Training Industry Magazine - Sales 2016 - (Page 38)
PERCEPTION VS. REALITY
DO YOUR SALESPEOPLE KNOW WHERE THEY'RE STRUGGLING?
By Tim Riesterer
Behavioral economists sometimes draw the distinction between "declared preferences" (what people say or feel) versus "revealed preferences" (what
people actually do). They typically refer to this idea when explaining the discrepancies that tend to exist between opinion polls and actual behaviors.
There seems to be a similar discrepancy
among sales reps, who may say they're
struggling in a certain area of their customer
conversations but are actually struggling
in others. In other words, what reps believe
to be their biggest skills and challenges do
not align to what the behavioral outcome
data reveal.
Last year, when I co-authored the book "The
Three Value Conversations," we launched a
parallel online self-assessment tool aligned
to the key skills and concepts detailed in
the book. The assessment is designed to
measure reps' proficiency in three critical
areas of the sales cycle: creating value
(differentiation skills), elevating value
(executive conversation skills) and capturing
value (negotiation skills). Nearly 300 sales
professionals have taken the assessment.
DISCREPANCIES REVEALED
For each skills area, we asked reps which of
six skills they viewed as their biggest selling
challenge. Then we compared this answer
to what the behavioral outcome survey
questions revealed. In each skill scenario,
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the assessment showed a discrepancy:
The selling challenges that reps believed
were their most difficult didn't match what
their answers to the behavioral survey
questions indicated.
Here's a summary of the results.
CREATE VALUE
Objective: Defeat the status quo and differentiate
your solutions.
* Participants declared
Their top challenge is illustrating a sharp
contrast between a customer's current
state and a desired future state.
* But the data revealed
Their actual top challenge is creating and
confirming urgency by stirring emotions.
ELEVATE VALUE
Objective: Make a business case that passes
muster with executive decision makers.
* Participants declared
Their top challenge is winning access
to executive buyers rather than being
delegated down.
* But the data revealed
Their actual top challenge is identifying
the specific financial metrics that their
solution will impact.
CAPTURE VALUE
Objective: Protect pricing, and expand deal size
amid tense negotiations.
* Participants declared
Their top challenge is encouraging
customers to reveal their underlying
motivations.
* But the data revealed
Their actual top challenge is procuring
agreements to mutually beneficial terms
in response to their concession plan.
Many companies plan their sales training
based on what their reps say their biggest
needs are. Our assessment results cast
serious doubt on that approach and suggest
something worth keeping in mind the next
time you plan your training: Perceptions are
not reality.
In other words, take what your reps say
about their biggest selling challenges with
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Sales 2016