Archive for the ‘How Your Sales Managers Can Motivate Their Reps’ Category

What’s one of the greatest compliments you can actually pay to someone you know?

There are a variety of pleasant things you can say…

“He is a real decent guy”

“She’s really friendly”

“He is very funny”

The list goes on and on.

But if you talk about those who are dearest to you, maybe your closest friend you’ve known for two decades, a vey important one is:

“I trust him / her”

Let’s say your entire company’s salespeople were asked the exact same question regarding their sales managers…and then these people have responded the same way?

Just how powerful you think which would that be?

Just how much more effective leaders as well as motivators would your sales managers be?

Because as soon as a sales manager establishes or re-establishes trust with their salespeople, then and only then can they begin to optimally lead and motivate them…but not one second earlier.

With out that basic foundation of trust,the task of “sales leader” is 20 times more difficult.

At each and every turn, every single possible moment, a sales manager needs to search for different ways to strengthen their sales reps trust in them.

Many average sales managers try to lead initially, but never make an effort to establish trust along with their sales reps at any degree.

Though unfortunate for their sales reps, this is very effective for you and also your company. Because if ALL sales managers led their own troops this way, it will be much more troublesome for your teams in order to get past them.

To optimally lead sales reps as well as unleash explosive sales results, your sales managers need to be on the same page as the sales reps. They should speak their language, and the only way they are going to listen is when they unconditionally trust what they’ve got to say.

What they have to do is make regular deposits in “The Trust Account”. This is our fundamental principle for sales managers.

To find out more about sales manager training, then click here to get your choice of free sales management training courses.

The sales manager is considered the sales rep’s direct line of communication between him self and his own performance. If this type of line is cut, if the sales manager is somewhat incompetent or won’t do his job properly, then this organization has got a dilemma. One of the most critical factors that can influence a sales rep’s growth in his own career is most likely the sales manager’s ability to accomplish his own job well.

A top sales manager performs this job by providing particular behavioral feedback. It truly is definitely not an easy task. Just about every sales person has his or her own set of behaviors he / she gives on the job. The top sales manager must be able to assess these behaviors depending on assessments and turn all of them straight into feedback in a way that will promote growth and good change from the sales rep.

A good way to carry this out will be to create a joint vision-among the sales manager and sales rep- of the expectations and style of training the sales representative needs to boost their very own performance. For example, at the time of pre-call planning, a top sales manager can use this chance to take notes of important information as well as his very own observations to use as feedback later on.

Sales management is a hard job, yes, however who ever mentioned otherwise? If anything at all, it is one of the most emotionally fulfilling jobs in the world, knowing that you did what you are able for helping someone get better in her or his profession.

Speaking of assisting everyone, a top sales manager acknowledges the power behind giving good behavioral feedback. Confident sales reps produce greater outcomes, period. Top sales managers know this, and adjust their own methods accordingly. Underperformers could even improve and even start producing constant sales, whereas average sales reps, under the right motivation, could possibly improve to become sales superstars one day!

Who knows? Anything can be done with the proper assistance of a top sales manager that knows exactly what he’s doing.

To find out more about sales manager training, then click here to get your choice of free sales management training courses.

The leading brass of the company loves to tell stuffs like, "we are 1 big happy family in this company". But you probably understand this much: your sales reps looks up to you as a big brother or a big sister. All of a sudden you are the model employee. Youl set the tone, you set the pace.

Understanding this, you’ll need to actually set the bar higher to your sales reps, especially when you are speaking about performance. Benefit from your model position, as well. Show these by example.

Here are a couple of tips on boosting performance:

Hardly any company desires to fire a capable employee. Show them you have exactly what it takes through reaching your quota, as well as meeting it on time.

But do not just hit your quota either – you can perform much better.

Hitting quota and doing a few more is certain to get the interest of the managers. So now keep that good performance.

However it should be noted that quota is equivalent to minimum expectation. Every person in your team will be aiming for the same thing. So aim much higher.

