Category Archives: Sales Profession

How to Effectively Coach Salespeople

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Sales Managers must act like Coaches to build successful sales teams.

It’s been my experience that most salespeople don’t like being coached. It’s not because they don’t want to improve and generate more sales. On the contrary, most salespeople are driven to succeed. The real culprit is that most sales managers don’t know how to coach.

From a salesperson’s point of view, the coaching process is intrusive, humiliating, and a waste of time. 

How can we improve the coaching process so that both salespeople and employers win? 

Before we get started, let’s first define coaching. 

Everyone has their definition of coaching. Here’s mine –

It’s enforcing best practices created by your employer or experts on how to sell effectively to generate more revenue for your company. At the same time, you are also eliminating bad practices or behaviors that could hurt the salesperson’s ability to reach or exceed his sales goals. 

Some people mistake coaching with training. Coaching is an ongoing process, while training is a one-time activity. There is nothing wrong with using a trainer. However, even most trainers admit that their presentations will go out one ear and out the next unless you provide ongoing coaching to provide positive reinforcement. 

Here are five tips to help you –

Determine specific problem areas.

Not all salespeople are alike. Each one has their strengths and weaknesses. For example, some do well in cold calling, and others do not. Some do well in time management, and others do not. Some do well in prospecting for new business, and, well, you get the drift. 

The key is to evaluate each salesperson and then focus on their strengths and weaknesses and where they can improve.

Focus on one problem at a time.

Focus on one problem at a time.

Some managers want to overwhelm salespeople with too much training all at once. That’s a mistake. First, everyone is busy trying to meet or exceed their quota. They have only so much time or availability throughout the week for training. And second, with the pressure and stress of work, attention spans wane, and then information is soon forgotten.

Rather than overwhelm salespeople with too much training at once, take a bite-size approach. It helps with retention. 

Set the example. 

If you want salespeople to do their jobs, set the example. For instance, if you are working for an inside sales team, sit front and center and make sales calls. If you are working in outside sales, go on appointments and bring a salesperson along and show him how it’s done. 

Use different methods of training. 

Everyone learns differently. Some prefer watching training videos. Others prefer to read. And still, others prefer lectures. So, use training methods that you feel will resonate better with each salesperson. 

Positive Reinforcement. 

No matter how bad a sales call or appointment went, start with positive comments first. Then, begin by describing what went well. For example, you might say the salesperson did well with discovery questions or undercover the needs and pain points. Then outline areas where you feel there needs to be an improvement. 

Key Takeaway: There is no one method fit all approach to coaching. Each salesperson is different. The goal is to remove bad habits and create new ones slowly. 

If you like my post, please read my book — Jumpstart your Sales Career, Help for New Salespeople.

How to Sell During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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While toilet paper may be in short supply, your enthusiasm as a salesperson must remain abundant. Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash

Your clients are getting bombarded daily with news reports about the COVID-19 Pandemic. Death tolls keep rising worldwide. Coronavirus is affecting thousands of people. Millions of people are now unemployed.

With all this grim news, how can you, as a salesperson, keep your job?

Because you don’t want to spend hours filing for unemployment and standing in line at a food bank. You want to work. But how can you achieve your goals with so much fear and anxiety surrounding you?

Here are five steps to help you.

First, turn off the news. Forget the news. That’s right. Forget it. I know that’s easier said than done. But watching depressing news isn’t going to help you sell. It’s only going to make you more miserable.

You need to keep your head in the game. You need to stay upbeat. I know that sounds trite but hear me out. The last thing your clients want right now is a salesperson who’s anxious, nervous, and scared. Why? Because that’s how your clients are feeling. While I know it’s popular in sales to mirror your clients when speaking to them, now is not the time to do that.

What your clients want — and expect — is a salesperson who’s calm, professional, and relaxed. If you’re doing your job, that means you’re helping your client. Your customers have enough to worry about without you going off the rails.

And remember — your clients can smell fear a mile away. Whatever concerns you’re now facing; you better bury them deep. You need to be the best actor you can. And don’t think for a minute that if you work an inside sales job making phone calls, that your customers can’t tell how you’re feeling. The tone and inflection of your voice tell people more about your attitude than you think.

While some store shelves may be empty, your ideas to help your clients better be overflowing. Photo by Boris Dunand on Unsplash

Second, focus on what you can control. You can’t solve the Coronavirus Crisis. There are hundreds of experts on the job trying to end COVID-19.

