To Become a Better Sales Coach You Need to Think Differently
Have you ever considered what made you successful when you were a salesperson? You were, and still likely are, action-oriented, decisive, and adept at problem solving. These sales attributes were rewarded as a salesperson – and then you got promoted and everything changed. Except – perhaps – you. Now I… Read More
Sales Coaching Should be a Sales Manager’s #1 Priority
Recently I was working with a group of sales managers and I posed this question- When you arrive at your office on a typical day what would you say is your #1 priority? Some of the answers I received were Reacting to my boss i.e. answering questions, following directives, etc…. Read More
An Argument Against “Qualification”
At the beginning of a recent Slow Down, Sell Faster sales seminar, I asked each participant “What is your #1 goal for this session?” Several stated that their biggest challenge is how to get past a low-level relationship and reach decision makers with more money, authority and need. Later that… Read More
How to Manage and Lead your Millennial Salesperson
I often get asked about coaching millenials—the youngest members of the sales force (under age 34), who are the fastest growing segment in today’s workforce. While sweeping statements about an entire generation can never be 100% true for any individual, there are a few factors that do separate millennial salespeople… Read More
4 Tips for Sales Coaching & Leadership
Communicating clearly to your salespeople the specific behaviors and activities that you both want and need for sales success is essential for sales coaching. Here’s a quick exercise to test common understanding. Send out an email to your sales team and ask, “In regards to the first meeting with a… Read More
How to be a bad sales coach
When we ask the participants in our training courses what “bad sales coaching” would look like, there is no shortage of answers. “Having inconsistent standards” …. “Tell you the problem but don’t help you work through the solution” … “Care only about results and not how we get them” …… Read More
Can an effective sales model be simple and useful?
Last week I was in Hong Kong delivering sales training to the APAC division of a major software company. The executive who hired me had requested two things: He wanted a strategic sales process that would gain buy-in from reps from different countries and cultures throughout their world-wide sales organization…. Read More
How is your Peak Performer retention strategy working?
A few years ago I delivered a two-day workshop to the senior leadership of a 225-person sales organization. One of the several topics in the workshop was to debrief their individual “behavioral profile” assessments. Interestingly, all 7 executives had a similar profile – high dominance and high task orientation, low… Read More
Are you a “Sales Manager” or a “Sales Leader”?
As a sales manager you have a high activity level. You work hard every day to both direct and support the efforts of your sales team to produce sales results. But often, a manager’s high activity level can actually inhibit the development of the sales team. As author Steven Covey… Read More
What is “Positive Confrontation”?
Recently a prospect asked me to explain what I meant when I said that many sales managers would be more effective sales leaders if they used what I call “positive confrontation” with their salespeople. Positive confrontation is the discussion that a sales manager has with a salesperson in a timely… Read More
