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The Number One Behaviour Of Top Salespeople (And Why That Isn’t Enough On Its Own)

When we embarked on our journey to uncover the key capabilities that determine success in B2B sales we weren’t sure what we’d find.  Our own work with salespeople across different industries indicated that high performers shared many common qualities.  But we couldn’t be certain that this would hold true when scaled-up to include multiple studies encompassing more than 20,000 salespeople globally.  Remarkably, however, our analysis revealed a strikingly consistent picture of what great looks like in B2B sales.

The results are there for all to see in our Acuity whitepaper; 9 key Capabilities (drives and behaviours) that determine success in what we refer to as a strategic sales environment; strategic due to factors such as the complexity of the solution being sold, its high value which draws in multiple decision-makers, and the effect that has on increasing purchase indecision and the length of the sales cycle.

But does the Acuity research translate into real-world businesses?  When working with clients we always recommend that they allow us to undertake a validation study, to determine their organisational ROI.  Validation studies can take various forms but essentially involve comparing actual sales performance to sellers’ Acuity profiles.  In one example we used our psychometric self-assessment with a healthcare insurance provider to compare in-role performance to Acuity results.  Analysis of the data showed that the single biggest differentiator between the Top 1/3 salespeople and the rest was Connectedness.

Another validation study within a media business used self-ratings from our Acuity 360 tool to evaluate each salesperson.  Regression analysis was used to identify the most predictive Acuity Capability and, here again, it was Connectedness.  In terms of ROI, sellers in the top 50% of Acuity profiles delivered an average of 23% more in sales revenue per month than their peers.

Clearly Connectedness is an important driver of success.  But what does being connected mean?  In our definition it is about developing networks within one’s client or prospective client to build a better understanding of the key stakeholders, influencers and decision-makers.  It also includes being well-connected internally so that colleagues can share intelligence, make introductions and support the sale.  Crucially, it is about being proactive in seeking value from these networks by asking for referrals, recommendations and intelligence.

Top-performing salespeople who demonstrate Connectedness:

  • Build their external networks

  • Invest in their internal networks

  • Seek value from these networks

However, showing Connectedness on its own is unlikely to be enough to make someone a top performer.  The original Acuity research identified 9 Capabilities in total that distinguished high performers from the rest.  Dig further into the validation studies described above and the picture becomes less clear.  If we take the 3 strongest correlating Capabilities in each case, then Connectedness comes out on top.  However, for the media business that is followed by Goal Focus (alignment of one’s objectives to the goal they are trying to achieve) and Drives the Sale (taking control and creating momentum).  For the healthcare insurer it is Interpersonal Style (how one flexes their own behaviour to maximise their interactions with different stakeholders) and Goal Focus.

Taking a further step back, we looked at the correlations for every Acuity Capability.  In the case of the media business, all 9 capabilities showed a positive correlation with sales performance.  For the healthcare insurer, six capabilities correlated with sales performance while the remaining three correlated with line manager ratings.

It is clear that being connected is a critical factor in determining success in B2B sales.  Indeed, in these examples it is the most important factor.  However, it is also true that it is not enough on its own.  The precise order of importance may vary across sectors, and perhaps even among different organisations within the same sector, but for individual sellers to excel they must possess a wider will and skillset.

If you’d like to understand your organisation’s typical seller persona, clarify the development needs of your sales team or determine the ROI that Acuity could achieve for your business we’d love to hear from you.

Blogs Business Consulting Sales Development Sales Leadership Sales Training Uncategorised War for Talent

Don’t Let Your Sales Talent Walk Out The Door

In a recent Gartner survey, 89% of salespeople reported feeling burned out and 54% were actively seeking alternative employment. Furthermore, nearly 70% felt that management doesn’t understand how to motivate them. These are worrying numbers for any organisation that is serious about retaining top sales talent.

Fortunately, the 2 key themes that prevent sellers performing at their best, a lack of development opportunities and a lack of empowerment, can be addressed.

It’s easy to say that sales leaders need to invest more time in supporting their teams when the average leader spends less than 10% of their time on developing their reports. But to be truly effective they first need to be able to accurately diagnose the problem, something that is unlikely to be the same for every member of the sales team.

At Bloojam, we look at a salesperson’s Drive through three lenses:

  1. Motivation; are they a self-starter, focused on achieving excellent outcomes, persistent in the face of setbacks and driven to solve client problems?
  2. Goal focus; do they have clarity about what they are trying to achieve, are they focused on the end goal and the actions required to successfully reach it?
  3. Self-belief; are they confident in their ability to positively influence a sale, do they show resilience when faced with setbacks and self-awareness of their own strengths and limitation?

