Across many indirect channels, a majority of sales reps are struggling to meet their objectives.

This article identifies some of the main reasons why this is occurring.

Reason #1: Lack of development programs for entry level reps.

When I was entering the workforce in the late 80's, there were several companies in the IT industry that provided excellent sales development programs for entry level reps, which provided feeder programs for the rest of the industry..  They included companies such as Xerox, IBM, NCR, Pitney Bowes and many more. Though these companies still exist, they don't provide the level of sales training and development that they once did.

Reason #2: The sales game has shifted.

Up until the 1980's, most reps successfully sold feature, function and price. In the 90's, this shifted to "solution selling" where more responsibility for implementation, services and financing became part of the delivery. Today, most successful sales for new accounts, such as managed services, are made by guaranteeing the end result. This requires a different sales approach and involves a new set of decision-makers in the process. 

Most sales organizations are still selling in a "transactional" world. In the October 2007 issue of Selling Magazine, The Sales Executive Council produced some compelling  research;

• Nearly 60% of most sales forces are composed of core performing reps. (i.e. reps that fall in the middle performance quadrant of the sales force)
• High performing reps selling transactional products outperformed core performers by 59%.
• When selling complex solutions, high performing reps outperformed core performers by 189%.

Since the sales game is shifting from transactional to complex solutions, it is no wonder so many reps are struggling.

Reason #3: Too much focus on "training" vs. "development"

According to a study conducted by Robert Brinkerhoff and Stephen Gill, "People who attend formal training never apply 80% - 90% of what they learn on the job - bulk is forgotten in a few days."  Looking back at reason #1 above, the reason why companies such as Xerox were so successful at producing top sales reps in their direct and indirect channels was due to the continuous development processes they had in place. It didn't start and end with formal training, but continued throughout daily routines.  With today's fast paced world, the need to develop sales reps has been overlooked by channel reseller owners and their sales managers.

Reason #4: Core performers struggle to integrate a good sales approach with key value propositions.

In fact, it is one of the main reasons why they are not top performers. This is an ability that can be developed, but too many manufacturers focus their sales training on product features instead of integrating them into a selling approach for their channel to take advantage of.  Furthermore, most manufacturers don't take a long-term approach; instead, they provide incentives for end results instead of behavior change. This may seem reasonable but they achieve little because they're overpaying top performers for something they're already doing. Where's the incentive?

Manufacturers have a golden opportunity to take advantage of this situation. They can gain the mindshare and loyalty at the street level that they've longed for by rethinking how they go to market with their channel. At LogicBay, we're helping many manufacturers develop their partner reps' skills to increase sales results by 1.5 - 3X, creating a win-win for both the manufacturer and the partner.