Tag Archives: sales coach

Sales Coaching

Problems That Sales Coaches Can Solve

Are you as a Sales Leader or Manager facing any of these issues with your team?

Sales training often isn’t enough to produce long term change in your sales team.

Read this list to see if you might benefit from a sales coach:

Having trouble with:

 

  • Generating new customers
  • Increasing returns on marketing campaigns
  • Failure to consistently achieve sales revenue goals
  • Reduce ever-lengthening sales cycles
  • Increasing costs of maintaining an effective and productive sales team
  • Keeping the sales team motivated
  • Shrinking margins – mounting pressure to discount
  • Protecting and developing dwindling key accounts
  • Increasing erosion of market share
  • Increased failure to forecast revenue with any degree of accuracy
  • Increased quantity and ferocity of competition and being outsold by competitors
  • Limited product knowledge in the field
  • Declining customer satisfaction and increasing customer expectation
  • Global market rationalization Increasing number of stalled sales opportunities
  • Finding and keeping good people
  • Managing salespeople who plan and manage their time and territory by the seat of their pants – they don’t seem to have a game plan or a strategy as to how they are going to win
  • Reducing the “last three weeks of a sales quarter” syndrome where everyone scrambles to try and pull in as much as they can to hit sales targets and we end up giving away our margin
  • The current economic crises are impacting on sales team’s ability to consistently achieve their sales quotas
  • Operating in markets where there seems to be more and more “gatekeepers”, buying committees, tendering processes, RFPs, etc., all of which prevent the sales team from gaining access to decision makers
  • It is becoming increasingly tough to get to talk to the people who matter about what they really need and want when it comes to buying our services
  • We struggle to speed up the buying process and close more deals more often
  • Sales teams that needs constant motivating. They seem to lack passion, focus and commitment
  • “Give us a quote” is a common response my salespeople are hearing. So what I find is that my salespeople often invest large chunks of their time putting together proposals for prospective clients that have no real intention of buying from them
  • The message we hear from our customers over and over is, “Your competitor can do it faster and cheaper.” And they are right! How do we sell against that?
  • No predictable and accountable selling process that moves the sale forward smoothly
  • Constantly grappling with costly, wasteful, and ineffective sales practices (e.g., low yield on direct marketing, low close ratios, high costs for branding, tradeshows, or product development)
  • I don’t have a clue where to start to get sales back on track!

 

If you or your sales team are facing any of these common issues, you should consider getting coached!

As one of Australia’s leading authorities and coaches in sales management, Ian Segail has been involved in the coaching, training and development of sales managers and salespeople for over two decades.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in sales, sales management and leading an HR and training team, Ian brings a strong dose of fiscal reality and practicality to his works as a Sales Performance Coach.

Engaging directly with business owners and both novice and experienced sales managers alike, across a wide variety of industries and selling disciplines, the focus of Ian’s work is to transform sales results for companies by improving sales management practices. Ian is the author of “Bulletproof Your Sales Team – The 5 Keys To Turbo-Boosting Your Sales Team’s Results” and a number of business articles, business reports and white papers including “The fish stinks from the head!” and “Why Sales Training Doesn’t Work.” Ian has an insatiable hunger for studying selling and people management and has passionately pursued answers to the question “How come some people can sell and most can’t?”

Check out sales resources and Ian’s blog at [http://www.salestutor.com.au]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2231945

Sales Coaching

The Sales Training Series – Make Every Buyer a Coach

In a selling situation with multiple buyers, what is your sales strategy for getting through to the ultimate decision maker?

“By any means necessary,” you say? Then you have no sales strategy. What you have is a recipe for failure.

Of all the tragic misconceptions that afflict salespeople in selling environments with multiple buyers, the worst might be the notion that lower-level “influencers” are mere obstacles in the seller’s path to the big honcho-the person with final buying authority. Do you believe that the ultimate decision maker (UDM) is the only buyer who is really worth your time? Do you think that “strategy” means figuring out how to bypass or maneuver around the lower-level customers so you can get to the UDM?

