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by Wilfred E. Calmas, MBA, Ph.D., President
Calmas Associates (click on Calmas Associates to go to web page)
82 Marlborough Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 277-9244 and FAX: (617) 277-2021
Dr. Calmas (he prefers Will) is available for personal coaching by telephone--call anytime to schedule your own private coaching sessions.
When sales managers and salespeople are asked: if a person is committed to improve his or her tennis or golf performance, what is the major thing that must be done to improve performance? A survey of 100 people produced 90 incorrect responses--practice. If you practice without instructions, you make the same mistakes over and over again and therefore, produce no improvement. The correct response is to use a coach who will watch your behavior, point out what needs changing, and provide instructions for producing improvement. Then the person practices and returns to the coach for further instructions. When a person is committed to improve, you can predict with a high degree of certainty that the person will achieve the desired results. Sales professionals who adhere to the sports model, i.e., accept coaching, will increase their sales performance dramatically. An increment of performance in any endeavor is the direct result of coaching (instruction) interacting with practice. This is a law of human behavior.
What are the most efficient methods for increasing salesforce productivity and decreasing sales force turnover? The sports model makes the most sense because coaching the "coachable" salespeople is the critical factor for accomplishing the two major sales management goals: increased productivity and decreased turnover.
Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys
Tom Landry, the former Dallas Cowboy football coach, states that his primary challenge is to get all his football players to do what they don't want to do but must do to win football games.
After five dismal losing football seasons, Coach Landry wrote a letter to his players prior to summer training camp and stated the following principles:
- You must have a clear-cut objective, which is the real championship.
- You must recognize every resistance that will prevent you from reaching your objective. We could immediately list 14 resistances that stand between us and our objective, because this represents the 14 teams that we must face this fall.
- You must have a plan of action that will overcome the resistance.
Are Coach Landrys principles applicable to the sales professional? The answer is definitely yes. Each salesperson must establish sales goals which are realistic, must use a sales coach who identifies the resistances which interfere with achieving the sales goal and must follow the sales coachs plan for resolving the resistances.
Gerard OShea, Sales Consultant
Gerard OShea recommends discovering the key habits of the best salespeople and then teaching the habits to the average salesperson. Of course, one needs to teach but that doesn't address the major problem80% of sales are transacted by 20% of the salesforce. This means that an overwhelming majority of salespeople do not engage in behaviors that they hate.
Jon Boyd, Director of Marketing and Development, Prudential
Jon Boyd states that the majority resist implementing what they have learned. Instead they engage in a selling method that fits their personality. They are unable to follow the selling instructions which have a proven track record because those selling activities induce fears and anxieties.
Sales managers who learn to wear the coach's hat develop individualized coaching styles to resolve each salesperson's resistances which limit their degree of success. The coach must help the salesperson to engage in uncomfortable behavior until that behavior becomes comfortable through practice. It is normal for salespeople to avoid behaviors which make them feel uncomfortable--but it is the coach's responsibility to help the salesperson develop new, comfortable behaviors that lead to more sales successes.
The following vignettes demonstrate the comfortable/uncomfortable concept. A general life insurance agent asked his staff of forty life agents: "Do you ask for referrals on a consistent basis?" Only one agent raised his hand. Every hour spent asking for referrals is the quintessential method for becoming more successful. Why did the thirty-nine agents resist asking for referrals. The answer is simpleasking for a referral makes them feel uncomfortable so they dont ask and therefore, avoid engaging in painful behavior.
The following vignettes demonstrate the comfortable/uncomfortable concept. A general life insurance agent asked his staff of forty life agents: "Do you ask for referrals on a consistent basis?" Only one agent raised his hand. Every hour spent asking for referrals is the quintessential method for becoming more successful. Why did the thirty-nine agents resist asking for referrals. The answer is simpleasking for a referral makes them feel uncomfortable so they dont ask and therefore, avoid engaging in painful behavior.
John Madden, Coach, Commentator, Sports Enthusiast
John Madden, an outstanding athlete, football coach and sports announcer, is fearful of flying. In Maddens case, running from the feared object doesnt interfere with his degree of success because he rides in his own million dollar bus which makes him feel comfortable. At the present time he is against having a coach help him feel comfortable flying. In the majority of cases avoidance of specific behavioral patterns interferes with success to a significant degree.
The concept of coaching is alien to many successful executives. When an executive of the now merged E. F. Hutton company learned of this coaching concept, he emphatically was against it and stated "Im not in the business of counseling and/or coaching my sales staff, I need to improve my hiring procedures." He claimed that once he refined his selection process he would only hire self-starters, highly motivated, very independent financial consultants. Apparently, he was unaware that there is a very, very small pool of people who have these character traits and consequently there was no way to improve his testing and hiring techniques.