So, while you can’t control COVID-19, you can control is your attitude. That means stick with the basics that always work with you in sales. Make your outbound calls. Send out email campaigns. Prospect for new business. Review all your old leads. Dig through those business cards buried in your desk drawer. Refresh and update your presentations. Do what you have always been doing to maintain or exceed your quota.

Continue to maintain best practices.

Are you worried that you can no longer attend trade shows or meet your clients in person? Then improvise. Start scheduling more virtual or online tours. There are many services you can use, including Zoom, Google Hangouts Meet, Microsoft Teams, to name a few.

(Yes, I know there are some privacy concerns about Zoom. But there are plenty of alternatives).

Trust me, your clients are in the same boat you’re in. They’re not traveling either. They’re not holding meetings in person unless they’re practicing social distancing. So, you might as well turn a bad situation into a good one by scheduling more virtual presentations.

By creating the right attitude, you will manage your activities and time better, which in turn means generating more sales.

Third, be empathic. Most of your clients are not in the mood right now to hear sales pitches. So as the old saying goes, “ditch the sales pitch.”

What you should be doing is to be more empathic than usual. Yes, talk about COVID-19, but from your client’s point of view. How is he doing? How are his employees doing? Are he and others working remotely? What impact is COVID-19 having on his business?

And the most important question of all is — How can you help?

For example, are you offering some free products and services? Are you offering lenient payment plans? Are you sharing information you gathered in your industry to help your clients?

I’m not suggesting that you should stop selling. Instead, I’m recommending you find hidden opportunities to sell by digging deeper into your client’s concerns at this critical time.

Listen more. Talk less.

Selling is more than getting an order. It’s about developing long-term relationships so that you will receive more orders and referrals down the road.

While some of your clients are worried, you need to aid them with free products, services, and advice. Photo by Benjamin Ranger on Unsplash

Fourth, collaborate more with your colleagues. I know. Sales can sometimes be a cutthroat business. But this is not the time for backstabbing antics or Machiavellian tactics. With the help of your sales manager, everyone on your team needs to brainstorm for new approaches to get sales. You also need to work with your Marketing Department more than ever before. Whatever infighting exists between the sales and marketing teams, it must end now.

Cooperation is key.

And finally, cast a wider net. Do you think you have enough in your sales pipeline? Think again. You should be doubling your pipeline right now with new and fresh prospects to contact. Depending on the industry you’re in, even in good times, the sales process can be slow. But with the Coronavirus, your sales process is going to be much slower.

As a result of COVID-19, many of your clients are laying off employees. They are lowering their sales forecasts. They are scaling back on developing more products and services. Your client’s outlook is negative. You need to be positive.

I know it’s difficult right now to get your client’s attention. It’s hard to be optimistic when your clients are watching news reports of temporary morgues being built near hospitals in New York City, and mass graves being dug on Hart Island in the Bronx.

But you must try.

Because COVID-19 will end. What you don’t want to end is your job.

Don Lee is the author of — Jumpstart your Sales Career, Help for New Salespeople.

In Sales, Are you Thankful?

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Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash

With Thanksgiving around the corner, it’s always a time to reflect on what we should be thankful for. For some, it’s our family. For others, it’s our friends. Or maybe, we are grateful for our jobs, our health or our money.

What should salespeople be thankful for as we are almost closing a new calendar year and looking forward to a new one?

Here is a list of things you should be thankful for if you are fortunate enough to be successful and working for a good employer –

First, be thankful you have customers who are willing to buy from you repeatedly, are eager to purchase more upgrades or cross-sells from you. But beyond customers making purchases, be even more grateful that they are willing to offer referrals so that you can continue to increase your business.

Second, be thankful you have a full pipeline of prospects so you can continue to meet or exceed your quota.

Third, be thankful you have a reliable and user-friendly CRM (Customer Relationship Management)  to keep track of your sales and progress so that you are not wasting time, and not seeing potential sales fall through the cracks.

Fourth, be thankful you are receiving coaching regularly that helps you improve and doesn’t belittle you or make you feel like an idiot.

Fifth, be thankful you are working with colleagues or co-workers that support you and don’t try to steal your accounts or prospects.

Sixth, be thankful that you are working with an employer that is offering you an excellent livable compensation plan and benefits.

Seventh, be thankful you are not stuck with an unreasonable quota that stresses you out or a convoluted compensation plan that makes no sense.

