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dependable, the results could be rocky
and engagement was uneven, even
in strong performers. Fusion’s cul-
tural ethos can be summed up as this:
“
Work hard, play hard, have fun in all
you do.” Amenities like Beer Fridays,
support for a healthy lifestyle and col-
lective getaways can be the icing on
the cake if people enjoy their work, but
all these must rest on a foundation of
enjoying and being fulfilled by the core
task. Fun is a stretch when part of the
team is struggling and stressed.
The literature of sales improve-
ment says you can turn struggle into
success with appropriate coaching.
But there’s coaching and coaching.
Sales managers, says Higgins, often
think they are coaching when re-
ally they are lecturing — seagulling
(
dump and run) or sandwiching (criti-
cism wrapped in slices of half-hearted
praise). Good coaches, says Kevin, can
be as tough-minded as the situation
demands, and they apply their skills
equally to the newbies and the proven
achievers. Real coaching combines a
confidence-building look at what went
right followed by determinedly — and
without too much prompting — nudg-
ing salespeople toward discovering
and internalizing better practices on
their own.
For instance, a good coaching
session after an indifferent customer
meeting might acknowledge the sales-
person’s good preparation for the
meeting, while recognizing that the
questions asked of the customer were
closed-ended, and did little to help
the salesperson understand how the
relationship could be developed. In-
stead of simply criticizing the ques-
tions that were asked, or laying down
the questions that should be asked in
the future, the coaching sales manager
will nudge the struggling salesperson
toward formulating and voicing those
open-ended questions that provide
critical business intelligence.
Coaching at this level is some-
times treated as a mysterious art, but
Fusion Learning has demonstrated
that it’s teachable within the company
and among its clients. It takes work to
learn and to keep at its peak, but the
results for Fusion Learning and for its
clients have been thrilling, whether
it’s a call centre whose employees con-
sistently outperform expectations or
a “sleepy” credit union branch that is
now shattering its targets after falling
short for a decade.
Kevin’s definition of Sales Dis-
ciplines begins with hiring, around
which he has constructed the acro-
nym ROOMr. Smart hiring starts with
Recruiting the best — a tough task,
but critical. Support for a hiring deci-
sion demands serious On-boarding.
For some companies, it’s finding a
desk and a computer for the novice.
For most salespeople, Fusion expects
to support the new hire for up to 15
months until she is comfortable and
capable in the designated role. The
second O and M are Ongoing Manage-
ment, which is the heart of Higgins’
book, Engage Me. (The last “r” is “re-
tention,” which gets a small “r” be-
cause it’s a result, not a process, but is
one of the main payoffs, as staff reten-
tion smooths results.)
Ongoing Management is a multi-
stage process that builds on Kevin’s
model for effective feedback:
•
get the salesperson’s view of a call
or situation;
•
build on or constructively correct
that;
•
get his or her view on steps for im-
provement;
•
build on or constructively lead the
subject to additional steps if re-
quired.
This essentially collaborative
model secures buy-in of the manag-
er’s feedback as it’s delivered, build-
ing understanding and acceptance,
whether a relatively informal session
like a monthly one-on-one (yes, they
need to be frequent, Kevin insists) or
within the formality of a performance
review — an event that, while it essen-
tially follows the model, calls for input
from so many players that it should
only happen every twelve to eighteen
THREE PILLARS
