I came across an article today that explains how companies can 
successfully implement a company-mandated sales plan and be sure 
that all of the salespeople are following it.

I found the advice given in that article to be deeply disturbing 
to me, especially since it is new and not from a twenty-year-old 
book from the old school of selling.

The essence of the article is this:  Companies that intend to 
implement a new sales plan must make it mandatory, must hold 
the salespeople accountable for following it, must let the 
salespeople know that managers will inspect to make sure the new 
plan is being followed, and that role plays should be done in 
training sessions to teach salespeople how to use the new sales 
plan.

I felt shivers down my spine when I read the part about how 
managers will hold salespeople accountable, and will inspect to 
be sure that the plan is being followed.  I immediately got the 
picture of the stereotypical raving lunatic, "little dictator" 
sales manager who terrorizes his or her salespeople through 
micro-management and blunt orders.  

Is this the kind of organization good salespeople would want to 
work for?  I'm amazed that this kind advice is still being given 
in this day and age.

I also have a major problem with mandated role playing in 
training sessions.  I hate role plays.  I always have and always 
will.  I think they're stupid and a complete waste of time. 
They're absolutely BANNED from my training programs.  The biggest 
problem with role plays is that they're NEVER realistic.  In 
fact, if you train a salesperson through role plays, he will be 
completely blind sided and blown out when meeting with real 
prospects who have real problems and real objections.  All of the 
example sales dialogues I use in my programs have come from REAL 
sales appointments, those carried out by either myself or other 
salespeople I know and trust.

When I was in sales, I was almost always a top performer.  
The only times I was not a top performer was while working at 
companies that had a mandated sales process that I was required 
to follow.  It always baffled me as to why companies that forced 
us to follow their plan would hire experienced sales reps.  Why 
not hire inexperienced people right out of college?  They won't 
have any pre-conceived notions of how to sell, won't have any 
prior experience or training, and therefore will blindly follow 
the company's system, no questions asked.

Here are a couple of realities that managers and sales directors 
must face up to:

1.  If you want an experienced sales force with a proven track 
record, you must understand that they already know how to 
sell. How else could they possibly have a great track record? 
Attempting to force them to learn a new system and follow it 
negates their talent and experience and will immediately destroy 
their top producer status.  Proven salespeople excel and perform 
at their very best when treated like independent contractors.

2.  If you really want to implement and mandate a company sales 
plan, the only way to do that successfully and with little 
turnover is to hire people with no experience right out of 
school.  And even then, you'd still be much better off with 
sticking to option 1.

If you want a successful organization, hire the best and place 
your trust in them that they know how to sell.  They've done 
it before and can do it again for you.  Don't derail their 
performance and undermine everyone's success by forcing something 
on them that is totally unnecessary. 

Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the hit sensation "Cold Calling
Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In The Information Age". His 
training and products teach salespeople how to generate hot leads
without cold calling and how to keep their power and remain in 
control of sales situations. For more information please visit 
http://www.nevercoldcall.com