Often, clients come to us when their sales are not where they want to be, and the first thing they say is that they need us to come in and do sales training.
Yes, sales training will help, but alone, it won't be the only thing that helps improve sales performance.
In this video, I discuss four words you need to remember to help your team improve sales:
- TRAIN
- REHEARSE
- COACH
- MEASURE
Improve Sales Performance: Train
Here's how it works: Sales training happens (whether it's online sales training or training in a sales meeting or workshop). Often, it's really good sales training. They learn, see value in it, and they think they're going to put it to good use. But, if they don't rehearse it, if they don't practice it, it's never going to stick.
What normally happens (and this is often where we see it break down), is people do sales training, and then they measure it. They go straight from training to measure. They might measure:
- Amount of needs analysis appointments a salesperson went on
- How many no-surprise proposals were presented
- How many valid business reasons were written today
They train. They measure. They count—something that could be tracked in a CRM.
Where the breakdown happens (and where the biggest opportunity is) is with the rehearsing, the practicing, and then the coaching.
Improve Sales Performance: Rehearse
Rehearse and practice. After the training, it's time to practice. This practice could be rehearsing in a sales meeting or 1:1 role play.
Improve Sales Performance: Coach
It's on you, the sales manager, to coach.
You have to give feedback, and you have to actually go into the field and see your salespeople implement the things they learned from the training and what they've been practicing.
Then, they need feedback. Not just on what they did wrong, but also on what they did right. Encourage them on what they did right, and show them ways they can do better with what they did wrong. Don't just tell them how they can do it better, but effectively coach your sales team and teach them to do it better.
RELATED POST >>> How to Give Effective Performance Feedback In the Work-From-Home Environment
Improve Sales Performance: Measure
Then once you've done the training, rehearsing, and coaching, it's time to measure your sales team's performance.
RELATED POST >>> How to Choose KPIs That Align With Your Business Goals
TRAIN, REHEARSE, COACH, and MEASURE. These four words will help you lead your sales team to improved sales performance.
*Editor's Note: this blog was originally published in April 2019 and has since been updated.
