A recent press announcement addresses the release of the new book Scientific Selling, Creating High Performance Sales Teams through Applied Psychology and Testing, by Nancy Martini, President and CEO of PI Worldwide.

WELLESLEY, MA. April 10, 2012 — PI Worldwide, an international consulting firm specializing in leadership and sales development, today announced that its President and CEO, Nancy Martini, has released a new book entitled Scientific Selling, Creating High Performance Sales Teams through Applied Psychology and Testing. Leveraging her 30 years of sales strategy and performance management experience, Scientific Selling shows how statistically valid measurement can improve every element of the sales environment—from management to coaching and creating long-term sustainable sales results. The book is set to release on April 10, 2012 and will be available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and 800CEORead.com.

“New methodologies continue to affect every aspect of today’s business environment and nowhere are they used more than in the sales area,” said Martini. “Scientific Selling is an essential resource for companies and managers seeking to improve sales performance, through scientific testing and measurement, providing insight on the future of selling.”

Throughout the book, Martini offers more than a dozen specific stories demonstrating how scientific measurement improved overall sales performance through easily understood graphics, charts, and descriptions. She details how sales teams were measured and how those metrics changed as a result of better hiring practices and better targeted coaching and sales training. Through these detailed case studies, Scientific Selling illustrates the importance of measurement for steering the success of a company. Examples of case studies featured in the book include:

• Descriptions on how the Clark-Mortenson Agency used scientifically proven data based assessment tools to provide individual sales professionals with a very specific overview to determine their current strengths and areas of growth.
• Details on how Yankee Candle used scientific measurement to identify the right people to hire, and then used customer case studies and role-playing to focus on leveraging each individual’s natural behavior to sell. In turn, the brand helped sales revenue for trained individuals increase as much as 40 percent.
• Specifics on how Meadowbrook Golf’s program “Managing for Individual Success” and how the company employed scientific testing and measurement to help its top managers understand what motivates their employees.

As president and CEO for PI Worldwide, Nancy is responsible for the growth and development of the PI Worldwide organization. Since 1955, PI Worldwide has helped companies leverage science to improve performance, productivity and profitability by utilizing the insight provided by their proprietary behavioral assessment tool, Predictive Index^® (PI^®) along with the company’s Selling Skills Assessment Tool™ (SSAT) and sales training program Customer-Focused Selling™ (CFS).

In addition to the release of Scientific Selling, Martini is the author of the best-selling business book Customer-Focused Selling, which was released in August of 2007 by the Adams Media Corporation. She has also been published and quoted in leading business magazines and outlets including Selling Power Magazine, Forbes.com, Chief Learning Officer, One to One Media and Talent Management.

To learn more, contact us at 904-269-2299 or info@predictiveresults.com

A recent press announcement addresses the release of the new book Scientific Selling, Creating High Performance Sales Teams through Applied Psychology and Testing, by Nancy Martini, President and CEO of PI Worldwide.

WELLESLEY, MA. April 10, 2012 — PI Worldwide, an international consulting firm specializing in leadership and sales development, today announced that its President and CEO, Nancy Martini, has released a new book entitled Scientific Selling, Creating High Performance Sales Teams through Applied Psychology and Testing. Leveraging her 30 years of sales strategy and performance management experience, Scientific Selling shows how statistically valid measurement can improve every element of the sales environment—from management to coaching and creating long-term sustainable sales results. The book is set to release on April 10, 2012 and will be available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and 800CEORead.com.

“New methodologies continue to affect every aspect of today’s business environment and nowhere are they used more than in the sales area,” said Martini. “Scientific Selling is an essential resource for companies and managers seeking to improve sales performance, through scientific testing and measurement, providing insight on the future of selling.”

Throughout the book, Martini offers more than a dozen specific stories demonstrating how scientific measurement improved overall sales performance through easily understood graphics, charts, and descriptions. She details how sales teams were measured and how those metrics changed as a result of better hiring practices and better targeted coaching and sales training. Through these detailed case studies, Scientific Selling illustrates the importance of measurement for steering the success of a company. Examples of case studies featured in the book include:

• Descriptions on how the Clark-Mortenson Agency used scientifically proven data based assessment tools to provide individual sales professionals with a very specific overview to determine their current strengths and areas of growth.
• Details on how Yankee Candle used scientific measurement to identify the right people to hire, and then used customer case studies and role-playing to focus on leveraging each individual’s natural behavior to sell. In turn, the brand helped sales revenue for trained individuals increase as much as 40 percent.
• Specifics on how Meadowbrook Golf’s program “Managing for Individual Success” and how the company employed scientific testing and measurement to help its top managers understand what motivates their employees.

