Level 1 – The Beginner
Overview
A Level 1 Salesperson was usually promoted to external sales from an internal customer service or sales support position. In large organizations a previous role could be operations or administration. When this occurs a move into sales is part of their career development and aim to be in a management position in two or three years.
Attributes
These can range from nervous excitement, eager, and high expectations to outright fear, anxiety, and self-doubt.
Knowledge
Product, industry, and client knowledge acquired from their former role; unaware of requirements needed to succeed in external sales; no understanding of client purchasing influences and the decision process; knowledge of sales and sales strategy is limited to what they read in books, looked up on the internet or heard from other salespeople.
Skills
- Capable of continuing to develop relationships with existing clients
- Poor business development skills
- Lack ability to structure a sales process
- Lack ability to create the right selling environment
- Lack ability to apply Warm-Up skills
- Few questions asked when in a new sales call
- Present products or services shortly after the introduction
- Lack ability to deal with rebuttals and sales objections
- Passive when concluding the sales call
- Do not ask for referrals.
Level 2 – The Novice
Overview
Novice salespeople can be in a sales role for six months to possibly years; initial excitement and enthusiasm for sales given way to a subdued approach to their work.
Attributes
Level 2 Salespeople are consciously aware they lack sales competence and will continue in this vein or become increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated; when the latter frame of mind, they tend to become overwhelmed by sales related problems resulting in outbursts of anger to sales support and management; frustration is a common biproduct for their lack of sales competence.
Knowledge
A degree of sales knowledge has been achieved through trial and error or by other means; they do not understand how skills are applied in a structured sales process; unaware as to why sales rebuttals, objections and sales related difficulties reoccur; inadequate knowledge of business development, account management, purchase influences and the decision-process.
Skills
- Lack ability in business development, account management, sales strategy, and sales tactics
- Poor time management
- Do not set sales call objectives
- Passive in creating the right selling environment
- Good rapport building skills with existing clients
- Predominately ask personal questions with existing clients
- Level of confidence is linked to listening skills
- Poor rebuttal and sales objection skills
- Passive concluding the sales call
- Use one sales style
- Do not ask for referrals
- Poor customer relationship management records.
Level 3 – The Disciplined
Overview
A salesperson at Level 3 more than other sales competence levels can be in sales their whole career; often develop long term loyal client relationships; not strategic in their sales approach.
Attributes
Prefer to follow a daily sales territory schedule and resist any disruption to it; inclined to oppose change by looking at the possible downside; do not like sales training because they believe they know everything about sales; appear outwardly confident because of years in sales, they feel most comfortable dealing with supervisory or middle management and avoid senior client management.
Knowledge
Gained knowledge by having attended many sales seminars and courses, their knowledge of sales is often out of date; good personal relationships and know their clients well, but minimal information about the client organization; limited sales strategies, and tactics.
Skills
- Avoid but are capable of business development
- Unstructured and subjective sales call objectives
- Sales process applied by ‘gut feel’
- Experienced at rapport building
- Asked mainly personal and too few organizational questions
- Active listening skills
- Inconsistent client qualification
- Use one sales style
- Focus on a few key influencers in the decision process
- React to rebuttals and sales objections with an instant answer
- Competent at closing the sale
- Asking for referrals is inconsistent
- Over service clients they feel comfortable with, and under service or avoid difficult clients
- Poor customer relationship management records.
Level 4 – The Competent
Overview
Level 4 are consistent sales performers; frequently sell to large client organizations in a national or state account management role; strategic and tactical approach to sales and will undertake business development if required.
Attributes
Dealing regularly with a small number of large client organizations can lead to complacency; an inclination to limit the circle of influence by only contacting the same individual/s; few probing questions asked resulting in negligible or lost new business; can feel intimidated if required to call on executive client management.
Knowledge
The sales and buying process, client personal and organizational knowledge; selling strategies and tactics but may need assistance and/or advice from their senior management.
Skills
- Competent business development
- Develop account plans and set sales call objectives
- Consistently create the right selling environment
- Excellent rapport building skills
- Qualify and requalify when required
- Fair style shifting skills
- Handle sales objections
- Close sales consistently
- Diligent customer relationship management recording and maintenance.
Level 5 – The Highflyer
Overview
Only one Level 5 Salesperson in a large or very small sales team; fit the public’s perception of a typical salesperson; flamboyant, self-indulgent, motivated by money and status; best suited for business development.
Attributes
They dramatically outsell their peers; a sales and not a business approach; sell at low profit margins; charismatic personality used to build client relationships; sell intuitively so cannot describe in detail how and why; inability to transfer skills; resist change; ignore junior influencers; salesy manner tending to be pushy, so difficulty in establishing credibility with senior client management.
Knowledge
Well informed on clients’ decision process and various influencers that impact the buying process; thorough understanding of clients’ personally and the client organization.
Skills
- Capable business development and sales territory management
- Limited business acumen
- Initiate and create the right selling environment
- Build rapport effortlessly with the decision maker
- Active listener
- Qualify and requalifying when required
- Fixed sales style
- Handle sales objections
- Skilled at generating referrals
- Assumptive at closing the sale
- Poor customer relationship management recording and maintenance
- Skilled at sales tactics but lack strategic skills.
Level – 6 The Professional
Overview
Few salespeople reach Level 6 Sales Competence; set the standard for sales performance; have a strategic business approach; consistently sell at higher profit margins; proactive learners, pursue ways to grow personally and professionally; tend to move into a sales coaching role full or part time; ability to transfer knowledge and skills; can become a role model for sales success.
Attributes
Conservative, seek realistic but challenging opportunities; methodical, like structure, process and stick with what works; independent, dislike rules, regulations, and red tape; nonreflective, do not agonize over setbacks; goals, set short term goals for up to twelve months; productive, action orientated to achieve tangible results; practical, learn and refine new skills to achieve better outcomes; socialize, with a diverse number of people to identify business opportunities.
Knowledge
Uncover and maintain intelligence on competitors’ activities, products/services; comprehensive information on client personnel involved in the buying decision process; create a strategic sales approach that differs from competitors.
Skill
- Practical application of the sales and buying process
- Ability to effectively control a meeting and sell via video conferencing
- Objectively critique their sales meetings
- Objectively critique a salesperson’s sales meeting when coaching
- Ability to isolate skills and strategies that need to be improved
- Sales and buying cycle is shorter than the company’s mean average
- Skilled business-related discussions with senior client management
- Skilled dealing with client purchasing groups and boards of directors
- Coach and transfer sales and strategy skills.
