For years, sales managers have debated the difference between "hunters" (who take qualified leads and close them into customers) and "farmers" (who develop the account, expands contacts and engage in up-sell/cross-sell activity. What's funny about that debate is that it's entirely obsolete... at least in the most successful large firms.
According to extensive research conducted by The Chally Group, the most successful companies tend to have sales organizations are extremely complex, comprising a surprisingly large number of distinct sales and marketing roles, as shown in the following figure:
According to extensive research conducted by The Chally Group, the most successful companies tend to have sales organizations are extremely complex, comprising a surprisingly large number of distinct sales and marketing roles, as shown in the following figure:
In many cases, these roles are highly specialized and require wildly different skill sets. In fact, Chally conducted more than 300 validation studies which identified the types of characteristics, skills and traits needed for success in different types of sales roles, and that specifically distinguished them from poor performers in the same roles.
Chally then evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of these top performers and compared them with the requirements for different sales positions to determine their likelihood of success in the other roles. It turned out that top producers in one role were often lousy when moved elsewhere in the organization.
This is significant because many executives still foolishly believe that the best sales professionals are the hard-driving mavericks who can drum up business and close deals like crazy. However, when they pluck these top performers from their jobs and reassign them to roles with markedly different requirements, they often fail.
What's important for sales professionals is to know where in this new landscape you're likely to be successful. For example, if you're naturally gregarious, you need to avoid inside sales jobs, even if it's the kind of "hunter" role where you've already been successful.
Similarly, if you've got an industry-specific background and know a great deal about what goes on in that industry, you'd be crazy to move into a territorially-based group that's optimized for sales generalists who are tasked to sell to any company in the region.
The good news is that if you find the sales role that matches your personality and inclinations, you're far more likely to be successful... as long as you avoid thinking that because you can sell, you can sell anything anywhere.
Chally then evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of these top performers and compared them with the requirements for different sales positions to determine their likelihood of success in the other roles. It turned out that top producers in one role were often lousy when moved elsewhere in the organization.
This is significant because many executives still foolishly believe that the best sales professionals are the hard-driving mavericks who can drum up business and close deals like crazy. However, when they pluck these top performers from their jobs and reassign them to roles with markedly different requirements, they often fail.
What's important for sales professionals is to know where in this new landscape you're likely to be successful. For example, if you're naturally gregarious, you need to avoid inside sales jobs, even if it's the kind of "hunter" role where you've already been successful.
Similarly, if you've got an industry-specific background and know a great deal about what goes on in that industry, you'd be crazy to move into a territorially-based group that's optimized for sales generalists who are tasked to sell to any company in the region.
The good news is that if you find the sales role that matches your personality and inclinations, you're far more likely to be successful... as long as you avoid thinking that because you can sell, you can sell anything anywhere.
By
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий