How To Develop A Next Gen Sales Rep w/Mor Assouline @Practice Panther
Just who is the sales rep of the future and how will she drive the numbers for your product or service every sales cycle? In this episode of Sales Secrets, I interview Mor Assouline of Practice Panther on how you’ll be able to identify the sales representative of the future and leverage their strengths for your sales team.
In this article:
How to Spot The Sales Rep of the Future
About My Guest — Mor Assouline of Practice Panther
Assouline is currently the Vice President of Sales at PracticePanther.com, a legal case management software. He handles the inbound sales and leads team at the company.
During his first job, which happened to be in sales, Assouline actually quit 30 minutes into the job. He told his boss he couldn’t do sales, which is ironic considering he now manages sales teams.
Through the years, Assouline has seen different sales reps and has identified who the next gen sales rep, or the Sales Rep 2.0, is. Here are his observations.
1. They’re Customer-Centric
The Sales Rep 2.0 is not like an encyclopedia salesman of old or the car salesman who shoves deals down the customers’ throats. They’re on the prospective customer’s side, giving them solutions, and not just selling to them.
This kind of employee solves problems for clients during the sales process and goes beyond the bottom line. More than just meeting sales goals, the Sales Rep 2.0 builds long-term customer relationships by leveraging customer service every step of the way.
2. A Great Sales Rep Keeps Another Great Sales Rep’s Calling Card
According to Assouline, you can actually ask a great sales rep you’ve hired for references. You can ask them for references by asking questions like: do you know someone who loves this job?
3. Look for The One Who Puts in More Elbow Grease
Assouline often watches waiters in the restaurants and looks for the ones who put a little extra in their work. He then asks them if waiting tables is the only thing they want to do.
The employees with great potentials and who will keep advancing their sales skills always say NO.
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4. They Don’t Waste Their Manager’s Time
Sales rep receiving useful advice from their manager
Through a productivity tracking app, Assoline has determined the amount of time he’s lost answering questions reps should already know the answer to and could find out for themselves. He found out he lost four hours per week in these little meetings and coaching sessions.
The best reps, on the other hand, always figure out the answers and gather knowledge on their own and come to their managers only for the essential ones.
5. The Best Sales Reps Learn from a Playbook
A Sales Rep 2.0 always takes the manager’s instructions and procedures, learns from them, and then make a playbook out of them.
Assouline envisions a next gen sales reps as someone who can function and drive the business even without the sales manager. They go a step beyond their sales training and add more chapters to the instruction manual.
6. They Are Always Prospecting
A Sales Rep 2.0 knows that prospecting is a form of insurance for more successful sales. Closing sales will hit the numbers but prospecting opens up those deals in the first place.
Prospecting Definition: The process of finding potential clients in hopes of opening up new deals or business. Ultimately, the goal of prospecting is to move prospects further down the funnel and convert them into customers.
7. They Focus on Higher-Value Tasks
Sales team members analyzing tasks
Finally, Assouline claims that sales reps should focus on macro tasks—those that inevitably drive more numbers than the micro ones.
A sales representative 2.0 will know the difference between high-value targets against the low-hanging fruit, and will prioritize the macro tasks accordingly.
The growing sophistication of technology has given customers the ability to sniff out your competitors and fact-check your sales reps’ claims. In this changing landscape, it’s essential that sales reps keep up and become next gen sales reps.
A Sales Rep 2.0 combines the traditional gut-instinct sales skills with technological savvy to sell to these customers and keep them on the side of your business for the long haul.
Can you identify a Sales Rep 2.0 in your sales team? What other qualities and characteristics define such a sales representative? Let us know your answers in the comments section below.
Up Next: How To Improve The Sales With Reporting & Analytics
