Training sales managers is not always the first thing that sales directors think about. Instead the focus seems to be on training the new sales representative.

Yet the reality is if a new sales representative is supported and coached they are likely to sell twice as much as a representative who is not.

You only need to look at some of the most powerful sales teams in any organisation and you will notice that they normally have a highly skilled sales manager behind them.

The facts are that to become good at most things in life we all need some help and support. This is especially so in business where core business and selling skills are vital to an individual and companies success.

A well trained sales manager will be able to help support teach and guide their individual sales team members to success.

A sales manager has a wide remit to what he or she needs to deliver. Generally they are responsible for delivering on a sales target, managing the marketing plan, reviewing the budget and staying within spending limits. In addition they also need to ensure that each of their sales team members is hitting their individual sales
targets and quotas. This is an area that many new sales managers struggle with. It is ok signing expenses and managing the process part of the role, yet a focus on sales coaching will potentially produce even bigger results.

We all I am sure know the saying, ‘teach a man to fish?’ and it is a popular saying because it is true. If individual sales representatives are coached on their selling skills it will improve your bottom line exponentially.

Sales coaching is a process by which your sales training managers can enable your sales team to become more effective in front of both existing clients and potential prospects. Sales coaching will work with both new and experienced sales representatives. Depending on their level of experience different styles can be used.

A new sales team member might need more directive sales coaching. As the saying goes you don’t know what you don’t know. Their level of experience in coming across the different customer scenarios will be different and here a sales manager can really help in making suggestions of how best to move forward and get a desired result. Making sales coaching align with your current selling skills model make everything work smoothly for all concerned.
When the sales representative focuses their interaction on achieving the outcome they have set, results happen quickly. In today’s new economy, selling is a definite process.
If a prospect is new it is unlikely that they will place a huge order in the first meeting. Yet this initial interaction is vital to set the tone and possibility of the next one happening. Rookie representatives can be helped in the process if your organisation has a focus on training sales managers in the sales coaching skills that will deliver results for everyone involved.

So when you are planning the up skilling of your sales force if you want to accelerate your results make sure you factor in training sales managers as well.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise and an expert in training sales managers.

To Find out more about how Excel Enterprise can help train your sales managers to deliver superior results visit http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk

Training sales managers is a vital function of any sales organisation that wants to improve its cash flow and profitability. All too often the super sales representative is promoted to a logical next level. That is a sales manager who then leads their team to even higher levels of performance.

In an ideal world this is what happens. Yet the truth is one day the sales representative hands in her keys to a fiesta and the next drives away in a Mondeo with hopefully all the skills she will need? Actually this rarely happens.

As a sales organisation you must ensure that your sales managers are equipped with some fundamental attributes and skills. Here are some  core skills that they must have. Some may be in a raw state and need developing which is why it is so important that training sales managers is a priority for your business.

Interpersonal Skills

Logical I know and yet I am sure we have all come across sales managers that shout at their sales team or drive actions through without any engagement. Yes this still goes on. Interpersonal skills can be developed and honed. As a sales manager this should be a given. If your sales managers cannot communicate and influence results will be capped.

Business Knowledge

You may totally understand the key business skills and knowledge needed. Do your sales managers? If not help them. This is easy to do. If they don’t understand the key business fundamentals they will not be able to deliver the results you want consistently. The good news is this is one of the easiest ‘skills’ to develop.

Create a learning plan for them if one is not already in place. Buy them a few books on business growth, marketing and sales. In fact be unique and study along with them have conversations on how they are implementing this in their local sales region with their own sales representatives.

Understand the Roles of a Sales Representative

This in theory should be easy if your new sales manager has come up through the ranks. However often in large organisations new sales managers are put in a position and yet they have never actually sold before. This potentially will create a great headache if you don’t address it. Training sales managers to appreciate the nuts and bolts of selling to customers and clients is key. This will enable them to know what a good sales rep does so that they can measure performance against that.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise and an expert in training sales managers.

To Find out more about how  Excel Enterprise can help train your sales managers to deliver superior results visit  http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk

Selling to groups can be daunting for many new sales representatives. In fact any sales representatives. We can all suffer from nerves I know and yet standing in front of more than a couple of people seems to make many a sales professional shake.