The people who have the intellect to learn the products, have the desire to enter the selling profession and want to be very successful need to possess only one major trait namely, to perceive themselves an "athlete" who welcomes coaching to reach their sales potential.
The equation for increasing performance is coaching interacting with practice. Many salespeople are opposed to this formula and verbalize the reason: If I hire a coach, I will feel like a wimp. I need to do it by myself. These salespeople never reach their sales potential. The very essence of the formula is the commitment to improve performance, whether it be golf, bridge, tennis, singing, piano, etc. The next step is to hire the "right" coach who has the skill to resolve the resistances which prevent achieving greater success. If an individual is committed to improve and fails, then the coach is not right for that person. There are exceptions.
A life insurance agent failed to improve after 14 weeks of coaching. The coach repeatedly said that he was confused as to why no progress was being made. In the fifteenth session the agent reported that for the past five months he was experiencing considerable stress. He made a decision not to reveal his secret. He was separating from his wife after his daughters wedding. During this period he had very little energy for selling. This case demonstrates no commitment; and therefore, no improvement.
In another case only small gains were made. After several months, the coach was able to gain the trust of the salesman who finally revealed that he was in serious debt and was considering filing for personal bankruptcy.
He was embarrassed to talk about being three months in arrears on his mortgage, After a discussion about all the options available, he felt significantly better and his sales production increased from the fifth quintile to the first quintile.
Many businesses in America today are less profitable than they could be because their salespeople are not performing efficiently in the marketplace. Businesses are spending more time and effort than ever before on sales training, Why isnt corporate America achieving the desired results? Focusing on sales training programs without coaching programs leads to high turnover and low productivity. Nearly all companies with a product to sell conduct training centered aound product awareness. Some take training a step further, matching product lines with sophisticated customer profiles and presentation strategies. Whats wrong with this approach? Absolutely nothing! Any advice that will help salespeople clinch the deal is useful. But, the most important components of any sales training program are often overlooked, i.e., coaching and the salesperson's personality.
Jeff Thull, P.R.I.M.E. Resource Group
The current lot of sales trainers focus on the word "HOW", For example Jeff Thull, renowned management consultant and founder of the P.R.I.M.E. Resource Group gives seminars which teach you how to:
- Get the "inside" straight information you need to be effective
- Develop and fortify "competitor proof" relationship
- Get your entire team talking the same language to your customers
- Spot weak points in your plan and how to correct them
- Manage the decision process
- Replace awkwardness and frustration with confidence
- Attain the ultimate in credibility with your customers.
After the salesperson learns these "how to" tasks, how come their production increases very slowly and sometimes not at all? The salesperson experiences feelings of uncomfortableness when (s)he attempts to behave in the manner taught to them in the "HOW TO" seminars. Each individual needs to identify their own internal resistances and then embark on a program which will lead to resolution.
Resistance
What is a resistance? A resistance is anything and everything which prevent the salesperson from becoming more successful. It is nearly impossible for individuals to overcome their resistances by themselves. self. Listening to gurus, tapes, reading books and watching others will not resolve resistances. How can a salespersons resistances be resolved? Talking.
A study of 360,000 people published in the Harvard Business Review found that the most important factor in predicting job success is: How well a person fits the job. The study concluded that personality traits are the controlling factors in determining whether a person will be successful in a particular job, provided all other things are equal. To benefit from this knowledge the personality traits needed for finding success in a particular job must be identified and the personality traits of the job applicant must be compared to determine how well the personality fits a jobs requirements. For sales people their are certain personality traits that are helpful in overcoming rejection and accepting coaching.
The Prevue Assessment from Gately Consulting is an assessment that is available to help sales managers hire the coachable or hire the prototypical salesperson extremely independent, assertive and competitive
Talking--the Key to the Sports Coaching Model and Resolving Resistances
Most sales professionals have the intelligence and talent to achieve high financial goals. Many, however, have developed internal resistances which prevent them from achieving their stated sales goals. Therefore, corporations need to establish a creative support system designed to resolve the salespersons resistances which will be considerably less costly than having a low retention rate.
The quintessence of the system is simple and complex. Simple because it involves one word: "Talk". Complex because most persons have been trained to talk only when spoken to.
The cases presented in this paper demonstrate the difficulty of talking to a coach. By creating a safe environment, the sales manager or coach will be successful in getting the sales staff to talk for the sole purpose of resolving the resistances which prevent achieving greater success. This "Talking Coaching Model" will increase salesforce productivity, decrease staff turnover, and improve the bottom line.