How does the saying go… “when the going gets tough, the tough get
going”. Well the going is about to get a whole lot tougher and only
those organisations who have the bravest, boldest and determined
management and employees will survive and hopefully thrive. Whenever
there is a market shake-out, opportunity opens its door.
To harness the skills for growth in your business during an economic
slow down requires a delicate mix of financial and human resources.
We have identified the following sales skills for growth which are
highly relevant in our current business climate. This is all about sales
effectiveness and is the foundation of success to growing your sales
business.
Sales confidence: projecting an air of confidence when dealing with others and portraying outstanding capabilities and talents
Sales drive: showing drive and enthusiasm, seeming hungry for success, propelling oneself to meet tough targets
Sales resilience: is full of optimism and very resilient, persevering
in the toughest of situations. Is able to relate to clients or
prospects
Adaptability: identifies and adapts the most appropriate style to
maximise success in sales situations. Is able to relate to clients or
prospects
Listening: listens sympathetically to others and vigilantly observes and interprets people behaviour
Embracing change: ability to quickly adapt to dramatic and continued
changes in the workplace or environment or changes in the way things are
done
You could try and use interview questions to identify the level of
these skills, but it would require a lot of thinking and preparation. It
is much more efficient to carry out an online sales assessment which
highlights the relative strengths of these personality traits in the
sales person and to then question around them during a formal interview.
These behavioural skills are important in all market conditions, but
especially critical when the market sector you are in is slow and
opportunities are tight. It is therefore vital to include these in any
exercise to recruit sales people. In order to harness the depth of
experience in good candidates, you have to continually appraise what
works and what doesnt. Its no use taking a highly successful internal
sales peson and pushing them out on the road and vice versa with a
successful external person. Generally, people have been successful in
one particular area of sales because they fit that environment, so dont
go changing for the sake of changing. A growing business needs skills
and people who are happy delivering those skills.
Alan Watson is an experienced Headhunter who works in Aberdeen,
Scotland. He offers a unique online sales assessment developed by SHL,
the worlds largest provider of validated psychometric tools. This
combined with an information packed blog on how to improve your sales
using simple methods, provides a valuable resource to those wanting to
increase sales. Click here to read more http://www.simplesalesimprovement.com