Keep the attitude that you must surpass the quota every time. This is what’s "setting the bar higher" is all about. Outperforming maybe once or twice is forgettable, especially if you’re a part of a big group.

Go beyond quota, that is the meaning of superiority – making that very clear to your sales team from the very beginning.

As being a big brother to your sales team, or a big sister, you’re in the unique role to empower the sales reps as well as affect their performance in the field. Therefore hold training seminars and team-building activities. It can help tighten your family-like bond and also relationship with the team.

However don’t get too caught up in it, either. As much as you’re a big brother for your sales reps, you’re furthermore an employee of the company and must respond to your superior. Concentrate on the intent of your team-building activities-that is, to improve your sales reps’ performance and also set the bar much higher.

Concentrate about what you want your sales team to accomplish. If carried out the right way, they’ll follow your example. That’s just what being a model employee is about.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get more great information on sales management training courses.

One sort of sales management training that can get put aside even more than any other is undoubtedly sales coaching, even though it could possibly be the most critical of all.

The reason is that sales managers have a considerable amount of other responsibilities. They purely don’t possess a considerable amount of time to mess around with a number of nonessential pursuits. Nonetheless, almost all sales managers don’t succeed in coaching their sales people because they fail to remember exactly what the real objectives of mentoring their salespeople are. After you realize what desired goals you are hoping to accomplish with excellent sales coaching, it’ll be considerably easier to carve out enough time to get it done. Simply because after you get in the habit of sales coaching the benefits for you along with your organization are substantial.

Thus if you’re going to take time to educate yourself on the sales management training concepts used in great sales coaching, you need to understand what your specific goals of coaching your salespeople are:

1. Cultivate increased proficiency

One thing to bear in mind is that if you’re coaching your sales reps genuinely want to assist them to develop and get better at specific skills which are deparately needed for the effective completing the job or even the transaction itself. The thing here is to not always have them require your assistance all of the time. You ideally want the sales person to learn, then internalize, then do what was coached on their own, without any further intervention from yourself.

You’ll want to support your sales agents attain that top skill level through your coaching – in addition to developing increased competence simultaneously. One of the benefits is when you accomplish it correctly, they will no longer actually need you much. The better you can mentor them to obtain elevated degrees of sales proficiency, the higher the levels of sales effectiveness you are going to reach with them.

2. Identify and correct sales performance difficulties

In the event that your sales reps are not hitting their sales plan or objective or whatever your “minimum” requirement of performance is, you will need to determine the reason why this is happening. Good sales coaching assists in doing this. If a sales manager does a fair amount of supervision by observation, the great sales coach really should have a solid knowledge of the problems which exist in the marketplace and so far as the issues in the individual sales territories.

Having said that, there’s an additional component to the actual prognosis of sales effectiveness challenges – and this emanates from the sales rep themselves. Quite often, this part of the process is sorely overlooked…but shouldn’t . An effective sales coach, when exposing a sales performance challenge, first needs to talk to the sales rep themselves and ask them for his or her input about the given situation. By doing this, you’re much more likely to make a proper analysis of the situation.

3. Develop proper guidance and counseling

A sales leader is much more than simply a supervisor, leader and coach for his sales agents. Nevertheless as a sales coach and a trainer, it is best to be a mentor and a counselor of sorts to them.

At a minimum, one of your main goals as a supervisor and leader, you’ll want to enable each and every sales person in achieving their potential. And that potential might be outside of the scope of your purpose with them within the business. Sometimes, sales reps want more than simply the large incentive check from their occupations, they want to work at a place where they really feel part of something more significant as well as appreciate how they fit within that company structure.

If you’re able to coach them and aid them in reaching their very own personal objectives, you will help yourself reach your individual sales management objectives too.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get more great information on sales management.

What’s the top complaint of salespeople?

Over and over, the most significant problem for salespeople is that they “aren’t clear on what’s expected of them”.

Setting expectations is the lifeblood of excellent sales management, and when it comes to laying down expectations for your own sales force, be abundantly clear on the things you will be expecting from them. On top of that, put a small twist on a worn out corporate buzzword.

