Industry Magazine Get JACK'D Magazine Fall 2017 | Page 25

NO SALES, NO COMPANY:
Top Sales Trainer Offers Tips For Sales Success
BY: ROLA TASSABEHJI
WHILE there are many elements to having a successful company,
a thriving sales department is one of the most important in order to
grow top-line revenue, engage with the target market, and build a
fast-growing business.
Jeff Shavitz (YPO Miami/Ft. Lauderdale), a CEO since 1992 who
describes himself as “a salesman at his core,” recently co-authored
a book with Jack Daly, considered one of the top sales trainers in
the world and a regular YPO speaker resource. In Sales Success
AHAs, Shavitz shares his thoughts on sales as a function of attitude,
and how to optimize the sales process. Using his range of business
experiences, from corporate America at Lehman Brothers to
entrepreneurship ventures founding several payment processing
companies (with hundreds of salespeople), Shavitz offers up five of
the 140 insights found in the book that he points to as most relevant
for YPO chief executives:
Sales Is a Critical Skill Set for Everyone
“As the CEO of my company,” says Shavitz, “I, of course, love sales.
I respect salespeople and sales managers. And without sales, there
is no revenue. With no revenue, there is eventually no company.” He
adds that, depending on the scale of a company, everyone should go
through sales training.
In particular, the business leader must be involved in the sales
process or at least understand it, “arming the organization with the
skills or a ‘sales playbook’ to be successful,” Shavitz says. He also
emphasizes that far from being something you are born with, sales is
a real skill, just like any other business discipline.
Different Roles, Same Team
While business leaders should keep a close pulse on sales, Shavitz
believes the CEO’s job is not to grow sales but more importantly, to
grow people. “A sales manager and a salesperson have very different
jobs—most people are not great at both,” he says. “Too many
salespeople think they can be sales managers, and many managers
also want to be chief executives, but it doesn’t always work that way.”
Shavitz believes that it is the job of the chief executive to place the
person with the right skills in the right role within the organization.
“Some make the jump,” he notes. “But many people enjoy selling
versus managing. A highly effective sales manager wants to serve as
coach, confidant, therapist, and friend to help solve the salesperson’s
issues and help deliver success.”
Sales Recruiting Is a Proactive Process
Recruiting for new salespeople must be a continuous process.
“Recruitment should be a proactive process. There is no guarantee
that salespeople will stay,” says Shavitz, adding that business
leaders should simultaneously offer frequent sales training sessions
coupled with the right corporate culture to provide salespeople with
a meaningful connection to the organization.
The Power of Motivation
“Many CEOs don’t spend ample time on compensation programs for
their sales teams,” warns Shavitz. “Money, while probably the major
driver for a compensation program, is not the only driver. As the chief
executive, you must understand the psychology of your people.” Shavitz
says that nowadays, rewards come in many forms: “Millennials have
different needs than a single parent or an elderly salesperson. Maybe
it’s a paid day off, or a cruise, or a contribution to a meaningful cause
identified by your salesperson.”
And the written thank-you note is a lost art, according to Shavitz. This
personalized card, which only takes seconds to write, can have a powerful
lifetime effect on the salesperson who sends such cards.
Shavitz also believes that the time between annual reviews is often
too long. He recommends that chief executives and managers not wait
for 12 months to have a conversation on performance the week before
Christmas just to get the bonus checks ready. Depending on the size of the
company, the aim of every leader should be to do a “progress review,” not a
formal annual performance review, around 15 to 30 minutes every month
or at least every quarter.
Authentic Relationships Count
Shavitz acknowledges that some salespeople are too “sales-y” and
focus only on the transaction at hand:
Chief executives have to be authentic with their sales personnel. If you
have an authentic relationship with a prospect, it does not go away. In turn,
your salesperson must develop an authentic relationship with prospects
and clients. Our model is to give, give, give. Then, only on the fourth time,
sell. This helps create a deeper and more authentic relationship with your
customer. A successful corporate culture understands that a relationship
developed (and this takes time) differentiates you from a commoditized
salesperson that is only interested in the sale.
He recalls his experience as co-founder of Charge Card Systems, a
US credit card processing company that helps merchants with their
processing requirements. Within 15 years, the company grew to more
than 500 sales agents with three regional offices.
“While we sold an incredibly competitive product, we developed
strategies to turn the sales process from purely a ‘rate question’ into a
‘relationship sale’ and ‘valued-added services sale.’ Regardless of your
industry, selling rate alone is a race to zero,” says Shavitz. “We sold a
commoditized service, but we succeeded because we connected with
the business owners on a different level, highlighting how we can improve
bottom-line profitability for the business.”
And finally, Shavitz stresses the importance of the experience
between customer and salesperson to closing the deal: “Customers would
rather buy a good product from an extraordinary salesperson than a great
product from a horrible salesperson.”
YPO members can receive a free PDF copy of Sales Success AHAs by visiting www.jeffshavitz.com/ypo.
25 25