11/12/2013 2:44:00 PM
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PERSPECTIVE – Training Salespeople: Belief Creates Behavior

“We always.”

“We can’t.”

“We don’t.”

Those are phrases that can make it more difficult for a company trying to change behavior.

“Belief creates behavior,” consultant Ann marie Houghtailing told a Pacific-West Fastener Association conference.

“What you ‘think’ creates belief. What you ‘do’ is behavior. What happens becomes ‘fact’,” Houghtailing told the session on “Creating a Sales Process for Your Fastener Business.”

Therefore, “Start questioning beliefs,” Houghtailing counseled.

For example, a sales staff may start believing that a particular customer “always chooses cheapest.”

If a sales person accepts such thought, “they are truly working for your competitor.”

Emphasize to the sales staff “what differentiates us” as a company, Houghtailing urged.

Develop a sales plan, which is defined, transferable and replicable.

Salespeople need to tell potential customers “what differentiates us.”

Citing the case of the 64-year-old woman swimming from Cuba to Florida, Houghtailing said “brains can override the body.”

Set meaningful goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely.”

• Provide some form of reward. “Nothing will change if there is no motive.”

• Include both the “Old Guard” and the “New Guard” in sales strategy and training. “You need legacy and successors. Both need to be at the table.”

There is value both in “legacy” and the newer “technology.”

• “Identify one change at a time, not 50,” Houghtailing advised. “If you try too many changes at one time, too many people will shut down.”

• Training a salesperson begins from the first “hello” to the customer.

“Replace her or train her,” Houghtailing said at the Pac-West conference in conjunction with the National Fastener & Mill Supply Expo. “Remember, turnover is expensive.”

• “Look at who is converting prospects to customers.”

“If you aren’t getting the order, you are doing something wrong.” It is important to have a process.

• “Family businesses must bring someone in from the outside” for training and setting goals.

• The sales strategy must include “measurable feedback.”

“Get the goals up on the wall. Track the result of prospecting plans.”

Potential customers frequently are contacted only twice. Houghtailing said there should be eight “touch points.” But each of those needs to sound new. “It doesn’t work if it sounds like stalking.”

• “Listen more. Talk less.”

The ultimate goal of management in training sales staff is making the salespeople successful on their own.

“Obsolescence of you is the goal of leadership,” Houghtailing said.

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