Years ago working with a chain of retail stores, I interviewed the salespeople. After a lot of talk with a lot of people I found out that they really hated to close a sale because the work they had to do after making the sale was so time‑consuming and difficult.

Why? One of the owners was very obsessive about details. He had provided a job description and list of tasks to the salespeople that meant that every sale was followed by hours of paperwork and follow-up.

The result was that salespeople who were not compensated based on their actual sales and who did not receive any incentives or commissions spent a lot of time talking to customers and even encouraging them to study the products and take their time about making a decision. The salespeople hated to make a sale.

Around the same time, Arthur Martinez, the president of Sears, was struggling to solve a sales problem. He commissioned an industrial engineering firm to study the Sears salespeople in the stores.

What did the engineers find? Breaking down the activities of the salespeople, the industrial engineers found 225 different activities performed by Sears salespeople.

Martinez was shocked and appalled. What was all of this “stuff”? They reviewed everything and determined that more than 200 of the activities had nothing to do with making a sale or keeping a customer.

They eliminated the “garbage” and sales went up, fast!

Sellers Sell!

The bottom line for reps is that everyone in the company is involved in sales. The field salespeople can contribute in ways other than writing orders, but everything they do should be directed at getting an order for one of the lines.

Marketing Is Selling, but….

A rep can be asked to help a principal by finding out information, looking at markets, getting pricing information, seeking out specific people, but none of this is a substitute for selling.

The bottom line is that the salespeople must be devoting 90 percent of their time to actual selling — working with customers, working with field management for the manufacturers, and working with end-users.

The field salesperson’s job is selling!

Hiring Decisions Must Focus on Selling

A rep friend called today to ask about a decision he was making to hire a new salesperson. The new seller was going to have a very high base salary and be paid 30 percent of the commission income earned as his commission. The goal was to have this seller earning big money quickly and really helping the rep firm grow and prosper even more than it had in its 50+ year history.

My friend was concerned because the young man he was making an offer to had big ideas and fully intended to buy the rep firm from him, relatively soon.

Focus on Selling

My answer to his concerns and nervousness about this hire was “make sure he sells and if not — fire him!”

That’s the bottom line in the rep business. You either sell or you go. There are no in between goals or ideas. Sellers sell! The new salesman-rep had to understand that he was coming on board to sell! The young guy might be very bright, but if he couldn’t master the techniques of multiple-line selling and backselling in the rep business, he was of no value to my friend.

Focus on Selling

The new guy has to learn fast. He has to master the major lines. He has to come to really understand the major principals and how to enhance the rep firm’s position with those lines (backselling).

And, he must understand his position with each key customer for each key line.

Plan the Work and Work the Plan

The new salesperson must quickly develop a plan for each line with each significant customer. Once the plan is developed and approved by the leadership, he has to implement the plan and make it work.

As the salesperson develops and spends more time working with customers and key principals, there is only one measure of his progress — commission income from each line.

When the owner/sales manager meets with the salesperson, there is only one focus — sales.

Selling! That’s the Business — Don’t Leave Home Without It!

Yes, it is that simple. Sellers sell. Reps are hired and paid to deliver one thing — sales!

“Get on with it!” is what I told my friend. If the guy doesn’t sell and increase commissions, fire him. That’s all there is to it. We want to have good people, good representatives of our firm, and great results. There is only one way to achieve that — hire very good people and keep them focused.

Good luck and good selling.

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