How can a business with a sales staff turn their CRM system into a sales tool? The answer depends greatly on the system a company uses and the resources it has or is willing to have to make this happen.Why would a company want to have this boring data be perceived as or used as a sales tool? The answer has more to do with psychology than process. The very nature and make-up of a sales person is such that they won’t use it fully, completely or honestly unless it actually aids in the sales process. In addition most sales people see a CRM system as a way for the company to capture their leads and track their effectiveness, and the majority of sales people don’t like that! This persona and angle gives them their edge.Or does it?Turning this into a tool that helps them make sales and be more effective and efficient is not just in the training and pushing of policy. It is also having a system that actually enhances, enables and drives the sales and marketing process while not being a mundane task or cold vehicle.Pardon me while we get boring for a moment and review the basics of what a CRM is and thus isn’t. The aim of using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is to enable storage of readily available records, to enable such records to be kept in such a way that analysis of the relationship between each record can be enabled, that such knowledge about the customers and prospective clients within an organizations purview can be enhanced. This is typically done using the database feature, mining such data both internally and externally and applying common business intelligence and reporting systems.In most CRM systems the knowledge a company has regarding a customer at the very least, which is stored in the database, are the basics. This includes but is not limited to their name, who they work for, what department they work in, along with all known forms of direct or indirect contact. Some systems are more complex and take the database fields, along with the activity logged in association with the fields, to come up with client profitability, transactional behavior, e-mail opens and clicks-to-links, call center or sales force contact and communication logs, customer satisfaction and retention ratios, and manual entry of the success or failure of legacy mailings and marketing campaigns.Capturing the information from the processes (sales, marketing, installation, credit extensions, etc.) and from the various marketing channels (phone, personal interaction, web site) is not only mechanical, technical and part of the company systems, but more importantly, part of the big picture. It is this big picture that must be instilled within those who will be performing the mundane task along with benefiting from it financially and organizationally. A great system allows complete access to what the sales and marketing members need for tools to do what drives the company. Access and process training avoids duplicate client data and multiple versions of the truth.As has been written on our blog and publicly published, the perfect sales and marketing business model is within the reach of even the smallest business today. These systems, incased within today’s CRM’s on steroids, will:Optimize marketing effectiveness
Attract prospective customers
Enable automated cross-selling and upselling
Aid in retention of clients and quality engaged employees who both are company advocates
Enhance the analysis of client behavior to aid in the product decision making and development process while furthering the drive to utopia with regards to quality and profitability targets.
Make way for tags, targets, groups and associations which enable the sales force to concentrate on identifying key prospective customers that cut their transaction time and increase their relationship building time.
Allow for the near prediction of customer defection and identification of those team members who contribute most to what the stakeholders seek.
Most importantly, the best systems automate the marketing process based upon behavior and choices and nearly eliminate the prospect falling out of the pipeline follow-up.There are many businesses today that have a CRM system and some even have the best of the best. But the select few have put to use the one that changes the game, that levels the playing field, that can enable David to take on Goliath and that give their sales team a real too they trust and use because it helps them make sales and obtain & then retain loyal customers.While the system is about data it must be about being a difference maker in the eyes of the users. The users must be able to visualize the results, understand their role, believe in its impact and trust that they will gain from having made this tool work for the betterment of all.The perfect system does exist, and while they can be complicated, they are capable of performing the following tasks almost automatically when combined with your current web site and marketing efforts:Attract web traffic and prospective customers via webinars, white papers, blogs, testimonial publications, social media and SEO enhancement. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.
Capture information and data by clicks, hits, visits, web forms, opt-ins, recorded conversations, electronic business cards, e-magnets and pod casts. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.
Nurture the reluctant prospect by educating and building a relationship through e-zines, blogs, caring personal conversation starters and an email series once a defined area of interest is established. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.
Convert leads and prospects into customers. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.
Deliver products and services, while automatically billing, collecting, renewing subscriptions and informing sales and marketing of the results.
Add-on, upsell and cross-sell. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.
Refer and collaborate with vendors and like businesses. Obtain and publish references and testimonials. Then informing sales and marketing of the results.Your business must generate excitement, spontaneous enthusiasm, buzz and traffic. Your business must know how to capture leads with systems, how to consistently follow up with those leads, and how to turn them into advocates by creating an experience surrounding their purchase. Your business must have a sales team that knows this system will only enhance their performance through increased opportunities and conversion of leads to customers.

