Customer-Focused Sellingâ„¢

This is an occasional series describing (anonymously) a real challenge faced by one of my PI® clients in Ohio & Michigan and my recommendation to them.

Please let me know what topics you’d like to see included in this ADVISA series.

Scenario: A sales manager for an electric motor manufacturer has two outside salespeople with similar PI patterns but vastly different sales results.

PI® Patterns

Successful Salesperson – Persuasive Sales/Management Reference Pattern, Very High B, Very Low C, Moderately High A, Moderately Low D

Unsuccessful Salesperson – Persuasive Sales/Management Reference Pattern, High B, Low C, High A, Low D (A & D both about 1 tick-mark from the Norm)

The Issue: The sales manager had used Predictive Index as a pre-employment assessment to select these two salespeople. The PRO for the position is a Persuasive Sales/Management Reference Pattern and both salespeople match this pattern. Why is one person successful and the other is not?

PI® Analysis and Recommendation: While both salespeople have PIs that match the general pattern of a Persuasive Reference Pattern (Highest B, Lowest C, High A, Low D) there is an important difference between the two PIs that could explain the performance difference. The difference has to do with the “Sigma” or spread of the two PIs.

The successful salesperson has a much wider spread to his pattern. His B Drive is Very High (over one Sigma high) and his C Drive is Very Low (over one Sigma low). In addition, the spread between his High A & Low D (a measure of comfort with risk in decision making that is linked to sales-closing performance) is several times wider than his unsuccessful colleague.

The stronger measures on these PI factors means the successful salesperson feels the key drives needed for this position more intensely and should exhibit more-impactful behaviors related to the job. The sales environment for these outside salespeople is very demanding – strong competitors constantly threatened to undercut them and their industrial customers have very demanding purchasers. In the face of these pressures, the stronger personality performs more effectively.

I recommended they include drive strength as a key element in their future decisions on assignments.

Everyday new business development teams take to the phones or the streets to make deals for their companies, and for themselves. The facts are that most sales representatives are not successful in most companies. Take your company for instance. How many reps achieve quota each month or quarter? How many times is the top sales person the same individual from previous months or quarters? Why though?

The number 1 reason the top stay at the top and the bottom are likely down for the count is self-confidence and humility. Neither of which, I feel, is mutually exclusive. In my work aiding managers in managing difficult people, executive team building, and improving sales performance both elements are critical to the superstars of sales.

Self-Confidence

This is the easy one of the two. If a person has the right P.I.® (Predictive Index®) profile for the job, and their manager is giving them what they need, self-confidence is a natural outcome. The logic is simple: You give me what I need the most + I get to do what I need to do each day = Self-confidence. If a sales manager leverages assessments this can be achieved in most sales reps.

Humility

This is the tricky one. I haven’t found any assessment for this trait, and it can take forever to learn. However, it can start with self-awareness. If someone is mature enough to accept who they are, and to realize that whatever they are is ok, they are on their way. Humility is also found in those who help others with no expectation of personal gain, those who do not feel belittled by the success of others. Those who are resolute that a career is important but falls way behind the most important priorities in their lives. They seem to be unshakable, rarely intimidated, and often the most likable and approachable people in the world.

Now back to your bottom 25% reps. They likely lack self-confidence because they are trying to be like someone else. They likely feel that the way one person realized success is the exact way that they must behave to do so. This is a recipe for little to no self-confidence. How can you be self-confident when you are working at NOT being yourself? They likely lack humility in that they must bolster small wins to earn praise and recognition. They become angry, emotional, and often times vacant in their roles. That is a helpless combination. When you profile your top sales representatives, consider both self-confidence and humility in their elixir of success. Odds are that if you give them what they need to be successful, and they have balanced and fulfilling lives outside of work as well, they’ll meet their balanced scorecard metrics.

Click the image below to get a complimentary profile on your top two sales people:

Strength of Personality Key to Outside Sales Success

The number 1 reason your bottom 25% of sales reps will never succeed

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