Tag Archives: sales coach

Sales Coaching

An Insight Into the Five Best Qualities That Defines a Successful Sales Coach

A bullet cannot hit the target bull’s eye if the trainer has not aimed it properly. A student will not be able to fare well in his exams if he was not trained well. Though one may possess the talent to do a job perfectly all by themselves, a guiding force is always necessary to keep them on the right track. A coach or a trainer is that beacon who will steer the ship to the shore amidst all the unrest prevailing in the sea. A sports coach, a gym trainer, dance teacher, music instructor, teacher at the school etc. are the pillars who have been the support for aspiring learners to learn and perform.

A sales coach! Who is he?

Among the enthusiastic trainers, a sales coach is the one who trains interested candidates to become lead generators, how to handle target pressures, how to attract customers, how to retain them and most importantly how to take business forward by closing quick deals. These coaches have the capacity to become the master of change. There are some qualities that define a successful sales coach. Here are some of them:

Calmness

Are sales coaches hypersensitive? No they are not at all. One quality that defines a perfect sales coach is calmness. This gives them the ability to assess the market and take decisions favorable for their business and achieve their target with no tension around. Cool mind and clear thoughts assist them in taking the most perfect and profitable move or decision.

Presence of Mind

The second most important quality that defines a sales coach is presence of mind. Yes, he is one of the few most intelligent personalities who have the capacity to turn any situation in his favor without spending extra money or effort. Presence of mind and ability to give quick response help them to master all situations.

Build Credibility

When does a customer start to believe in a sales executive? Probably after a few meetings and calls, an unknown bond of creditableness and trust worthiness creeps within the customer which makes them believe what the sales expert there by materializing the deal. The sales coach who is an expert in building trust teaches techniques that are legit and easy to follow in this exercise.

Radiate positivity

Looking at sales & marketing coach, one always feels a spurt of positive energy radiating from all directions. This is also the reason why they have turned into coaches from just being sales executives. The positive energy that they translate into every student improves the confidence and enthusiasm in the aspiring sales executives to achieve something big in their life.

Efficient Networking

The last but the most important quality that marks the best Sales training coach is his ability to network with people belonging to every age group. They can easily strike a chord with anyone who can be a prospective lead for them and they capitalize their socializing skills to the fullest and can network with the opponents. The same technique they teach their students as well.

With these awesome qualities, sales coaches impress their audience with their flamboyant self and charismatic personality.

One such awesome sales coach is Phil Jones who is an expert motivational speaker as well. He has many best sellers to his credit that talk about how to improve sales pitch, how to make more appointments, how to convert them into leads etc. one can visit philmjones.com to know more about this magnetic personality and check his trainings and seminars schedule.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9219524

Sales Coaching

The Secret Behind Swedish Sales Success

In a recent article, Annika Wihlborg interviewed sales consultant Björn Strid about his book: Let Your Heart Beat Your Sales Record (Låt ditt hjärta slå ditt säljrekord).

According to Mr. Strid, the Swedish way of selling is highly respected by clients worldwide. Several factors contribute to the excellent reputation that many Swedes have earned in international business.

Based on his many years of selling a range of products (from ice cream to complex logistical solutions), Mr. Strid concludes that the typical Swedish way of selling has five guiding principles: creating trust, showing empathy, being well-prepared, taking action and knowing the relevant profit-loss figures for a company.

These principles can be seen to have grown out of the Swedish business environment. In Sweden, flat organizations are common and this enables people to take initiative and maintain a high level of sales-driven activity.

Also, successful Swedish sales people have an exceptionally high level of competence in the services and products they sell. They keep up with the latest developments in their field, and often have a strong professional background in their area of expertise. Swedes value competence and the ability to explain a product or service, as well as its full value to a buyer.

Empathy – A Very Valuable Sales Tool

But Mr. Strid believes that the most important success factor is the Swedish capacity for empathy. He says, “We Swedes also see and encourage colleagues of the person we are meeting with. That makes us different from many other international sales people who for the most part, focus only on the person with the highest formal title.”

Keep Track of the Numbers!

Another very strong success factor is, according to Mr. Strid, the tendency that Swedes have to keep track of their own sales numbers. This makes them especially good at asking relevant questions of their prospects in international sales meetings.

Taking Action to Make Sales Happen

The consistently high level of activity that many Swedish sales people are known for is another success factor. This is largely due to the relatively flat and non-prestigious organizational structures typical of Swedish companies.

The traits that Swedes bring to the negotiating table are highly appreciated by company leaders throughout the world. Swedish sales people are good at asking questions, leading meetings and – not least of all – taking the time to really see and encourage others.

They have learned that empathy is a very valuable characteristic when it comes to sales, no matter which product or service you are selling. “Swedish sales people have demonstrated consistently that our capacity for empathy, combined with our knowledge of English and our way of taking action, is a very dependable recipe for success,” according to Mr. Strid.

