TEST MEASURES 13 SKILLS FOR SALESPEOPLE

Furniture World Magazine

Do you avoid walking under ladders, never allow a black cat to cross your path, and stay home on Friday the thirteenth? In fact, do you avoid the number thirteen as if it were a raging epidemic? Could thirteen ever become your lucky number? It can if you're an employer and the job candidate you just hired knows the thirteen selling skills required to succeed in the sales profession. You're lucky because that employee knows how to make a sale. These thirteen skills were discovered by industrial psychologist Gregory M. Lousig-Nont Ph.D. in his search for common denominators among successful salespeople. "Sales tests of the past have focused on personality," says Dr. Lousig-Nont, president of Lousig-Nont & Associates, the Las Vegas based human resource consulting firm. "We found though, that like any profession, sales success is a matter of reaming the basics and becoming proficient at them. The reason so many people fail is either they don't have the skills or are not properly implementing what they know." When developing his sales skills test, the Sales Success Profile, Lousig-Nont surveyed over 1,200 businesses in search of the qualities that would enable a Salesperson to flourish in this field. Sales managers were asked what characteristics were important for a sales applicant to possess to become successful. One of the answers consistently given was "a good working knowledge of selling." Lousig-Nont inquired further to discover what a "good working knowledge" really meant. A consensus of opinion in 13 different areas eventually emerged from this research. Approach & Involvement: Salespeople need to know how to approach and involve a prospect in the buying process, building immediate rapport without alienating the customer. Overcoming Objections: Salespeople need to know how to handle and answer a prospect's objections and concerns. Closing Salespeople must know how to close or ask for the sale. This is an area managers felt was critical. Many salespeople do everything well but are not aggressive enough to ask for the sale. Polite/Courteous: It is also important for successful salespersons to balance their technique between being aggressive enough to ask for the sale and having a sense of when they might be pushing too hard and "fuming off" the buyer. Ethics: Truly professional salespeople recognize the importance of complete and total honesty in dealing with the prospect. Friendly/ Warm: Remarkable salespeople know how to ask questions that help to identify a prospect's needs and motivations for making a purchase. These salespersons present themselves as caring, warm, sensitive and friendly individuals who project that their primary concern is making sure their product or service meets the needs of their prospect. Making a commission is always secondary to customer satisfaction. Handling Problems: Salespersons must be able to handle customer problems and problem customers. They are always willing to listen, try to understand and act to find satisfactory solutions. Qualifying: Effective sellers know how to properly qualify prospects before the sales presentation. Prospecting/Cold Calls: They know how to prospect and cold call efficiently to find the buyers most likely to need their product. Presentations: They know the secrets of giving productive demonstrations and presentations that involve the customer in the product. Time Management: Good salespersons know how to manage their time to maximize their profit potential. Telephone Technique: They use the telephone effectively to arrange appointments and generate interest in their product. Call Enthusiasm: Winning sellers are enthusiastic about getting out and making sales contacts. They seek out appointments rather than avoid them. When a sales call doesn't go right they are able to rebound. They keep their spirits high, handle rejection well and try to look at negative things in a positive way. They recognize that selling is a game of percentages. Once Lousig-Nont identified these 13 selling skills he delved further. The reply, "I'd like to know if they can sell," was almost invariably followed by the comment, "...and I'd like to know how they stack up against other salespeople. If I have two hundred people apply, how do I decide which one is the best? What if all two hundred are lousy and the best one is just the best of the worst? What if the best one of the two hundred is no better than the worst salesperson I already have on my sales force? How can I determine that?" With this in mind Lousig-Nont developed the Sales Success Profile, a test that measures sales skills in the thirteen areas sales managers felt were important. The software also produces several confidential management reports that rank those people being evaluated against over 300,000 successful salespeople in the scoring data base. " It's like an IQ test for salespeople, " says Lousig-Nont. Lousig-Nont also asked "How do you usually find out if your applicant can sell?" The unanimous response was, "We hire them, give them a month or two, and see how they work out." The average turnover using this method was estimated at 320%. If you multiply that by the expense of training, it becomes extremely costly to use this method to hire salespeople. In view of the high turnover rate using the guess and pray approach, it might be wise to look for applicants who already possess the thirteen selling skills necessary to excel in sales. That magic thirteen may create the stimulus you need to increase company profits and at the same time make thirteen the luckiest number you've ever encountered as an employer. Lousig-Nont and Associates has compiled a free report entitled your sales destiny: success or burnout, 8 questions give you the clues. It is available a t no charge by calling their toll free number, 1-800-477-3211. E-mail: helen-robinson@usa.net