3 Fitness Factors Affecting Sales Performance
There are many ways of monitoring and improving sales performance in any company. However, organisations tend to overlook some of the most important influences. Does the individual have the right skills to fit the job? Does the company have the right culture to fit the individual? The magic happens when each is mutually beneficial to the other.
Here we explain why the 3 kinds of work fitness are crucial to sales performance:
1. Job Fit
The term job fit refers to “the degree to which a person’s cognitive abilities, interests and personality dynamics fit those required by the job”. This, simply put, means that your natural behaviours fit comfortably within the designated role. If there is a mismatch, a salesperson will never reach their true potential in that particular role. Where there is a good fit, the company will regard an employee as a true asset.
Individual skills are typically closely tied to personal characteristics and preferences. Most people focus on the skills they are comfortable with, even though these may not be priorities for their particular role. For instance, someone comfortable with selling on the telephone or cold calling may not excel in face to face situations.
Inevitably, if the behavioural fit is lacking, it can lead to unproductive and unhappy sales people. As a result, it will seriously impact the business in the long term. Hence, job fit is an excellent indication to a company of how much productivity they can achieve.
2. Company Fit
The next layer of performance fitness involves the individual within the company. It is crucial to determine how the company values, ethics and culture suit the individual to help them perform at their best.
Let’s say being part of a team is a key motivating factor. It will be vital for this person to work in an environment where they encourage socialising with colleagues. What if the salesperson prefers autonomy? The team environment would be an unnecessary waste of time. Considering how long we spend at work, it is essential that the work environment is a good fit with the person.
3. Skills Fit
Finally, the third measure of fitness is skills benchmarking. We compare the skills of an individual in a particular role to those of a high performer in a similar role. The key benefit of this level of fitness is to identify areas for development. This in turn enables the salesperson to reach their optimum level of performance. Unlike the other two fitness areas, which are hard to influence, skill fitness is rather easy to address.
At Longley Sales Academy, we prove time and time again that a comprehensive assessment of all three levels of fitness increases sales performance.
Why?
It is because we are able to develop a unique training program based on gaps and trends identified at company and individual level. As a result, we target gaps in behaviour, skill, talent and intellect, to ensure that all your employees are fit for success.