EPILOGUE

the next generation of performance change programs

AT THE beginning of this book, I stated that I would begin with the end in mind. We are at the end. But, is it really the end? Yes, it is the end of this book, but it is not the end of the sales professions attempt to discover different solutions and new perspectives to improve their performance results in their chosen field. This quest will probably never end. Whenever you insert the variable of people, in this case salespeople, into an equation, the answers are never absolute. However, there will probably always be the quest to figure out this

Rubiks Cube of sales. And dont think people arent working real hard at it. But how do we answer this most important question: How can we further optimize individual sales performances above the levels we have already achieved with the worlds finest performance change programs?

This book has taken a best practices approach to improving sales results. It has identified 24 sales traps, based upon thoughtful research, that top performers are likely to avoid. So, what is wrong with focusing on these 24 sales traps and becoming a sales star? Arent they the best practices that you need to process and execute for stardom? Well, yes, but they are missing the same key ingredient that sales training programs of today-the first generation-are missing. These best practices approaches must be customized to the sales consultants customer organization at an entirely new level if they are to ultimately achieve performance change and therefore improved results for the salesperson and his or her company. Therefore, a second generation of training utilizing a higher-level, customized approach to performance change will most likely emerge.

To put it another way, the value proposition will be different in this new millennium. Salespeople will not just be delivering the same value proposition in a different way. For example, today the most effective training programs use some type of sales model that needs to be learned in order to bring about a change in individual and group performance. Some of these models are well researched and formulated; others are overly complex, difficult to learn, and not correlated with top performance. All these models, however, have one thing in common: They are totally free of business knowledge. They are simply generic frameworks. In other words, We will teach you our sales models, then you need to figure out how to translate them to your real world.

For example, its not about learning the finer points of some probing model for asking questions-its about learning the questions that

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bring business results in the buying scenarios that represent the customers marketplace. More specifically, how can a salesperson ask really smart questions if she or he doesnt really know the customer and the customers marketplace? She or he cant. Thats business knowledge. The content of tomorrows generation of programs needs to address this knowledge issue through its content and its facilitators.

In summary, the major topic areas for improving sales results are not unique. The research clearly indicates which core skills make top performers. When it comes to face-to-face customer interactions, salespeople need to avoid the 24 sales traps. So, where are we headed?

Dr. Richard Ruff, president of Sales Momentum in Scottsdale, Arizona, and coauthor of Getting Partnering Right and Managing Major Sales, strongly believes that the next step in achieving performance change and improving sales results will involve customizing programs to a second generation of standards using a best practices approach as the core strategies and skills.

According to Ruff:

There are two unique points that should strongly be considered when figuring out how to move sales performance and sales results to the next level. First, performance change programs must incorporate a customer survey that is customized for the program, and performance change programs should also examine the success factors from the customers perspective. Second, the program must incorporate into each case study the best practices of your top salespeople. In other words, we must leverage the insights of an organizations best people in order to help others within the company.