Eighth, be thankful are you selling high-quality products and services that you are proud to represent in the marketplace.

Ninth, be thankful you have a manager who treats you like an adult and supports you, rather than treats you like his meal ticket.

And finally, be thankful that you are a professional salesperson who finds fulfillment in his work and is not ashamed of his profession or calling.

If you like my post, please read my book — Jumpstart your Sales Career, Help for New Salespeople.

In Sales, How to Climb out of a Slump

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We all need a little help to get out of a slump.

We all experience highs and lows in sales. That’s a given.

For a while, you’re on a winning streak. The big orders are rolling in. Your sales manager loves you. Some of your colleagues envy you. Your checking account is balanced. You’re paying your bills on time.

But then it happens – you hit a brick wall. No matter how hard you try, or how many customer appointments you make, nothing is coming in.

You hit a slump.

Now what?

Here are some tips to help you –

1). Don’t panic. Unless you are working for a company with a short sales cycle, you usually won’t experience a slump unless it’s during an industry’s slow season. Every industry has a busy and quiet time. For example, in retail, the busy season is during the holidays. In the tax preparation industry, the slow period starts from early March and runs through the end of tax season.

But if you are like most salespeople, you are working in an industry that has a long sales cycle. If that’s the case, of course, you are going to run into a slump occasionally. You already know from experience that the order process can take a long time because several decision-makers are probably involved in placing an order. For example, I’ve read that more than ten years ago, it would take maybe two people to make a decision. Now, it can take as much as five people to make a final decision on an order.

2). Review best practices. Admit it, have you been coasting for a while. Sure, you got lucky and snagged some large orders, but really…. how much work was involved on your part? Now that you hit a slump, maybe it’s time to review your best practices.

For example –

Are you making your follow-up phone calls?

Are you sending out emails with interesting subject lines?

Are you making enough attempts to the key decision-makers?

Are you even sure that you are contacting the correct key decision-makers?

Are you wasting too much time chasing after low hanging fruit and not investing enough time on more difficult, but long-term profitable, prospects?

Are you managing your time correctly?

In short, are you following the basics or just winging it?

Only you can answer that question.

It never hurts to seek a helping hand.

3). Ask for advice. There is no shame in seeking help. Meet with your sales manager. If you have a mentor, talk to him. Maybe have someone listen in on your sales calls or your online tour presentations. Yes, I know that sales can be competitive and sometimes it can feel like a “dog eat dog” world, but you have trust someone to survive.

4). Analyze your pipeline. Is it clogged? Are you chasing after prospects that you know deep down are never going to buy from you, but you enjoy talking to them? Are you clinging on to leads that are offering you false hope? Go through your pipeline. Set priorities. Weed out the prospects that you know are worthless. Then, go back to work and make the calls.

5). Start prospecting. If your pipeline is dry or running low, start prospecting. What!?! You thought the marketing department was going to help you with leads? Do you still believe in Santa Claus? With all kidding aside, most marketing departments are helpful, but you’re the one earning a commission – not them. So, unlike the marketing department, you must make the extra incentive to get sales.

6). Take a break. Are you a workaholic? If yes, stop. Relax.  Go to the movies. Take a long walk. Do some window shopping. The goal is to clear your head and take a breather before jumping back into the fray.

7). Continue to educate yourself. I say continue because I must assume that you’re smart enough to realize that you must always constantly improve your sales skills. How? By reading. By watching YouTube videos. By attending sales training workshops. It’s easy to fall into a slump and make lame excuses about not learning. That’s not an excuse – that’s a death sentence to your career.

8). And finally, be persistent. No one says that selling is easy. It’s not.

That’s it. I hope you like my advice. Please let me know if you have any comments that you would like to share with me.

Photo credit, middle picture: by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

How to Work Remotely in Sales

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The key to working remotely from home is to be organized.

Working in sales is tough enough without having to also work remotely from your main office. You may feel isolated. You may feel out of the loop when key company decisions or announcements are made. You may worry if your manager likes you or not. Soon, panic may take over, and your sales will plunge.

However, many salespeople find themselves working these days remotely – either in coworking spaces like WeWork and Regus or in most cases, from their homes.

The number of employees working remotely is growing. According to Flexjobs’ report on “The State of the Remote Job Marketplace,” nearly 4 million U.S. employees, or about 3% of the U.S. workforce is now working from home at least half the time, compared to 1.8 million in 2005.

