The $5 Per Hour Superstar

Usually when you think of a sales superstar, you think of a well polished, highly paid sales stud that can talk the "talk" and comes complete with an arsenal of closes that can easily be sprung on an unsuspecting customer at a moment's notice.

Maybe you have some of the sales "superstars" on your staff but chances are, you've got more average than excellent. They can close a prospect if they get a chance to get a face-to-face appointment, but they are usually too unmotivated to solicit prospecting calls they need to achieve their sales goals.

The secret to making these so-so salesmen good (not superstars, but good) could be a $5.00 an hour person on your staff.

We have a client that has struggled with the so-so salesman syndrome for years. The problem is they can't get their salespeople off their butts and out of the office to call on enough prospects to make enough money for themselves or the company. They have a couple of superstars that carry most of the weight (the typical 80/20 rule) but on average, the salespeople stink.

We hired a telephone support person for $5.00 an hour that effectively solved this problem. This person has dual jobs: 1) call on prospective customers and ask them a few quick survey-type questions and 2) prepare and send follow up faxes to those on the target audience call list.

Message: Identify problems that buyers in the marketplace traditionally have when dealing with that industry. Offer solutions that the company offers to solve those problems. Results: about 20 qualified, interested leads a week to hand to the sales staff...who have been transformed into highly paid order takers. Morale is up and in turn, sales are up.