Viewpoints
from Systema

By Jack R. Snader

It’s next to impossible!

• Ever watch the coach of a sports team being interviewed after the game?
• All the interviews seem to sound alike.
• They are pleased when their team won and disappointed when they lost.
• They know the final score.
• Whether they won or lost, their strategy was correct, but the execution needs improvement.

They are going to watch the game films with the team and study what they are doing right and identify what needs improvement.

Sports teams and professionals know that being able to observe behavior is the first step in improving performance.

What about game films for the sales coach?

Think about the benefits you and your team would have from the game films of your selling world. As sales coach, you know the sales score. You also know the sales score in every account, but you probably don’t know the why behind these sales. You can only guess about that.

You also don’t know the opinion of the customer toward each rep nor why the customer is really buying from the rep. Was the sale achieved because of—or in spite of—the sales representative?

You are aware if your representatives follow the corporate selling process and you can observe reps utilizing the skills they were trained in. But how does it feel to be a customer of this rep?

You’ve never purchased your service or products from your reps. And you don’t know what the customer’s real feelings are about how the sale is progressing. So realistically, how can you effectively coach a rep if you don’t have access to information about the customers’ perceptions of your rep?

As a consumer, you have purchased many things: automobiles, clothing, equipment, financial services, boats, and vacation travel, to name a few. You certainly know if the person who sold them to you was effective. Every customer knows if the person selling to them is good or not. You could respond in a heartbeat whether each rep you met as a customer was a valuable resource, rendered important information, and generally made the buying process pleasant. You could also evaluate whether the sales rep was truly helpful or an impediment in the sale.

Customers will help you
coach your reps more effectively

Likewise, your company’s customers know whether your representatives provide added value, if they know how to sell, talk benefits and understand their situation—or whether as customers, they have to do all the work in order to buy. The salesperson should understand exactly what their role is in the selling process. Either just facilitate the sale as easily as possible, or consult with the customer and help them think through the purchase decision.

For over a decade and a half, Systema has pioneered research in customer intelligence about sales organizations. Hundreds of thousands of customers are in our data base in order to provide sales management with the information salespeople need to improve their performance. These sales “game films” provide extraordinary information for both individual and sales team growth.

Your organization is different

Because industries differ in how they sell, what they sell, and how the customer is accustomed to buying, the idea of a “one size fits all” selling approach doesn’t work. That’s why Systema has researched and developed a variety of methodologies and selling models, combined with industry norms, to measure sales organization effectiveness.

For example: pharmaceutical representative sales calls range from less than 15 seconds to as much as 3 minutes with a physician. These selling situations certainly cannot be compared with those of a medical equipment sales rep whose product complexity and time with the physician and other buyers sometimes adds up to hours of analysis and comparison demonstrations.

Likewise, a rep selling CRM software to a small business owner over the phone is not facing the same challenge as a sales rep negotiating with a large corporation to purchase a complex system-wide CRM solution.

Extraordinary information to
"kick-start" sales performance improvement

Letting sales reps know how they sell compared with their competition is valuable information. Knowing how your team and each individual on your team compare with competitive organizations is extraordinarily helpful. It is the foundation on which to build a sales performance improvement system. To get better, everyone involved needs individualized information about his or her current performance.

There is not much new for the typical experienced salesperson to learn. He has attended all the sales training classes. He could easily pass a written test on how to sell, but in the real world, his skills may not be that effective. These reps need an awareness of how their best customers see them. Only then can they begin an effective individualized improvement program.

Customer input will improve
your team’s sales performance

Game films are being utilized by progressive sales organizations in dozens of industries. Graphic virtual footage of selling behaviors highlight the specific skills which need improvement. This wake-up call will provide your team a dramatic and measurable increase in sales performance.

Energizing Sales Performance World Wide Since 1969