Mr. Strid’s five tips for sales people who want to improve their capacity for empathizing with others:

1/ Meet with people on all levels of an organization – from decision-makers and others who may be influential in the company, down to the user-level.

2/ Don’t be so eager to talk about and share what you think. Focus on asking questions instead.

3/ Follow up with the contacts you have already made. Take the time to do this instead of always looking to find more business contacts.

4/ Get in touch with your clients, even when you are not planning to sell anything. Just let them know that you care about them and that they are important. This will often lead to more business, even if that was not the original intention.

5/ Practice building empathy by asking questions about people’s personal lives as well as their business. Allow the other person to finish what they start to tell you. Avoid jumping into the discussion and talking about yourself. It’s better to ask more questions, than to move the focus onto your own experiences.

Mr. Strid is a sales coach and popular speaker who helps companies develop their sales and marketing initiatives. He is the owner of Strid & Co in Stockholm, Sweden.

About the Author: Janet Boynton Runeson is a freelance web copywriter and director of Entrepreneurial Copy. With several advanced degrees in the Humanities, Fine Arts and Economics, she has extensive experience in international marketing and specializes in cultural awareness.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Janet_Runeson/1267986

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8243960

Sales Coaching

The Benefits of Hiring a Performance Coach to Help Your Sales Team

There are many benefits to hiring a performance coach to boost your sales efforts. Here are some of the major ones:

Gain New Tips to Help Your Team Sell

Some people simply struggle with new ways of selling an existing product. It doesn’t matter how long they have been in the role for. One benefit of hiring a professional performance coach is that he or she will encourage your sales team to dig deep into their chest of ideas and come up with new benefits or processes that streamline their sales efforts. Choosing a sales coach with a strong commercial background will also help your team put these new ideas and processes into practice.

Specific Advice for Your Product or Service

As already mentioned, your sales coaching will be specific to your product or market sector. If you simply search online, or in a book for generic sales advice, or if you choose to generic sales training from a qualified trainer (not experienced sales professional), the chances are that you get what you pay for. Generic tips rather than proven, actionable ideas. Generic sales books are geared for the majority of people who have never sold anything before, you will only find a handful of texts for advanced sales professionals.

A sales coach will take time to work through your ideas, your current sales experiences, your revenue targets, your personal growth goals and help you prioritise your conflicting demands so that you start seeing progress more quickly than if you attempt to sell alone. Your coach will act as your sounding board for you to bounce ideas off or review your failures so you reduce your learning curve and are more effective on your next sale. A great sales coach will help you navigate your corporate world and ensure that your prospecting is more skilled, more targeted and more fruitful than ever.

One-on-One Time with the Sales Team

Sales coaching is not just about creating a plan. If is about working with the individuals in your team to understand their backgrounds, help maximise their strengths and minimise their weaknesses. If you hire a sales coach from a sales background, you can request mentoring support, if relevant, so that your team can draw on their coach’s actual sales experience. This has the added value of reducing learning curves, bringing forward conversion dates and increasing revenue more quickly.

While popular sales texts and online resources may seem like a cheaper option, the guidance and experience that can be drawn from a sales coach who has come from a corporate sales background is invaluable.

Carla Cotterell has 17 years experience in sales and marketing roles, gained at high-growth technology start-ups and media giants such as AOL Time Warner. She is an experience Sales Coach, qualified NLP Practitioner and works with DiSC personality profiling.

You can contact Carla Cotterell here: http://www.ccotterell.com.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/C_Cotterell/1285840

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8212886

MyOrbit Blogs, Sales Coaching

Coaching an Effective Selling System

An effective selling system is a requisite for success in the world of sales. Follow those who are true leaders in selling, and you will find each has a system that allows them to excel.

In order to have a productive sales team, one must consistently teach and coach an Effective Sales System (ESS). If your team does not have an ESS, and you rely on sales people to operate within their own system, you will have a difficult, if not impossible, time affecting individual skills and behaviors.

An effective coach must clearly demonstrate what is expected of a sales person. At a minimum, one must be able to communicate how to employ concepts and tactics via stories, analogies and metaphors. Think of the athletic coach–while the coach may not physically demonstrate everything that is expected of an athlete, he/she must be able to communicate what is expected.

To effectively coach sales people, you must do the same. You must truly know and understand the selling process and the Effective Selling System. You must own the content and the process, and you must communicate the sales skills expected of your team.

Specifically, you must be able to demonstrate the 8-step phone process with an effective Unique Selling Approach (USA) opening. You must demonstrate an effective initial call starting with “What would make this meeting a great use of your time?” Your ability to demonstrate these skills will greatly enhance your sales team’s ability to execute an Effective Sales System. On the other hand, if you don’t know the system intimately, you won’t be able to effectively coach your sales people through demonstrations or identify sales-sabotaging behaviors.

