Are you looking to make more money? Do you want your staff to make a great connection with potential clients? Are you looking for ways to defeat your competition? A sales trainer can help you achieve desired results and facilitate the process of running a successful business. Any business can benefit from increasing the expertise and knowledge base of their sales team. Even experienced salespeople can learn additional insights.
Could your company benefit from an augmented sales team? Knowledge of sales is a never-ending process. Skills can be taught, learned, and relearned by focusing on new techniques, demands, and customer behavior. What are some benefits of sales management training? Read on to find out more.
Learn to focus on customer behavior
Many successful salespeople agree that their job relies heavily on studying and presaging potential customer behavior; sales training helps salespeople become more involved in the buying process from a customer’s perspective. A sales trainer can help staff understand the motivations that propel buyers to make their decisions and the psychology that makes them value one business’ goods and services over others.
Make the sales cycle brief
A long sales cycle spends resources. It is beneficial to a business to learn ways to shorten their sales cycle in order to secure business and focus on getting new business. A savvy sales team can learn techniques, which will shorten the sales cycle and use available resources to their fullest potential. Sales trainers can teach how to get bigger clients in shorter amounts of time.
Know people
Sales and people skills are an inextricable combination in a sales position. Each person is unique, yet there are particular patterns or ‘social types’ a salesperson can identify, which can help them make the sale. Sales skill training can help a sales team identify and acknowledge certain patterns and social styles in order to modify their approaches and techniques depending on particular situations.
Learn to listen
Sometimes, salespeople are so committed to making a sale that they forget to listen to the customer to understand what they need and expect. Sales training courses can help a sales team improve their listening skills and understand when it is time to cease their sales approach in order to stop and listen to potential customers in order to make a connection and extract a sense of what customers really want.
Build confidence
Do you ever realize why some salespeople are so convincing? Usually, it is because they are confident; they are confident in their product/service, but more importantly, they are confident in themselves. Effective sales training can teach salespeople self-confidence. Increased assurance can come directly from insights in a sales training seminar, and it can also be a by-product of the training itself.
The practice of “selling” is an art that requires special skills and, since it’s an art, the outcome is never guaranteed. Science, on the other hand, will generate a predictable outcome because science is based on laws. In science, for example, one plus one will always equal two. Since “selling” is and art, the best you can do is reduce the risk of failure and increase the probability of success. You accomplish that with sales training and the perfection of sales skills.
Salesmanship is an art form and so too is sales training. Training or instructions in any art form leaves great room for different thoughts, opinions and concepts. After all, there isn’t just one acting school or acting method. That said, I’d like to give you a few of my twists and comments on some common believes held in the world of sales and sales training.
Rarely Is It Your Closing Skills
All too often, when a salesperson fails to close an order, there is a rush to judgment about their closing skills. For that reason, closing skills programs are one of the most popular sales training programs. However, more often than not, it is difficult for a salesperson to diagnose exactly where they went wrong. Based on my experience, the problem is rarely related to closing skills.
Selling is a process made up of a series of well-defined steps. Each step must be successfully completed before you can proceed to the next step in the sales process. Closing is just one step in the sales process. If, for example, you failed to ask the right questions and never uncovered a need for your product, all the closing skills in the world will not help you get the sale. In fact, when you consider all the steps in the sales process, closing is the easiest and most natural step but only when you’ve first successfully completed all of the prior steps in the sales process.
The Three Words You Never Hear In Sales
Lost Order reports could be a valuable sales tool but all to often they are nothing more than a useless, if not harmful, piece of paper. I say that because there are three words I’ve never seen on a lost order report. Those words are… “We Were Outsold”. You know reps get outsold all the time but it’s never admitted, especially on a Lost Order report.
The purpose of a Lost Order report is to correct something that caused an order to be lost. So, executives spend days trying to fix pricing issues, missing features, contract terms and a host of other things that appear on Lost Order reports but often had nothing to with the failure to close the business. It is just too hard for most sales organization to admit they were simply outsold.
What do you think would happen if those three words, “We Were Outsold”, started appearing on Lost Order Reports? That’s right, those sales executives would start fixing the right problem… sales skills. They would go out and get some great sales training and make sales skills the center of their organization’s culture.
Stop Qualifying And Start Disqualifying Prospects
My last little twist on things could make a big difference for many salespeople. If we are tasked to qualify a prospect we look for reasons to do just that, namely qualify the prospect. I think there is a safer approach and that approach is to look for reasons to disqualify prospects. That approach will keep your assessments honest and prevent you from investing time with prospects that will never, or can never, buy from you.
