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You found them, now what?

There are many types of professionals

Sales People Software Developers Software Consultants Human Resource

Professionals Accountants CEOs CIOs CFOs COOs

Doctors Nurses Lawyers Chefs Retail Store Managers Help Desk Workers Administrative

Assistants Project Managers Business Analysts Etc…

And each type of professional has a unique persona

Persona defined: A person’s perceived or evident personality

A Leopard can’t change its spots

Physical Profile of Target Candidate

Basically, this is an exercise in identifying everything you can possibly identify about your target.   How much money do they make? What car do they drive? How many times have they been married? Do they have children? How do they dress? Where do they shop? Where do they vacation, and on and on…

This step should take about 2 to 3 hours, mostly because the more that is discovered about the individual the more the discussion goes on.  You need to use anecdotal evidence and stories from the trenches that help drive the development of the person in question.

Sample Sales Persona - Profile

Earn $150-

$300K/yr

Has acountry

clubmembers

hip

Own a nice

Home Suitable

forentertaini

ng

Uses adesignerpen, like

Mont Blonc

Childrenattendprivateschool

PlaysGolf ortennis

Exercisesregularlyto stay

fit

Has oneor morechildren

Owns thelatest

electronicgadgets

Drive luxury

Importedcar

Shops athigh-endretailers

May have been

marriedmore thanone time

Own a boat or

Vacationhome

Avidsports

fan

Readsbusinessmagazine

sBooks and

news

WearsDesignerclothes

Wear a Swiss

Watch – Rolex,

Omega,Breitling

VacationsIn exoticplaces

Has an attractivespouse orpartner

Has avery

professional

image

Identify the Pain

Once you have the persona identified you next need to define the pain that this person is experiencing on a day to day basis.   The "what keeps him up" approach.  The exercise

used here is to first discuss what ails him and then to do an affinity mapping where you have each participant write on the sticky notes and then categorize the results.

Then write a statement (NO MORE THAN 25 words - small words) that define each pain - should have no more than 3 to 5 - this also takes about 2 to 4 hours per persona.

Sample Pain Identity – Sales Profile

I need to achievequota

I need thecustomer

To payon time

I need new leads

and contacts

Who do I know that can help me close this deal?

I need to influence

the customer

to buy now!

I need to attainquota

credit fora deal

I need to make

President’s

Club(again)

I need to know who is making

the buying

decision

How do I overcome

the obvious gaps in service?

I need to break New

Account(s)

Do I have the

Right marketing support?

I need to know the competiti

on’s weakness

es

I need to represent

qualityproducts

orservices

I know that my

competition on this deal is #1

Where will my

next deal come from?

I need to beatthe

competition

I need to close

the deal

I need to deliver

the products

or services

I need theright

resources to win the

dealHow can I make the pricing

work for the

customer?

Pain Summary

I need to be selling strong products and services with the necessary tools to close the business.

I need well-qualified leads and a strong team to beat the competition and close deals.

I need to have a clearly defined comp plan that is easy to understand. I need to get paid!

I need a strong pipeline and viable leads to meet my quota.

Solution (anti-pain)

This step literally involves turning the pain on its head to see what the direct opposite of the pain is.   This is a Wordsworth exercise that can

be excruciating.  It takes 2 to 4 hours per persona and best to do it in day two because the first two steps burn people out.  

Again, small easy to read statements of solution.  Must be easily mapped back to the pain each solves.

Solution (anti-pain) Statement

XYZ has proven competitive referenceable products/services.

XYX provides access to well-targeted and qualified leads.

XYZ’s sales effort is supported by a team of well-qualified experts.

EX: Solution Architects (well-qualified experts)

Market Problem Statement

This is a summary of all the pain statements - it makes a blanket statement for what problems exist in your market place that need fixing.  (25 words max) 

Market Problem Statement

The best sales executives struggle to find companies with great products, great sales support, and great

leads that have a rewarding and easy to understand comp plan.

Positioning Statement

This is a single statement that summarizes all of the solution statements.  This ultimately is what your company means to the candidate.  Here you have varying versions of the statement 25, 50 and 100 words depending upon the need.  

Positioning Statement

At XYZ we are driven by our sales culture and our entire organizational structure is built to assist the Sales Executive to sell and deliver business.

We have a simple compensation structure that rewards success, and it is not complicated when multi-national deals are involved.

Our Sales Executives are always rewarded and recognized for their contributions, and we continually evaluate our compensation to make sure it remains the most competitive option for the highest performing sales professionals.

Sample Talk Track - SALES

PAIN ANTIDOTE

At [your current employer] do you receive quota credit for deals that are signed but not delivered?

Our Sales Executives are compensated for the full contract value at deal signing; and we pay out on a quarterly basis.

At [your current employer] is it difficult to access the resources to close large, complex deals?

We have a team of over 1000 Sales and Marketing support professionals, and they are available to you to provide all of the industry expertise, tools, information and resources to drive the sales process and close the deal.

At [your current employer] is your compensation capped at 100% of target?

We have no cap on our compensation and, for large deals, it’s common for our Sales Executives to earn up to 200-300% of Quota.

How does [your current employer] fare in competitive situations?

We have flexibility in our pricing and services and we win 8 out of 10 competitive deals.

Build Narrative

Tell the story of the pain and how it is solved.  Make it tangible and real.  If you have done all the other steps properly than this should be easy.

 

Narrative

At XYZ we are driven by our sales culture and our entire organizational structure is built to assist the Sales Executive to sell and deliver business.

We have a simple compensation structure that rewards success, and it is not complicated when multi-national deals are involved.

Our Sales Executives are always rewarded and recognized for their contributions, and we continually evaluate our compensation to make sure it remains the most competitive option for the highest performing sales professionals.

What are the 5 things you need to be on the lookout for to make sure the comp plan is well defined?

Are your comp plans complicated when multi-national deals are involved?

Will XYZ product ever come out? If not, then hit with product statements….

Narrative – Targeted and Evolving

You should continuously gather the competitive intelligence and leverage it to:• Share with your leadership to add value to

the business• Ensure that your products/services,

compensation, sales process, etc. are continuously evolving to stay ahead of the competition

• Keep your messaging fresh and relevant

Make certain that your Sourcers/Recruiters fully understand and are trained to easily articulate every aspect of the sales process, resources involved, compensation structure and bonus payment schedule.

Content Strategy

Once all of the steps are complete this needs to be the roadmap for the content you develop to continuously reach out to your targets.  

A lots goes into this and the more intelligently distributed content you create the more incoming candidates (active and passive) you'll capture. 

 

Sample Content Strategy - SALES

CHANNEL WHO IS INVOLVED CONTENT/EXECUTION

Employment Branding Head of Recruitment Branding, Global and Regional Sourcing, Recruiting

Ensure that your company has a solid EVP and a footprint in relevant places for each persona

LinkedIn Head of Recruitment Branding, Global and Regional Sourcing

Invite candidate to join your XYZ Sales Professionals group [that is well managed with fresh marketing information [press releases, competitive wins, and access to job postings]

Talent Communities Head of Recruitment Branding, Global and Regional Sourcing

Forward invitation to your Sales Community that is rich with relevant content; especially access to your jobs

Facebook/Twitter Head of Recruitment Branding, Global and Regional Sourcing

Invite candidate to join your company fan page or your Twitter feed

Blogs Head of Recruitment Branding, Global and Regional Sourcing, Sales Leadership to feed articles and content

Ensure that you have a strategy in place so your company is recognized as a market leader

Thank you!