Sales management presentations are brimming with buzzwords and platitudes. And among the best is to “set the bar high”. This hackneyed expression is overused and abused so frequently that these days it entirely lacks any impact. However I would undoubtedly guess that it still gets utilised countless times every day.

Therefore , rather than setting the bar high, set the bar “higher” in its place. Simply by doing things this way, you will have starting formula of generating superb sales gains, while you are separating yourself from your competitors at the very same time.

Just what does it really mean to set the bar higher?

In doing so you are crafting a strong statement of performance to your salespeople that nothing less than excellence will be accepted. You are definitely declaring where your standard is and also your standard is beyond everybody else and that’s what’s expected of you.

The actual requirements which you have for your sales reps should be higher than those the company establishes for them together with those they set on their own. This sends a very strong message of unparalleled sales performance expectations.

Settle for nothing less than the quest of excellence and at bare minimum, the attainment of sales goal. This is setting the bar higher. Push your sales managers to make this point abundantly clear to your company’s sales reps as quickly as you can.

Is this particular standard tough? Yes, it is. That is why it’s termed setting the bar higher.

Are you pushing for your sales managers to merely match sales quota? If you are, you’re setting objectives that are way too low. Instead, set the bar higher and you will achieve far higher sales success for both you and your sales organization.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get more great information on sales management.

The very best leaders the earth has seen generally consider their effectiveness in working with people as their greatest assets in regards to encouraging and leading others.

In this sales management training we will enumerate a number of uncomplicated every day techniques sales management specialists can readily employ even while undertaking mundane daily duties that will motivate and lead their sales teams more effectively.

1.Utilize humor

Rather than humiliating your salesperson the very next time they make an error, try using humor instead.

One of the more successful industrialists in the 20th century, Charles Schwab ran US Steel through the early 1920s. He had an incredible talent for using humor in just the correct spots to inspire and direct his troops. One time, he was walking through one of his company’s manufacturing facilities when he noticed a group of his employees savoring a cigarette break directly opposite a “no smoking” sign. Refraining from yelling at them, he calmly walked up to them , distributed to each of them a stogie from his pocket and suggested, “I’ll be thankful boys, if you would kindly smoke these cigars on the outside.”

Schwab carried out the job using a master stroke of humbleness, generosity, as well as wit. Wouldn’t you want to be employed by a supervisor like that?

2.Stay clear of criticism if at all possible.

One of the best approaches to encourage a salesperson is to avoid criticizing these people directly. Criticism doesn’t transform behavior; instead it quite often has the exact opposite effect that it can make people resentful.

When at all possible, bring about change using a positive approach by not pointing out failings specifically, instead act on it circuitously so the sales person isn’t humiliated and maintains their self-esteem.

3. Steer clear of issuing direct instructions

Oftentimes, giving options as an alternative to instructions is the most effective way to spur adjustment in behavior. In lieu of declaring your sales force to “do this” or “do that”, consider as an alternative saying “have you given thougt to this?” or “Do you think this might work instead?”

Whenever you permit your salespeople to figure it out by themselves and learn from their own personal blunders, this preserves their ego and provides them with an honest feeling of value that motivates and directs simultaneously.

4. Speak to people’s interests.

The very last key point to stimulating salesmen is to just get acquainted with them. Learn exactly what they desire, become familiar with their the entire family, meet their kids, become familiar with their dreams and recognize what’s most significant to them. As a sales leader, unless you understand your sales agents and figure out what’s most essential to your salesmen, you’ll have a very hard time getting what you really want.

The road to great sales management is to recognize what’s most important to every one of your sales team, then talk about the matters that he or she treasures the most.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get more great information on sales management.

Here’s some bad news for you: your prospective customers have way too many other options to purchase from.

Right now there are loads of services just like your own that are only a mouse click away on the internet. What’s even worse, your product or service looks like a commodity to them!

Therefore in this super competitive, price sensitive corporate world we all reside in, precisely what can a sales manager do about it?

