Posts Tagged ‘Sales People’

Several Established Strategies to Encourage Sales Reps

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

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.

Three Proven Methods To Turn Around Your Sales Underachievers

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

sales people holding a clockYou got ‘em. We all have ‘em.

They’re the reps who no matter how hard they try, they just can’t make quota.

Something’s got to be done – and fast. These guys are killing your company’s sales performance. When dealing with underperforming sales people, you can’t delay.

When it comes to sales underachievers, your sales managers need to stop fighting the war and focus on the battle.

In this sales training we give you three ways to take the first steps to turning around your sales underachievers:

1. Focus on rewarding the “smaller” things. Highlight the small steps that might lead to a sale. If the sales manager waits until the actual sale is in the door before they start acknowledging any positive efforts, then this is a missed opportunity.

For example, the sales manager could praise the sales person for showing good probing techniques, for preparing a commendable opening statement, maintaining a solid rapport with other office staff, making good use of sales data, etc.

2. Praise specifically. With an underperforming sales rep, praise all the basic stuff at first. A simple “Good job” is okay…but the more specific, the better.

The sales manager should tell them: “I really loved the say you started that last sales call – you asked very specific, non-threatening probing questions and they just opened right up and told you what their issues are – excellent job”.

3. “Approximately right” is alright. The sales rep may not have reached the real goal yet, but by praising them all along the way to “exactly right” by praising them for doing things “approximately right”, this works wonders in enhancing confidence and instilling optimism in a sales rep who being an underacheiver, may be lacking both.

If the sales manager withholds praise for only when they do things exactly right, then the opportunity is lost. The point is to simply get the underperforming salesperson moving in the direction of success. And the sales manager can do this by

Getting underperforming salespeople on the track to success sometimes is just that simple – when small techniques like this are used consistently, the results will start to come.

Focus on the small everyday battles and your sales managers will start to win the war.

To learn even more about sales training, get our free ebook.

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