Truly understanding what is impacting upon the Drive of your sales team, at an individual and collective level, allows sales leaders to provide much more targeted support and challenge to their teams. By facilitating more detailed discussion of the key causes, personal to them, of their burnout or demotivation, salespeople are much more likely to open up and engage with the conversation. As a result, the sales leader can respond to the needs of the individual rather than taking a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to re-energising their sales team.

That benefits the individual as they will feel that their manager truly understands their needs. It benefits the sales leader as the limited time they have with team members can be focused on the factors most likely to enhance performance. And it benefits the organisation as any subsequent training or support can be tailored to individual needs, thereby ensuring that training budget ROI is maximised.

Jim Bloomfield is a Director of Bloojam Consulting with 20 years’ experience of using business psychology to develop salespeople and leaders. He is a member of the Association of Business Psychology (ABP) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) and has successfully helped some of Britain’s best-known businesses exceed their sales goals.

Bloojam Consulting offers a range of robust recruitment and development tools and interventions, including the Acuity for Strategic Sales suite of psychometric assessment and development tools.

Blogs Business Consulting Sales Development Sales Leadership Sales Recruitment

5 Things To Look For If You Want To Supercharge Your Sales Training

If You Want Sales Training To Impact The Bottom Line, This Is What You Need To Know

At Bloojam we have put a lot of effort into understanding the key behaviours that determine success in B2B sales roles. In fact, our research has identified 9 key capabilities that are statistically proven to be exhibited by the top sales performers, those who deliver on average nearly 25% more revenue than their peers.

Unfortunately, we’re yet to come across a business that is full of top-performing salespeople. Add to that, too much of the sales training that is out there fails to have any impact upon sales performance at all.

So what can be done to support individuals to develop their sales capability and to maximise the impact of sales training? Most importantly, is there any evidence that any of this will lead to an increase in sales? And what should you look for when commissioning sales training for your business?

It’s not cool but our approach has always been led by facts and data. We favour science over speculation and so we have undertaken a wide-ranging review of sales studies and academic behavioural research to identify the 5 key things that you should look for if you want to supercharge your sales training:

  1. Measure impact on sales- Most sales training measures what an individual has learned and whether they are applying that learning in the real world. But the key thing to measure is what impact does this have on sales. If the learning fails to lead to an increase in sales, then it is money down the drain!
  2. Train behaviours that will shift the dial- If you want to change sales behaviours, that’s great. But you need to be confident that the behaviours you seek are going to lead to increased sales. Luckily for you, we know which behaviours will do that.
  3. Encourage goal setting- Too often what is learned in training is forgotten within weeks. A common practice in coaching, goal-setting encourages individuals to commit to changing their behaviour for the long-term. The key is to ensure that these goals are linked to the sales behaviours that are proven to drive greater sales performance.
  4. Focus on the Customer- Sales training that encourages sellers to consider customer needs and their buying experience is more effective than training that prioritises the organisation’s sales process and procedures.
  5. Bite-sized modules work best- The same content delivered in a modular format provides space and time for individuals to practice, review and receive feedback on their application of the course content. This approach is shown to lead to higher sales performance than the same content delivered in a single block.

So there you have it. Five things you should look for when commissioning sales training. If you’d like to know more about how we incorporate these methods into our Acuity Sales Training Academy take a look at our website or give us a call.

Jim Bloomfield is a Director of Bloojam Consulting with 20 years’ experience of using business psychology to develop salespeople and leaders. He is a member of the Association of Business Psychology (ABP) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) and has successfully helped some of Britain’s best-known businesses exceed their sales goals.

Blogs Business Consulting Sales Development Sales Leadership

If Salespeople Now Need To Sell Remotely, Why Not Recruit And Develop Them Remotely Too?

Prior to this global pandemic, the steady beat of the climate change drum was already becoming more urgent. Greta Thunberg had, to some extent, succeeded in ensuring that the climate crisis was a regular feature in news bulletins. In news that already seems a long time ago, Heathrow’s plans for a third runway was ruled illegal because the government failed to factor in the impact it would have upon its commitments to tackle the climate crisis whilst HS2 was given the green light.

Blogs Customer Services Development Customer Services Recruitment Sales Development Sales Leadership

Why customer experience matters in B2B sales and how to deliver it.

In the latest ‘State of the Connected Customer’ report from Salesforce, your B2B buyer’s needs are laid bare. 89% of buyers say the experience a company provides is as important as the products or services it provides. The salesperson’s role in providing that experience is critical and the great news is, if you can provide a quality experience, 82% of buyers say that it raises their expectations of other companies, thereby raising the bar for your competition.