Sales Training: An Independent Perspective. Dave Stein's Blog.

My blog and website stats during 2009 showed that interviews with sales thought leaders and experts were especially popular in both blog post and podcast formats. I’ve learned a lot from these interviews while providing an opportunity for the interviewees to get broader exposure.

In the past, I’ve generally limited my interviews to CEOs and senior executives representing the larger providers.  But anyone on the buy-side of sales training knows that there are individuals and small firms that deliver significant value to their clients.  I’ll be featuring more of those during this year.

My first interview for 2010 is with Steve Waterhouse, president of Predictive Results, a sales performance improvement provider based in Jacksonville, Florida.  In this interview with Steve, I focused on his business—what has made him successful.

Dave Stein: Would you provide us with an overview of your sales performance improvement practice?

Steve Waterhouse: Three years ago, my business was 80% training, 15% speaking, and 5% product sales with the majority of my work in one- and two-day engagements. We often trained only the sales team. Today my business mix is 70% training, 20% consulting, 5% speaking and 5% product sales with the majority of our clients renewing for multi-year agreements. Our training now covers virtually every manager in the company. Ninety-percent of our business is related to Predictive Index® and Customer-Focused Selling™.

DS: What about your background do you believe has contributed to your success?

SW: I started my career as an engineer on the Patriot Missile and then moved into technical sales. I think the discipline of engineering and the high level of professionalism in the technical companies I represented set the standard for all aspects of my business. Once I started consulting and training, having a wide diversity of clients gave me the insight I needed to solve problems in nearly any situation.

DS: Steve, you and I first met at a National Speakers Association conference in 2000.  At that point you were very much into technology.  How have you used technology in your business and what benefits do you believe it has delivered?

SW: Technology has played a critical role in marketing, sales and customer service. In the beginning, it was simple email lists. Today, we use CRM to manage the entire sales and service process. In addition, the assessments we represent from PI Worldwide® are delivered electronically. In some cases, we are directly integrated into our client’s management software, giving them virtually instant results.

DS: What’s your take on the economy as we come into a new decade?

SW: We have just finished our best year in business. I believe our success has come from finding those companies who are forward looking and helping them reach their goals. It is much easier to help someone fix a problem that they know they have than it is to try to convince people that they have a problem in the first place. The tough economy has only made finding the right companies a little more difficult. I expect more of the same ahead.

DS: What are the three biggest obstacles you believe the average sales leader has to overcome?

SW: Here they are:

1. Attracting and hiring the right people is always an enormous issue. We have seen 500% differences in sales results based on proper selection using our predictive testing tool. On the other hand, choosing the wrong people results in leadership efforts being distracted away from achieving those types of results.
2. Failure to use effective analysis to drive skills training. Without data from tools like the one we use for sales skills assessment, managers are flying blind. In this market, you can’t waste time and money. You need to know what they need to learn before you start to teach.
3. Justifying training budgets in a tight economy will continue to be a struggle. Since many programs have not shown results, leaders will need to find those that apply effective adult learning principles for immediate action and ROI on learning.

DS: If you had an opportunity to do the last ten years again, as it relates to your business, what would you do differently?

SW: I would have teamed up with PI Worldwide earlier.

Filed under: Hiring, Interview, Sales Training Companies