In all the years I've been in sales I have managed to learn a few things. For instance, many companies have a "proven" sales system and they don't want you to try anything else. I'm not sure what the logic behind this is but I think it has something to do with the time and money invested in creating these sales systems. And I think there's also an emotional investment, as these companies and their sales managers don't want to be told that another way may work better.
I do understand that if someone is brand new to sales, or has sales experience but new to an industry, that they may need a track to run on until they fill comfortable. But what about those who know how to sell, aren't rookies and are still successful?
If one were to take a good look at the high amount of turnover in the sales industry one would easily figure out that those sales systems aren't as awesome as the managers would like you to think. Making a list of your warm market, calling people individually, networking and asking for referrals may work for a percentage of people, but not for everyone. And herein lies the problem.
Not all salespeople are the same. I've worked with people who were introverts, extroverts, sharp dressers, slobs, technical experts, product pushers and those who used a holistic approach. Some of them were successful, some were abject failures, and all tried to use the sales system promoted by their employer.
As people have differing personality types and work styles, pushing a homogeneous approach is not going to work any better than telling all single people to use the same opening line in a bar. (In case you missed my book, I discuss how selling is like dating.) We all know this wouldn't work either. People attract others like themselves, not just in selling but in our everyday lives.
I used to manage a retail store that was part of a large national chain. Most of the stores had a staff of a dozen or so employees. One day my district manager was explaining how each store's staff reflected the personality of the manager. If a manager was outgoing, so was the staff. But if a manager was quietly efficient, the staff again would be the same.
"People tend to hire people like themselves," he said. "The manager with mustard on his shirt is going to attract the same bunch of slobs to work in his store." But I digress.
When I worked for a large national insurance carrier they boasted that they had a 17% agent retention rate after three years, compared to the rest of the insurance industry which was around 12% (their numbers). Translated, that meant that if they hired 100 agents this year, in three years a whopping 17 of those people would still be around. Yes, they were proud of this. The fact that 83% of the people they brought on board and trained were gone was insignificant. And those people were taught to use the same "proven" sales system that was supposedly so successful.
As a coworker of mine said at the time, "People don't get fired in this business. They quit because they aren't making any money." And it is true. In all of my years in the insurance industry, I can only recall two people who were terminated.
In the next post we will take a look at non-traditional sales systems and other alternatives. In the meantime, stay healthy!
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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