Tag Archives: Results

How Do You Accelerate the Progress of a New Sales Person? Four Pieces of Advice

Situation: A CEO recently hired a new sales person. To date, this individual has signed some good customers, but is struggling to generated sales. How patient should the CEO be with this person? How much time should be allowed to demonstrate performance? What metrics do others use to assess and incentivize sales performance?
Advice from the CEOs:
• Set 90 day targets that you expect for the individual to reach: X new accounts, Y in sales revenue, other measures as appropriate to your business. Set these targets WITH the individual, not FOR them so that the individual has ownership of the targets. Monitor the individual’s progress frequently. If the trend is below the target, ask what the individual plans to do to meet or exceed the target. Targets are best set at the time of hiring. If the individual cannot approach these numbers then it’s better to cut sooner rather than later.
• How do you differentiate the sales person from the sales talker? Set firm targets and expect to see results quickly.
• The traits that correlate with success are not traits that that salespeople develop after they are hired. They have to demonstrate these from the beginning. The hiring process must select for these traits.
• There are a number of companies that offering tool that will help identify whether candidates for a sales position possess the traits that your company deems most important. Among these is TTI – Target Training International – www.ttisi.com and Sandler Sales – www.sandler.com.

[like]

How Do You Shift a Key Employee to Manager? – Pt 2 Three Points

Situation: A CEO wants to promote a key employee from rainmaker to manager. This will not involve a change in expectations or metrics for either the new manager or the employees who will report to her. However, there needs to be more forcefulness and clarity on what needs to be accomplished, both for the new manager and her team. How do you shift a key employee from rainmaker to manager?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Don’t just measure calls. Measure the outcome from calls. Develop an objective and a metric or set of metrics that they can run to. Link their activity to business results. They will respond because they will be able to impact the firm as well as their careers.
    • Tie individuals’ metrics to the business culture that the management team is creating and create win-win links.
  • What is involved in changing the business focus to new markets?
    • Build a replicable system for servicing a particular channel. Use the lessons from this exercise to build systems for new channels. As the team moves into new channels, tweak the replicable system so that it responds to the specific demands of that channel.
    • For new channels, identify the most important needs of the new customer – from their perspective – and develop a client service model to meet this need. For example, if the goal is to develop an investment service for foundations and endowments, the key variables may be acceptable return with a high degree of safety. Tailor an investment portfolio, as well as a client service strategy to meet the most important needs of this sector.
  • What is involved in creating a smooth hand-off within client relationships?
    • Start bringing in others to whom will be handed off the relationship as early in the client relationship development process as possible. Allow rapport and trust to develop, and prep the client for the expectation that a smooth hand-off is part of the ongoing client relationship.

[like]

How Do You Hire the Right Person? Three Points

Situation: A CEO is in the process of hiring a new employee for a key position. The company is now writing the position description to post for candidates. What can they do to improve on past hiring experiences? How do you hire the right person?

Advice of the Forum:

  • Two of the members of the Forum have worked with a skilled consultant who taught them a system for improving employee selection. Both companies have experienced excellent results from this system.
  • Key points of this system include:
    • Screening applicants for appropriate skills and inviting for interviews those who have the right background. The interview process is a 2-day affair. Day 1 focuses principally on behavior and culture.
    • Day 1 Interviews: the focus is behavior and adaptability. This involves 2-4 hours of tightly scheduled 15-minute interviews. These are scripted with standardized questions. Several candidates are run through this process simultaneously. The objective is to create the same type of pressure that an employee normally face when the company is chasing a tight deadline. Interviewers are instructed to observe how the individuals being interviewed respond to this pressure. Those who are not right for your culture quickly screen themselves out of the process. Those who pass Day 1 are invited back for Day 2
    • Day 2 Interviews: the focus is on a skill drill down. This includes real-time tests of the key skills that are typical of the position for which the interviewees are interviewing. The objective is to assess the familiarity of the interviewees with the required skills, and to determine who reacts both competently and creatively.