The most important thing you have to try and do is discover a specific sales approach which increases your main sales outcomes while boosting and further enhancing your potential client’s satisfaction with your products.

Appears like a mouthful…but let me explain.

With information simply just a mouse click away, in the event that you offer a product or service to an individual and they are upset with it, the speed by which that information will get handed down from your disappointed customer to a new potential purchaser is swifter than you can say “Follow me on YouTube”.

So, your own salespeople’s sales approach needs to change accordingly with the era.

So what your current sales managers must do is examine your product or service and discover specifically what “features” of your services or products are TRULY much better to the rest of the crowd.

Some ideas would be:

* Your extended support plan is much longer and less expensive
* Your customer care phone number is actually available for a longer time
* Your price range over the years is marginally lower since the service can last longer
* Your service saves the office time for the reason that it has fewer mistakes in processing
* Your replacement items are made with higher quality material

Once you identify all those 1 or 2 things you are genuinely outstanding at, then utilize the below 5 critical tactics to blowing out sales budgets below:

1. Identify which of all those rather little, minute even; “feature” distinctions between you and the opposition are genuinely significant
2. Determine what the “benefit” of that feature is
3. Determine the “benefit behind the benefit” of that particular benefit is
4. Instruct your sales staff the correct way to state this “feature – benefit behind the benefit” method in a sales contact
5. Settle back and watch your sales goals get crushed

In our upcoming article we will educate your sales managers exactly what questions they will need to ask to complete #1 listed above, as well as how to determine just what the “benefit behind the benefit” really is.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get your choice of free sales management.

When training sales managers, the most vital points to bear in mind are to instruct your sales managers on the importance of building and supporting the absolute best sales team. A sturdy team – supported by superior sales training and effective leadership – can elevate a business to new heights of success. At the same time, an improperly prepared and underperforming sales force can be a company’s downfall. Either way, the glory or even the blame rests squarely on your shoulders.

Motivating and retaining a high-performance salesforce is an important undertaking. You need to start out with the perfect people, establish attainable goals, obtain powerful methods to encourage your group and confirm that everybody – including you – completes appropriate sales training. These kinds of key actions will certainly get you as well as your group moving in the proper direction:

* Hire internal sales staff rather than outsourced workers.

While it might be tempting to contemplate outsourcing so that you can save money, it’s ideal to have a sales force which is concentrated exclusively on your merchandise instead of one that’s keeping up with multiple clients. An in-house sales team will allow you greater command over the sales functionality and enable you to set strategy for the entire sales group.

* Employ both economic and non-economic rewards to motivate your sales staff.

While a commission-based compensation plan provides strong motivation, such as base pay can help you attract and hold on to great sales people. This approach ensures a minimum income during lean times, which helps keep morale high and minimizes the risk of losing skilled sales staff. A thorough benefits program can help you compete for the best salespeople, and public acknowledgement is another way to encourage and reward outstanding performance.

* Obtain formal sales training for your staff – and sales management training for yourself.

Make an investment in some form of professional sales management training for your whole staff, to assure that all staff members have a persistently high level of expertise and skills. Take into account online sales training that your reps can register for in together but accomplish at their unique tempo and on their own schedule. An online certification program provides the added benefit of official sales credentials, which is often a strong motivator. But don’t overlook your own sales management training needs, because even the finest sales managers have room for improvement. If you’re new at all to your role, look for sales management training meant to help make the transition into a supervisory role. If you’re an experienced sales manager, search for expert-level sales management training.

By using these steps, it is possible to place your sales team – and your career – firmly on the path to success.

To learn more about sales management training, click here to get more great information on sales management.