Sales Training
Make no mistake about it, when it comes to sales, you need a solid foundation of basic and advanced sales skills. You get those sales skills in solid sales training programs. However, once you have that foundation firmly in place, remember you are dealing with an art form so make those skills your own. The Sales Superstars don’t play by the rules; they make their own rules. I feel that’s the biggest reason for the “80/20 Rule”. The top twenty percent of all salespeople take creative approaches and force themselves to look at things differently. That’s why they earn eighty percent of all the commissions.
I invite you to remember “sales” is an art so make it your own. But first, establish a foundation of solid sales skills. Look at this way, you have to learn how to play a piano before you can take it to the next level and compose a concerto.
I have compiled the following sales training techniques to substantially boost your income. You may be in the selling industry and experiencing a slump. Often people are not trained in the proper sales techniques. I know of some Fortune 500 companies who still use cold calling to generate the majority of their sales. This is completely ineffective and you need to use a system to generate your sales.
The first step in the sales process is that you need to qualify your lead before you present your sales presentation to them. There is no point in trying to sell something to a lead that is not qualified. For example if you are selling weight loss programs you can ask them questions like “On a scale of one to ten how serious are you about losing weight?” and “Why do you want to lose weight now?” Obviously if they answer ten and they are experiencing health problems you know they are very serious. One important thing to remember is that when people volunteer information they may say that they are a ten, but in fact they could possibly only be a six or seven serious. You can find this out by asking them a question that is a contradiction like “Hypothetically speaking how much would you pay a weight fairy to instantly lose all the weight with the wave of a magic wand?”. This question catches most people off guard and determines how serious they actually are. Now someone who answers fifty dollars is only slightly serious. However someone who answers three thousand dollars is very serious and there is a good chance that they will purchase your product. The reason for this is that if they were deadly serious they would get the result immediately if it was possible.
One of the most significant factors in succeeding in selling is that you need to listen more. Most sales people come across very aggressive and this is a big turn off for most people. Ask a question like “What is most important to you about losing weight?”. Your qualified prospect will explain to you the reasons why they want to lose weight and persuade themselves to buy.
Often sales people are too scared to close the prospect and end up losing lots of sales. If you have done all the previous steps correctly the closing part should be easy and natural. I have found the best way to close is to offer your prospect two choices. You do not want to ask them a question where they will answer “yes” or “no” as many people will answer “no” out of habit. You can close by asking a question like “Would you like the advanced weight loss program or the standard weight loss program?” Take their credit card details and get off the phone before they hesitate and change their mind.
After you close you are going to have to learn to deal with objections otherwise you will lose a lot of sales. These objections rise mainly because the product could be expensive or because of skepticism.
The three most common objections you will hear are:
1) “I need to think about it” This happens because your prospect does not believe you. You can overcome this objection by saying that you understand that they are skeptical and if you could show them a way of losing weight without risking anything would they proceed. If they say “Yes” you can mention that the product has a money back guarantee for thirty days and close the deal.
2) “The product is too expensive” This happens because your prospect may actually not be in a position to afford it. Workout a package that they can afford and close the deal.
3) “I need to talk to my husband/wife” Often this happens because the couple makes their decisions together. You can ask how the person feels about the program. If they are enthusiastic it will be likely that they will try to convince their partner to start the program. However, in most cases their partner will be skeptical and try to convince them otherwise. You can volunteer to make the same presentation to their partner as well.
Use these sales training techniques and you will find that your sales will substantially improve. Practice them on a daily basis until you become very good and watch your profits soar.
Despite of the economic environment we are operating in, it is essential to discover a way to increase sales. Sales force Evaluation and Sales Performance Management is a crucial part of marketing, especially when dealing with a push approach towards the marketplace. In many cases, the administration will seek to achieve this by releasing more resources to the challenge. This can work if they selected the right people and train them good, and then selected people work as expected. If this works, the ROI is high with strong sales growth. If this is unsuccessful, the costs can be high and sales staff can be more expensive to train, and keep on the payroll.
Unfortunately, when you select new employees, you never know how they will go and how to carry out day after day. One way to reduce risk and uncertainty with staffing new sales people is to use a sales training process. Sales coaching are effective in growing sales revenue and improving performance by working directly with sales staff on a one-on-one to stay focused, motivated and on track.