If so, you are losing a lot of business. That’s not a strategy for anything but disaster.

For one thing, a lot of those influencers may not have the power to make your sale, but they do have the power to kill it-and they will, if you alienate them.

There is much more to this, however, than just the danger of making enemies. Lower-level buyers can be your most valuable resource. They can actually direct you to a winning strategy.

After all, what is an effective sales strategy? It is a plan that guides you from one logical step to the next as you move toward a sale. In order to know what those steps must be, and how to complete each one successfully, you need information. Somehow, you must discover the client’s key needs, the forces driving the buying decision, the stakeholders involved, the way the buying process works in the client’s company, and more.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some expert guides within the company would give you this information freely? How about if they also would coach you through the steps necessary to complete the sale? And suppose they’d willingly bring you to the top decision maker because they actually want you to win?

Such guides exist in every client organization and every one is a potential sales coach. If you can get them to see you as a valuable consultant and partner, capable of serving their needs, you can stop worrying about how to get to the ultimate buyer. They will take you there-and root you on to victory.

In The Field:

Dan Crear, a sales executive for Action Selling of The Sales Board, was in hot pursuit of a great opportunity at a thriving global bank. (Yes, even today there is such a thing as a successful bank.) The ultimate decision-maker was the kind of person who liked to spread the decision-making authority around. Nine people surfaced as key influencers.

Crear assessed the situation and determined the role of each player. Then he devised questions to draw out their personal stakes in the buying decision. One key question was: “What evidence do you have that your current situation is producing an ROI?”” This led each decision-maker to define what ROI meant to them.

Once the payback was defined in individual terms, every one of them wanted him to win the deal. With their support, he did.

Duane Sparks is CEO of The Sales Board, Inc. and author of the Action Selling Sales Training Series. Action Selling is a sales management training program that creates a culture of sustained revenue growth. This success is based on a researched-proven selling process; an easy-to-follow road map that shows salespeople how to consistently win more sales, shorten sales cycles, protect margin and cultivate loyal customers. Over 300,000 have been training in Action Selling and consistently show results of selling at a rate that is 6 times more than those without training.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Duane_Sparks/17945

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2080831

Sales Coaching

Effective One on One Sales Coaching Sessions

Recently I have read posts on this subject on a several popular blogs. My most recent “snooping around” session revealed on one of those blogs that an “effective One-On-One coaching session should be planned six months ahead of time”. My curiosity ended, as did my snooping session. If you are holding your coaching session every six months you should be fired as a sales manager! You sales people are customers of your leadership, and they need service from you more often than every six months.

There are four types of coaching sessions:

Behavioral – something has come to your attention that must/should be shared. Though we think of these sessions as addressing negative behaviors you should use them to recognize positive behaviors also.

Discovery – As a manager you have uncovered a developmental issues that should be addressed. This is the first session of a field training program that should end with a bi-lateral contract between you and the sales person.

Follow Up – These are frequent mini-sessions to check up, and exchange feedback.

Bottoms Up – If you are a great leader this should happen often. Instead of you discovering a developmental issue one of your team members seeks out your help. Why? Because you are trustworthy and they know you are there to serve them.

First a note about tone. Attitude is everything. If this is a behavior coaching session do not send mixed messages. If a negative behavior issue is serious enough to warrant exploration and coaching, don’t mince in other topics. The outcome of behavioral coaching sessions are usually uni-lateral next step contracts. If you have discovered a specific sales skill that needs improvement you do want to recognize those other skill areas that are best in class. If this session is a follow up you should summarize previous discussions, recognize progress and discuss next steps. The key to follow up coaching sessions is that this is a bi-lateral agreement to next steps.

Coaching sessions should be orderly. You should control some parts of the discussion and you should let your team member control others. However, this is not a free flowing, never ending conversation. You may end up being friends with some of you sales people but remember, friendship is the outcome of effective leadership, leadership is never the outcome of friendship.

