28Feb/110

Why Sales Training Doesn’t Work

Sales Training won't work if sales managers don't support the effort. Here's an example:

I just returned from working with a client’s sales team and (for the second time) took them through one day of manager coaching and two days of IMPACT Sales Training … again.  Yes, this is the second time I did it.  I did this more than 4 years ago for their sales staff (they've retained about 50% of the team).  The President of the company called me and said “Steve, this time it will be different.  I will make sure the managers drive it into the field.  You just tell me what to do.”

This particular President has always been a strong advocate for me and our process, but by his own admission he “assumed” the management team would embrace it and coach to it.  I call this the “nice guy” syndrome because we “trust” that the people we employ are professionals and will take the initiative to take the training and incorporate it into their daily habits.  After all, we are investing in their success right so they should embrace it, right?  Unfortunately this is an incorrect assumption and it is the #1 reason why sales training doesn’t yield the expected results.  There is a direct correlation between success and your sales management team.

Sales training will achieve dramatic results if:

  1. Your sales management staff embraces your strategic plan
  2. Your sales managers communicates the expectations to their team
  3. You have a way of keeping score to measure the progress
  4. Your sales managers actively coach to those expectations.

The good news?  You can still be a ‘nice’ person and expect measureable results through implementing a proven process, BUT don’t assume a one or two day program will accomplish your objectives without your sales manager(s) passion to drive it.

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25Feb/110

Product Knowledge

Here's a quick post about something that's near-and-dear to everyone: Product Knowledge.

Having good product knowledge is NOT about the volume of information you know about your product.

Instead, it's about how effectively you can access what your prospect needs (and wants) to know about your product.

@JebBrooks

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18Feb/111

The Rewards of being More Than a ‘Traditional Salesperson’

Last week I was invited to speak at a “Small Business Success Series” at a local association which I was excited to do.  An important part of our IMPACT Selling methodology is “positioning” yourself as something more than a traditional ‘salesperson’ who delivers their “pitch” or “value proposition”.  Speaking is one of the positioning strategies we teach (and it’s #3 on our top 14 list as the most effective prospecting strategies with cold calling being #14!)

I was anticipating an audience of novice selling professionals who had weekly and daily ‘cold call’ requirements.  To my surprise over 75% of my audience has been selling for at least 5 years and more.  At the end of my talk I was approached by the Regional Director of Operations of a major hotel chain who was attending with some of his sales people (major kudos to this manager who “walks the walk” with his people!).  He asked me if I would speak at his upcoming meeting of franchise owners and general managers on the same subject.  The moral of this story is this … if you really want to succeed in selling, stop cold calling & delivering your ‘sales pitch’.

Work on positioning yourself as a business expert or advisor and prospects will come to you.  We call that “pull prospecting” and that is every sales professionals desire, right

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15Feb/110

Free Roundtable Discussion About “The Changing Face of Professional Selling”

At Noon Eastern Time on February 22, I'll be participating in a very exciting roundtable discussion about the future of professional selling. It's something I've been talking about for awhile now, and even have passion for. I hope you'll be able to join us.

Here's the information from the organizer (and my friend), Jonathan Farrington:

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change" - Charles Darwin

Whatever got you where you are today will not be sufficient to keep you there. A rapidly changing environment is the regular background against which organizations must develop.

Change is continuous and will become more rapid as we move forward over time. The one constant that we can rely upon in commercial life is change - everything is changing, everyday.

We can choose to embrace the changes, adapt, and thrive, or we can resist, and risk extinction.

The questions we should all be asking ourselves right now are:

  • What will the sales landscape really look like in five years time?
  • Who will survive?
  • How will they survive?
  • Who will perish?

Join seven of the world's top sales experts and recognized thought leaders in the sales space, for what promises to be a highly thought-provoking debate.

The Panel

  • Joanne Black - is the leading authority on referral selling, and the author of No More Cold CallingTM: The Breakthrough System That Will Leave Your Competition in the Dust. Wherever genuine sales thought leaders have congregated, you will always find Joanne, and also in that company, you'll discover....
  • Paul McCord - is the president of McCord Training, author of the Amazon and Barnes and Noble best-selling book on referral generation, Creating a Million Dollar a Year Sales Income: Sales Success through Client Referrals (John Wiley and Sons, 2008), and SuperStar Selling: 12 Keys to Becoming a Sales SuperStar, not forgetting Bust Your Slump, which he released last year. www.dynamicsalesgrowth.com
  • Colleen Francis - is the president and founder of Canada-based Engage Selling Solutions -- a thriving sales-training organization that delivers tailor-made, winning solutions to sales and marketing professionals internationally. Colleen is high-energy and high-commitment, personified.
  • Jeb Brooks - is Executive Vice President of The Brooks Group, one of the world's top Sales Training Firms as ranked by Selling Power Magazine , Training Industry, Inc., and The American Business Awards. Over its 35 year history, The Brooks Group has helped more than 2,000 sales-driven companies in nearly 500 industries select, hire, train, and retain top performing salespeople.
  • Nigel Edelshain - is the man who first coined the term "Sales 2.0" and he is CEO of Sales 2.0 (LLC). Sales teams trained by Sales 2.0 get radically superior results by employing social media and Sales 2.0 tools in their sales processes. Sales 2.0 works extensively with companies in sales-intensive industries like IT services, insurance, software, printing and telecommunications
  • Dan Waldschmidt - is one of the founders of IntroMojo, a popular inspirational speaker, expert author, and a sought-after strategist on creating edgy conversations in the marketplace. He blogs regularly on his popular motivational selling blog Edge of Explosion

 

The Chairman

Jonathan Farrington - is a globally recognized business coach, mentor, author, and consultant. He is Chairman of The JF Corporation and CEO of Top Sales Associates, the creator and CEO of Top Sales World and the man behind the Annual Top Sales Awards.

'When a collection of brilliant minds hearts and talents come together - expect a ..... lively debate"'

When? Wednesday February 22nd at 12 Noon (Eastern) 5pm GMT

How Much? Registration is FREE

Where? Please register HERE

In fact, don't just join, join in!

@JebBrooks

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3Feb/110

Sales Managers Make the Difference…Period

In order to be sure the principles from our Customized IMPACT Sales Training Programs "stick," we follow the classroom training with a nine-week reinforcement program to coach salespeople.

I just wrapped up one of the nine-week programs and it didn't go as well as we'd like. The reason?  The group's sales manager didn't play an active role. He always had “other, more important priorities.” He told me he didn’t need to follow-up on his people because “they're professionals that know what to do.”

Peter Drucker said

“The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.”

Nothing in a sales manager's day is more important than the professional development of their salespeople. That leads to growth for accounts, territories, and entire companies.

The moral of the story?

Sales Managers: Your sales team will rise to the level of your expectations and coaching.
CEO’s & Owners: If your sales team isn’t getting the results you want, take a look at your sales managers.  Change your manager and you will change your results.

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  • Sales Evolution is a B2B Sales Blog for curious people. We talk about things like sales training, sales management, sales assessments, sales leadership, prospecting, and sales relationship building. I’m Jeb Brooks and I’ll be your host. So, please sit back, relax, and join us!

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