Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 21. Reconstructing the Pieces of the Sales Puzzle

Jonathan Farrington

The JF Consultancy

I first began to recognize the need to benchmark sales performance more objectively and more rigorously over 25 years ago. My motivation was strong because I knew I was wasting thousands—if not hundreds of thousands—of dollars on sales skills training programs that failed to provide me with a proper return on my considerable investment. But I needed to prove my theory because without an accurate analysis of my requirements, I would continue to abdicate that responsibility to the training providers, most of whom had only their own interests at heart.

By taking an analytical approach, I arrived at the following equation:

Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success

My initial reasoning was this: Attitude is fundamental to any achievement, because individuals with the right attitude are far more likely to embrace the essential Skills, recognize the control that Process brings, and have the desire to continually expand their Knowledge.

As the "tools of the trade," Skills have to be developed on an ongoing basis. They also need to be specific because too much time can be wasted overburdening employees with inappropriate and irrelevant skills, without any identifiable plan for their future requirements.

Process brings organization, efficiency, and control, both for the individual and for management. Effective process provides objective analysis and indicators that can be benchmarked and accurately ...