rather than
quantity. Motivated by consistency and having enough time to do things right.
Low: person who prefers constant change, restless, impatient, dissatisfied
with the relatively steady state of things. Motivated by diversity, constant
change and being in multiple issues at once.
CONFORMITY TO NORMS Axis
High: this is a person who adheres to standards, policies and established
procedures that give certainty for the feeling of a structure and direction. Motivated
by clear direction and having accurate information to act.
Low: person who prefers freedom of action, independence, high involvement and
with a global focus. Motivated by the freedom to act according to their own
goals and ideas.
SELF-CONTROL Axis
High: rational individual, mature, experienced, which weighs the
consequences of their actions and control their emotions or strong impulses.
Low: individual that handles himself spontaneously, sometimes impulsively,
with little tolerance and that can at times act and/or speak without
considering the real consequences of their actions or words...
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF KNOWING THE PROFILE DEFINED
UNDER THE PDA METHODOLOGY?
They are
essential to select and manage (... on a scientific basis) Talent of the Sales
Force of a company. That is, it strongly supports HR functions relating to:
