Do we want people who "can" or people who "do"

This will be a short blog as both Fred and I should have been on holiday this week, the good news is that we have been very busy so holidays have been put on hold in order to focus on our clients. The even better news is that this has given me the opportunity to use my new iPad to write this blog. I have only had my iPad 2 weeks and I am just coming to the important decision, toy or useful business accessory. I will let you know in a few weeks.

During the last week we have had a number of conversations with companies on the subject of assessments. They can be neatly broken down into the following issue. What do we want to know, do we identify those people who have the attributes to be a sales person or those people who are selling well.

What is interesting is that the answer depends on who we are talking to. If the lead is HR then they start with the attribute question, "do we have people we can invest our training in who will become world class sales people?" If, on the other hand, we are speaking to the Sales Director, there is a far more pragmatic question, "are my people able to sell in the way I wish and if there are gaps how do I coach the people to improve?"

Attribute or approach
There is not necessarily a right answer, they are both useful. The key question is what are you trying to find out? Here at Accredit we believe that we come from the pragmatic end of the scale. If you have a sales team in place you need to find out what you must do to maximize their performance. This requires an assessment of how they are actually selling and then building a program to address the identified issues (which could of course be environmental or poor messaging). If on the other hand you are looking to overhaul your sales organization a review of their attributes is a valid exercise.

Avoid letting attribute over-ride the doing
Our experience shows that a well motivated team of people who are selling well will always outperform a team of people who have the attributes but are not motivated. Strong and clear leadership is of course essential. The pragmatic approach not only identifies how people sell, but it reveals the state of leadership, especially by showing what they focus on and why.

Warm bodies are still better than no bodies
The other issue we have come across of late is the fact that many of the organizations who are heavily focussing on attribute assessment are linking this to a re-evaluation of their sales organization, a polite way of saying have we got the right people and if not how do we "lose" them. What they often forget is that you still need people to talk to customers and an average sales person talking to 10 customers will always deliver more revenue than no sales person talking to those customers. Again pragmatism must rule, all assessments must be undertaken in association with the strategic objective of the company, the revenue target. It is not purely an HR issue, it is a sales issue.

What do we recommend?
Accredit is recognized for it's pragmatic approach to sales enablement, as such we will always start by focussing on the "can they do?" elements. However, when it comes to recruitment and also talent management we recognize the value of attributes. In fact we do partner with an assessment company who focus on this type of assessment. The difference is that we recommend this approach on a target audience as opposed to the whole sales community. It is also worth highlighting that if you are relying on self assessment for attributes, a key attribute of a successful sales person is confidence, therefore they will exaggerate their abilities!

Do you want to know more?

Either read our "Helping business drive sales" document or contact either Mark Savinson orFred Nelson and let Accredit help to enable your sales organisation to maximise the opportunities your portfolio creates.