The impact of the possibility of increasing sales through something like selling coaching can be very advantageous. From a front line perspective, by improving the likelihood and amount of success for each sales person, the increase in the accumulated income to revenue can drive very significant growth and very significant improvements in profitability. One advantage bigger picture is that this might increase the valuation of the company as a whole. By posting a better growth and profitability figures, a public company could see an increase in its share price. For private companies, it could make a company more attractive from the point of view of acquisition and can be purchased at a higher price.
Using sales training to increase sales will provide great benefits to individual taxpayers. For sales personnel and sales management, this means an increase in the level of fees and commissions which provide more money in their pockets. In the long term, benefits may be job satisfaction, job security, and better positioned for all possible developments. The actual increase in sales, the company not only will improve front line, but can bear to see major improvements on the bottom line, the control and reduction of costs. This is achieved by reducing the volume of business through the creation of a staff happier and more successful. By reducing turnover, the company will be hard dollar savings in the area of recruitment, training and replacement of the sales staff.
By improving the success of the sales staff and decrease turnover, the company also aims to reduce the opportunity cost. Consider the business has been lost or has not been able to receive a sales person is underperforming. Add to that any business that is lost or lost, while an open position on resignation or dismissal. Lastly, add that any business that is lost or missed, while a new employee is being trained and get climbing. All this adds up to an enormous amount of opportunity cost and can be decreased by improving performance and possession for sales staff.
Organizations that spend more on sales training turn in 86% better results that organizations that spend less on training, but sales development is much more effective than sales training.
Sales development is more intensive and hands-on than training. A typical training and implementation lacks in 6 key areas:
Lack of focus on the critical solar knowledge and skill sets professions must master. Too many solar courses focus on the how a solar system works, not how to sell a solar system and sales skills.
No measure of metrics.
You must know what is wrong to fix it.
Expecting immediate results instead of improvement over time.
Changes in behavior do not occur instantly. It takes time and consistent follow-up for changes to be implemented.
Lack of connectiveness between trainer and professionals.
Many trainers are not actively selling in the field. A solar trainer who is actively selling to make ends meet has much more credibility.
Lectures instead of application.
Lectures are important for learning facts, but application is vital. When anyone practices what they learn, it is much more likely to stick.
No accountability after the initial training so assure sales team are implementing changes.
Solar professionals need to be excited about the training and willing to participate. This way, the sales team will receive the most out of training. After the training, the solar manager needs to provide weekend feedback, encouragement, and inspiration.
Another issue is solar coaching. Most companies lack coaching. Coaching targets individual salesmen and focuses on their skills and weaknesses. It works alongside each salesman to strengthen their weaknesses and keep them accountable. The goal of coaching is to enhance performance through practice. The coach can provide immediate feedback on weak areas and suggest/implemented changes.
After the initial training, development requires accountability by the sales manager. The accountability makes certain that the training has been understood, coaching has desired changes, and that the changes stay in place for long-term changes.
The difference in training and development? Training is a one-time inspirational event that teaches a solar salesforce how to sell effectively. Development is implementation of sustained, long-term development.
Formulating sales policies is the key task in sales training. Sales policies cover a wide range of areas including which products should find a place in the product line; whether some of the existing products should be dropped; whether any new products should be added; whether product design or product quality needs to be changed; what models, types, sizes, colors and packing should be sold; how product service should be provided, and what kind of product guarantees should be given are areas where policies have to be formulated by sales management.
Periodically, product line appraisals have to be made and necessary rationalizations and improvements effected. On the distribution side, channel design, channel types, channel remuneration and motivation, channel training and channel costs, are the areas where policies have to be made. On the pricing side, whether prices should match competition or whether they should be above or below competition; what kind of pricing method should be followed for each class of customer or order; what discounts and rebates should be given; what terms of delivery and terms of payment should be accepted; whether to make installment sales or offer limited credit facilities, or insist on cash down sales etc., are the areas where policies have to be framed.
Another key task involved in sales training is the structuring of the sales force. Organizations usually structure the sales force on a territory basis or on a product basis. In the case of territory based structuring, the same salesman handles all the products of the firm in a given territory. In the case of product based structuring, a number of salesmen operate in the same territory, each handling different products. Sometimes sales force structuring is based on the customer type or customer class. In yet other cases, sales force structure is finalized on a complex basis involving a combination of all the types mentioned above. The concept of territory however is very relevant in all types of sales structuring.
