Category Archives: Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching

What Do Basketball Stars Have in Common With Your Sales Force?

Okay, you ask, what do basketball stars have in common with my sales force? The answer is simple. Both need coaching. Yes, an important element in the performance of a basketball superstar is good coaching. Guess what, likewise an all-important element in the performance of a sales superstar is good coaching.

The reason for needing a coach is fundamental. When one is caught up in the heat of the game it is impossible to see all that is going on around. The coach has a different stake in winning and sees a larger picture. The coach can see things that are hidden from the view of the player as he moves up and down the court. The coach can tell when it is beneficial to pass the ball so that a score can be made. So, you get it, you see the analogy.

What are the obstacles that prevent a coach and a basketball superstar from benefiting from the relationship they have with each other? Well, one of the biggest obstacles is ego. Who’s you ask? The answer is both. The ego of the coach and the ego of the superstar stand in the way of making the relationship beneficial. In fact, there are many instances where a perfectly good superstar is traded and the team suffers loss because of the conflict of egos between the player and the coach. How many thousands of companies have traded sales superstars for the same reason?

Five practical activities for building good relationships between coaches and salespeople are as follows:

 

  1. Affirm and acknowledge the need for coaching often
  2. Reassure the salesperson that coaching is not a criticism of skills but rather is a method for making the very skilful even better
  3. Affirm and acknolwedge the skill level that is already developed in the sales person.
  4. Carry on continual dialogue concerning the reason for coaching
  5. Save teasing and joking for other areas of the work place. Never belittle or embarrass the salesperson. Be sensitive to the ego of the salesperson.

 

It is a natural human tendency to get complacent. Familiarity with the job and the repetition of tasks and approaches over and over, tend to bring a person to a place of being mediocre or run of the mill. This is where affirming the need for coaching is critical. When a sales staff is accustomed to the coaching aspect of ongoing training and preparation, there is room made for real growth and the sales person can remain vital. The sales person must have internalized the idea, that no one gets to the point of knowing, past which, there is no additional learning. It has been said, “the enemy of learning is knowing.”

Being sensitive to the salespersons ego is paramount to a successful coaching relationship. This is why sales managers are not necessarily good candidates for sales coaches. The sales manager is in the position of authority and ultimately is responsible for discipline action all the way through termination of the salesperson. This is seen as a conflict of interest by the salesperson and stands in the way of allowing the sales manager to truly fulfill the role of coach. The coach must reassure the salesperson often that he/she believes in his/her worth as a sales professional. This opens the door to conversation that can focus on improving the selling skills, delivery and methods of the salesperson. The salesperson is much more open to accept coaching input if he/she realizes that they are valued by the coach. The best way to build this rapport is to concentrate on catching the salesperson doing something that is praiseworthy. Everyone likes to know that they are appreciated and recognized for their efforts. This step is an important part of coaching. This affirms their value as a salesperson and equips them with the ability to take correction from the coach.

Speak often about the need for ongoing coaching; Dialogue about the ways that coaching is improving production. Once the sales superstar can identify the benefit of coaching in his/her commission checks and added recognition, coaching will be an accepted part of their selling regimen. Coaching is especially profitable when the sales cycle is extended. The coach can help with strategizing in all aspects of communication with the prospective client. Remind the sales people that focus is an important factor and a good coach helps focus efforts with a closing sale in mind.

There is an age-old cliché that states, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” This is never truer than in the case of working with sales superstars. Embarrassment and teasing is a poor motivator. Sometimes it is easier to use this method than the tried and true method of having difficult discussions in a forthright manner. This is the job of the sales manager and the coach. The coach’s honest communication should be given in a non-threatening way with the purpose of changing unproductive behavior. It should be given in private so that the sales person is not put on the spot. The sales manager can save the tough dialogue for the disciplinary encounters that can be handled no other way. This is always after the individual has refused to be coached.

Winning teams are teams that have great superstars and great coaches. When they work together for a common goal they become unstoppable.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Joe_Machuta/436659

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Sales Coaching

How Business Coaching Can Help to Increase Sales

For small to medium businesses owners, it is necessary to wear many hats. Many find it an almost overwhelming task to handle the responsibilities of sales, marketing, accounting, management… and run their business, too. All too often, the need to increase sales takes a back seat as so many other areas of the business need attention. When a business owner finds himself in this position, it is time to call in a professional Business Coach. A Business Coach is just like any other type of coach. His/ Her responsibility is to guide, advise and support business owners and managers to insure the overall effectiveness and profitability of a company.

Business coaching provides many services to help the small to medium sized company owner. One of the greatest benefits to hiring a business coach is the guidance needed to increase sales. A coach gives the business entrepreneur an opportunity to work one- on – one with a skilled professional who is adapt and capable of finding solutions to increase profits and drive sales. Coaches are motivating, supportive, confidence- building leaders who have the ability to bring out the best in a business owner by encouraging and empowering those who may have lost their edge or are feeling the pressures of business ownership.

Many companies enlist the services of a Business Coach to train employees in a group setting or in seminars that are designed to develop, teach and groom staff in the art of effective salesmanship. Salespeople generally leave these meetings with more confidence, increased enthusiasm and the knowledge and skills necessary to generate more profits.

Company management and coach can brainstorm for ideas that will increase brand recognition. Having the public familiar with your company and its products and services is a major step to increasing revenues. Business coaching guides and assists in taking an in depth view of your complete sales process and together, you will be able to pinpoint ways to improve your marketing techniques and methods to meet and achieve your goals.

Business coaches are well skilled in identifying market segments, trends, and effective ways to market your business that can lead to increased sales. Together, you can identify target markets and ways to initiate creative marketing techniques to capture more of the market share and produce results.

