Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Qualifier Sales Skill Set: One of 4 Sales Skills Sets to Master to Close Sales in Any Economy

The Qualifier Sales Skill set is one of four sales skill sets one must master to be able to sell in any economic circumstance. The other three sales skill sets are; Hunter, Closer and Consultative Seller. Each sales skill set is made up of various competencies. In some instances these competencies will carry over from ones sales skill set to another. For instance, the competency titled "Need for Approval" can be found in the Hunter, Closer and the Qualifier sales skill sets. The interesting thing is how this competency will manifest itself in these various sales skill sets. For instance in the Closer Sales Skill Set it is described as, "the sales person is not looking to liked." In the Consultative Seller Sales Skill Set it is described as, "the sales person won't have trouble asking tough questions." For the Qualifier Sales Skill Set it is described as, "the sales person doesn't let being liked get in the way."

Let us explore how a sales leader can put together a sales growth and coaching game plan that will allow their sales person to master the attributes in the Qualifier Sales Skill Set. This game plan will have three elements to it, activity, sales methodology and sales person mindset. The game plan is designed to work on all three elements each week for repetition in order to develop winning habits. There are 10 individual competencies to master under the Qualifier Sales Skill Set. As part of the activity portion of the game plan the sales person should master at least 65% of the competencies in each of the four sales skill set categories. Begin with improving the Need for Approval competency. Since it crosses into two other sales skill sets the participant takes advantage of leverage and priority. Make sure to not work on more than two sales skills at a time. Wait until parties; the sales leader and sales person agree at least one sales skill is mastered before choosing another to work on.

Next assess each sales person's sales skills sets in the four areas objectively. Most of our clients will use the Impact Analysis Report from Objective Management Group to accomplish this exercise. If you cannot use an objective measure then start with a subjective measurement. Subjectively your player's sales skill such as "Does not let being liked get in the way," is rated on a seven point scale by both the sales leader and sales person from poor to marginal to mastered. After each party has rated their subjective measurement of the sales competency a discussion of any differences between the sales person and sales leader takes place. After an agreement on the rating and the gap needed to master the sales skill set is agreed to by each participant the action items will be assigned.

Action items become the process to building a specific sales skill improvement plan. A sales leader can design their plan or use our exclusive proven Professional Development blended learning process. If one chooses to use their plan start by isolating the behaviors to improve and make sure the salesperson has input in the action plans. For improving need for approval master the following behaviors; will ask tough questions, will go for a no, will bring things to closure, will not accept weasel words/statements, will confront respectfully, makes sure to set up great rules for engagement, and deploy a winning strategy for dealing with stalls and put offs.

The sales person will improve execution of the sales methodology because each week they are working on tracking and executing outreaches, improving their mindset and improving specific behaviors related to a competency. These are items they can control. At some point in time perhaps after joint sales calls and discussion the sales person and sales leader can re rate the behavior and agree that the competency worked on is mastered and then choose another behavior to work on.

Need for Approval is only one of ten Qualifier Set Skills to work on provided none of the ten are mastered. Here is a list of the other nine; uncovers actual budget, meets with decision maker, knows the compelling reason to buy, knows the decision making process, ask about everything, will discuss finances, handles high-ticket pricing ok, able to stay in the moment, self limiting believes will not be an obstacle. Some may view this as a tedious effort at perfect execution of a sales methodology. Others won't spend the time to hold their team accountable and the plan will disintegrate. That is precisely why one must do this. This is what will differentiate the ordinary from the extraordinary and in tough economic times it is the extraordinary sales teams that always prosper.


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Contact us today at http://www.gulasgroup.com to discuss how we can build a winning sales game plan based on a valid objective assessment of your sales team. next we marry the assessment results with a customized sales improvement plan that you can use to hold the sales team accountable to for extraordinary results. Take action today, do not be risk averse.


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