As president and CEO for PI Worldwide, Nancy is responsible for the growth and development of the PI Worldwide organization. Since 1955, PI Worldwide has helped companies leverage science to improve performance, productivity and profitability by utilizing the insight provided by their proprietary behavioral assessment tool, Predictive Index^® (PI^®) along with the company’s Selling Skills Assessment Tool™ (SSAT) and sales training program Customer-Focused Selling™ (CFS).

In addition to the release of Scientific Selling, Martini is the author of the best-selling business book Customer-Focused Selling, which was released in August of 2007 by the Adams Media Corporation. She has also been published and quoted in leading business magazines and outlets including Selling Power Magazine, Forbes.com, Chief Learning Officer, One to One Media and Talent Management.

To learn more, contact us at 904-269-2299 or info@predictiveresults.com

If you would like to learn how we help our clients reduce turnover, increase leadership effectiveness and grow sales, contact us today at 1-800-57-LEARN or info@predictiveresults.com

If you would like to learn more about CFS, please contact us at 904-269-2299 x102 or info@predictiveresults.com or visit customerfocusedselling.com.

This is a recording or a live webinar by Steve Waterhouse, President of Predictive Results.

If you think the Predictive Index® process would help your company, please contact us for a demonstration. We can be reached at 904-269-2299 x102 or steve@predictiveresults.com

Nancy Martini is creator of Customer-Focused Selling™

Customer-Focused Selling™ (CFS) is an effective, sales training program that provides all the core competencies needed for effective consultative selling—with special emphasis on the particular areas shown by the Selling Skills Assessment Tool™ (SSAT) to need improvement. In a highly interactive, adult learning format, CFS delivers the specific knowledge your team needs to consistently achieve better sales results. The training is designed to be used every day, not memorized. Participants come away from the workshop ready to apply the new learning to their own customers and prospects. For larger sales forces, CFS is available in a comprehensive, certified Train-the-Trainer format which brings delivery and reinforcement in-house, and customizes the training to exactly reflect your business environment.

Looking for improved sales performance? Contact us today at info@predictiveresults.com or 904-269-2299

1. Learn a little about each person on your team. Do they like movies, music, plays or skiing? Look for opportunities to reward them with something that represents their interest. You will be saying that you appreciate what they did and that you are thinking of them as an individual, not just a number.

2. Thank their spouse. One of my CEO’s send a card to my wife with an note that said, “Thank you for doing without Steve during the past few weeks. The work he was doing was important to us and I appreciate your sacrifice and understanding.”  It worked!

3. Reward progress. Too often we wait to reward the final sale or reaching the quote and people get burned out on the way. Reward small actions that lead the way and you’ll keep them fired up for the long haul.

4. Tell everyone. While some people like their rewards in private, others are motivated by the knowledge that others know what they did. Find opportunities to thank them publicly. Company newsletters and local press releases work very well for this.

5. Get in the game. When the boss gets in the game, it makes it more fun for all. Promise to do something crazy or distasteful if they win the contest. The more public the better. This is a good time to call the press!

6. Pit teams against each other. Personal rivalries only go so far, but team rivalries have special value. Every member of the team will work to help the others do their part. In the end, you will create a self-motivating team.
7. Don’t make the reward too big. Some companies feel that the bigger the prize the better, but I have seen this backfire when sales people realize that they can’t reach the goal and it means 50% of their annual pay is on the line.
8. Sooner is better than later. Contests that pay out at the end of the year can create year-end blitzes or slackers depending on where they are in the fourth quarter. Try a quarterly contest to keep their eye on the ball all year long.
9. Ask them! For a change of pace, let your sales people develop a contest. You’ll be amazed at how hard they work at their own game.
10. Watch yourself, they do. Keeping people motivated is often as simple as staying motivated yourself. If you are down or negative about the market or company, they will follow your lead. The opposite is also true. Smile and the world smiles with you!

Tough times mean long hours for understaffed companies. They mean that employees are not doing what they were hired to do, but what is needed. The result is often a pent-up desire to move on a find a new opportunity. We work with enough companies to know that many managers are totally unaware of the level of dissatisfaction in their ranks. We can see it in the Predictive Index® reports we get from their employees. There is trouble brewing in many companies today.

The good news is that there is time to fix it. There is time to meet with your key people and talk honestly with them about the burden they have shouldered over the last few years and how much you appreciate it. Ask them how they would like their job changed as the economy improves. Make plans to make small positive adjustments now and more in the future. Your key people need to know that you know how tough it has been and that you are not going to continue the status quo forever. They are hearing on the news the companies have learned how to operate leaner and that they will not be rehiring as the economy improves. You need to set the record straight and turn on the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is a small light.

Communicating is the key to understanding the needs of your people and determining what will keep them happy. Do it now while there is time and you'll be the company that benefits from the recovery, rather than the one that is devastated by it.