maximum horsepower

how to strengthen your sales force quickly

by Ocean Palmer

As the global economy weakens, high performance sales talent has instantly gone from a "nice to have" to a "must have" in order for a company to sustain. I have coached executive sales leadership on four continents and the need for this work has never been greater. An entire generation has never faced tough times, much less competed in them. It's a difficult emotional transformation.

The problems created by a shrinking global economy are magnified because the business-to-business marketplace is being serviced by an alarming decline of skilled salespeople ... who now face increased competition. Panic is already setting in. Emotional reactions are transforming positive energy into negative hopelessness. Growing armies of incompetents will troll aimlessly through urgently competitive environments. To sustain, a company must be able to create, sell, and reinforce value. The problem is now glaring: There aren’t nearly enough “value creators” to go around.

My book studies four reasons why this is happening. It also explains how to avoid performance strangulation. The book also teaches the quickest way to evaluate and strengthen a sales force to maximize marketplace opportunity.

Years of study have taken me through the researched analysis of key questions: Why is this happening? How can an expanding population yield a declining number of terrific sales talents? Is technology part of the problem or solution? How is a spiraling marketplace changing client behavior? How must salespeople instantly adapt in order to survive? What mistakes do average reps chronically make? Most importantly, how must a smart sales organization change internally in order to skirt the pitfalls of declining sales efficiency? How can they sustain?

Since first earning entrance into Xerox’s fabled corporate sales training organization during its glory days of the 1980s, I have worked on four continents with thousands of men and women who have traveled to my sessions from every continent except Antarctica. These people sell all types of goods and services in countless languages in the business-to-business, value-added sales environment. The explanations laid out step-by-step in this book work universally. They are relevant domestically and internationally.

I have studied correlations between behavior and performance, developed and tested concepts, dissected and challenged some of the conventional wisdom and researched new ideas. I have developed behavioral hypotheses and tested them around the world. Having brainstormed these topics with brilliant talents and intellects, I remain convinced that great sales talents are made, not born, although certainly some folks have more to work with than others. The methodology to build those powerhouse talents is contained in this book. MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER teaches not just what to do, but more importantly it explains how to teach what matters most. It also explains why certain methods work and others won’t. It lists 50 common sales problems and explains how to quickly solve them. It also teaches managers how to proactively analyze the root causes of performance shortfalls.

This book is not about “sales training.” It is about developing sales talent, which is the end game of what we’re doing. Sales training and talent development are two totally different things. Training is tactical, memory or message-based, and focuses on mimicking specific actions and messages. Neil Rackham, famed author of SPIN SELLING, refers to this as the creation of “talking brochures.” My work is the polar opposite.

Developing sales talent is a far more robust, dynamic, and relevant approach that methodically invests in three strategic areas of professional development in order to produce better sustainable results. Talent development involves nurturing and strengthening a relevant skill set. The payoff comes from harvesting the increased opportunities that better work creates. If a company knows what it's doing, it can do this quickly and inexpensively. If it doesn't, it will never get better.

Developing high-performance sales talent need not be expensive, nor complicated. It is the byproduct of smart design and solid execution. Once you know how to develop sales talent, being able to do so is a replicable and scalable process.

This book soars way beyond tactics, far beyond suggesting just “what to do.” MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER explains the three common barriers to performance, and then teaches how to recognize and circumvent each of the three. It methodically explains the critical success factors of sustained performance and why certain things should be taught a certain way. The book shares great insight concerning changing behaviors from both sides of the desk: the buy side and the sell side. Techniques that used to work in the marketplace do not any more. Smart sellers must change, too.

Every morning millions upon millions of well intended salespeople leave their homes to compete in a world of increasing customer expectations. The current business-to-business climate is cost-conscious and value-driven but windows of opportunity open and shut relentlessly. The clock-speed with which this occurs is greater than ever before. A company’s competitive edge, therefore, is dependent upon the opportunities identified and capitalized by the people it sends into the field. Talented people identify, develop, and earn more opportunities than “trained” ones.

MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER pinpoints how to quickly create a stronger, more competitive sales organization; a sales culture rich with high-performance salespeople working together to strategize opportunities, create actionable interest, and win. Today companies must maximize profitable revenue growth and demonstrate sustainability.

In selling, winning matters. Among quasi-equal marketplace alternatives, talent will prevail. Strong salespeople will win the ones they're supposed to win and some of the ones they're supposed to lose. This book teaches how to do just that.

 

About the Author

Ocean palmer is an internationally renowned executive sales coach. A #1 sales performer, Ocean has taught and lectured on four continents. For the past three years he has worked extensively throughout Eastern, Central, and Western Europe and his methods are proven to work domestically and internationally. This is his eighth book; two of his novels have been optioned for motion picture development. His current research involves the use, misuse, and abuse of technology and its impact on changing behaviors for both buyers and sellers. Ocean resides in Denver, where his hobbies and interests include flyfishing, horse breeding, and charity work. In 2003 he was honored by Jacksonville University as the school's distinguished alumni of the year. MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER won the Silver Medal from the 2nd Annual Axiom Business Book Awards.

 

Visit Ocean's Website