You really need to be serious about improving your selling skills

If you are thinking about getting some sales training for your staff, there are a few things worthy of consideration BEFORE you decide to send an email requesting a quote…

First up…don’t send an email asking for a quote.

Sending out an email – typically a cut and paste job – is not the ideal way to start the selection process. That’s my experience at least – there are many people who are looking for sales training in Belfast, who send out a generic email request for a quote and it just doesn’t work.

How could it?

If you take your staff development seriously, and you should, then why would you ask someone in your office to fire out multiple emails based on a Google ranking, only to judge on price?

Save the box-ticking for the polling booth

That approach in itself speaks volumes about your approach to sales already – understanding needs works from both the perspective of the buyer and the seller

Deciding on which company you engage with is an important decision and deserving of more time and effort.

I no longer offer a quote via email – phone call, meeting and second meeting, if necessary – you will want to see if I am suitable and I will want to see that you are serious.

Coaching isn’t a Band-Aid – it is as much attitudinal, behavioural as anything else and all about the process.

Worth more than a cut-and-paste email, that’s for sure.

Your first job is not to increase sales – it’s to be understood

Sales people tend not to be bad sales people, rather badly informed sales people – in so far as they usually do not fully understand their “WHY” or their customer value proposition.

The importance of making yourself undersood

That’s the first part of my sales training process – to develop fully your customer value proposition and not try and turn results around after one 3-hour coaching session.

The sector you operate in isn’t as important as you think

I am consistently having the conversation with clients and peers but I am of the firm belief that good sales habits are as relevant in and applicable to B2B as they are in B2C.

One of the benefits of being a consultant is the exposure to different types of businesses in different sectors – it is without doubt beneficial to understand what happens in other markets and to determine how that can be applied to your own.

It’s not a box ticking exercise

If you are serious about driving sales, customer retention, acquisition, motivating your team and delivering results then selecting your sales coaching partner just isn’t a box ticking exercise.

“The Kingdom of God comes from within..”

Everything you need to grow your business is right in front of you, right now – either through a CRM, staff intelligence, market research or whatever.

You have everything you need right there, to make a difference today – you just need someone who can view the information from a different perspective and add value to what you are already doing.

That comes through a face-to-face conversation and not an email.

You’ve never sold to yourself. Not ever.

You are not your ideal customer and never could be so why persist in making decisions based on what you already know?

It’s not a lack of intuition, just common sense – everyone has a “blind spot” but few chose to admit it.

I have had this theory validated by the very best in the business – Rich Roll. Along with a good friend, I was lucky to meet Rich at The happy Pear a few weeks ago. I gave him a journal and asked him to leave me with a motivational quote…

It was less of a motivator and more a reminder that at least some of my thinking on sales is on point.

Time + effort + skill

Growing sales through coaching is not a short cut – expecting change immediately is naive and an unrealistic expectation.

It takes process, time, effort and skill.

You would expect me to say that but it’s the cold reality – choosing the right coach to train, lead, inspire and motivate your team should be a difficult decision for you because it is important to your business.

Send an email for sure – paul@shift-control.co.uk – let me know what your business needs and then let’s talk through how shift control and a bespoke sales training programme can help you get there.