Sales Training Tips – 7 Ideas Proven To Boost Sales
Many people, including some in the sales profession, believe that sales training is a waste of time and money. A popular belief is that sales people are born to sell, and that an individual either “has it” or they don’t, and nothing can be done to change it.
This belief has been proven to be wrong. Selling is a learned skill. Many of the beliefs about the skills required for success are much different than those actually necessary.
Below is a list of truths about the sales profession:
Sales is a learned skill. A sales rep will never reach their true potential until this fact is accepted. True professionals study and practice the skills proven to be effective and continue sales training throughout their career.
Sales calls can be made any time. Many sales reps actually believe sales calls can only be made after 9:00 or before 3:00. The professional knows someone prefers 7:00 a.m. and others work evenings. Professionals find people to see them for a full day every day.
The minds controls most sales. This is why many sales come in succession. It’s often called a lucky streak, but it isn’t. It is the sales rep “assuming the sale” without faking it. The previous sale programs the brain to believe the next one will buy also, and it often happens as a result. It is a 100% true belief the buyer is going to buy today.
Good telemarketing is critical. Work backwards and determine how many calls are necessary to develop a full week of appointments. This number is the amount of calls that must be made each week.
Increase selling time. The only time that is real “value added” is the time spent with the prospect or customer. The time getting an appointment, traveling to and from locations, completing paper work, and attending meetings is an incidental necessity, but not value added. Do all of these tasks outside of the high value added hours. Increasing value added selling time can be learned using lean manufacturing and six sigma principles.
Learn to Close. Closing is the most learned skill in the profession. When a prospect objects about the price, color, service, or anything else, the sales pro knows exactly how to respond down to the specific words. At the point of the objection, there is no time to think. All thought should be directed toward body language and preparing the next 3-4 steps in the sales cycle.
Learn sales techniques. Techniques are not tricks, and no sales rep would be effective trying to trick someone into buying. Some believe closing is using tricks but it is not true. It is simply being an effective negotiator helping the customer make a buying decision. For example, with a service objection such as the length of after-sale service being too short, the sales rep should use a “right angle close”. This negotiation is simply stating the answer with a buying question, such as “If I can get the two week service changed to four, will you give us a try today”?
Sales just happen without special skills or techniques and anyone can do it. Right? A person shows up at a prospective customer, presents the product or service, and walks away with an order. The attitude – no need to spend valuable resources, time, and money, to formulate sales goals, programs, and training when it is so easy to do is still pervasive in the minds and cultures of many business executives. Especially those that began in the “good ole days” when competition was scarce and people formed relationships that endured for years.
In those days, there were no computers, cell phones, or message machines – great productivity devices. Today, technological advances are not the only changes in the work place. Selling and sales skills are more important than ever before. Everyone wants to increase sales and obtain a bigger piece of the pie, but it is increasingly difficult to achieve this goal.
Several reasons for this difficulty include more competition; purchasing decisions are being impacted by pricing, and lack of confidence in economic policy. Sales just do not “happen” by showing up – they never did and never will. Management executives with this antiquated view are having a difficult time in understanding why their business is not growing. The attitude that we are doing the same things now as before and it has always worked is no longer valid. The view of “we don’t need sales people or training” is out with the typewriter.
A definition of sales training, taken from JRC Training Solutions – “those things which are done to help salespeople gain mastery in the skills, concepts, behaviors, and attitudes that will enhance their expertise in influencing prospects to make positive purchasing decisions.” The training helps sales personnel learn how buyers and sellers interact.
Inadequate Sales Training
What happens when there is no formal sales training or it is inadequate?
First, those assigned with the responsibility of sales lack confidence in their ability to present and promote the product or service.
Second, they may experience frustration and/or low morale, as they are unable to respond to the mandated task.
Third, productive decreases and stress levels rise because obligations go unfulfilled.
Fourth, few if any new sales are achieved.
Unless all existing business is maintained, which never happens, and no new accounts are brought in to take the place of lost customers, the result – loss of profits.
Proper Sales Training
What is the positive value of sales training?
First, sales training increases the productivity and performance of those responsible for sales by:
Preparing sales people to maximize the effectiveness of each sales encounter.
Teaching people a selling process, making it easier for those whose primary responsibility is something other than sales, to be able to apply specific techniques to make presentations, understanding how to respond to questions, and how to recognize buying signals.
Second, sales training improves cost effectiveness as the sales person is able to recognize and prioritize genuine sales opportunities.
