The sales team is a critical part of the success of any business. And hiring, leading, and retaining exceptional salespeople is always a challenge.
Ken Trupke, host of The Clarity Advisors Show, recently appeared on the Sales Edge podcast, with Joe Pici to discuss selecting and interviewing candidates, on-boarding, metrics, accountability, and other aspects of building a great sales team.
Joe is a master sales trainer and coach, known for teaching his clients how to book more appointments and close more business. He’s been a guest on our show, but this week we’re changing things up, putting Ken on the hot seat with Joe asking the questions.
Timestamps
(01:01): Description of Ken’s services
(01:54): What to look for in a salesperson
(03:59): Attributes and skills that need to be taught
(05:37): Keys to the on-boarding process
(07:24): Important metrics in the sales process
(09:36): Handling accountability in the 21st century
(11:27): The remote vs. in-person work debate
(18:52): The interview process
(22:20): Another note about accountability
(24:17): Contacting and connecting with Ken
Episode Quotes
“I want to make sure you’ve got that combination of humble, hungry, and smart, and part of the ‘hungry’ is you’re not afraid to pick up the phone.” (Ken)
“Either we’re going to be accountable to activity that you one hundred percent control, or we’re going to be accountable to results.” (Ken)
“You’ve got to make sure you are clear (about) what you are looking for. What are you expecting? People are not mind readers. And where this can start to go sideways early is when you’re not clear as a leader with what you expect.” (Ken)
“I’m kind of an in-office person because I like the connection that you get. I think you just can’t replace when people are together.” (Ken)
“The win is in following the process. And that’s why I love activity metrics because you can control those and you can remind yourself, ‘I won today because I made my calls, not because I heard yes.’ Because you might not hear ‘yes’.” (Ken)
“We want to hire for the values and then we’ll teach the skills because those skills are going change, and what you know today is going to diminish in value.” (Ken)
“Once you’ve agreed and you’re accountable to someone for something, you have two choices. And those two choices are do the thing for the person when you said you would or communicate ahead of time. (Ken)
Recommended Reading and Listening
- The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues by Patrick M. Lencioni
- Sales Edge podcast with Joe Pici
- The Clarity Advisors Show (#1) with guest Joe Pici: “Forget emails! For best results, pick up the phone.”
- The Clarity Advisors Show (#22) with guest Joe Pici: “Aligning and engaging your team for success in 2023.”
Follow/Connect with Joe Pici
- Phone: 407-947-2950
- Text “Sales Edge” to 55678
- joe@piciandpici.com
- Joe Pici on LinkedIn
- piciandpici.com
- sellmorevirtually.com
Follow/Connect with Ken Trupke
