The KSA Effect – Part III
To finish our three-part series on what KSA stands for, this issue we’re looking at Attitudes and within these, the effects different behaviours can have in the workplace.
It’s an important time of year in the hometown of KSA, Henley-on-Thames, where a colourful array of lycra-clad giants are currently descending upon the town from all corners of the globe to compete in the iconic Henley Royal Regatta.
What does this have to do with attitudes and sales development? Well, sports and sales have a lot in common; they both require preparation, determination and an appropriate mind-set, and ultimately, success is directly attributed to the quality and amount of attention paid to these as a combined unit.
Goals can be different, whether it’s a win at Henley Royal or beating sales targets! However, where the knowledge and skills required to achieve these may differ, the attitude necessary is very much the same. Attitude is one of, if not the key ingredient to success.
‘Attitude is a magnet. What you think is what you get.’
Attitude is important and whilst many acknowledge this, we need to make sure we’re paying enough attention to actually getting it right!
Here’s an insight into the different attitudes our lead trainer, Steve Hanstock comes across in training…
In the Training Zone with KSA’s, Steve Hanstock:
What are the clues that let you know an individual is taking the right attitude away with them, that they’re going to make that change back in the workplace?
Steve: In contrast to the start of the day, silence is generally a sign of negative attitude at the end. Those who are silent, ignore you and walk straight out are those who you know aren’t interested in making any changes! On the other hand, a ‘thank you’, eye contact or smile are generally good signs of a positive change, the more overt will come up for a conversation as well. Interestingly, during the session, note-taking is often a good positive attitude indicator; you often see a bit of a light bulb moment and they start to scribble notes furiously, which is great.
Tip for Sales Managers:
After training, sit down with individuals to find out what they learnt and how they are going to use this in their role. Work with them to create a personal action plan and you will find out how you can support them in achieving this.
Sales Meeting Productivity Survey…the Results!
Results show the majority of sales professionals meeting monthly (42%) or quarterly (45%), where over 80% of responses show meetings focus on looking forward rather than backward.
From these figures, it is clear that sales meetings are consuming a valuable amount of salespeople’s time, time in which they could be selling.
63% said that between 10-50% of their sales meetings are spent looking back. Whilst it’s obviously important to be forward thinking, looking back can be of benefit too. Reflect on what works well, what doesn’t and ultimately, what can be learnt from this. So don’t neglect the value of learning from both positive and negative experiences.
Only 21% of our survey responses say 100% of the sales meeting actually warrants them being there and only 12.5% ranked meetings ‘very worthwhile’ on a scale of 1-10. Given the earlier statistics that demonstrate how valuable this time is to salespeople, these figures are not very encouraging. So, how can we improve the value and productivity of sales meetings?
Interestingly, 90% of our survey respondents said less than 50% of their sales meeting is spent developing skills. Perhaps skills development could therefore be something that you look at for your sales meetings?
Tips:
→ Have a clear objective for each sales meeting and keep this in mind.
→ Keep sure the time spent in the meeting productive; could you get things like statistics out in advance via internal communication for example?
→ Invite a guest speaker to your sales meeting
→ Ask a team member to present on a topic of their choice
→ Challenge one of your salespeople to give a presentation which sells your competition
→ Delegate the organisation of the next sales meeting to one of the team
→ Don’t use AOB! It can’t be that important if it’s being discussed at the end of the day. Could it be communicated a different way?
To find out more about increasing or managing sales performance, give us a call.
