The Multigenerational Sales Team: Harness the Power of New Perspectives to Sell More, Retain Top Talent, and Design a High Performing Workplace

by Warren Shiver, David Szen

Overview

A business's greatest asset is the collective experience of its employees. According to estimates by the US Department of Labor, Millennials will represent roughly almost 50% of the workforce in less than 10 years. A flood of blogs, articles, and books are already trying to help professionals and executives understand how the clash of Millennial, Generation X, and Boomer preferences will impact their business and personal careers.

The Multigenerational Sales Team focuses on the increasing need for sales organizations to more effectively leverage talent from generational groups who think, sell, and buy in vastly different ways. It addresses the challenges that many organizations are facing right now:

How can generations with different perspectives find ways to successfully work together?

How should you recruit, train, and deploy different generations of salespeople to build an effective sales team?

How can sellers identify and address the generational "silent killers" within the sales process?

You will learn how to overcome these obstacles by adjusting internal practices including recruitment, development, and management of salespeople. You will also learn how to improve client-facing activities for better diagnosis and accommodation of buyers' preferences. With The Multigenerational Sales Team as a guide, sales professionals and teams who begin this transformation will learn to leverage each generation's unique strengths to drive improvements in both individual and organizational performance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632650832
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	03/20/2017
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Warren Shiver is the founder and managing partner of Symmetrics Group, which is dedicated to driving revenue improvements by transforming sales organizations. He is the coauthor of 7 Steps to Sales Force Transformation and has more than 20 years of sales, management, and consulting experience for firms such as Accenture and OnTarget.

David Szen has more than 25 years of sales, sales management, sales-effectiveness consulting, workshop design, and training experience working for firms such as Cox Target Media and Valpak. As a principal with Symmetrics Group, he trains and coaches sales teams and leaders, and helps to lead overall sales transformations.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

1 The Generational Imperative 13

2 Generational Definitions and Dispelling Common Myths 29

3 Changing Customer Interactions 49

4 How Sales Organizations Must Adapt 73

5 Recruiting and Onboarding Multigenerational Sales Talent 93

6 Generational Considerations for Sales Skill Development 115

7 Sales Coaching and Performance Management 131

8 A Message to Sellers 149

9 A Message to Sales Leaders 161

Afterword 177

Notes 179

Index 187

About the Authors 191

Editorial Reviews

"Having led diverse sales teams, I have seen firsthand how rapid changes in demographics, culture, and technology affect sales. This book is a vital guide and a must-read for both sales leaders and sales professionals needing to succeed in a multigenerational workforce."
—Paul Duval, Vice President, National Sales, LG Home Appliance Division

Reviews

"Having led diverse sales teams, I have seen firsthand how rapid changes in demographics, culture, and technology affect sales. This book is a vital guide and a must-read for both sales leaders and sales professionals needing to succeed in a multigenerational workforce."
—Paul Duval, Vice President, National Sales, LG Home Appliance Division

"The one critical thing all top sales leaders maintain is a high-performance selling culture within their teams or sales organizations. Today this is more challenging than ever, given the vast diversity of generations working on sales teams all with an array of personalities and skills. Harmonizing a multigenerational sales force is imperative for sustainable sales and revenue growth, and this book will help both raise your awareness and execution in this critical area."
—Ryan Blackwell, Operating Executive COAC; Cerberus Capital Management

From the Publisher