July 2002 Track Selling Times World Class Sales Management
 World Class Sales Management:
Getting out on the Road
by Dan Smith,
Territorial Manager
Mighty Distribution System West, San Jose, CA
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(From July 1998 Track Selling Times)
I run two salesmen in the automotive parts business. They work established routes, as well as making new solicitations. Orders range from $100 to $20,000. My most successful actions are:
1. I meet my salesmen individually about once per week to review the steps of Track Selling. We take up one step in each meeting. I make them look at this point from all different angles. This is vital as most salespeople get excited about a new method for a while, but if you don't constantly review it, it's quickly forgotten.
2. Going out on the road with my men is probably the single, most vital action. This gives me the opportunity to critique, as well as show them how it's done. I do this with each salesperson twice a month.
3. I call on each customer every three months. For me, the customers are our greatest asset and I do everything in my power to see that they are happy. But it also gives me the chance to monitor my sales people.
4. I instill confidence in my staff. My reps phone in perhaps once per day. If I hear anything positive from any of my customer contacts, I let them know. I'm also careful to preserve their dignity when I'm correcting them. I tell them where they went wrong in a straightforward way, without any implication that they're not successful. If you keep telling them they're unsuccessful, I believe that's what you get - an unsuccessful salesperson.
As an indicator of how successful this approach is, in November our largest account went bankrupt, 17 percent of our total business volume. Yet 6 months later, we have fully restored that income in new sales. Without a doubt, Track Selling played a big part in this.
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