We want you to call to mind three different people.
Think about your favorite professional football, soccer or hockey player.
Now think about someone you know (it could be a former teammate, a current coworker or someone you grew up with) who plays or played sports. They should be on an amateur sports team, whatever sport that may be.
Finally, think of a well-known and respected salesperson. This could be anyone from a famous entrepreneur to a motivational speaker who used to be a sales rep.
At first glance, they might not have a whole lot in common. They come from all different walks of life with different personality traits.
Look again.
The common denominator is that they all have coaches. One has a pro coach, the second has a team coach and captain and the last has a sales coach of some sort.
If you want sales team success, it’s time to bring in a personal sales coach.
What Do Personal Sales Coaches Do?
What Do Personal Sales Coaches Do?Everyone in sales needs a personal sales coach. This includes people in individual sales or an entire department that needs direct sales coaching.
No sales team is perfect; there is always room for improvement. Sales coaches see fast results. If you start with the small stuff that you’ve been missing in your sales process, the ball keeps rolling. You end up with a domino effect of sales success.
Unofficial sales coaches are internal employees. A lot of managers fill that role for their reps. But the managers often have their blinders on. They’re loyal to your business, so they don’t want to see the problem areas.
Coaching sales reps is only part of it. An external personal sales coach can provide sales manager coaching to help reset your team dynamic.
They use their finely-tuned, professional skill sets to come into your sales department and analyze without bias.
Your sales managers are hung up on all of their other responsibilities. So a personal sales coach walks in with an analysis-driven mind. They give 100 percent of their time and attention to see where your team can improve. Then, they turn their analysis into action items. They provide your department with sales coaching tools to improve in specific areas.
Some coach in a large group. But consider the value of one who prefers one-on-one sales training.
These coaches can listen in on your sales reps’ client calls. They observe your team in real-time to provide specific feedback. They work on improvement in areas like:
- Cold calling
- Body language awareness
- Active listening skills
- Upselling and cross-selling
What is the Key to Coaching a Successful Sales Team?
Coaching a sales team to optimize their potential takes a lot of work.
Professional sales coaching first realizes organizational and individual potential.
Your coach takes an objective look at where your reps thrive and where they fail. They whittle those strengths and weaknesses down into success stories they can use for their entire career.
Above all, they involve themselves with the whole sales process. Through sales coaching training, they provide relevant tools and solutions to hurdle over any obstacles.
Tell-Tale Signs You Need to Bring in a Personal Sales Coach
It’s time to focus on you.
We said that everyone benefits from sales coaching. Just the same, a lot of people still think “there’s no way that includes my team! We’re top-tier!”
That may be true. But take a look at these seven clear signs that you need a personal sales coach. No matter the extent, one of these might sound familiar.
If Your Sales Team and You Are Not Accomplishing Your Goals
Example: You look back at your annual reports for the past five years for a tidbit of information. Once you do, something catches your eye.
For one, two or more years, you lowered your sales goal. Hm. If you’re a successful company, shouldn’t you be raising your goals as the years go on?
Maybe your competitors set the bar too high. Maybe you did, and now you do not want to discourage your sales reps.
Solution: Take advantage of sales performance coaching. A personal sales coach looks at your goals and diagnoses the reasons your sales team isn’t measuring up. They train your reps based on that diagnosis.
If You Do Not Have a Consistent, Scalable Sales Process
Example: You went to one too many theater performances and the actors sold you on the concept of improvisation. Now, you find that your sales department reflects that improvisation.
For each stage of the buyer journey, your sales reps and managers clamber into positions. When a prospect wants to barter about pricing, your sales department panics.
When a potential customer shows an iota of interest or needs a proposal, you don’t know what to do. Neither do your sales reps. You feel the stress as soon as you walk in your office’s front door.
Solution: Leave improv for the theater. There’s nothing wrong at all with creativity in sales. However, you need a structure for your sales team.
Let your personal sales coach draft a blueprint for you based on thorough observation of your team. You need a documented sales process. It should apply to various sales scenarios for consistency and long-term sales success.
If You Lose Sales to Your Competitors and Do Not Know it is Happening
Example: You know about your competitors. You either know a little or a lot, but you know they exist and you’ve conducted a competitor analysis.
One day, someone tells you that you’ve been losing almost all of your sales to your competitors. This comes as a huge shock. You thought you were doing well against them.
Solution: You know that you will always have to compete with rivals in your marketplace. You will never have a shortage of competitors. So it’s normal to have them.
But when you don’t realize you had them in the first place (or don’t realize how many sales you missed out on), that is a lot of untapped potential and revenue going to waste.
Hire a personal sales coach. You get a hoard of sales coaching techniques to capitalize on future opportunities.
If You Wait for the Phone to Ring
Example: It’s 9 a.m. Your sales team and you clock in and sit at your desks. You check your emails and fiddle around for a couple of hours. All of you start to chat about how strange it is that no clients have called you yet.
Solution: You cannot wait for customers to call you. Every staff member on your sales team has to make the first move. Sometimes, a customer does call first; that’s an anomaly.
As a rule, you will not foster long-term and scalable business growth if you are not proactive.
You have a lot of ways to stay in touch with and engage your target market. If you are at a loss, professional sales coaching is your ticket to figure out those methods.
If You Get Anxious Before Every Sales Call or Presentation
Example: Tomorrow you have a big sales call with a client. Two days later, you have an internal presentation. You feel a little nervous today, but you know that nervousness is not productive, so you shove it aside. All will be well.
Tomorrow comes and it is the day of the call. That nervous feeling warps into full-blown anxiety. This happens practically every time you have a call or presentation.
Solution: Feeling nervous is natural. It is okay to feel that way. However, if you get anxious before every sales event, there’s a problem. It means you lack confidence and don’t believe in your business or what it sells.
A personal sales coach provides sales coaching tips if you or your team members feel that way. Sometimes a department manager has to take the reigns in your absence if you are a business owner or executive. Ensure they are confident by using sales management coaching.
If You Do Not Have a Sales Pipeline
If You Do Not Have a Sales PipelineExample: You have the idea of a pipeline. But you wrote it all down in various notebooks or e-documents.
Solution: You need an organized sales pipeline. It is for everyone’s benefit, not just your own notes. Use your personal sales coach’s expertise to help you lay it out. Then you’ll know every prospect’s standing and how likely you are to close.
If You Wish You Had More Referrals
Example: Your sales reps are on a roll with closing sales. But when you dive into the data, you find that the customers aren’t staying or referring.
Solution: There are two sides to this coin. One: your reps do not mention referrals to your customers. Two: your customers don’t want to give referrals because they think your sales process is lackluster.
Either way, your sales coach can identify the problem. If it was an issue with how they’re selling, they have the tools to help them improve.
Conclusion
You need more leads. If you don’t need more, you want more. But we know that you cannot get there if you don’t have a leading sales team.
We’re going to take that stress off your shoulders. At Selling Revolution, we have 40 years of experience under our belt to give you the gift of solutions. That much experience with small businesses means we know how to grow your unique company.
Book a call with us today and share your vision. We can formulate your long-term custom solution.