Some of the best managers use a technique in interviewing that I like to refer to as spider webbing. Spider webbing has many different names or references, but simply put, it is listening to the interviewee’s answers and asking questions from those answers.

In business to business sales, this is most commonly referred to as asking level 2 & 3 questions. Too often I have met sales managers who conduct a fantastic interview and then hand their sales reps a list of questions to ask when meeting with a customer or prospect. They don’t train their employees on the value and the purpose of the same transferable technique they used during the interview. However, many of them think they do because they include level 2 & 3 questions in the list they give their reps. What they fail to realize is that they very well may have crushed a key component of the sales call – active listening.

If level 2 & 3 questions are already predetermined, a new sales rep will sound robotic – if not extremely robotic. They are new, they are nervous and they need to be able to relax during the sales call. Instead, tell them to think they’ve just met their prospect on a plane or bar and begin a conversation. What would they ask then?

A spider web provides a visual reference for your salespeople to deliver on what they need to do; ask questions and ask relevant ones! On the flip side, if they are thinking about the corporate and perhaps intimidating words “level 2 & 3″, they may not be as relaxed. Besides, how well are they actually going to listen to the answers if they already know the level 2 questions they are going to ask? If they know the next question they are going to ask is solely based upon the last answer they are given, they can’t take the answer and run with it.

Give them the base line questions to ask and encourage them to spider web from there. They will appreciate the freedom and the trust you have in them. Most importantly, they will be challenged daily to be a creative thinker. Follow up with them after each appointment and learn where the spider web took them; learn their thought process and help them develop more. Who knows, they may just add a few level 2 & 3 questions your organization has not thought of yet.

Matthew Pietzak – Area Performance Manager, Frontline Performance Group

“This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything.” – Scott Reed

I’m going to lose 10 pounds…I’m going to work out 5 days a week…I’m going to eat healthy.  Does that sound like something you said to yourself or told everyone around you when you were enjoying the holidays - that it was all going to change after the New Year?

I’m going to improve my numbers…I’m going to turn my store numbers around…I’m going to be your new top performer.  Does that sound like something you said (only to yourself of course) when you were looking at your internal peer ranking or company sales report?

Both are two glaring examples, from our personal life and workplace, of things that are 100% in our control.  That’s right; I said it…100%. So you may wonder, if it’s totally up to me, why is it that I start with good intentions but end with the “oh well, I tried” attitude for the remainder of the year? Below are some of the things that keep us from hitting those targets or making it a breakout year.

I don’t see the change - You’re eating right…you’re going to the gym…you have a positive attitude at work…you’re trying to offer your products or services differently but you don’t seem to be seeing any of the fruits of you labor. Change in behavior takes time – you need patience. Just as it takes a while for your body to react to your new lifestyle, it takes your brain a while to ingrain the new sales techniques at work. Fight through the voices in your head that are telling you that your effort is wasted…you’re on your way!

Lack of planning- Whether it’s your lifestyle or taking your career to another level, the fact is, the individuals who will succeed are those who have a plan. Making permanent changes will call for a bullet proof game plan that provides you with a clear idea of what to do. Find out who your resources are and seek assistance. Call on your friends or family members; ask your manager or direct supervisor for guidance.  Make and work your plan.

The Grind – It takes time to build strength or endurance to take on more weight or add time to the treadmill. It also takes time to get comfortable with your new sales presentation. It’s different than what you’re used to but after you say it over and over again with clients on a daily basis, you begin to build strength in your presentation. As you gain more confidence in your presentation you begin to believe in yourself…when you believe in yourself you start to make a difference. You lose 2 pounds…you improve your sales performance. Stick with it, you’ve just begun.

Unrealistic goals- Your goals in your personal and work life need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. If your current goals don’t meet those criteria, you need to go back to the drawing board until they do. Too often people set unrealistic goals that end up leading them down the road of failure even before they start. I want to be the top performing person in my store or area…although you can certainly get there, it may take longer than you anticipated. Set smaller goals that lead up to your end goal. The sense of achievement along the way is a powerful motivator in your journey to success! 

I’m just not feeling it - Losing weight and grinding it out in the gym doesn’t sound all that fun…Doing an overhaul of your sales presentation seems dreadful. Don’t be so serious – make it fun! Play “challenge” games to motivate yourself; pick a workout partner or colleague to hold you accountable throughout the day. How you feel about working out and how you feel about selling will determine how well you work out and how well you sell…Go for it!

Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution or a personal challenge to start the year off on the right foot, it is 100% in your control. The thrill wears off over time. Resolutions and vows to improve your sales performance sound good when you’re looking at achieving the end result. It’s along the difficult road from A to B where most people throw in the towel, but if you stay the course you’ll see…success is right around the corner!

Daniel Park - Director of Consulting Services, Frontline Performance Group 

When a prospect does not fully understand what you are offering or if they don’t believe what you are saying, objections can and do occur. Remember that if a person was not at all interested in what you have to offer, they would not even bother objecting. Sales in and of itself can entail changing a prospect’s perceptions about your products or services.

Here is an easy-to-use three-step process that will help you to engage your prospect and gain final commitment.

1) Validate

2) Similar situation story

3) What I’d like to do …

Validate

First of all, you never want your prospect to get the impression that you are confronting or arguing with them. This would break rapport completely and not allow you to move forward with any kind of closing attempt. So the idea is to let the prospect know that you respect their opinion and that you understand where they are coming from – even if you do not necessarily agree with them.