Third, the training can reduce employee turnover and lower the stress level of those responsible for sales.
Fourth, sales training improves the overall effectiveness of everyone in the organization by utilizing the same process and standards for everyone, regardless of their position or functions.
Professional sales people are “worth their weight in gold,” as the cliché goes. Those organizations that feel they can do without professionals and leave the selling to operational or other staff members will find that their business will go the way of the pay phone and typewriter. Training increases sales and profits and keeps business healthy and alive – especially in hard economic times.
Phone sales training will lead to a career that is in high demand. What can you expect to earn as a telesales rep? That depends on what you are selling, your skills, and your dedication. I suggest you begin in a call center or hone your skills on a good home telemarketing job.
The voice: The first thing to focus on is your voice. Your voice is the single most important factor. If you sing, or sing badly, it is still good practice to warm up your telemarketing voice.
Next, speak with a controlled, firm, yet conversational tone. People respond to authority. If you sound firm and in control, even if you don’t really know your product, people will believe you.
Say this simple phrase with a firm voice: Phonesales training begins with a firm vocal tone.
Silly?
If it was said with a firm voice, then it sounds believable.
Your prospect doesn’t know who you are or what your background is. Create your own reality. Your firm tone will make them believe that you are an expert.
You will be ahead of the game if you train your telesales voice. Then and only then are you ready to proceed to the next level.
Up tone verses down tone: Here is the most IMPORTANT phone sales voice exercise: NEVER END YOUR Statement or question WITH AN UP-TONE. ALWAYS END WITH A DOWN-TONE.
Using a firm even tone is crucial to getting the sale.
Example: Say, The product comes with a 30-day warranty. (down tone) Now ask, Would you like to purchase one? (down tone) Now ask, How do I spell your name? (down tone)
If you have any questions on this, email me.
This is the single most important factor to phone sales training.
Practice. Practice. Practice. It is all in the tone. Product knowledge, while important, takes a backseat to this.
We will talk more specifically about closing sales skills, telephone etiquette, business sales training, phone broadcasting and more.
Many business owners feel that if they perform a certain business operation in-house then they will cut down on costs and save money in the long run. However, that is not always the case with most businesses. Just because a certain function can be performed in-house does not mean that it is the best solution. There are a lot of factors to evaluate when it comes to making sure a business operation is efficient and productive. One way to make sure that a business is running efficiently is to bring in a consultant to evaluate business operations and give recommendations for improvement. When it comes to sales, some recommendations may be to outsource telesales and other sales functions. This can help decrease costs and increase productivity among your current employees. Many telemarketing businesses do not have the resources and manpower to perform sales operations properly, therefore outsourcing may be the best option.
The first step to outsource sales is to evaluate your current operations and see if there is a need for outsourcing. If you are happy with your current operations than outsourcing may not be the best option, however if you see areas of improvement, outsourcing may be a great alternative. Sales are one of the most important factors in keeping a business afloat. Poor sales can mean the difference between a business surviving and a business shutting down operations. Because of this, it is important that the sales department is operating to its fullest potential. If it is not operating to its fullest potential than it may be time to consider outsourcing to another business that specializes in this area. It is important to consider all of the available options before a business owner makes a decision. It is also important to make the decision in a timely manner because the last thing a business wants to do is get so far too far in debt.
There are many businesses all over the world that specialize in sales operations. Because of the fact that a business specializes in sales, this particular business most likely has the resources necessary to be successful. Most businesses that do not specialize in telesales will not have the same resources as a business that revolves around this business function. Businesses that specialize in telesales staff employees specifically for sales. This means that the employees are fully trained to perform sales operations and have more experience than employees at other businesses that do not specialize in sales. When businesses outsource telesales, they are ensured that the employees working on their account are trained professionals who will devote their full attention to increasing sales for each business. The best way to increase sales is to have trained professionals who are specifically trained in this area performing the necessary sales functions for the business.
In addition to well trained employees working on their account, businesses will also see the benefits of increased productivity with their current employees when outsourcing telesales. By eliminating sales, employees will have the opportunity to focus on different business functions that they are more comfortable with and have better training in. When employees feel comfortable in their job duties, productivity is increased and business operations are able to run smoother. With smoother business operations and increased productivity, businesses will most likely see profits increase. In addition to increased profits, if an employee is happy with their current position, it will mean less turn over. A low turn over rate means less cost in advertising and training to hire new employees. Overall you will see a benefit for your business when outsourcing telesales.