The coaching session outline;

Warm Up – I guess you could just hit them over the head, but why? This is a team member. The only reason to minimize this part of the discussion is if you have uncovered a negative behavioral issue that if not addressed could result in the termination of this team member. Initiating a serious conversation with frivolous small talk is disingenuous.

Orientation – If this is the first coaching session to reveal something you have discovered, particularly if the team members overall contributions are satisfactory, this part of the discussion is crucial. For instance, if you are concerned with this team members prospecting skills you should discuss what lead to this discovery. “Jim, thanks for your first quarter results. It helped show the others that the goals are achievable even with this difficult economy. But I was exploring our CRM system and think I discovered something. I noticed that you not only made your goals, but had the highest proposal to contract closing ratio! In fact, you also had one of the highest closing ratios in moving prospects from the needs analysis to the proposal, congratulations! But that led me to think, are you motivated to dramatically increase your earnings? Because if you are I think I discovered something that is holding you back…” Now the stage is nearly set for you to focus the conversation.

Focus – This is the meat of the conversation and two-thirds of your time should be spent here. But step back a little. Dust off those sales skills from your past life. If you sold like I did, you’re best sales pitches were not about what you told a prospect right? First you need to sell the need. Continuing our conversation with Jim…”Since you have world class skills at the end of the sales cycle, I did a little arithmetic. You may already know this but if you were able to put 3 more prospects into your pipeline every quarter your earnings would increase by 10%!” My best sales presentations came about because of the questions I asked! You need to use your open ended probes, your directional probes and confirming probes. You need to find out if the lack of prospecting is a skill gap, or a will gap (see separate articles on each subject on blog). If Jim agrees he has a need to increase the number of prospects in his pipeline, you’re halfway home! You now have to come to agreement on how to satisfy that need.

Contract – Every coaching session should end with a contract. Simply put this is the agreement going forward, which defines each person’s action plan and roles. In my Sales Excellence Process there is a form which defines each person’s commitment. The contract (unilateral or bilateral) should be driven by what you determined to be the cause of the problem. If the issue is skill then you as the leader will have an obligation to the sales person to deliver the training. If the issue is one of will to do the task then the sales person will have more obligations to the contract while your role will be inspecting what you expect.

Coaching sessions are the most important duty of a sales manager. How you go about delivering a coaching session will define your leadership. Get your mind right! Are you there to help, or are you there to catch someone doing something wrong? Remember “Cool Hand Luke”?

Boss: Sorry, Luke. I’m just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.

Luke: Nah – calling it your job don’t make it right, Boss.

Sales Performance Advisors delivers field ready tools to help sales people, sales managers, directors and executive management optimize their sales results.

You can contact Gregory Deming @ (925)216-5081
gregorydeming@gmail.com

You can view our blog @ http://www.peaksalesperformance.wordpress.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2063716

Sales Coaching

The Impact of Sales Coaching on Sales Results and ROI

Introduction

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of sales coaching on sales results and ROI.

Methods

We evaluated one region of the BDL Company. (9 sales representatives) and tracked sales results before and after coaching interventions.

The coaching interventions consisted of one to two days of field coaching. This coaching focused on observing a sales representative’s performance to a selling skills process in a doctor’s office. This coaching was conducted by Jim Price of TAP Consulting Company. Jim has over twenty years experience in medical and pharmaceutical sales and has logged over 500 hours of sales coaching. Sales representatives were sent out a sample presentation in order to set expectations for the visit.

The measurement of success was the number of referral cards sent in before and after coaching interventions. The referral card is a card the doctor faxes into a surgery center to refer a patient for surgery. We measured number of cards sent in by the group three months prior to training vs the number sent in three months after training. The referral card is an objective measurement of a successful sales call because it is what the representative closes for on each call.

Results

Before the coaching interventions the test group sent in a total of 8 cards. That same group sent in 367 cards after coaching. The average number of cards sent in per representatives was 1 per representative before coaching and 41 per representative after coaching.

