The Roles of Today's Top Performing Salespeople

THE FIVE PROFESSIONAL SELLING ROLES

There have been many different studies on the role conflict, role overload, and role ambiguity of salespeople and the affects of each on sales productivity, efficiency, and overall performance.

Role conflict is defined as conflicting job demands and is related to stress on salespeople. In other words, if salespeople get conflicting demands placed upon them (say, by their management and by the customer), then they will feel more stress. Many would argue that is the very nature of professional selling.

Role overload is defined as a situation in which the salesperson is assigned more work than he/she can effectively deal with. This can also occur when the salesperson creates more work for his or herself that the organization does not help carry the burden on. As an example, the organization may not feel as concerned about a customer complaint as the salesperson. As a result, the salesperson may shoulder the burden in an attempt to satisfy the buyer demand – creating more work for his or herself.

Role ambiguity occurs when a salesperson does not have adequate information to perform the task or understand the expectations of that particular task. Salespeople often fail because they simply do not know what roles to fill.

Role Ambiguity is the number one reason why salespeople fail

A “role” is defined as the characteristic and expected social behavior of an individual. We all play many roles in life, such as parent or salesperson, and it is not difficult to see how this sense of the word role is related to its meaning in theater, where a “role” was played by a character.

All of these factors have a significant negative impact on self esteem, professional self image and consequently resilience in the face of adversity. In short, without a clear definition of the roles you are to play, the amount of work you are to perform and how these roles intertwine, you may end up like the other thousands of salespeople a year who do not make it in the profession. I will now define professional selling roles and what is generally expected in each.

THE FIVE SELLING ROLES I PRESENT ARE:

• Catalyst
• Communicator
• Manager
• Positioner
• Facilitator

THE ROLE OF "CATALYST"

In this role, you are an agent of your company and you will be asked to assist other companies in making a change occur by choosing your solution. You will do this in a consultative and participatory process to identify their business issues and put a plan in place that solves those issues. You will have to represent your company to others and encourage those with whom you interact to find solutions to problems or tasks that fit their business needs. To do this, you will use a strong knowledge of business economics, finance, law and ethics to determine if your organization can help. With this understanding, you will be asked to create an interest in the feasibility of your solution(s) with buyers. You will then be asked to negotiate for a fair investment by the buyer if they determine your company is in the best position to help. If the individual is unsure of their decision-making process or decision making criteria, you will need to help them determine what their underlying thoughts and feelings are about your solution in order to arrive at an acceptable decision-making process and/ore criteria so they can determine if your solution is indeed in a good fit to help.

If you believe your company's solution(s) can help (based on this acquired understanding of the business issues) you will need to determine what facts, data, and other information you will need to bring a sale to close. If the buyer already has a relationship with your company, you will gather the relevant data and information to expand the relationship (with your facilitator role) while protecting it from other companies. You will be asked to be a persistent self-starter, assertive, competitive, and results-oriented in this role.

The “Catalyst” is the only role that focuses solely creating a unique transaction. Usually this role is coupled with one of the other roles. You are usually a “catalyst” even if you are communicating, facilitating, positioning, or managing because you are focused on creating transactions.

Note: Unlike many who believe you are either a “hunter” or a “farmer”, I believe you are a “catalyst” throughout. You will be required to “make something happen” and “facilitate” no matter what type of selling job you are in (see facilitator below), especially if you are managing the entire transaction experience.

THE ROLE OF "MANAGER"

In this role, you are someone who fulfills administrative activities as well as tactical execution of a sales strategy. You must manage yourself within the overall context of your organization and within one or more customer relationships. You help yourself and others manage time, resources, and technology to create daily, weekly, monthly and yearly plans to achieve success against pre-determined objectives. You manage yourself in accordance with the plan you create to ensure your success. You must assume responsibility and accountability for your results because your selling skills are in high demand by your organization and others count on you to succeed.