[like]

How Do You Raise the Bar on Personal Performance? Five Suggestions

Situation: A CEO is constantly striving to increase her skills, both personal and professional. She has sought and participated in a number of workshops to facilitate ongoing improvement. Some have been helpful but others less so. What have others done to sharpen their professional skills? What about their personal skills – the human side? How do you raise the bar on personal performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Focus on improving and sharpening your strengths, not on overcoming or improving areas that are not so strong. Look for ways that existing strengths complement each other and build on these combinations. This will naturally yield two benefits: raising performance and bringing greater satisfaction.
  • Create personal objectives that will help to sharpen existing strengths.
  • Conversely, develop workarounds for those areas which are not as strong. Look for talents among the others within the company that address the areas which are not as strong. Have them assist in work pertaining to these areas. They will enjoy this work because it complements their strengths, and you and the company will gain the desired results.
  • Take time to reflect and to recharge the batteries. Check current objectives and assure that these objectives compliment your long-term goals. Assure that you are focusing on the right priorities for YOU.
  • Find a mentor – in or outside of your industry. This will be an individual with experience who can provide you with guidance and clarity as you address both day-to-day and long-term challenges.

[like]

How Do You Continually Raise the Bar on Personal Performance? Five Points

Situation: A CEO is continually focusing on company performance to improve results and efficiency. At the same time, she wants to assure that she is always raising the bar on her own performance as an example to both management and employees. What advice do you have for this CEO? How do you continually raise the bar on personal performance?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Take a lesson from Marcus Buckingham’s book – Now Discover Your Strengths. The Gallup Organization is a leader in social science research on performance. Rule #1 is to focus on improving and sharpening strengths, not on overcoming or improving areas that are not so strong.
    • Look for ways that your strengths complement each other and build on these combinations. This will naturally raise performance and will also bring greater satisfaction.
  • Build personal objectives that will help to sharpen your strengths.
  • Conversely, develop work-arounds for those areas which are not as strong. Look for talent among the others in the organization that address areas where you are not as strong.
    • Have them assist you in work pertaining to these areas.
    • They will enjoy this work because it complements their strengths, and the company will gain the results that are needed. It also allows them to excel in areas where they are the strongest.
  • Take time to reflect and to recharge your batteries. Check your direction and make sure that you are heading in a direction that compliments your long-term goals.
    • Make sure that you are focusing on the right priorities for YOU.
  • Find a mentor – in or outside of your industry. Someone with experience who can provide you with guidance and clarity as you address both day-to-day and long-term challenges.

How Do You Address Employee Departures? Four Points

Situation: A CEO is concerned that three members of the R&D Team recently left the company. All were in their late 20s and were close. All three cited receiving better offers from another company. They have been replaced by what the company considers better talent. The CEO is concerned about the impact of this turnover on company morale and performance. How do you address employee departures?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • In working with Gen Y through Millennial employees, it may be necessary to adjust expectations in terms of employee loyalty, work ethic and longevity. Younger generations have a different perspective. Learn from this and adjust expectations accordingly.
  • Be frank with new employees up front. Plan their career progression out 36 to 48 months, and during this time give them great training. If they are interested in the company and career progression beyond this, discuss options with them.
  • Use outside resources to do a 2–3-month post-op on the three who left, as well as to help monitor employee attitudes on an ongoing basis.
    • The outside resource can conduct interviews by telephone, on a confidential basis, to assess the reasons why the employees left once emotions have died down. This resource should only provide summaries of the interviews without identifying which past employee said what. This will prompt them to be frank about their feedback. This can yield valuable lessons.
    • Similarly, use an outside resource to conduct confidential telephone interviews with random current employees on a periodic basis. Let employees know that they will be contacted by an outside agency on a random basis, and that their responses will be confidential. The purpose is to better respond to employee needs in the work environment. This will help to assess whether the departures were an extraordinary event or whether they are an early warning of more systemic challenges within the workforce.
  • The increased salary requests of those who left may be symptomatic of a “boom and bust” economy.
    • When things are heating up, and through an employment peak, there is increased pressure to raise wages, accompanies by increased turnover among employees who believe that they can make more elsewhere.
    • Most companies who are able to survive successive boom and bust cycles do not respond to the wage pressure, knowing that each boom is followed by a bust. Those who inflate their wages to keep up often end up dying during the bust.

