A great salesperson may have the skills to close the deal, but that doesn’t mean he or she can teach others how to do it.
Outsourcing sales training and management lets your people do what they do best, says Keith Strauss, president of Sales Concepts Inc. The company coaches people on their current sales and helps owners focus on the key metrics they use to run their businesses.
All it takes is a 15-minute interactive phone conversation once a week to make sure your people are hitting their targets, Strauss says.
“What are the five key things you’re working on this week?’” he says. “‘What are your short-term goals?’ Because once a week they know they’re going to have that conversation the same time every week.”
In addition, an outside sales coach may be able to get insight that someone at the company can’t.
“Sometimes when salespeople are talking to their manager, they’re fearful for their job, or the manager used to be a peer and got promoted, so they’re bitter about that,” Strauss says. “Whatever it is, it’s not a natural relationship. They know our coach is only there to help them get better, to help them grow.
“They tend to be a whole lot more honest with us than they might be with the manager. As a result, we have some great data to go through to help these people figure out how to get better.”