The truth is that selling to groups can be incredibly powerful and can result in increased revenue and profit. How come? Let us think about it. It may be obvious to some people reading this and yet for other sales people not so.

Imagine the scenario. You are aware that potential new client A and B are about half an hour away from each other. A is running late and yet you are desperate to see her. B on the other hand could give you an order that will make a significant difference to your bottom line. What do you do? Ouch I hear you say. I know we have all been in that situation. Imagine though, if potential new client A and B and their contacts C, D, E and F were all in the room together, and you could sell to this group all at once?

Every sales persons dream. Definitely every sales manager that wants their team to exceed target.

This is known as the power of leverage. Leveraging your time and impact in one go. Potentially in our scenario, moving six prospects further along the adoption pathway for your product or service.

Selling to groups of course is just one way to improve your sales results. We are not saying that the traditional one to one selling interaction does not work. It does and incredibly well. Selling to a group gives you a way to influence and position you’re offering to more people.

This is a skill that any sales professional needs to master. In reality the buying decision and the process of selling has changed. No longer can you just turn up at an appointment and walk away with an order. The bigger the organisation the more likely it is that you will have to sell to a group to gain commitment. Buying nowadays often happens by committee. In some case you might even have to be approved as a supplier to an organisation, before they can purchase what you have to offer.

The initial interaction may be a one to one discussion. This then leads on to a presentation to the interested parties. Here is where the magic starts to happen when you are selling to groups. The power of influence kicks in and it can work to your advantage.

If you are being asked to present the chances are that the organisation have an interest in what you have got. You now have an opportunity to demonstrate why your company, product, or service should be the one to go with. Top tip it is not just the features of your product. It is about how you interact and influence that group. How you structure what you say and the questions you ask. Your body language, your personal brand, and how you communicate your offer.

The financial return for you can be huge as long you, as a sales professional have a process for selling to groups that works

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise and a recognised expert at selling to groups.

To Find out more about the Excel Enterprise Selling to groups training programmes visit http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk

Selling to groups is a way to increase profits and results for all. Not you’re your organisations either. Selling to a group of potential new clients and customers is a win win for all. Not only can you see more of your customers in one go; it also means that your customers have the benefit of finding out about your product and service in a non-threating way. Many sales professionals don’t actually appreciate the opportunity that this type of sales situation can bring as a result they actually make tons of mistakes here are just a few to watch out for.

Presenting to the Wrong Customers

Everyone’s time is precious. That does not matter whether you are a sales representative or an organisation being sold to. A first step must be to invite an audience that

Have a need for your Product or Service

Have decision making authority

Have the resources to purchase.

There is no point doing a fantastic presentation only to find out that the people you just presented to are not in the market for what you have. Instead go for the low hanging fruit first because there is still an awful lot of that around.

Having a target group of clients in front of you will skyrocket your conversion rate.

Lack of Preparation

A classic mistake of the maverick sales representative. The time invested in bringing people together is often wasted when sales people do not prepare for the audience. The least they can do is know something about their audience and their individual issues. The good news is a standard presentation can work as long as the verbal communications can pull out the needs of the individual clients attending.

This is so easy to do. A few well-placed questions will give a nice lead into being able to answer the query of customers whilst giving your sales team member the opportunity to profile your product or service at the same time.

Lack of Follow Up Or Feedback

So your sales representative has delivered an excellent presentation and has communicated all the key points and convincers as to why your product or service should be considered. So what next? Often very little. Many sales people are notorious for not getting back to customers. In sales speak we call it following up on customers. That is our word by the way; our customers don’t really understand what we mean. A better word is feedback. Did you realise that contacting clients who have shown an interest will treble conversion rates? Logical I know yet many sales representatives who are selling to groups miss this out of their process.

I know there is a lot more to each of these individual steps. For a fundamental start this is where you must focus your initial attention on getting your sales team to be effective when they are selling to groups.

To summarise, make sure your team spend the time to identify key target customers to present to. With the correct audience invited they need to have a presentation that is appropriate and professional.

Finally that all important connection after the event needs to be planned in. Follow these basic principles and your sales teams results will improve.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise and an expert in selling to groups managers.