My wife told me to do it. As many of you know, I have two young boys. Not unlike some of my former sales reps, they oftentimes lack the motivation needed to do the necessary tasks that will help them to achieve success. For my boys, its doing their math homework, getting excited about school, reading on their own, taking out the trash, the list goes on… If you have kids, I’m sure you have the very same issues. So for the last three months, my wife’s been hounding me to watch a DVD she borrowed called “The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child” by educator Richard Lavoie. On the cover, Lavoie claims to have “proven and effective strategies for encouraging any child to learn and achieve success”. Although it took me three months of do so, I finally watched it a few nights ago. Despite my extreme skepticism, I was totally shocked…it was unbelievable. His research and ideas on motivation really hit home with me. He claims that if a parent or teacher can identify a child’s motivational style – then gear their interactions with them based on those motivations – then the child can achieve consistent success. Lavoie’s research proves that in order to really motivate the child, you need to first uncover their primary motivations…(if you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, does this sound a little bit familiar?) To motivate you need to find out if the child is:

• motivated by power?
• prestige?
• praise?
• contact with other people?
• projects?
• prizes?

Lavoie explodes some common myths about motivation and demonstrates that rewards, punishment and competition are not the effective motivational tools most people tout. Lavoie explores each motivational style in depth, and presents proven techniques, strategies and scripts that can be used either in the classroom or at home to break through a child’s apathy and inspire him to achieve. Although they are not children (even though they may act that way at times), motivating your sales force is no different. Watching this DVD reinforced a very important concept in that in order to motivate them effectively a sales manager needs to know what actually motivates them. And this information is easy to get. So easy, that all you have to do is ask for it. For example, if you try to motivate one of your sales reps with prizes…but they’re actually motivated by prestige…then you’re barking up the wrong motivational tree (so to speak). We train sales managers to ask “the Ten Questions” to get this information. Its simple. Just ask the questions, then use the answers to motivate…what could be more simple? To get “the ten questions” as well as a bunch of other great sales training and motivational techniques, get your own copy of our free ebook. What do you think? How are motivating kids and sales reps the same or different? We’d love to know! Post a comment below.

We’ve all sat through God-awful boring sales meetings right?

Not exactly a good time, as I’m sure you’d agree…

Has the thought ever occurred to you that your sales reps might feel like this almost every time you call a sales meeting?

“Positively absurd” you say!

Well, if you are one of the few who does have the need to inject a little vigor in your next sales meeting, then read on…

Try this to spice things up: next time you call a sales meeting, try a little “lead by being led” reverse psyschology on your sales reps to get them involved in the process of choosing topics.

All you do is simply ask your sales reps a week or two before the sales meeting what they most want to hear about is the best way to get them engaged and helps to “spruce things up”.

After all, if you ask them what they want to hear about in the meeting you can always tell them that “this was your idea” if they are tuning out…a little sneaky but it does work.

It always amazed me how much a little friendly competition gets a sales meeting spruced up as well. I was never a big fan of the “rah rah” games at sales meetings…but it does work incredibly well.

For example at the last company I worked for we had to write down on a flip chart any and all “breakthrough” ideas that we had come up with during the grueling 12-hour sales meeting session that would increase business.

Unbeknown to us, we were building a list that would be used for a day-end competition…

When the day was finally over, we were all told to present the best idea from our individual group to the rest of the larger group in the “most creative way” we could – no hold barred – with the winners each getting a $50 Starbucks gift certificate.

My group of brain surgeons decided that our idea would revolve around “adoption” of one of our sales service sites. To that end, we convinced one of our guys named Jerry to dress up as an “adopted baby” – complete with a table cloth diaper from one of the meeting tables – while me and another guy carried him into the presentation room to deliver him to the “hopeful parents” who were looking to “adopt”.

We nearly dropped poor Jerry as we ran in dressed in our “surgical gowns” – bedsheets we somehow swindled from housekeeping.

Totally ridiculous…I know.

We won in a landslide…and I got a months worth of lattes on them.

Getting people to act completely foolish for competition and prizes – with a good business focus in mind – never fails to “spice things up” at a sales meeting. Give it a try.

If you’re looking for great ideas to really spice up your sales meetings or your sales managers sales meetings, check out Meeting to Win and sign up for their newsletter.

And if you do, I promise you won’t have to dress up in a diaper…

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