Category: Sales Training

Motivation, Sales Management, Sales Training

Is your new sales rep doomed to failure because of these 3 things?

Posted on by Tom Lavery

Whatever defines your sales training program, there’s no question that training a new sales rep takes a huge amount of time. The question is, are there things going on outside of your training program that is going to be holding you and your new sales reps back from success and undoing all your hard work? Find out here:

Don’t allow your new reps to train with sh*t leads

A new rep comes in, they’re learning, so they get given the lowest value leads to start training with. I understand we’ve got to protect this month’s quota. But be mindful of  your definition of ‘low-value leads’.  I’ve seen ‘low value’ in terms of ACV get confused with the leads your sales team find hardest to convert, maybe due to size, sector, buyer etc.  I understand that makes them low value, but is that really where you want your new reps training?  We want our new reps building in confidence every day, it’s so important to their longer term success. I’d argue we want them selling to the best leads, the ones we are guaranteed to win, the ones that will make our news reps feel like they’re sales heroes. Whatever you do,  make sure you are balancing your short term sales goals with the speedy development of your new sales reps who will be helping you achieve the longer term sales goals.

Continue reading →

0
Motivation, Sales Techniques, Sales Training

The 3 things every sales professional can learn from Steve Jobs

Posted on by Tom Lavery

It’s pretty even out there on the sales battlefield. Everyone has access to the same talent, great sales technology and even the product & feature lists aren’t miles apart from one competitor to another. So what truly makes you stand out?

I believe this quote from  Maya Angelou explains it perfectly.

“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did.
But people will never forget how you made them feel”.

Your textbook demo tour of all the product features won’t make your prospect feel anything on its own. The emotion that’s felt is in your delivery. The master of this and the guy who always inspires me is Steve Jobs. Whatever you think of  him you have to admire the way he sold his products in the late 2000’s.

He did 3 simple, but hugely effectively things.

Continue reading →

0
Sales Management, Sales Training

6 Ideas to improve sales training on zero budget

Posted on by Tom Lavery

I read an article this week that claims 96% of sales professionals say sales training needs improving. That’s easier said than done.  Sales training can be highly expensive. It’s expensive in terms of time for sales managers to deliver it internally and it’s expensive if you hire a consultant externally. It inspired me to think about how I’ve trained my sales teams in the past that can be easily embedded into your sales team structure. So here are 6 ways you can train your team without having to secure a fat training budget.

Buddy up on sales pitches

The article showed that 65% of sales people believe advice from peers is more effective than company run training. So do a quick assessment of your team in terms of strengths and areas for development. Partner up your team accordingly and set a goal to shadow 3 sales pitches each in the next month. Create an expectation that shadowing sales reps should look for opportunities to improve their own skill from what went well and create a guide for giving feedback on areas that could be developed.  It’s a win-win for both reps.

Continue reading →

0
Sales Techniques, Sales Training

How to make your sales team great listeners

Posted on by Tom Lavery

Scenario 1. Sam is off to a meeting with a prospective client. You’ve armed him with a bunch of questions he needs to ask, he’s prepared with his list:

Ask them what challenges they are facing today?Ask how long they’ve been experiencing these challenges? Ask why it’s important the business solves them now? Ask how they’ve tried fixing the problem in the past? Ask why those solutions didn’t work? Ask what other providers they are looking at? Ask them if they’ve allocated budget? Ask what’s stopped them putting in a solution like this before?

And the list goes on..

So Sam enters the meeting frantically trying to remember every question he must ask before he leaves. And here comes the problem. Sam is so focused trying to remember the questions on his list he isn’t listening to the answers. He might hear the answers and he might write them down, but he isn’t listening to them. The listening part is crucial, it’s the part that ignites conversation and uncovers everything he really needs to know.

For your reps to be truly great at listening, focus them on meeting ‘outcomes’ not meeting ‘questions’

Continue reading →

5
Sales Training

How to use recorded calls and demos for sales team training

Posted on by Tom Lavery

This post is going to be helpful if you’re recording sales calls and sales demos. If you are then great, if not, set that up first and then come back to this post.

Every sales call made is a training opportunity. Gather your team, pick a recent sales call or sales demo and use it as training material everyone can learn from. Done well this can be helpful for everyone, done badly it can be nothing but embarrassing for the sales rep in the spotlight and uncomfortable for everyone else. Here’s how to do it well.

Ingredients

This is a bitesize but frequent learning session. Commit to a minimum of once a week for 1-2 hours per session. It works best in small groups, no more than 5 people.

1.Position and execute the training carefully

This training session works best when the sales team celebrate all the things the sales rep did well during their call or demo. Create an environment where others can learn from what one member of the team is incredible at. Make the sales rep in the spotlight the hero. Don’t make this training session about all the things the sales rep did wrong during their call and how the rest of the team must avoid their mistakes. You will create a training session everyone dreads and an environment where no-one wants to share and learn together.

Continue reading →

3