Remember to ask open-ended questions. Help sales people discover their choke points through the questions you ask. Confirm that the sales person wants to fix his or her problems. Unless sales people desire to correct their weaknesses, you will have a difficult, if not impossible time, helping them improve. Verify each producer’s willingness and enthusiasm to work and get commitment that they will devote the time and energy necessary to master the skills.

A good sales coach must also be able to teach the theories and psychology which support an Effective Sales System, including: A. Why understanding the interpersonal dynamics of the buying and selling process is crucial, B. Why traditional phone approaches are ineffective, C. Why a sales person should not look, act or sound like every other sales person, D. Why effectively asking questions can make or break a sale and E. Why it’s critical to get commitment for a decision prior to presentation.

As well, a good sales coach must understand and teach the psychology and theory supporting: A. When and why a sales person asks for introductions, B. Why each sales person must have a robust pipeline, C. Why executing a personal success formula is vitally important, and D. Why participating regularly in sales huddles (weekly, 15-minute meetings in which sales people report critical numbers) is crucial to a sales person’s success.

You must coach your sales people at each step as follows: First, tell them the skill you will be teaching. Second, show them how to use the technique. Third, review what you taught and demonstrated. Next, execute with drill-for-skill and role-play so that your sales people can see the skill in action. Finally, have them practice using the technique with one another so that they are able to employ the tactic while they are under pressure in the field and on the phone.

Your team must demonstrate knowledge of the selling system and comfort while using it. Typically, human beings must perform an activity multiple times before mastering it.

Robert F. Bruner of the University of Virginia stressed the importance of repetition for learning when he wrote the following: “The deepest “Aha’s” spring from an encounter and then a return. Repeating the encounter fuses it into one’s awareness. The learning process is one of slow engagement with ideas; gradually the engagement builds to a critical mass where the student actually acquires the idea.”

Being a good sales coach is a full-time job, requiring focus, dedication and energy to learn and master the steps and processes of an Effective Sales System. The coach must then be willing and able to teach and coach theses steps and processes to the sales team. A good sales coach must be able to play “bad-guy/good-guy” and be able to motivate and mentor sales people while holding them accountable to the necessary activities.

Tony Cole, President of Anthony Cole Training Group
(877) 635-5371
http://www.anthonycoletraining.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Tony_Cole/54599

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8044018

Sales Coaching

Strengths Based Sales Leadership Tactics

If you have been given the important position of acting as the leader for your sales team, then it should be your primary goal to increase productivity and lead your group of sales professionals to success. Company growth and a solid reputation all rely on the efforts and success of your sales force; so you will want to do what you can to build up the strengths of your sales team and find out ways to overcome the weaknesses. When you start to lead your sales team, you will find that different teams and different team members have different strengths and as an effective leader you will first need to identify these strengths before you can lead or make any changes.

Keep in mind that different individuals on your team will have different strengths. This is important as you will want to make sure that you treat each member of your team as an individual instead of treating the group as a whole. In addition to identifying the strengths of each sales member, you need to identify the best way to build up the weaknesses of each of your sales members and turn them into strengths. A great deal of this has to do with proper motivation. Just as each team member will have a different strength or weakness, each team member will be motivated in a different way, so if certain approaches don’t work at first you will want to keep trying.

When it comes to strong leadership within your sales team, having a mutual respect between you and your team members is essential. This can be achieved with open communication. Sit down with your team and let them know what you feel their strengths are and what areas can be improved. Also show them by example the strengths you posses as a sales leader so that they can learn by your example. Never focus on their weaknesses as being problems, but being areas that can eventually become strengths. Since the sales environment of today tends to be so stress-driven, by focusing on strength and using your strengths to find success you will keep a more positive attitude within your sales force.

Keep in mind that strength within a team is often built by taking on challenges. You can not build up the strengths of your sales team by not pushing them or by avoiding difficult situations. Instead spin every tough situation, not as a moment where weakness can prevail but where your strengths as a team can come out. However, none of this can be possible without effective leadership. In addition to being able to point out and play up the strengths of your team, you need to be a strong leader yourself and never forget that your example and your approach to leading your team will impact the way they approach your current sales efforts.

Resource Box:

Visit The Sales Coaching Institute to learn more about effective sales leadership strategies. These professionals can be found online at http://www.salescoach.us.

Doug Dvorak is the CEO of DMG Inc., a worldwide organization that assists clients with productivity training, corporate humor and workshops, as well as other aspects of sales and marketing management. Mr. Dvorak’s clients are characterized as Fortune 1000 companies, small to medium businesses, civic organizations and service businesses. Mr. Dvorak has earned an international reputation for his powerful educational methods and motivational techniques, as well as his experience in all levels of business, corporate education and success training. http://www.dougdvorak.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Doug_Dvorak/54046

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7930148