To Find out more about how  Excel Enterprise can help train your sales teams to deliver superior results when they are selling to groups visit http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk

Sales training companies abound in every city across the world and yet many are not as successful as they had hoped. The truth is that sales training is such a vital part of the success of a company’s growth that mistakes can be costly.

With the economy in such a state, more now than ever a successful sales team will make or break the recovery or growth of your company in the market sector you operate in. Even though Joe Smith down the road is a good guy, can he give you the support and help that you need. Before you rush in and make a hasty decision, consider the following three questions for which you will need an answer.

1. How Big Are They

This may or not affect you and yet if you are a large organisation with offices across the globe you may need a bigger team. Many sales training companies would struggle to deliver a programme to more than one location at a time. If you need a bi lingual team can they accommodate this for you? These are all important questions to ask if you are an organisation that wants a consistent approach in all your divisions and geographical locations. How many trainers do they have and what are their qualifications, both in results and feedback from clients?

1. Can Your Sales Training Company Design a Bespoke Course Or Is It One Size Fits All

The cynics would say that selling is selling is selling. Not so. Different industries require different styles and approach. For instance are your sales team selling to the end user? Is your product technical? Are you selling B2B or B2C or a mixture of both?

You will soon spot the calibre of the sales training companies you approach when they don’t flinch about designing a course specifically to meet your needs. An added bonus is when they also have a team of specialist trainers who they can match to your different needs and style.

1. What Results Are They Getting Ad With Who

It is OK for a sales training company to glow about their results for a client with a sales team of two who have doubled their company’s turnover. How about a training company that can demonstrate measurable ROI or a company that can show you testimonials from a large corporate company that they have worked with for years.

These are just a selection of things to consider when you are in the market for a sales training company. There are obviously more such as, do they have their own models, are they known in a specific market sector, do they follow up with delegates. What are their materials and work books like. All important questions that often go unasked. The key is to decide what it is you need your sales training company to achieve and then measure each company against that.

Nic Hallett is the MD of Excel Enterprise one of Europe’s largest sales training companies.

To Find out more about the Excel Enterprise and the Excel Enterprise Outcome Selling System visit http://www.excelenterprise.co.uk

By Nic Hallett

Selling to groups can be daunting for many new sales representatives. In fact any sales representatives. We can all suffer from nerves I know and yet standing in front of more than a couple of people seems to make many a sales professional shake.

The truth is that selling to groups can be incredibly powerful and can result in increased revenue and profit. How come? Let us think about it. It may be obvious to some people reading this and yet for other sales people not so.

Imagine the scenario. You are aware that potential new client A and B are about half an hour away from each other. A is running late and yet you are desperate to see her. B on the other hand could give you an order that will make a significant difference to your bottom line. What do you do? Ouch I hear you say. I know we have all been in that situation. Imagine though, if potential new client A and B and their contacts C, D, E and F were all in the room together, and you could sell to this group all at once?

Every sales persons dream. Definitely every sales manager that wants their team to exceed target.

This is known as the power of leverage. Leveraging your time and impact in one go. Potentially in our scenario, moving six prospects further along the adoption pathway for your product or service.

Selling to groups of course is just one way to improve your sales results. We are not saying that the traditional one to one selling interaction does not work. It does and incredibly well. Selling to a group gives you a way to influence and position you’re offering to more people.

This is a skill that any sales professional needs to master. In reality the buying decision and the process of selling has changed. No longer can you just turn up at an appointment and walk away with an order. The bigger the organisation the more likely it is that you will have to sell to a group to gain commitment. Buying nowadays often happens by committee. In some case you might even have to be approved as a supplier to an organisation, before they can purchase what you have to offer.

The initial interaction may be a one to one discussion. This then leads on to a presentation to the interested parties. Here is where the magic starts to happen when you are selling to groups. The power of influence kicks in and it can work to your advantage.

If you are being asked to present the chances are that the organisation have an interest in what you have got. You now have an opportunity to demonstrate why your company, product, or service should be the one to go with. Top tip it is not just the features of your product. It is about how you interact and influence that group. How you structure what you say and the questions you ask. Your body language, your personal brand, and how you communicate your offer.

The financial return for you can be huge as long you, as a sales professional have a process for selling to groups that works.