One of my passions is coaching sports teams, in particular ice hockey. Iâve been doing it for several years now and it never ceases to amaze me how inspiring it is to watch players master new skills that help them become better players. The best part is how they react when they finally âget itâ. You can actually see the proverbial light bulb go on.
Typically, weâd start by working on fundamentals. Weâd do the drills, day after day, over and over. Some players may pick it up early, while others can take a little longer. In either case, when the light bulb goes on, you see the most wonderful thing: confidence. Theyâve mastered it and theyâre doing it instinctively. They realize they have empowerment, and now thereâs no limit to what they feel they can accomplish. Itâs truly an amazing thing and I never tire of that special moment.
So what does âgetting  itâ mean to sales? I believe that there is a similar parallel in business, and within sales team management in particular. As any coach will tell you, you have to be confident that your team has all to tools they need to win every time they step into the arena. But, Iâd be willing to guess that, if youâre like most, you probably take a good percentage of that confidence for granted. Very often, companies assume that everyone has mastered the corporate playbook and they should instinctively know how to do their job.  After all, itâs what you hired them to do, right?
But, thatâs where the problem often lies. To be successful, teams can never take anything for granted. Itâs why they spend countless hours on the practice field in preparation to get it right on game day. And in business, you need to look at it the same way. Â Hereâs how:
- Have a game plan â Developing a clearly defined sales process that employs all of your best practices is worth the time and effort. When your team knows the landscape and the milestones, you dramatically improve their chances of success. Theyâll now know what to do, where to expect the typical hurdles, and the best ways to overcome them.
- Drill them on the fundamentals â Most sales professionals know how to sell effectively, but are you confident they know how to sell YOUR product well? Donât just dump sales sheets and brochures on them, or tell them to read the website. Develop âdrillsâ that encourage and challenge them to know your product inside and out. The sales axiom of âitâs easy to sell what you knowâ is never more appropriate. Make them know your products in their sleep. Itâs really worth their time â and yours.
- Give them the skills/tools they need â Companies spend millions every year hiring outside consultants to train sales people to âsell smarterâ or whatever the latest buzzword is. But more often than not, itâs about learning a technique and not how it fits with your product. Like I said earlier, many salespeople already know how to sell. But, your people will deliver much more if theyâre shown the best practices for selling YOUR products. Thatâs where having a defined sales process comes in and where sharing what youâve learned over time will make a significant difference. When you share knowledge, everyone benefits.
So, when your sales team knows what to do and how to do it, instinctively, youâll see their âlight bulbâ go on. Theyâve just become better  salespeople;  fully prepared and confident that theyâre ready to step into the arena and be successful. While you may not get an overwhelming emotional, parting-of-the-heavens-angels-singing reaction, youâll certainly be inspired by the effect it has on your team, and, of course, your bottom line.
By Kary Zate
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