7 Misconceptions about employing a sales coach

If you are looking to employ the service of a skilled sales coach, here are a few of the things worthy of consideration BEFORE you decide to send an email requesting a quote…

Be serious about who you partner with

Sending out an email – typically a cut and paste job – is not the ideal way to start the selection process.

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?

That approach in itself speaks volumes about your approach to sales already.

Take a more considered approach to your next partnership

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

Are you employing a coach or a magician?

In business the first rule is to be understood – after that everything is up for discussion.

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.

That’s the first part of the process – 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.

Box-ticking is for elections only

“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?

KG – one hard-working, skilful mofo #BOSTON

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

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 can help you get there.