And Sales is one of the top 7 fields with the most remote jobs, according to the report

There is an ongoing debate on whether employees should be allowed to work remotely or not. One argument is that all employees should work in a central location to help create collaboration and an esprit de corps among employees. For example, there are times when salespeople need to engage in ad hoc conversations or buy-in to new initiatives that are hard to create when employees are working remotely.

And while most employers can undoubtedly watch your performance on company-own laptops and phones, and review your orders and pipeline, many still feel it’s better to keep a watchful eye on you in the office.

But many companies – especially start-ups – have no choice but to have you work from home because they can’t afford to lease large office space. With bootstrapped budgets, many of these companies are a willing gamble and have salespeople work from their residences.

Further driving the trend to have salespeople work remotely is the difficulty of finding and keeping good talent. While companies in large urban areas usually don’t have problems finding and attracting good salespeople, companies in rural areas may have no choice but to offer remote positions.

And finally, many companies, both small and large, prefer having salespeople work remotely in defined territories to save on travel expenses when visiting important customers or prospects, or attending trade shows.

I’ve worked in both the central office and my home. I was given a chance to work remotely in one of my last jobs, but I turned down the offer because I was afraid that I couldn’t do well in my career, and I felt I would miss out on all the office gossip and information.

However, that became a moot point when my employer, which was based in Chicago, closed our location and I was given a choice – move to Chicago and freeze my butt off, look for a new job, or work remotely from my home.

I chose the latter.

In hindsight, I now regretted not working remotely from home when I was given a chance. Yes, at first, I was a little reluctant because I was afraid there would be too many distractions, or my laptop wouldn’t work correctly, or my phone line tied to my direct work number would drop inbound calls. But those fears soon went away, and I quickly adjusted.

Sometimes working outside of your home can make you more effective in your job.

I found that I was more productive working from home than in the office. I was less stressful. I also appreciated having more free time without fighting traffic while commuting to and from work. And finally, I avoided getting drawn into office politics.

But if you are hired or forced to work remotely, how can you succeed in sales and make a good living?

Here are some tips –

1). Dress like you’re going to work. Yes, I know that sounds stupid. You may think it’s OK to work in your pajamas, underwear, robe or whatever, but trust me; you will soon regret it. If you dress like a bum, you’re going to feel like a bum. Your attitude towards your work, clients and prospects will go downhill. Yes, you can get away from not wearing shoes, or for women, not putting on makeup.

But don’t allow the convenience of working from home to reduce your professionalism. On the contrary, the further away you are from your main office, the more professional you must become if you want to be successful and keep your job.

2). Get the hell out of the house. Staying all day indoors is boring. Sure, you can watch TV or videos online, but you need to get out for at least 30 minutes or so to clear your head, or else you will not be functional for the rest of the day. Take a short walk or run an errand. Maybe take a short break at your favorite local coffee shop. Or better yet, have lunch with friends or clients. But whatever you do, don’t be stuck using the phone of the computer or on the phone all day. Get out.

3). Keep a regular work schedule. It’s easy to fall out of your work routine while working remotely from your home. You may crawl out of your bed and walk straight down to your home office and start working without eating breakfast, drinking coffee, or brushing your teeth. You may tell yourself that you can make up for it later in the morning.

But I wouldn’t recommend it.

Soon, your work at home will bleed into your home life, and your entire life will be disrupted. At the same time, when 5:00 or so rolls around, you need to leave work behind. Of course, I know sometimes you must put in an extra hour or so. But the biggest mistake I made while working from home is that I ended up burning myself out by working too many hours in the evening without taking a break.

Don’t make that mistake.

4). Remove any distractions. Sometimes you may have no choice but to work in your living room, dining room or even or kitchen. Not all of us have the luxury of living in large homes where you can convert a room into an office. But if you can afford to create a home office, do so. In using the long way, you will benefit from the distractions that we all deal with at home. And if you are lucky enough to have a home office, remove anything that could distract you – that includes the TV, radio, or anything that could prevent you from working.

5). Stay in touch with your manager and co-workers daily. Working remotely can be lonely. That’s why it’s important to stay in touch with your manager and co-workers daily. While your manager may not always be accessible, but you need to insist that you have at least one meeting per week to review your performance, receive updated company information, and make sure your sales are on track. Also, share your calendar with your manager and others so that you know when they are accessible for conversations.

It’s also important to stay in touch with your co-workers too. I know that they, like you, are busy trying to make their numbers, but a quick phone call (not just email or text) can help you gauge what’s happening at the home office.