It has been the accepted practice for decades that the best performing sales representatives are the ones most likely to be promoted to sales management positions.Coincidentally, if you were to ask sales executives to evaluate this practice, most assuredly nearly all would reply that two things happen — neither of which is good!First and foremost, a high performing sales person is taken out of play, so the team loses a great salesperson.Secondly, the former high performing sales person usually turns out to be an average or mediocre manager, so the team loses again. Sometimes the company loses because many times the former high performer, now less than average manager, will find employment elsewhere.Some of the cause for this outcome is the fact that companies tend to spend a great deal of time and money on technical and product training for sales representatives, but spend little or no time and money on leadership and management training. Leadership and management skills and leadership abilities should be the qualifying actions and requirements before promoting any sales representative to manager.The practice of promoting the high performer continues throughout all business enterprises in the United States. The practice is based on two assumptions. It is assumed that promoting a high performer is the right thing to do as a reward for success. And highly successful sales representatives will be good leaders.The former may have some merit, but the latter is clearly neither a sensible or logical conclusion. As suggested in the opening paragraphs, a high performing sales record does not assure the ability to lead. There is much evidence to support this assertion.Professional sports teams are great examples. Many former professional baseball, basketball, and football players became or are now Head Coaches or Team Managers. Only a few of them were top performers. Some were good performers, and many others were just solid players. After all, anyone who is on a professional team is head and shoulders above us ordinary people, but not all of the extraordinary are super-stars. There are those who are the elite within the elite.Generally, the superstars who become coaches or managers are not usually great managers or coaches. There are exceptions. Bill Russell comes to mind as a good example of a superstar who was a highly successful coach. His teammate K.C. Jones was a very good player who was probably an even better manager.The former players who become successful Head Coaches and Team Managers were usually good players, but not superstars.Phil Jackson is an example. Who would have thought that the “Human Coat Hanger” as an off-the-bench player for the Knicks would become the “Zen Master” and highly successful Head Coach of both the Bulls and the Lakers winning many national championships for the two teams.Another example is Tony LaRussa. He retired after winning another World Series with the Cardinals and he will go the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Manager, not a player in the major leagues.Most former professional football players who have gone on to being a successful Head Coaches were not superstars. On the other hand, not many professional football superstars became successful head coaches.How does this apply to selecting a sales manager? Here’s how.Sales reps are very competitive and often have huge egos. That’s okay. Those are traits that benefit the execution of their craft. Top performers like superstar athletes have high expectations not only of themselves, but also of all the others on the team.The professional players who were less than superstars know that everyone on the team has a contribution to make, so their expectations are not for everyone to be a superstar, but for everyone to contribute to the team as expected.This is the single most significant reason why the non-superstars make better coaches and managers. While the fact remains that everyone on a professional sports team is part of an elite group, there are those among the elite who are more elite. The latter group often does not relate well to the former group.And this is why the top sales performer most likely will not be a good sales manager or leader. The top performer’s expectations are likely to be too high. The top performer expects that everyone else on the team will share his drive, his discipline, his methods, and his zeal. That expectation is unrealistic.It is not uncommon for a previously top-performing sales person, now promoted to manager, to affect what I call the Clark Kent syndrome. The syndrome often engages when the superstar manager meets with customers along with a territory sales representative. When the former top gun salesperson perceives the territory sales rep to be floundering or slipping up before the customer, the new manager will not hesitate to push the territory rep aside and take over the situation in much the same manner as Clark Kent would rip away his shirt and tie revealing the big Superman S.This action may “save the day”, but once again at least two things happen that are both bad. The customer begins to lose confidence in the sales rep, and the customer will likely contact the Sales Manager, rather than the sales representative, when the next issue arises.On the other hand, the good performer turned manager is likely to understand the importance of supporting the local sales person rather than being Superman.I instructed the Sales Managers reporting to me to not only stay in the background, but also to not give the customer a business card. I told the Sales Managers to give any excuse they could to the customer for not having a business card, but to assure the customer that the local rep would be in contact if needed. There was no way we wanted to the customer to circumvent the local sales person as it happens sometimes.Good performers, who are promoted to sales manager, usually understand the dynamics of the team and the contribution of the individual members to the team. The good performer turned manager usually knows how to motivate and to stimulate