Hiring a Business Coach is fast becoming a viable solution for companies that are having problems in the sales department. Even those companies that are reaching their sales goals use coaches to further enhance and improve their operations. Working with a good, knowledgeable Business Coach can well be worth your time, money and effort when you begin to realize to increased sales that his expertise can bring to you business.

Business coaching helps you to identify where and how sales can be increased.

Wendy works with business owners to successfully explore untapped opportunities for increased sales using business coaching

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wendy_Hearn/52082

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Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – Revealed – 4 Rewarding Methods to Make Money Through Coaching

You can really make more money through sales coaching. How? These coaching programs can help your sales people improve their selling skills. When this happen, they’ll be empowered to easily convince your prospects to make a purchase. As you know, this can lead to more sales and more revenue.

To make your sales coaching more effective, I recommend that you focus your sessions on these aspects:

1. Active listening. You will need to teach your sales force to listen actively to your prospects not only to make these people feel valued but also for your sales personnel to get a deeper understanding about their needs and demands. Teach your team not to do all the talking during the sales process as this can easily frustrate potential buyers.

2. Probing questions. Teach your sales force to be more inquisitive when talking to your prospects especially if these people are not giving them clear picture of their problems. Tell them that the probing questions they use must be open-ended, succinct, simple, and easy to understand.

3. Sell value. It’s important that you make your sales personnel realize the importance of selling value as this can affect the buying decisions of your prospects. Teach them how to properly communicate the benefits, selling points, and competitive advantage of the products and services they offer to make them extremely valuable and useful to the eyes of your potential buyers.

4. Close the sale. Your sales people must know the best ways to close the sale. Coach them how to create a sense of urgency to easily get their prospects to swipe their credit cards.

By the way, would you like to get the newbie-friendly insider’s secrets to building a stable, thriving business online… year after year? Swing on by our friendly Business Builders Cafe at http://infobusinessuniversity.com/cafe for the latest freshly-made marketing techniques… that just plain work beautifully. You’ll love what you receive!

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Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – Revealed – Intriguing Methods to Excel at Coaching

If you are a sales manager, it’s a must that you coach your sales team so they can be more productive. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Identify areas of opportunities. The first thing that you need to do is to analyze the weakness of your selling processes and the areas of opportunities of your sales representatives. They might not have great communication skills, they maybe struggling when faced with objections, or they may not be persuasive enough to get people to buy. Knowing the things that you need to work on ahead of time can help you make your coaching programs more targeted thus, more effective.

2. Design coaching modules. Design modules for each area of opportunities. Include all the information that you need to share and all the activities that your trainees will need to perform in order to improve their performance or in order to overcome their issues during the selling process. Make sure that your modules contain all the answers to their questions and all the instructions on how they can properly deal with their issues.

3. Medium. Aside from doing one-on-one and group coaching programs, you can also use the internet or the phone when conducting coaching sessions. Every medium has pros and cons. Research and identify which one is more effective and use it. You can also run surveys to know the preferences of your target audience.

4. Feedback. Solicit feedback from your trainees after each training sessions. Ask them if they find it useful. Take each feedback seriously so you’ll know what you need to improve on to make your future coaching sessions more effective and more impacting.

By the way, would you like to get the newbie-friendly insider’s secrets to building a stable, thriving business online… year after year? Swing on by our friendly Business Builders Cafe at http://infobusinessuniversity.com/cafe for the latest freshly-made marketing techniques… that just plain work beautifully. You’ll love what you receive!

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Sales Coaching

Hire a Business Coach Or Not? 7 Questions to Decide

Now, above all times, some businesses are prospering and others are falling by the way side. The difference might just be a Sales Coach.

How do you know if you need help? Answer these seven questions. If you cannot easily come up with answers, some help is in order!  Savvy investing in yourself and your company today could be the difference in surviving these times to enjoy the next upturn.

Question #1 – How do I know my business is performing at its peak level? Now is the time to be sure each department is performing at top notch capacity. This is especially true if you are a solo-entrepreneur and the entire company IS you. All parts need to co-ordinate seamlessly and support each other.

#2 – Where are the places that things can be done differently and more effectively? If you have been doing your business for some time, those things might not be apparent to you. What are you doing about your trouble spots?  Do you know where they are? An outside, trained eye can give you valuable perspective.

#3-What should I do first to make a change in my results? If you are wrestling with overwhelm, and have six things to implement, it’s hard to know where to start. If you can see that some (or several) procedures or products need to change, how do you determine where to start?   Use a coach to devise and implement your best strategy.

#4-How do I think about my problems in a constructive way? All solutions come from thoughts first. And thoughts are largely governed by the questions we ask ourselves. Knowing the right questions to ask is the first step to an answer.

#5-How is my company living up to my vision for it and for myself within it? Have you lost your plan and business strategy in a never-ending attempt to solve the daily problems? If you have lost your plan, you have lost your way.

#6 – Who do I talk to when I want to brainstorm ideas, hash out situations, restructure things? A coach is like your own private Master Mind partner with your goals as their priorities. Often simply speaking an idea aloud to an interested and discerning coach can trigger more ideas, suggestions and helpful thoughts to appear in your mind.

#7- Who do I go to when I need support? Where do you find a listener on your side that has no agenda but your own? Even if you have a supportive partner and family, they have a vested interest and a point of view that may not agree with your agenda.

And, if your support is the guy behind the counter at Louie’s Bar & Grill, you definitely want to consider a coach!

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Beth Lane, CTACC Peaceful Sales Coach, combined her expertise from 30+ year’s business experience as top sales producer, sales trainer and business owner to create Peaceful Selling. This is a Business Coaching and Training Program that teaches you to enjoy selling, increase your productivity and expand your income. To find out more about Beth and receive a FREE e-report visit [http://www.peacefulselling.com]

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