Rebuilding the Trust — Sales Managers Lead the Charge Tom Roth President Celeste Mosby VP of Industry Marketing for Life Sciences Building Trust Over the last few years, industry changes have made it essential for representatives to do a few things very well. For example representatives need to differentiate themselves by delivering more distinct messages, tuned to the needs of the healthcare providers (HCPs) they’re dealing with. They also need to better understand what creates value and align the messages with that goal, even if the message is a little different for each call. And reps need to be more consistent in the eyes of the customers to improve brand image and reputation. Trust is the differentiating factor that will allow companies to experience a quantum leap in sales effectiveness, therefore training needs to focus on developing salespeople into better trust builders. Representatives need to learn how to gain insights regarding industry issues and changes in the regulatory environment to help them create a differentiated, valuable message. Since only 15% of sales calls currently result in detailed discussions, it’s necessary for representatives to shift their approaches and create different expectations of the HCPs and organizations on whom they call. Most HCPs expect a brief product call, so it’s a paradigm shift for them to learn to regard a sales call as an opportunity to gain real value. This shift centers around sales representatives developing skills related to versatility, influence, consulting, innovation, and new approaches to critical thinking. There also is an organizational component in aligning sales, training, and marketing as never before to gain the synergy and clarity that can make the difference. Integrated, Accountable Leadership The sales manager role may be the most critical factor in this shift. The sales manager needs to do new things, not just more things. Adapting to this new role will require different leadership capabilities to achieve sales accountability, coach for sustainability, and document impact. The essence of leadership is to engage others to commit their full energy to the creation of value and success. Successful sales leaders have two primary responsibilities. The first is to manage the sales process; the second is to lead the sales people. Managing the sales process means paying attention to all the conversion ratios, that is the percentages of success at each stage of the sales process. For example, sales managers need to know how often their representatives call on a physician’s office before actually seeing the HCP. Sales managers also have to know how often their reps have to call before there is a change in prescribing habits. A highly effective sales leader pays attention to all the steps along the way toward improving the ratios so that growing market share becomes a more efficient, effective process. Leading sales representatives requires a major change in perspective. Most managers understand their job as “getting the job done through people.” As former top representatives now in management roles, some are tempted to intervene at critical stages in the sales process with the HCP. While this can meet short-term objectives, it does long-term harm to the representative’s morale and development and to the representative’s relationship with the HCP. Moving from “getting the job done through people” to “getting the job done with people” is one of the hardest shifts any manager faces, and it’s especially true for sales managers. This means sales managers have to build their reps’ abilities to do it themselves, which can be difficult when the immediate focus is on results. Reflection on the purpose and character of leadership doesn’t come easily. In the long run, though, how sales managers view their roles impacts how they and their organizations perform. Trust is the differentiating factor that will allow companies to experience a quantum leap in sales effectiveness. Wilson Learning Corp., Edina, Minn., is a leader in human performance improvement solutions for Fortune 500 and emerging corporations, with operations in the United States and 30 other countries. For more information, visit wilsonlearning.com. May 2006 VIEW on Sales Training Sales Effectiveness

Download PDF