[like]

How Do You Develop the Next Level of Leadership? Two Points

Situation: A CEO finds that it is time to develop the next level of management and leadership to support the company’s planned growth. She has received input from several sources but is curious as to how other CEOs have taken their staff to the next level. How do you develop the next level of leadership?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Consider as an example how a law firm typically grooms and grows new partners:
    • Give them an area of responsibility.
    • Provide targets (expectations and metrics) and give them the opportunity to produce results.
    • Put the highest performers on track for promotion.
    • As is the case in a law firm, the candidates for management and leadership for will be a combination of rainmakers and the best talent in critical performance areas.
  • What should be budgeted for professional growth and development?
    • One example – provide up to 10% of hours per week for an individual who shows a true desire to improve their skills. Watch how the individual performs, but make sure that there is a measurable return before continuing this beyond a certain point.
    • Another alternative: let the candidate decide by matching 50% of what they are willing to spend on training and education. Require proof of completion of the course and likely an acceptable grade average if the training is academic and reimburse after the fact.
    • Ask the candidate to demonstrate the ROI for the training for which was reimbursed 50% before agreeing to continue to support additional education. Let them develop the calculation but insist on final review and approval of their analysis before continuing to fund additional education.

[like]

How Do You Build International Sales? Five Observations

Situation: A CEO wants to create new markets outside the US. They have investigated options and locations and are starting to plan. One question is how long it will take to start seeing results, so that they budget accordingly. How do you build international sales?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Decision timelines internationally are longer than they are in the US. For example, in Europe timelines are easily twice as long. This means that new entrants must budget for a sustained effort.
    • It took another company three years to develop traction in Europe. They have an office in Germany, but most new sales are coming from Eastern Europe. After three years their European operation is now break-even.
  • International markets, especially in Europe, can be very conservative. Job security and maintaining cash flow are the focus.
    • Labor laws encourage companies to do things themselves rather than outsource. The result is that a new entrant will face competition from internal departments of potential prospects.
  • In European the emphasis is not growth, but on conservative steady operation. Growth tends to come from acquisition.
    • Sales pitches should be tweaked for international audiences. For example, highlight reduced need for additional personnel to manage the systems, fewer breakdowns and glitches, and the ability to count on seasoned outside expertise to quickly address complications.
  • Relationship selling is very important internationally. Sales and tech support are best provided, and in some cases required to be provided in the local language.
  • In Europe, Italy can be an important lever to sales with the right partner. Italian companies can be excellent at marketing and can jump-start European sales. This will be a very personal relationship.

[like]

How Do You Create an Incentive-based Compensation Plan? Seven Ideas

Situation: A CEO wants to build additional incentives into the company’s compensation plan. The objective is to add group incentives to the pay mix – to focus more attention on group performance rather than just company goals. How do you create an incentive-based compensation plan?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The best policy is to be upfront, open, and transparent as the plan is presented.
  • Communication is the key to success, including the following bullet points:
    • Pay starts at a base which is 75th percentile – a generous base in our industry.
    • Group bonuses, which reflect the results of the group’s efforts, allow you allow to reach the 90th percentile or higher.
    • On top of this, profit sharing enables the addition of 10-20% of your base.
    • Altogether, management thinks that this is a generous package. The difference from the old system is that employees will be rewarded for making decisions which will benefit the group as well as the company – and you will be generously rewarded for this.
  • Once plans are communicated to employees 1-on-1, reinforce the message with a group presentation and open discussion at monthly company meetings.
  • Consider: significant changes in compensation may be best taken in small rather than large increments. Start with small incremental adjustments. If these are effective proceed to larger increments on a planned and open schedule. This is particularly true if the historic culture has been that we all win or lose together.
  • A downside of rewarding by team is that some will get rewarded for producing minimal results. Consider some percentage of discretionary payments to recognize and reward effort instead of pure parity within the team.
  • Consider longer-term results within the payment scheme – not just quarterly results.
  • People need to know that they are accountable. Let them know that a 75% base is reasonable but that the significant rewards will be for producing results above this level.

[like]