You have just hired the hottest salesperson in Australia, out from under the competition’s noses. You have managed to beat the salary package down to a Porsche, two overseas holidays a year and a fully maintained apartment. You are feeling fine. However, are you sure your super salesperson is going to be as successful with your type of product, or with your company?
What makes you sure? Instinct? Gut feel? Do you have hard data that tells you his/her probability of success in your environment? Are this year’s sales riding on nothing more than a hunch?
A ‘proven performer’ in one environment will seldom have the required characteristics for success in another. Instinct alone will seldom allow correct matching of personal attributes to the elements required for a given environment.
Ask yourself these questions: Is there a difference between a successful technical sales engineer and a successful real estate salesperson? Will either person be as successful if interchanged? The answer, in short, is probably not. It is best to find a salesperson who fits your product or service, rather than make the product fit the salesperson.
From our research, we have identified four different sales types:
- CLOSER
- CONSULTATIVE
- RELATIONSHIP
- DISPLAY
Unafraid of rejection, they quickly push for the order, collect a cheque and move on. They are enthusiastic, dynamic, fast-paced, and rarely stay around prospects long enough to develop lasting relationships.
Able to develop long-term relationships, they focus on serving client needs. Emphasis is on creative problem solving. They are good at blending patience and aggressiveness, as well as asking questions and listening.
Friendly and supportive, these salespeople are good customer service people. Route sales, order-takers and established account selling are typical areas for this type of salesperson.
The retail-type person responds to customer needs in a friendly, low-key manner. Personal involvement is brief and they encounter little personal rejection. Accommodating customers is their main theme.
As you can see, big differences exist among the four types. It is usually difficult for them to cross channels and move to another type of selling. It is best to find a salesperson who fits your product or service, rather than make the product fit the salesperson.
But, which type of salesperson best fits my product? We have found that the four styles are best distinguished by the type of product being sold, the demand and required relationship between the salesperson and the customer. The diagram below expresses this relationship.
The diagram shows demand along the X-axis, which expresses the way a product may be either essential (We need it to survive; we need it all the time; no delay; no substitutions), or discretionary (It could bring added gain, but can be put off; we could substitute).
The Y-axis expresses the ‘nature’ of the product, whether it is standard (We see little difference in competitors; the product/service is usable as is, with little need to understand more about it to use it), or customised (We see a big difference in competitors; it must be specially applied to our situation; it requires information and technical understanding to use it).
At Assess Systems, companies often ask us whether SalesMax is the most suitable selection tool to identify salespeople in respect of their particular product. If the product falls in the top half of the square, and building long-term, mutually profitable client relationships is a pre-requisite, then yes.
Some managers think that long-term relationships are important, yet place short-term budgetary requirements on their salespeople. In effect, what they want is a ‘Closing’ type. Consultative salespeople are essentially problem solvers and clients are loyal to these salespeople because of their human relations skills and problem-solving abilities.
