Talent Acquisition, Executive Search for high performance teams

We asked Central Indiana sales executives “What’s Keeping You Awake At Night?” and they responded: 

1.  “I am not certain we have managers who can compete in today’s business climate. Most of them did very well when the economy was good but are struggling now.”
2. “We are missing sales goals; customers are cutting back on purchases; we are not taking market share from our competitors. I am not certain if it is the VP of Sales or the sales managers. How do I assess their leadership skills? Should I be investing money to develop them or should I replace them?

ASSESS YOUR CURRENT SALES LEADERSHIP TEAM:

• Making certain you have the best sales leadership team in place is critical to achieving your sales and business goals and for outperforming the competition. Nearly 50% of all newly promoted or hired managers fail, or perform badly, within 18 months of being selected for the position.

Based on our experience, most sales executives:

• Know the reasons why leaders and managers fail. Unfortunately, they know these reasons after they fail! They do not know what to do to prevent it.
• Delay or rationalize that their sales leaders, who are underperforming or failing, will improve. Most do not.

ONE VERY EFFECTIVE ANSWER
SELECT THE RIGHT SALES LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT TOOL

There are some 2500 + assessment tools on the market. Few are “validated” and exclusively evaluate sales leadership. Most assessments report on the candidates “bright side”, how the candidate presents him or her self in an interview or when things are going well. However, what is important is to use an assessment tool that also evaluates:

• How the sales executive or sales manager will perform under pressure or stressful business situations.
• What motivates or drives the executive or sales manager to achieve success.
• Where their passion is; how competitive they are.

Using the right sales leadership assessment can give you these answers. Whether you are using them in pre employment or to evaluate your current sales leadership team, using the right sales leadership assessments can give you these answers. Then you can decide if you want to invest money to develop the person or upgrade the position.

USE AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT FOR SALES LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT

A number of so called “testing companies” will sell you an assessment tool and let the evaluation of the results up to you. Others provide feedback but after a while, their feedback sounds like the same old rhetoric again and again.

We recommend finding a consultant who:

• Has focuses on sales leadership assessments; adds value as a successful business person with a background in addressing difficult business and sales issues.
• Understands your business and sales and marketing strategies, your sales goals.
• Understands the issues your sales leaders, sales people and internal customer support people face.
• Sees him/her self as a member of your leadership team, not a vendor selling tests.
• Will guarantee you a return on the investment you make in the assessment tool.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT OF SALES LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENTS

The return on investment is measured on the immediate impact the person has on the sales team and business. In some cases, assessments have resulted saving a very good person by providing them with appropriate training, coaching and/or getting him or her focused on the right activities that in turn increased revenues.

For more information about the best sales leadership assessments for your organization, contact Dick Butz, President of Career Consultants Group at 317-264-4164 or email him at rbutz@cciindy.com