On commission

Putting a sales person on a low salary and a strong commission base makes a lot of sense. This will keep them motivated to generate sales and will reward them for success. Make sure the commission is not just sales-based but profit-based as well. Commission will motivate the better sales people. If a potential sales person wants a high base salary, I would generally not recommend hiring them. Commission-based sales people tend to be the most highly motivated. Another advantage to commission-based sales people is that you can afford to hire more than one without breaking the bank. If they cant cut it they will resign and if they can you have a winner on your hands. Often you will find that only one out of five sales people will really generate the type of revenue you want and the remuneration that they need.

Build a sales process

A successful strategy is to start off by developing a sales process. By putting more reliance on the system and less on the people you will likely get better outcomes and you will have more control. This is the principle on which franchises operate and they are generally quite successful. A good sales process is worth a great deal of money to you. It is also an asset that increases the value of your business when you want to retire and sell the business. If you are the manager of a company or a division within the company you are likely very competent and perform well. Much of what you do on a day-to-day basis you do automatically. You have become good and focused and know instinctively what to do. If you hired me to replace you, I would have all sorts of difficulties, many of which would surprise you. However, if you documented the processes you use in your position and gave me the manual of this is how we do it here, my chances of success would increase big time. It would be a win-win situation. So, wheres the manual? How are you ever going to stop doing what you are doing without developing the manual? You have to teach others to do what you do.

Develop a sales manual

Everyone should follow the same processes. The chances are that a good repeat process will increase your conversion rate, get you more referrals and allow you to generate higher margins. And a good sales process will reduce the reliance on the individual and put the focus on the process. Heres the process I would recommend for putting a really good sales system in place: Give each sales person a digital recorder and ask them to record their sales meetings for a week. Have them transcribed. Have a brainstorming session with all the sales people and develop the script that works best. Listen to the questions that the prospects ask. Find the common issues and ensure that you have developed the best answers. Look at the eight points from part one of this article and make sure that they are addressed. Take the key points and develop scripts and put them into a system. Train your sales people in the new sales process. Monitor the results and look for:

- an improved conversion rate - higher sales values (better margins) - more referrals - add-ons to a sales - repeat business from each prospect

Have you noticed in stores like Safeway (a Western grocery chain) when you ask a clerk where something is they offer to take you to the exact place where you will find the item? Have you noticed how in hardware stores that this is rarely (if ever) done? Its not that the people in Safeway are brilliant, its just that they have training and a system that makes them appear brilliant.

Careful contact management

A good contact management program such as Act, Goldmine or Maximizer is essential and it must be kept current. And is must be updated onto your main computer regularly. This will ensure that you have all the information on your prospects that the sales people have. If a prospect calls in and the sales person is not available the latest information will be in the computer. Look at the sales process as a relationship process. Your customers are not looking for one-off sales, nor do they want high pressure tactics. By developing a relationship with a customer you get the initial sale, you get the maintenance contract and you get future work. Every building has more than one piece of mechanical equipment that needs repairs, maintenance and replacement. By looking at your customers as long-term relationships you will greatly increase your conversion rate. They say it is six times easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new prospect. Get to understand the lifetime value of a customer. As part of your sales process you should document all mechanical systems on the property and offer to do an evaluation of them. By knowing exactly what systems they have you will likely be able to do service calls without having to go to the wholesaler so often. You will also be able to phone them and recommend servicing. Surveys also show that 68 percent of the time when someone stops dealing with you it is because of perceived indifference  they believe that you dont really care about them. The sales process does not stop with receiving the order. As far as the customer is concerned the whole process is all one  from proposal to completion. Make sure you follow up with the customer after the work is done to find out how things went and what could have been done better. Continuous improvement is essential. There is a lot of competition in all market places. You will stand out by showing you care. Satisfying the customer is not sufficient to keep him coming back; you need to wow him. Whats your WOW factor?

Ronald Coleman is a Vancouver based accountant, management consultant, author and educator specializing in the construction industry. His website is www.ronaldcoleman.ca and his email is info@ronaldcoleman.ca.