Top tips for coaching your sales team

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Selling is vitally important for any growing business- without it, your company will stand still. But what is the best way to go about it in a sustainable, savvy and strategic way?

At CDI Alliance, we help SME’s in the north of England to grow. What qualifies us to do this is our years in industry: not just selling on the front line, but managing sales teams to perform at their best and be efficient. Read on to find out what we recommend for up and coming businesses wanting to motivate their sales teams.

Customers

While it’s always tempting for a sales person to sing the praises of their company, they really need to think about the customer first and foremost. What do they need? How do they feel? The only way to find out is to listen attentively and talk less. Every customer should be considered an individual who your sales team need to develop a relationship with and get to know.

Emotion

Once your sales team have learnt to empathise with the customer, they’ll be better equipped to get them on their side. A useful technique for evoking an emotional reaction is to explore FUD- Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt. Point out potential future issues or pitfalls if they do not make a decision. In this way, the sales person will show their close understanding of the customer while reducing the chances of walking away without a sale.

Information

You might be prodding your sales team to memorise a long list of product features or recite endless additions and accessories, but how helpful will this be to the customer? What they really need to know is which benefits are relevant to the person they’re selling to and be able to deliver these succinctly so as to not overwhelm. Teach your team to avoid complex explanations or vocabulary and keep it simple.

Attitude

The attitude of your sales team is fundamental to the success of your selling strategy. They must before all else, believe in what they are selling. Without this foundation, they will not be able to show the enthusiasm that you need to rub off on the customer. What can you do to get your sales team excited about your product? If they believe in it, they’ll naturally sell the benefits and convince the customer to say yes.

Over-deliver

What can you build into your sales process to ensure customers are blown away by the effort and attention to detail of your sales team? If they cover all bases and then add unexpected value that goes above and beyond, customers will find it easy to say yes.

Time

Last but no means least, it is essential you make time in your sales teams’ diary to crack on and sell. It’s easy to procrastinate or lose momentum. Make sure your reps have dedicated slots in which to contact their leads. You should also have a solid sales process in place to make sure that your team follow up people they’ve made contact with. While it’s easy to forget, contacting existing leads is nearly always more time-efficient than calling up cold.

At CDI Alliance, we facilitate and organise workshops on topics like these for cohorts of SME’s on local authority business support programmes. Our large network of associates includes experts with knowledge to share in whichever area local businesses are struggling with.

Find out what our recent activities have involved here.

Discover who is in our network of associates and what they bring to the table here.