As a result, you will create measurements of success and use technology to create appropriate reports, manage a defined process, forecast future sales, or collaborate to ensure you are progressing against your plans accordingly. You will work collaboratively with others internal to your organization as well as with others within client companies. You will create partnerships and alliances where appropriate as well as manage the financials of your work unit or organization. You will be asked to troubleshoot or overcome serious concerns raised by clients, prospects, or internal team members. You will create schedules for yourself and others and manage these schedules accordingly. You will be asked to follow a sales process that you have built or you have been trained on. Your overall management of the sales cycle will be under scrutiny by those who are forecasting sales or otherwise relying on the revenue your and your colleagues (if applicable) create. You will be asked to be responsible, dependable, loyal, obedient, strategic, empowering, and a problem solver in this role.

THE ROLE OF "FACILITATOR"

In this role, you will be asked to manage relationships with others and facilitate the transfer of information, specifications, data, requirements, and other deliverables necessary to either protect/expand a relationship or help a new client come into your organization. In this role, you serve as a “role and communication coordinator.” In this role, you will start meetings by explaining the purpose of the meeting, the type of contributions encouraged, the ground rules for the session, and the desired outcome.

You will also assign roles to sales coordinators, sales engineers, management, and other sales team members. You als identify key constituents from your organization (such as Marketing, Product Management, Engineering, etc) as well as the buyer's organization (financial, executive, technical, and user constituents) (you can easily map these functional areas to your company's organization) and involve them at the most appropriate times in the sales process. You will be required to conduct due diligence such as going through the numbers deeply and thoroughly while putting a broader strategic rationale for client purchases under the microscope.

You will look at the business case in its entirety, probing for strengths and weaknesses and searching for unreliable assumptions and other flaws in the logic during the sales process. You may be asked to answer questions and inquiries and apply your judgment to important situations while providing adequate follow-up and resolution to questions or concerns others have. You will also help uncover future needs and opportunities to further position your other solutions if the need arises in your client companies. You manage resources, distribute these resources accordingly and forecast future activity accurately. You must also serve client needs and troubleshoot any problems or issues that arise post-sale by coordinating the most appropriate response. You must set appropriate expectations for quality, timeliness, and responsiveness with the client before each sale. You will help coordinate legal documents and discussions between your company and the buying company as needed. You will be asked to be personable, sensitive, open, precise, logical, level-headed, accommodating, consistent, and have great attention-to-detail.

THE ROLE OF "COMMUNICATOR"

In this role, you are somebody who has a particular ability to express thoughts, ideas, and plans effectively and when needed -- persuasively.

Because the volume of communication constantly increases, the chance of information overload with buyers also increases; therefore you will maintain the impact and effectiveness of individual messages by leveraging new and emerging strategies for communication.

You will draw on your understanding of a variety of fields such as linguistics, semantics, rhetoric, psychology, sociology, graphic design, management, marketing, economics, and information technology. You will learn to manage communication to achieve specific short-term objectives, influence communication networks and the communication flow within organizations, while developing good interpersonal communication between and among those who work with you. You will build rapport and trust with those you come into contact with through open and honest dialogue. You must have an ability to understand others and to actively engage in a way they feel comfortable.

To accomplish this you must be able to listen effectively and ask questions to determine the root cause of an issue as well as to develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the issues. You must have a keen grasp of non-verbal body language while being gracious and disciplined. You will be asked to focus on customer needs, rather than on your product or service and develop your personal and organizational credibility while minimizing buyer anxiety. You will use this role to increase self-confidence and reduce burnout through effectively managing appropriate messages and communication channels internally as well as managing your own internal positive dialogue and positive “self-talk”.

You will project first impressions that last and use energy and impact to create lasting impressions. You will conduct audience analysis and present to them based on appropriate learning style, cultural, economic, and gender differences. You will understand the ways in which these differences influence communication expectations and behavior, including the length of time it takes to establish business and personal relationships, differences in the conception of time itself, differences in nonverbal communication, and differences in perceptions as they are influenced by language and culture. You will also be asked to effectively deal with different personality types in constantly changing customer environments.

You will select the appropriate words and terminology for the correct audience so you do not speak “over their head” or in a manner that does not translate to their specific organizational status or decision making impact. You will speak clearly, succinctly and professionally in person and on the phone. You will facilitate communication between large accounts where your message may (or may not) be given without you as well as with individuals where you will have the ability to uniquely tailor your approach and style. You must have an understanding of individual customer behavior and how your own behavior affects customer relationships. You must be aware of the non-verbal behavior displayed by buyers. You will synchronize your communication style to theirs, enabling you to ensure no incomprehension or misunderstanding. You will effectively use visual aids, presentations, documentation, brochures, or other marketing collateral where appropriate.