The 367 referral cards sent in after coaching yielded 18 surgeries at $4,000 per surgery for a total increase in revenues of $72,000. The cost of the coaching interventions was $12,000 which resulted in a profit of $60,000 and a Return on Investment of 500%.

Conclusion

Coaching interventions conducted by a well trained sales coach impacts sales results and yields a Return on Investment (ROI) of up to 500%. Sales coaching is one of the best investments you can make in your sales team.

“When properly implemented, high ROI values can be achieved with programs on Leadership, Team Building, Management Development, Supervisor Training and Sales Training.” “An ROI of 100% to 700% is not uncommon with this type of training.”

Jack J. Phillips, Ph.D (Training Measurement Key Opinion Leader)

Bio Jim Price

Jim Price has been in the healthcare industry for over eighteen years. His experience encompasses numerous pharmaceutical and surgical sales positions As a practice management consultant, Jim has worked with physicians to improve a variety of practice issues from workflow to marketing. He has also advised hospitals on vendor consolidation and procedure efficiencies.

Most recently, Jim served as Director of North American Training and Development for Novartis Ophthalmics. In this position, he was responsible for the training and development of Sales Representatives and Area Sales Managers for the North American markets.

Currently, Jim provides contract training and consultation services for clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industry, including: Novartis Ophthalmics, Pfizer Consumer Health, Alimera Sciences, Alliant Pharmaceuticals, Eisai, NovaVision and Ciba Vision.

As a presenter at The Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers, Jim has been able to share his extensive experience with other sales training professionals.

TAP Consulting was created to leverage Jim’s extensive experience in physician/representative interactions. The courses offered by TAP Consulting have been designed specifically for the pharmaceutical and medical industry. Drawing on over 500 physician/rep role plays and feedback gathered from physician focus groups, Jim has been able to translate this knowledge into courses which are real time, actionable and drive results.

TAP offers courses in understanding your physician customer, basic and advanced selling skills, selling with clinical reprints and leadership training. Contact Jim Price for more information on TAP services.

TAP Consulting

Pharmaceutical Sales Training And Performance Consulting

770-596-1498

price56@comcast.net

[http://www.tapconsultingcompany.com]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1962434

Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching During an Economic Downturn

“You can’t lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself.” – Gene Mauch

Four Critical Tasks for Sales Managers

1. Now, more than ever, sellers need to spend time on prospecting for new business. Sales managers need to set clear expectations with each seller about the need to do more prospecting. But, the manager needs to do more than just set expectations. A down economy is a great time to be more creative in your prospecting. Brainstorm with your sales team about the best products/markets/regions to target in your prospecting efforts.

2. Managers need to spend more time motivating the sales team. It is easy for sellers to get discouraged when customers are slowing down and reducing the frequency and quantity of their orders. Use positive feedback and reinforcement whenever possible. Celebrate a new piece of business. Congratulate a seller who retains a critical piece of business, because a business downturn is when you are most at risk of losing business.

3. Lead by example. Partner with your salespeople at current clients, especially key accounts. Now is the time to go on more joint sales calls, even if the purpose of the call is to simply thank a current customer for their business. Personally get involved in prospecting for new business. Spend some time each week calling or emailing new prospective customers. This will help to motivate the sellers, and shows them that you are willing and able to bring in new business yourself.

4. Influence other departments to get involved in the sales process. STAR has endorsed the concept of team selling for several years, but a down economy is a great time to communicate throughout your organization that everyone, not just the sales team, needs to work extra hard during difficult times. If every person at your company who interacts with current and new customers can do something extra to impress a customer, you will do a better job at customer retention than your competition.

by Bill McCormick

Sales Training And Results, Inc. (STAR) is a sales management training company, providing customized sales training workshops and one-on-one sales coaching and consulting. Visit our website at http://www.salestrainingandresults.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1872145