“Until you change the way that you look at things, those things will never change.”
Pat Riley
What are you willing to do to change the course of your sales team and their results?
Training, I get it, it is essential to consistent sales success; yet it often gets a bad rap or no rap at all.
Ask many in sales, what comes to mind when you hear the word "training”
- Already been there done that
- It’s a waste of our time
- We already know what works
- Changing something now would be bad karma
- We're hitting our numbers (pure crap)
- Training takes us away from selling time
At this moment, if you polled your sales team and asked whether your team would rather attend a sales training event or go to the dentist; what would you believe the results to be?
Sales leaders... quit chasing quick tips, short-cuts and sales kick-off training events!
Rah-rah does not equate to revenue
Hey sales leaders... training is an event, while coaching is a lifestyle.
ONE TIME TRAINING EVENTS, DON'T CUT IT
Allow me to preface, before all the sales trainers rip me a new one, there are plenty of fantastic sales trainers out there.
The issue is one-time training events and sales rah-rah is outdated, broken and doesn't move the sales needle.
The issue is not that sales leaders are holding the training event. It’s that they’re only holding this training event and this one only.
Let's face it, many of these events are 8 hours of training (they paid big time bucks to some trainer) and then the trainer crams in as many topics as humanly possible.
Too much information, too little practice time, and too many other things going on.
And all that fantastic training followed by – nothing! No game plan for how to execute it all in the field. No coaching opportunities to practice and to make adjustments.
Enough already! Stop the training event madness! Stop draining corporate dollars!
- Leaders future proof their team through coaching.
- Managers check the box when it comes to training.
- Training without coaching has little impact.
QUIT CHASING SHINY QUICK TIP OBJECTS
I believe sales results and changes occur when you are willing to change your mindset.
What’s in your heart? What are you capable of? How committed are you?
Chase the main thing. Your team's mindset matters in a world full of empty suits.
My challenge to all the sales leaders out there... start caring, start connecting and start coaching your team.
If you’re not willing to change your mindset... how does this translate to your sales team?
COACHING OVER CRAPPY AND SPOTTY TRAINING
The analogies between sales and sports will rage on.
I'm curious... why do sports teams have more than one coach but sales teams struggle with even one?
What would the world of professional sports look like without coaching?
Now, what would the sales world look like with coaching?
Imagine for a moment... it is the start of your favorite sports season... there is all kind of hype around your favorite team... they are in training camp... the season starts... then the training stops... the coaching stops... the players just go out there, wing it and play... the season ends with another dismal losing season.
Sales leaders... this is what you're doing with your sales team.
SALES PROFESSIONALS NEED COACHING
What are the things that great sports coaches do every day that makes them great? They make training more challenging and more demanding than the competition their athletes are facing.
How many sales managers make their training more challenging than their salespeople face out in the field?
So this got me thinking... how many coaches does my favorite football team, the Los Angeles Rams have? My friends, they have 25 coaches. Each coach has a specific role and responsibility.
Regardless of tenure, they work with each and every player. No favorites in sports, unlike sales managers who coddle some of their top salespeople.
Great coaches accelerate their learning faster than the opposition
Look at what Sean McVay has done with the Los Angeles Rams in a few years. They've gone from perennial doormats to playing in a Super Bowl.
Great coaches know copying the status quo kills. They don't follow others because they know trying to duplicate others success is a recipe for disaster.
Great coaches and great teams know winning comes from being the best in every aspect: training, preparation, skills, attitude, recovery-time, gym-time, sleep, managing travel, and nutrition; starting to get the picture?
Great coaches create winning environments where a culture of excellence is what matters
Attention to all sales leaders and those in management... what would happen to your sales results if stopped chasing training events and brought in sales coaches?
Transformation and sales breakthroughs, this does not happen in one-time training events, short-cut cram sessions and quick tactics... it comes through an investment and commitment to long term sales coaching.
COACHES INSPIRE, PROFESSIONALS FLOURISH
Great coaches don't praise mediocre effort. What they do effectively is practice catching elite athletes doing things right. They don't get caught up playing head games leaving these athletes questioning their abilities.
Why does it seem that most training and coaching goes to new sales reps? Who is coaching the experienced and tenured salespeople? Why do we train all salespeople the same? Why do so many chase quick tips, training tactics and one-time training events?
Investing in your entire sales team yields the highest return on investment.
- How do sales professionals improve?
- How do sales professionals get better at what they do?
- How do sales professionals become even greater?
Great coaching makes a world of difference to professional athletes.
Can the same be said inside the sales world?
CHANGE YOUR MINDSET, CHANGE YOUR RESULTS
How does your sales team get better at what they do?
It's sad that many in management view their people as numbers. It's sad that many experienced sales reps lack the nurturing, guiding and coaching that great coaches provide to their entire team.
How many in sales today can honestly say their sales manager is a great sales coach?
A great sales coach...
- Effectively communicates
- Brings compassion
- Has a deep passion for sales
- Is heartfelt and genuine
- Is a true practitioner and eats what they preach
I'm here to challenge the status quo in how sales leaders grow, nurture and enhance the lives of their sales team.
“Management is transactional, while Leadership is Transformational.”
Brian Tracy
LET'S BRING THIS TO A CLOSE
I'm massively concerned over the lack of consistent training and coaching within many sales teams. Sales team meetings and hitting or exceeding quota have become atrocious. Top sales reps (by numbers) are not challenged to get better.
I'm calling out all those in management... the time is now to unite! Let's all commit to doing the things necessary to improve your entire team, no exceptions!
I promise you... bringing in a coach, with a different voice and multiple ideas will catapult your sales teams' success.
"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
Benjamin Franklin
Training events are full of telling and teaching. Coaching is all about involvement, inspiration and immersion.
How would feel if your largest accounts went elsewhere in 2021?
Invest in your people and stop the one-time training events!
I understand, I get where you all are coming from. Every day, I walk in your shoes. I am fully committed to helping your sales team integrate social aspects and heartfelt strategies into your current sales process to grow new business. I want you to get results. This is why I am passionate about doing this the right way, the genuine way, the authentic way! It's about understanding value before visibility.
Selling From the Heart is making a difference! I poured my heart into every page of this book and I think you're going to love it. You can find it on Amazon in paperback, kindle and in audio. You can click on the book image below and this will take you to Amazon.
You can find more material inside Selling From The Heart.
In a world full of empty suits, I'm passionate about helping sales reps succeed by getting valuable before they get visible. I help sales teams understand the true value they bring to the market.
I appreciate getting the opportunity to share my stories. Integrating the use of social and sharing my story on LinkedIn was my “game-changer” in the highly competitive office technology world. With great pride I transform, challenge, coach and inspire sales teams to grow new business by helping them share their story and how they communicate it out by integrating the use of social inside the sales process. You can follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and on my podcast by clicking on Selling from the Heart.
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