Case Summary
Angie Roberts, the CEO of Imaginative Staffing, Inc., is talking with her assistant Nicole Gamin about team-selling, the new approach integrated by many companies. She insists on including this issue in the discussion during the lunch meeting.
The company has a chief financial officer, a sales director, four sales reps, an operations manager, ten account managers, five administrative assistants, and a receptionist. The key problem with sales in the company is related to the length of time it takes to close a sale with a good prospect (six months of hard work). The selling is done by one sales rep who can ask the sales director for assistance if problems arise. In addition, Angie Roberts does not want to hire more permanent workers because of the legal environment. She is also not satisfied with the selling technique under which too much time is required to convince the buyer, especially taking into account that the company is now on the market and customers do not know enough about it.
Susan Borland, the sales director, appears to be the only person in the company who possesses some knowledge about team selling. She is advised by a friend not to put too many people on the team.
Questions 1-3
Imaginative Staffing, Inc. should adopt the team selling system for selling to important accounts because the time spent on getting the customer is very long. Team selling might decrease this time and help the sales reps to improve their productivity level. Taking into account that the company is young and relatively small, the selling team should not be big. For example, it will be enough to include two sales representatives and three account managers into the selling team. However, the sales director should be attentive with selecting the team members:
they need to be not only experienced in sales but be willing to cooperate with others and learn about the new selling technique. The training of the selling team should be done both by the sales director (she understands what team selling is) and by the outside professional who can teach team members about the new approach. Sales trainers might either establish and administer the entire training program or teach specific sales techniques. In the first place, team members need to be trained in developing time-management skills because a long sale is the major current problem in the company. Sales representatives are usually given autonomy in managing their territories, and it is vital to teaching them that ineffective use of time can reduce their productivity.
Selecting and recruiting a sales force
To remain competitive on the market, sales managers need to be able to develop long-term partnerships with the customers, provide the solutions to their problems, rather than just selling the services. While selecting the selling-team members (the sales force), the sales director should pay attention to the experienced reps. The needs of the customers are constantly changing as well as the new products and services are offered to them. The company is new; the customers are not informed about the services and advantages of this company over others. Thus, while selecting and recruiting the sales force, the key emphasis should be made on sales specialists able to build long-term relations with customers during a short period of time. The selling skills are taught, and only an experienced sales rep can possess enough skills and knowledge of the selling process. One of the ways to recruit experienced sales reps is to headhunt them from competitors or to train the sales reps already working in the company.
Training
Even the most experienced salesperson will benefit from refreshing courses. For example, the company might invite the sales specialist to give the speech, to tell about the new trends, and to teach the necessary skills. Prior to recurrent training of experienced sales reps, it is important to inform them how training will benefit them. The first step of the training program should be the difficult analysis of the sales job. The length of time spent on one sale is the key problem in Imaginative Staffing, Inc., and the sales director should discover what the difficulties experienced by staff are. Information can be collected through interviews, for example. The initial training should start with the lectures on the company, on the products it sells as well as with the basic selling techniques. Such lectures will be helpful not only for the new recruits but also for the experienced sales reps who may not have knowledge about the specific selling techniques applied in the current selling environment.
The training should be centralized and take place in sales meetings at the central location (similar to the lunch meetings).
The centralized sales training is appropriate for Imaginative Staffing, Inc. because the company is small and the staff consists mainly of sales reps. In addition, the highly skilled and knowledgeable sales director is available to teach them about team-selling. Taking into account that the goal of training is to teach the sales force about the new selling technique, demonstrations and role-play can be of great help. Instead of just telling about the different types of questions that can be asked by the customers, the trainer might simulate the situation and demonstrate the questions/answers in the specific context. Role-playing can be very effective for Imaginative Staffing, Inc. sales force because it is done in groups, and sales reps will learn to work together, to cooperate, to listen to each other, and provide support (these skills are necessary for team-selling).
Motivating
Previously, each sales representative in the Imaginative Staffing, Inc. was responsible for the whole sales process: from the first phone call to the sale closure. Sales staff has used to work alone and, taking into account the length of each sale, and their compensation was not as high as it could.
Selling in a team has the potential to increase sales. As a result, the compensation of each team member will increase as well. Even though money should not be the key motivator, it plays the main role in selling because sales reps compensation is directly related to the sales volume. Thus, the team-selling member should see how the new selling technique would improve their income. In addition, working in groups fosters cooperation and improves communication skills. People will be more willing to share the ideas and to provide support because there are no competitors in the team (the situation was the opposite when each sales rep was selling independently). Sales representatives should be informed that while working in the team, they will be able to learn and acquire new skills on a continuous basis. They will see how their colleagues work and learn from them.
On-job training is a powerful motivator. Team members will not need to ask the sales director for assistance because they have several people in the team who might ask for help or advice.
In conclusion, Imaginative Staffing, Inc. should apply a team-selling approach because it can help to increase the sales volume within a short period of time. Only experienced sales representatives should be selected and recruited for the team-selling because the company is young and should integrate aggressive selling to enter the market and gain the customers’ loyalty.
The sales staff selected for the selling team should be motivated by increased compensation in the first place because it is directly related to the sales volume.