It sounds like this …

“Mr. Smith, I completely understand; I can certainly appreciate your concern.” This diffuses a situation that could get a bit tense if you don’t let the prospect know that you are “in their corner”. By validating their concern, you allow the prospect to lower their defenses and they will actually listen to what you have to say instead of mentally checking out. At this point you are still in the game to make the sale.

Similar situation story

Secondly, people like to relate to others and stories make a black and white picture into color. Remember the old saying, “Features and facts tell while benefits and stories sell.” Here’s an example, “Mr. Smith, I had a similar situation with another one of my clients. They too were concerned that there would be a lot of change fees on their financial printing order. They decided to go with us based on our reputation of excellent customer service and they’re glad they did. What they found was that, not only did they not incur exorbitant change fees to their order, they actually paid less than what they had budgeted for that line item.”

When you are using stories, the more details you can offer, the more impact they will have on your prospect. So start collecting stories of great customer service and how your company “saved the day” for a client. Record examples of how their initial concerns were proved wrong by world-class attention to detail, celebrity service, going above and beyond etc. This helps to move a prospect past their concerns to a higher level of trust with you and your company. It sets you up to close the sale.

What I’d like to do …

Any time you are making a closing attempt, remember to approach this part of the process from the paradigm that “sales is service”. You are serving your customer by helping them make the right decision for them and their company. Lead them to the natural conclusion of the process by being strong and yet still having a balance between frankness and diplomacy.

It would sound something like this coming off your similar situation story, “So, what I’d like to do is get the paperwork signed so we can start providing you with excellent value today.” This is both assumptive and seamless as you come off the positive emotion created from your similar story.

This simple process overcomes the objection, creates a positive perception in the mind of the prospect and closes the sale with a smooth transition. Start collecting real stories that you can use for your similar situations today.

Michael Stahl – Senior Performance Manager, Frontline Performance Group  

Dr. Paul Hersey said that “Effective leadership is not ‘different strokes for different folks.’ It’s different strokes for the same folks, depending on their level of readiness for specific tasks.” Have you ever heard a sales manager say something like, “Well this is how I manage and that’s the way it is”? Sometimes, the good intention of working harder, not smarter, has the unintended consequence for managers of their team not meeting goals or at least not maximizing the potential they have to succeed.

The challenge with this line of thinking is that one-size-fits-all management fits no one well and everyone poorly. If a salesperson is great at greeting and building rapport but needs work on probing questions, the style of management or influence needs to be different when addressing them as they are clearly two very distinct areas. When a salesperson, whether frontline or executive level, is treated with a one-way type of direction and is micromanaged for a task in which they already excel, it creates disdain and apathy for both the task and the manager.  A more effective approach is to define the salesperson’s current level of performance for every task of their job and then exert influence around that task with the leader behavior they need, not what they necessarily want.  Inspired performance (meaning that your team is committed and not just compliant), comes from understanding what your people need and providing it for them. 

Here are five tips for defining the performance level of your salespeople and giving them what they need for specific tasks …

1.  Understand the task itself. What kinds of traits are needed and what is the process that will make this task successful?

2.  Define if the salesperson has the ability to do the task and if they are motivated to do it. Sometimes people have neither the ability nor the motivation to do a task. Take new salespeople for example, typically, they have great motivation but lack the ability to perform a task.  Others have the ability but just plain don’t want to do it and a superstar is likely to do the task incredibly well and will love doing it.  Each calls for a different management intervention.

3.  Once you know where a salesperson is with a certain task, define what they need from you. For example, a salesperson with very little ability is going to need a lot of direction – not yelling or condescending, just good, strong explanation and guidance.  The more ability they have, the less direction they need. Those with very low motivation, depending on how much ability they have, may need strong direction.  If they are highly skilled, just a chance to “vent” may be the answer; in which case, you as the manager become a “facilitator”, not a “dictator”.  In the case of a person who is really good at a task and enjoys doing it, they don’t need much of your time – just acknowledgement and an occasional “check-in”.

4.  Understand that as with all people, a salesperson’s performance may change over time due to a variety of factors, some personal and some professional. Just because they have done a great job in the past, it does not mean they are still performing the same task at the same high level.  If this is the case, analyze their new performance level and react accordingly.

5.  Practice your ability to analyze and diagnose the performance level of your team for various tasks; then work on adjusting your behavioral management style.  Your influence style should be based on the analysis of current need for a specific task.

Remember, if you are one of those managers who is of the belief that, “This is the way I manage and that’s it”, you will only maximize your potential 25% of the time.  Why not learn to understand what your sales team needs and then exceed beyond, best performance 100% of the time?

Michael Stahl - Senior Performance Manager, Frontline Performance Group  

What is the definition of a frontline sales representative?

Any team member that interacts with your customers is considered to be on the frontline. This includes face-to-face interactions, phone interactions, and on-line communications.

Why is the frontline important to my business?

In this increasingly competitive market, it is more important than ever for companies to do more than the status quo of merely maintaining business relationships. Business leaders who seek to improve company profit must continually strive to differentiate themselves through the service and sales ability of their frontline.

Imagine what would happen if your frontline sales team was not only genuine, sincere and helpful, but built a good first impression and rapport with your customers, asked the questions they needed to ask to truly understand your customers’ needs, really knew your products and/or services, and built value into what they were selling. The results would be tremendous! New avenues of growth and profit would be created including additional and incremental sales revenue opportunities.

Understand and appreciate the role of your frontline as the vehicle that can transform your bottom-line and you will create the power to generate unprecedented profits!