Meeting with your manager once a week or month can help guide you when working remotely at home.

6). Meet your manager in person at least once a month or quarter. You can do this by either traveling to your company’s main office or by inviting your manager to stop by. If your house is a total mess, meet your manager at his hotel or local coffee shop. It’s essential to make face time with your manager to ensure that both of you are on the same page.

7). Use the right tools. That means making sure you are using a headset and have stable phone and internet connections.  It also wouldn’t hurt to have Skype for conference calls.

8). Are you still living at home with your Mom? If the answer is no, then don’t expect her to clean up your office area. That’s your job. Like any office, make sure office files and information are within arm’s reach, so you don’t waste your time going through your bedroom closet finding critical data right before important meetings.

Working remotely isn’t for everyone. While most salespeople must have the discipline and drive to achieve or exceed their quotas, not everyone is cut out to work alone.  I hope my suggestions will help you.

Credits: Second Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash
and the Third Photo by  rawpixel on Unsplash

 

How to Protect Your Customers during a Merger or Acquisition

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Be careful, or the big fish company will shallow you without any advanced notice.

As a salesperson, going through a merger or acquisition is stressful enough without having to protect your customers too.

But like it or not, that’s what most of us must go through until the dust finally settles, and you know whether you have a job or not.

When a merger or acquisition occurs, many decisions are being made above your pay grade. Whether it is pricing, products, services, shipping or billing, you pretty much are out of the loop.

Sure, you can voice your objections about price increases, and sound the alarm if product quality is degraded, but really….is anyone going to care?

Is anyone really going to listen?

No.

Upper management has one goal in mind – complete the merger or acquisition as quickly and painlessly as possible so they can get back into the business of earning a profit.

And if that means cracking a few eggs along the way, well that’s the price of doing business.

Your goal? To make sure you’re not one of the eggs being cracked.

Yes, your compensation package may go up or down, and your benefits may be enhanced or reduced, but the one thing you need to always do is this – making damn sure your customers are protected.

So, how do you protect your customers?

1). Be honest – Well, be as sincere as possible without the risk of getting fired. Your customers depend on you to help them ride through the rough patch. It doesn’t matter whether you like some of your customers or not. It doesn’t matter if upper management is treating you like dirt or not. You’re a professional. You must rise above the pain, chaos, and uncertainty and help your clients.

For example, if prices will increase, let your customers know ASAP. If the new owners are planning to replace products or services, let your customers know that too.

It’s better your customers hear bad news from you than from upper management. By getting ahead of negative information, you can hopefully spin it to your advantage. At the bare minimum, you will prevent your customers from getting blindsided.

Better to be honest now with the hope that you might land on your feet somewhere else, then be dishonest and have your professional reputation destroyed.

We all need help in any merger or acquisition.

2). Be a crisis manager – When your customers can’t get straight answers from the billing, shipping or other departments, you better be prepared to step in and resolve problems – quickly. If you do this, your customers will respect you, and hopefully, you will continue to see more orders from them in the future.

Yes, intervening in customer service problems may not be selling per se, but when the shit hits the fan (and it often does in mergers and acquisitions), you don’t have time to play “it’s not my job” games. That kind of attitude could get you fired — fast.

You need to step in quickly, resolve issues, and hope good Karma will rub off on you.

If not, you better be prepared to rub off a lot of lottery tickets to make up for the lost income you will receive walking the streets seeking a new job.

3). Be selling – don’t use the excuse of the chaos of an acquisition or merger to prevent you from doing your main job – selling. It’s easy to play the victim card and blame upper management for poor sales. But here’s the reality that you’re not going to like – you’re already a victim of an acquisition or merger. So, playing the additional victim card isn’t going to save you.

You need to stay focused. Sooner or later (and you hope sooner), things will begin to settle down, and upper management will take a hard look at who the winners and losers are. Make sure you don’t fall into the latter group.

Selling is tough. But it’s tougher when you are going through a merger and acquisition.  I know that from experience because I’ve gone through several mergers and acquisitions in my career. For example, I experienced so much anxiety during one acquisition, my hair was falling out, and I was losing sleep.

Don’t make the same mistake I made. Stay calm. Stay focused. Stay aware of what’s happening. And do whatever you can to protect your customers.

And if all else fails, leave. There are always other sales jobs. But there’s only one of you. Your health and mental state are more important than any job.