The fifteen questions listed in this chapter do not identify every possible factor that management should analyze as they consider the desired attributes, personality preferences and sales styles for their sales team members. However, the process of reviewing these questions usually sparks additional thoughts concerning desired salesperson characteristics. At minimum, if management develops carefully considered answers for these questions, they will be more consciously aware of the requirements for their sales position(s) than they were previously.
Nature of the Customer: What are your target markets? Are they horizontal or vertical? Do you sell to consumers, corporations, schools, state and local governments, etc.? What level(s) in the organization do you sell to? (Examples include Purchasing, Business Unit Manager, C-Level Executive, etc.)
Target markets drive numerous selling parameters, including the typical sales cycle length, prime selling seasons, and specific knowledge or experience that may be required to earn credibility with prospects and customers. Selling effectively to C-level executives (CEO, CFO, CIO, etc.) and other high-ranking officials definitely requires different attributes and skills than selling to purchasing agents.
Nature of the Offering: Is the offering complex or relatively simple? Is it tangible or intangible? Does it consist of a single product or service, or a combination of products and services? Does the company have a small portfolio of offerings or a large portfolio of offerings?
The nature of the offering(s) will impact key parameters, such as Sales Style, and the desirability of selected attributes, such as Reasoning Ability.
Sales Environment: What kind of environment do the salespeople work in? Are they office-based or home based? Is most of their selling done over the phone or in person?
Salespeople that work from a home office typically require more strength in the attributes of Energy and Independence than office-based salespeople. Office-based salespeople can usually expect to receive more frequent direction and support from a sales manager.
Geography: How many sales locations does your company have? Where are they located?
Different sales approaches are often required to be successful in vastly different locales such as downtown Manhattan, Baton Rouge, and Los Angeles.
Sales Style: Which sales style(s) are most effective in your target markets?
- Consultative
- Relationship
- Display
- Hard Closer
The nature of the customer and the complexity of the offering(s) should be considered when answering this question.
Relationship Preference: Is your company more concerned about:
Finding new customers (Hunter)
Increasing account penetration and managing long-term relationships (Farmer)
Both (Hybrid); if “Both”, please determine desired percentages for Hunter vs. Farmer
Does your company wish to prioritize seeking new business or deepening account penetration? Or, is it important for your salespeople to accomplish some of both? As we learned in Chapter 4, it is rare for a salesperson to be completely ambivalent about Hunting vs. Farming. Usually they prefer one type of relationship to the other. If a company truly wants to accomplish both new business and account penetration sales goals, it might consider staffing separate Hunter and Farmer sales positions.
Sales Cycle Length: How often do salespeople have opportunities to present and persuade (close sales)? Several per day? Several per month? Several per year?
If a salesperson receives gratification from persuading and presenting, he or she won’t be happy in a role that offers just a handful of opportunities per year to exercise these talents. A salesperson with a strong Sales Drive is often better suited to selling offerings that have shorter sales cycles and higher volumes of opportunities. The converse is also true. A salesperson who lacks a strong Sales Drive may be better suited to longer, more complex sales cycles.
Prospecting: Do prospects come to the salesperson, or must the salesperson seek them out? If “Both”, estimate a percentage for each.
If a sales position requires a lot of prospecting, the salesperson should have a strong Sales Drive, high Emotional Toughness (they will receive a lot of rejection), a positive Attitude, and high Energy.
Administration: Which job-related functions require attention to detail? Examples include making accurate forecasts, providing timely updates to the corporate CRM system, analyzing customer records to determine sales strategies, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Some companies have support personnel who perform administrative tasks on their salespeople’s behalf. Other companies expect their salespeople to deal with a certain amount of administration. If a tolerance for process, detail and administration is necessary, some amount of Tolerance for Administration is desirable.
Communication: How important are verbal and written communication skills to sales success? Are the salespeople required to make presentations? Are they required to compose letters or proposals?
Roles that rely heavily on high quality verbal and written communications require salespeople with healthy doses of the attributes Communication Skills and Reasoning Ability.
Pre-Sales Support: What support resources are available help salespeople manage specific steps of the sales cycle? How effective must the salesperson be at resource management?
The availability of support resources has a significant impact on the attributes required for sales success. For example, if a salesperson has access to quality internal (employed by their company) or external (employed by suppliers or partners) technical resources, they don’t need to invest a lot of time learning technical details. This frees them to focus more time and energy on prospecting and opportunity qualification. Also, if companies employ technical writers who can assist salespeople with large proposals and bid responses, there may be less need for the salespeople to have strong Communication Skills.
Post-Sales Support: Is the salesperson expected to provide technical or operational support to customers, or do other personnel provide this support?
If a salesperson is required to deliver post-sales support, it might be desirable for them to have a lower Sales Drive, be less Competitive, and have a higher Service Drive.
Training: What kinds of training does your company provide to salespeople? How much training does your company provide?
Companies that provide a lot of training may have the luxury of being able to hire inexperienced sales candidates and “train them up from scratch”. This is extremely valuable in markets where highly qualified sales candidates are scarce and/or prohibitively expensive. However, if a company is going to follow this approach, it should seek candidates with strong Learning Rates.
Sales Manager’s Style: What is the sales manager’s style? Are they more of a Field General or an Administrator?
The desired levels of the attributes Sales Drive, Service Drive, Assertiveness, Competitiveness, Independence and Tolerance for Administration will differ based upon the sales manager’s style. See The Impact of Sales Manager Style for further explanation.
Career Path: What is the career path for the sales position? From small ticket item sales to big ticket item sales? From sales to management?
If a company expects to use its sales team as a source of candidates for other positions, it should consider whether salespeople and sales candidates have the attributes required to be successful in the other positions. Most small ticket item sales cycles are shorter than big ticket item sales cycles. Per Question #7, the desired amount of Sales Drive will differ based upon the frequency of opportunities for presentation and persuasion. A successful salesperson in small ticket item sales will probably have a strong Sales Drive. Will they become frustrated by the reduction in opportunities to present and persuade that could result from a “promotion” to big ticket item sales?
Similarly, the attributes required to be an effective manager are often quite different from the attributes required to be an effective salesperson. Success in management frequently requires more attention to detail and the willingness to delegate and mentor. These requirements impact the target ranges for the attributes Sales Drive, Service Drive, Assertiveness, Competitiveness, Independence and Tolerance for Administration.