From a sales coaching perspective it’s important to know you are meeting with the right people.
So many sales folks are targeting ‘appointments’ these days. I wonder if you know who actually is in attendance. And who isn’t but should be.
As you enter your meeting, do you know what percent of the entire Buying Decision Team is there and what weight your contact has on the full Buying Decision Team ?
And perhaps even more importantly who is NOT at the meeting ?
These are the sort of questions Sharon Drew Morgen goes into in the post below and they are very relevant.
OK if you have had any sales training or sales coaching in your life you have probably been told that asking questions is a paramount skill in sales and in many ways it is.
Remember one of the findings of the Huthwaite study that gave rise to the SPIN Selling book though. Asking too many Situation questions actually causes a drop in closing sales. So, it’s not just asking questions but asking the right kind of questions.
Questions are just a part of the communication process that is central to selling.
Other parts include listening. And not just to the words but to the tone as well.
It’s also about clearing your mind to receive the prospect’s information rather than spending your mental energy on trying to formulate your next savvy response.
And behind all of that it’s CARING. Wanting to genuinely be of service to the person you are talking to.
“The real question ends up being why are you asking questions? Is it to connect and build a bridge to help solve issues for a fellow human—or to get into someone’s wallet? That, sellers, is the first question that must be answered.”
I ran across this post today and thought it worth passing on.
The opening comment caught my eye, “An effective sales coaching process needs to be based on two pillars of sales success and continuous improvement process: activity and process. “
Then further on it offers,”Sales Managers must understand and embrace the difference between Managing and Coaching, applying both as needed to develop their teams. “
One of the things I promote in sales coaching is the benefit of really talking in the language of your prospect.
Buyers get sales people pitching to them all day.
Occassionally, they get a seller who actually takes the time to ask questions and find out what they want.
Then on very rare occassions buyers meet a salesperson who really understands them, who seems to have the ability to see inside their mind and feel what they feel.
When a buyer is in a meeting with someone ike that they are much more responsive becasue they do not have to translate what the seller is saying, it’s in their language.
From a sales coaching perspective I do not agree with all that is said in this video but some of it certainly makes good sales objections handling sense.
I certainly do not agree with delaying dealing with objections till the end of a meeting as it tends to show disrespect for the prospect.
OK, here’s a bit of sales coaching that I’m guessing you wont pay much attention to and that’s a pity because it’s really critical in selling.
You’ll make a lot more sales if you learn how to build rapport.
Don’t believe me ?
Well what about SDM quote ?
“Sharon Drew Morgan in her book “Sales on the Line” makes the following comment,
“There are three ways to make a sale: Rapport, Rapport and Rapport. No matter how good your product is, how good your questions are, if you are out of Rapport with your buyer then there won’t be a sale.” (Morgan, p.58)
Not enough to convince you, what about Abe Lincoln ?
“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.” –ABRAHAM LINCOLN
He’s an article with some useful tips about rapport
Set Sales Processes . . . 95% of salespeople don’t have them or don’t understand the power of having them in place. 95% of Sales Managers . . . don’t enforce them, because they never used them when they were on the front line, SELLING. CLICK NOW to hear this very short video training by Sales Coach Chuck and find out about implementing SET Sales Processes, becoming precision based on follow up and gaining a few points on your sales efficiencies chart!
Sales coaching is not just about tips to help you sell better.
It’s about: mindset and attitude, beliefs and self sabotage, confidence and congruence, motivation and resilience, knowing what to do versus actually doing it, and finally how to practice the skills so that they become part of your being.
And the list above is by no means exhaustive.
But given that I can’t really coach you on this site perhaps some sales tips would be of benefit.
I ran across this post today from Mark Hunter, it’s well worth a read (even though I don’t agree with all of his tips), which you can do by clicking on the link below.
Dealing with objections is a part of sales coaching that comes up a lot.
As long as you are not selling a perfect product there will be sales objections, so get used to them.
The best way to handle objections is to follow a process AND to have trained your mind to reframe objections automatically by systematic practice.
The questions is, how good are you at answering objections? Do you create a conversation, or do you create a verbal wrestling match?
I cover answering sales objections in my book Overcoming Sales Objections, with a lot of emphasis on training your mind to automatically generate responses to objections.
The following article deals more with A process for handling objections.
Sales Coach Chuck Bauer