Ring! Ring! Is anyone making calls – sales management/training 101
How much time did you spend with your sales team this week? It was not enough.
The Mental Conversation
Our most valuable resource is our most often overlooked. You might say, “They know what they are doing because I hired good people.” They would probably say, “I guess he/she is good with what I am doing because they haven’t said anything.” You might say, “They know what I want them doing and that I won’t be happy if they don’t.”
They might say, “Well, I am sure whatever I did was not good enough and here they come to express their displeasure.”
Time Well Spent
I hate to say that creating a routine is good because by definition routine becomes routine. Routines are good and they are very hard to keep because we all have meetings and we all have a ton of work that needs to be handled. In our world of multi-tasking, individual or small group dedicated time with our sales people is tough to stay consistent with. Your team needs to know that you are watching, but they also need to know that you are trying to help them solve a problem. We are not training our people to think we are always going to be harsh or even that we are always going to be sweet. We are training our people to be great at what they do and make a lot of money for themselves and subsequently for the company. Training is done in large scale two and three day sessions that cover everything under the sun and then you get to check it off for the quarter, or year…right? Well, you are right, but it is also done daily.
Pick a Topic
One very strong way to train is to focus on a specific topic with each individual. Let them be the guide and decide what the topic is, but choose a topic. Maybe for a month, you focus on cold calling or controlling the meeting or closing. Pick a topic. I am not suggesting all day sessions. Choose an appropriate amount of time each day, 15 minutes or 30 minutes and take as long as it takes for that individual to work through the topic. Don’t let yourself or them off the hook. Determine a way to measure their success at the topic. It may simply be satisfying your belief in what they are doing or it may be measured success factors. Don’t stop sales training, the definition of kinetic energy is “energy in motion stays in motion.”
Focused Efforts
There are many ways to do what we do in sales and sales training. There are call blitzes or email blasts and etc., but create a daily plan with your team and focus their efforts. Do they call the same person over and over trying to catch their targets at the right time? Do they leave voice mails? No one returns voicemail messages so why do it? You do it so the client hears their name and company. It is old fashioned, but it still works. It is a touch point. Does every call get a corresponding email? No one responds to these emails, why do it? You do it so the client sees their name and company. It still works. Do you send a LinkedIn invitation to every prospect? You see where I am going and simply put, having a consistent approach gets your sales team in the habit of doing all the right things and then magic happens, you connect with your prospect.
Target Accounts
All the right actions as noted above lead you to successful business, right? Well, if you are trying to contact all the wrong people at all the wrong companies then maybe not. Work with your team on their target accounts. Determine with them the right mix of accounts that are consistent with your target audience in the areas that you typically have success.
Five Sales Training Takeaways:
- Spend time with the individuals on the team
- Train them well and constantly
- Pick a topic to perfect
- Call, voicemail, email, letters, LinkedIn and etc – do it all, all the time
- Target the right accounts
About S.J.Hemley Marketing
S.J.Hemley Marketing is a marketing and sales consulting firm focused on driving tangible results for professional services firms. Brand matters, but not without ROI. With over 20 years of sales and marketing experience within staffing and recruiting, we have helped to drive successful branding, sales training, lead generation activities as well as defining marketing strategy for top organizations.