the strengths of each individual on the team to produce and to contribute because someone probably treated them that way or they knew they couldn’t do it all themselves like superstars tend to think at times. The expectations of a good performer now manager are likely to be both grounded and directed to achieving team goals and objectives rather than individual goals. And perhaps the most beneficial trait of the good performer, now manager is that the competitive nature of his team members will be channeled towards competitors rather than between or among fellow team members.Leadership is the essential component. Leadership manifests itself in many ways. One should expect a manager to be a leader, but not all leaders on a team are managers. Top performers are expected to be role models and to lead by example. Whether it is habits, discipline, planning, organization, appearance, or temperament, the top performers must be role models.Sales Managers must be more than role models. They must be leaders.Sales Managers must be visible and not hidden behind a desk. At the same time, Sales Managers are not the person on the white horse leading the charge. Good leaders are those who work alongside their team and who let each team member know the value of the role each plays as part of the team.Leaders are not just a “pretty face” or a “fast talker”. Charisma is not leadership. Many charismatic personalities have the ability to draw people to them, but often have nowhere to lead those drawn.Leaders understand that front-line sales personnel are not “cannon fodder” or some other dispensable tool. On the contrary the front-line sales teams are indispensable to achieving the business objectives of the organization.Leaders are not just bosses who tell team members what to do. Bosses capitalize on power that generates limited success and generally leads to disgruntled, lifeless, and dispirited team members. Leaders stimulate and encourage team members to do their part in the whole scheme of the company goals.And perhaps most important of all, leaders do not view kindness and appreciation as something weak or beneath them. Leaders know that positive reinforcement may be the most powerful leadership tool there is. Leaders recognize the value of telling team members that they have done a good job or showing thanks for what they have done.And we all know that no matter what we are or where we are, we can’t hear someone say: “Good Job!” or “Thank you!” too many times. Leaders do this. Bosses don’t.

‘Hiring Cures All’Every sales leader knows that top people bring in the lion’s share of business while building excellent customer relationships. The key to increasing sales is to fill your organization with stars.However uncovering stars can be a challenge because candidates are more interview savvy than in past! Here’s how you can identify the true sales stars.Understand that applicants are more interview savvy!Ask professional recruiters and they will tell you that when compared to other employee groups, sales professionals have always been challenging to hire. This is because most sales professionals have above average interpersonal skills that usually help them present the positives while deflecting their weak areas.In recent years, sales professionals have become even more difficult to hire because of the Internet. An applicant can search and find hundreds of thousands of links providing answers to the most challenging sales interview questions. The answers can be found for most industries as well as specific sales roles. You can even find scripted answers for classic sales interview scenarios such as “sell me this pencil”.Even when you find a sales star from another company, that person may not be successful in your company due to differences in management style, sales strategy and company culture.Here are some steps you can follow in order to target and hire top producers:

Identify the key success factors needed to win. Top sales professionals are similar to elite athletes. They possess inner characteristics that separate them from average players. To ignite your sales strategy, you need to go deeper than finding those with appropriate sales skills and competencies. You need to identify those vital inner characteristics the sales stars will bring to your company. As some examples, high scorers often have exceptional self-motivation, an ability to anticipate the play and an incredible drive for winning.
Customize and update your selection criteria to align hiring with your unique selling strategies. Many sales executives put tremendous effort into developing great strategies and then forget to upgrade their hiring methods in order to hire those who fit the plan. Without this upgrade, hiring managers continue to hire more of the same and your strategies can flounder. You’ve seen it, one region excels while others struggle with internal resistance. Instead, give your sales managers the selection criteria aligned with your company’s sales strategies.
Implement state-of-the-art interviewing methods. A great deal has changed since traditional interviewing techniques were developed more than forty years ago. There are much better ways to identify the authentic person as well as the special characteristics that separate an elite player from all the others in the league. If you haven’t updated your recruiting tools, we recommend you do this before your competitors do.
Competition isn’t getting any easier and to stay in the game you need to field your best team. Times have changed and so have applicants. In response, sales leaders need the very best methods for defining high performance and identifying top producers. Providing your sales managers with the latest tools needed to hire top producers more consistently can significantly improve sales performance.If you are still using the interviewing methods from earlier decades, perhaps it’s time for an upgrade!Tom Armour is a developer of Guided Instinct Interviewing™, a major advance in hiring, enabling sales managers to select top performers more consistently.