In this role, you will communicate customer concerns regarding quality, perceptions, and problems back to appropriate members of your firm. You will also collect competitive intelligence and communicate that back to marketing and product development team members. You will also leverage political networks inside and outside your organization to help facilitate necessary changes or decisions.

You will use a variety of means to achieve your communication objectives (letters, emails, public presentations, one-on-one presentations, telephone, conference calls, web-seminars, etc). You must have the ability to write written reports, informational memos, or even analytical reports as necessary. You must have a fundamental knowledge of primary and secondary research, techniques for data analysis, and how to give analytical presentations when necessary.

You must have the technical ability to effectively use communications tools, whether word processing, page layout and graphic design, Email, video-conferencing, Internet-based services, teleconferencing, or multimedia. You will also leverage items like cell phones, pagers, and email devices (like “Blackberries”) to help ensure that you can communicate from virtually anywhere to virtually anywhere else at any time. You will understand how to effectively communicate via email and the Internet to communicate with prospects and customers as well as internal management and team members. In some instances, you may need to troubleshoot or repair technological devices so as to maintain effectiveness.

You will be asked to be sociable, straight-forward, patient, tactful, adaptable, quick, articulate, poised, gracious, and resilient in this role.

THE ROLE OF "POSITIONER"

In this role, you will distinguish yourself and your company in a world where buyers have large amounts of choice, information, and power.

To do this, you will need to work with internal management, marketers, and product development team members to articulate a position that occupies a space in the prospect's mind . You will not only understand your position in customers' minds, but where you want to evolve that position. You will work to understand how to align the corporate mission and structure to one that best supports customers, connects with them, and creates satisfied and loyal customers.

In this role, you are extremely focused on what the buyer wants and needs and you will work diligently to take your company's own strengths and weaknesses into consideration and those of the competition as well and then clearly, succinctly, and precisely deliver the value your company can provide into the hands of the buyer. You will define and refine an actual buying need within a client or prospect company and place your company's product(s) or service(s) as the solution – if your company can indeed deliver.

You are required to fact-find with key individuals inside your firm and lead the internal efforts to create an appealing message that buyers will understand and appreciate. You will blend corporate strategy with an approach that requires a deep understanding of buyers in your unique territory and develop a comprehensive solution that fills their need and meets their expectations. To do this, you will have to find out what is important to the buyer and help articulate the response, plan, or strategy in clear terms. You will need to set appropriate expectations in an ethical way with the buyer so as to not over-promise your company's capability to deliver.

To determine needs and set expectations, you will actively seek out buying decision-makers and engage them in a way that synchronizes with their decision-making process. You will work with them to understand how your company's solution is different than others in the marketplace while maintaining the flexibility to come up with new ideas or solutions if necessary (and attainable by your company). You will build a strategy that identifies a target market or prospect and then uniquely tailor an approach that maximizes your chance of success in creating a sales dialogue. To do this, you will develop “differentiators” (i.e. guaranteed aggressive response times, preferential rates on all goods and services, dedicated account and support personnel, escalation lists, access to the consulting firm's senior management for problem resolution, etc)

Because consumers perceive brands as becoming more similar over time -- rather than different, you must develop a way to protect your solution from becoming a commodity differentiated only on price (if applicable). To do this, you must sell based on unique benefits as perceived by the buyer and ensure that marketing and sales messages do not conflict with that “uniqueness.” To achieve this, you will ensure there is clear understanding of your brand, a clear characteristic and feature message, and a clear understanding of a distinctive unique selling proposition. You will then use this in your other roles.

If your company does not have a unique benefit or if your company sells commodities (paper, printing, office supplies, consumables, etc); you are required to differentiate your company through your own personal interactions with buyers – your personal positioning.

You will be asked to be emotionally strong, intelligent, customer-focused, market oriented, strategic, conscientious, and curious in this role.