Over the past four decades, Caliper Consulting has helped more than 23,000 companies worldwide effectively select, develop, and manage people. For most companies, hiring the right employee is a challenge. The Caliper Profile has proved to be over 90% accurate in determining who will become a top performing salesperson. In this practical book, Herb Greenberg, CEO of Caliper and developer of the Caliper Profile, arms managers with everything they need to stop the recruitment revolving door in their companies and to hire the right people the first time, every time, by showing managers how to:
* Identify the four proven factors that predict an employee's success in sales
* Outline a proven system for finding, developing, and retaining great salespeople
* Follow his expert guidance on job matching, team-building, leadership, and successful sales traits for specific industries
Herb Greenberg (Princeton, NJ) is the founder and president of Caliper. A recognized authority on the relationship between personality and performance, he speaks widely and is published extensively, including articles in the Harvard Business Review. Harold Weinstein (Princeton, NJ) is COO of Caliper and an active consultant, writer, and speaker around the world. Patrick Sweeney (Princeton, NJ) is Executive VP of marketing at Caliper where he oversees positioning of the assessment, training, and consulting practices.
1
The Opportunity and the Challenge
In striking contrast to most corporate positions, sales
provides an opportunity for those who want to operate with a good degree
of autonomy and independence. It remains the only profession where
individuals are judged according to a dollar-and-cents standard. And for
those willing to sacrifice the security of a consistent paycheck, sales
can be extremely lucrative.
For fast trackers, who are looking to make more money than their peers,
are seeking increased responsibility, and are too impatient to slowly
climb their way up the corporate ladder, there is only one option:
sales. But as inviting as all this sounds, sales is not for everyone.
It takes a special kind of person to succeed in sales. First of all,
salespeople have a different way of looking at the world. They sense
opportunities where others fear rejection. Frowns are not signs of
discouragement; they are something to be changed. Where others see
obstacles, salespeople see challenges.
That is why, more than anything else, salespeople must believe in
themselves. And the best salespeople we have encountered know themselves
very well -- they know how to play to their strengths.
And because of who they are, as salespeople grow in their positions,
they are constantly seeking new opportunities. In a recent study, we
found that most top executives have come up through the sales and
marketing ranks. This is because the best salespeople and the most
effective corporate executives share many of the same qualities,
including initiative, drive, imagination, and a willingness to work
hard.
But what attracts successful people to sales? What do they have that
others do not? What, ultimately, does it take to succeed in sales?
We intend to give you a clearer picture of exactly who the best
salespeople are. We will explore what drives successful salespeople,
what differentiates them from people in other professions, and perhaps
most importantly, what distinguishes the best salespeople from the rest
of the salespeople. In addition, we'll explore why some people excel in
sales, while others, who seem to work just as hard and enthusiastically,
fall short of meeting goals.
We have counseled over 25,000 firms on these questions throughout the
past four decades. And in this book, we will share our findings.
As our service economy shifts into high gear, what it takes to succeed
in sales has become a little more complex than it once was. One
certainty is that there is a growing need for the human touch. As the
Internet opens new doors, the nature of sales is changing. Customers
find themselves looking for someone to guide them through the labyrinth
of possibilities they face. Many products and services today are
difficult to distinguish from the competition. So, above all, this sales
process depends upon trust. This trend underscores the growing
importance of truly professional salespeople.
That is because what is being sold in today's economy is not really
products or even services. What the best salespeople truly sell are
solutions -- solutions that uniquely meet the particular needs of each
client.
