Getting the Best Sales Conference ROI Possible
Sales conferences: at one end of the spectrum its a week of business and preparation for 09, at the other end its something resembling Oktoberfest. They can, therefore, be very confusinf times for sales managers.
They can therefore highlight the conflict managers sense about their role and their relationships with their sales team members.
Heres how one sales manager, I worked with, resolved the conflict.
Conferences she said, are often seen as rewards for working hard or a normal part of being in sales. Theres a lot of company funded team parties, dinners, recreational activities and, of course, a gala night to celebrate last years achievements. You know, its easy for representatives to see it as a holiday paid for by the company. So when Id bring up the topic of doing better with team members, Id get a not now frown.
As a sales representative I used conferences to find out new things and it wasnt only about my products. Id talk with others that were more successful than me. I discovered aspects of selling that would make me more successful with my doctors.
I was promoted to manager, in part, because I was a capable representative. The conflict arose because I just really wanted, and so assumed, that the representatives in my team wanted to be as good as me. The conference was a great place to give them just what they need. After all, selling our products to doctors is their job!
I felt bad about wasting the opportunity, and confused. I wanted to help them to succeed yet I didnt want to get a party-pooper reputation.
Her issue relates to one of the fundamental attitudes we grow up with and assume is always true: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Unfortunately, the more she treated her representatives the way she wanted to be treated, the more resistance she got.
If this sounds like you, or you want to stimulate (provoke?) thinking about doing things differently, or reinforce this years sales strategy and youre hesitant because you dont know how to start the conversation, heres a tip.
Your capacity to help your representatives improve their performance is directly proportional to the relationship you have with them. The number one force that you fight against in the pharmaceutical marketplace today is not your competitors, the economy, MAs Code of Conduct, Quality Use of Medicines or generics. Instead, your toughest battle is against representative scepticism and cynicism.
Treating them and talking to them the way you want to be treated can exacerbate that mistrust. So why not treat them and talk to them AS THEY WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED. What I mean by that is use the informal opportunities at the conference to find out how THEY make a decision, or what would influence their decisions. Or, indirectly, talk with and ask the people that are really close to them.
Then, when youre having a conversation, talk about whats really important to your representatives. Not what you think is important to your representatives.
Its as Stephen Covey says, first seek to understand, then be understood. Its then, and only then, that you can talk about change, progress, improvement and get the kind of ROI from the conference that sets you and the team up for success in 09.