The Executive Sales Coach: Keith Rosen’s Sales Blog and Business Blog On Selling, Leadership, Managing Your Team, Business and Life » Sales Coaching

Now, when sharing the notion of full accountability with my clients, I expect some pushback from managers and executives around taking on this position. I hear things like, “C’mon Keith, 100%. Don’t managers get a little bit of a break here? How can we be fully accountable when I’m already stretched thin and still expected to achieve higher sales goals with fewer resources. Doesn’t the salesperson have some role and responsibility in this? After all it’s their career and it’s what they were hired to do. I mean, what if…”

No, I didn’t cut this person off. I actually heard them through completely. That’s why we’re going to list all of the ‘what if’s’ (a.k.a excuses) that I’ve heard managers react with when I challenged them with adopting this principle. Here are all the reasons I’ve heard as to why managers feel they should not be fully responsible for their salespeople.

1. I just got promoted and inherited my sales team. I didn’t hire these people.


2. We don’t do background checks. Sometimes, you just don’t have all the information to make the best hiring decision.


3. Some of these veteran salespeople have been here forever. You can’t change them, they’re too set in their ways.


4. We don’t have time for a sales training and coaching program. We need people producing and out in the field.


5. It was HR’s fault. Our/my sales training is great.


6. That’s normal in my industry. Turnover is just something we just have to deal with. We just accept it as part of our hiring practices.


7. That responsibility was not part of my job description.


8. I don’t have the authority to make hiring and firing decisions.


9. We can’t offer competitive packages like other companies can. It’s straight commission. No salary or benefits. So, as you can imagine, we attract only a certain type of person and not always the high end salesperson. We do our best to play the hand we’re dealt.


10. We don’t have an evaluation process.


11. There’s just this one person who no matter how hard I try I just can’t get along with. They probably shouldn’t be here anyway. They just make my job tougher.


12. Actually, I agree with you, Keith. But here’s the thing. The problem is really this; it’s my boss. He’s the real bottleneck to making any positive changes.


13. The salespeople are really independent contractors. So if they need help, they should get help on their own. Besides, they should be able to manage themselves.


14. They fail, then they really weren’t cut out for this position.


15. We’ve given them training. Two weeks of training which covers all of our product line. Soft skill development? No.


16. Needed help? Then they should have come to us. We would have helped them. That’s their responsibility. How can I read their mind if they’re having a problem.


17. My sales team is awesome. It’s the other divisions we have to interact and work closely with that are bringing our numbers down.


18. I need quick studies. If they don’t pick it up fast, then chances are this position isn’t for them. I don’t have time to baby sit them. That’s our qualification process; the strong survive.


19. I worked with that guy for three weeks of solid, on the job training. And still nothing.


20. You can’t make any headway in this company. They’re opposed to doing that sort of thing.


21. The President and her board already feel that things are going well and this is not a priority. So why change? And if that’s how they feel, what can I do?


22. I told them to call the other salespeople for help.


23. It’s hard to find good sales talent out there now. Our market is super competitive and this is what I have to work with.

Interestingly, in each of these excuses, there is one common denominator that travels down the road called, YOU DRIVE! Here’s what I’ve responded with when hearing these or what the client had to come to terms doing.

“Ultimately, you have a choice, yes?”

What managers lack in accountability is made up for in their excuses or justifications for performance. The secret is, the real power comes in taking full ownership. The alternative is to play the helpless, powerless victim. And this role is filled coming from a place of weakness, devoid of power and from which no new possibilities can ever grow. For you’ve given up your greatest power; the power of choice.

These excuses are a declaration for these managers, as if they are etched in the stone writings of their predecessors that must never be challenged nor questioned. And each one of these justifications has the power of hands on experience and the evidence behind it to support its truth. But, still, where does that leave any of these managers? They’re still dealing with the same problem or stuck with a team of underperformers. At the end of the day, these managers have surrendered. They’ve given up. They’ve lost. The instant you begin to buy into a justification, you’ve started to surrender your personal power.

Then comes the next reaction I hear. “Okay, Keith, so now I’m a believer. Here’s another situation. Lets say we have constructed the most comprehensive recruiting and retention program you’ve ever seen. We have checklists, assessments and personality profiles. We’re doing background checks, speaking with prior employers and even their co-workers.

Once the preliminary work is done, we have each new candidate drive-along with one of our salespeople for one full day so they get to experience the job first hand and in the trenches. Each candidate is interviewed by a minimum of twelve people from their new colleagues to the senior leaders over the course of fifteen separate meetings.

Prior to the official hire, we have them spend three days working in the office, performing their job functions. Then, upon their official hire, we implement at your suggestion, a Thirty Day New Hire Orientation Program which details the daily regimented training and coaching they will be receiving, as well as the measurable results they would be responsible for at the end of the first thirty days on the job. Finally, we team them up with a sales coach to support them on a weekly basis. Now, even with an infallible system like this, in spite of everything, they don’t cut it. Are you telling me it’s still my fault?”

My response to this, “Has this happened yet to you?”

That’s about the time the conversation ends. Because any company that has these safeguards and measurables like these entrenched in their recruiting and retention process has reduced their risk of failure one hundred fold if not more, mathematically speaking. That is, the companies I’ve worked with who have implemented a program like the one I’ve described have seen their numbers shrink from a whopping 78% attrition rate of salespeople within the first year to less than 3%.

If you’re not making a choice to live responsibly, then you’re making a story.

Oh, The Stories Managers Believe Their Salespeople Tell

Salespeople are a creative bunch, especially when it comes to the stories they tell themselves. These also happen to be the same stories that managers find themselves to be the unfortunate recipients of during many meetings, conversations or performance reviews. Unfortunately, rather than removing themselves from the story, managers find they are getting sucked into it, wasting valuable time and resources on a well fabricated issue that has no real resolution.

I refer to these illusions as S.C.A.M.M.’s which is an acronym for Stories, Cons, Assumptions, Meaning and Mindset.

A S.C.A.M.M. is an action, excuse, or belief you hide behind that justifies your circumstance, behavior, and performance, even your position on something, that provides you with an excuse so you do not have to be accountable for your responsibilities, goals, or the situations you put yourself in. The one commonality that each of these five words share is choice. At the very core, your stories, cons, assumptions, imposed meanings, and mindset are ultimately a choice.

Just ask salespeople who have to prospect to build their businesses. They can justify practically any activity that will take them away from prospecting, allowing them to major in the minor activities that act as diversions to doing what’s truly needed.

Once you’re able to uncover a salesperson’s S.C.A.M.M., the tactical coaching strategy would be to coach the person on rewriting their story from a place of challenging them on creating some other truths that may be possible, instead of jumping into and chasing their elusive story down the ever-winding rabbit hole with them. This is a key point not to be brushed by and critical to the impact you can make when coaching your salespeople. In other words, you don’t coach the story or feed into the story. If you do, you are coaching someone around a lie, something that doesn’t even exist. Instead, you coach the person on their relationship with the story they tell you in order to uncover the real truth of what’s going on.

What are some stories you may hear from your salespeople? I’ve listed a few of the more ‘popular’ fables that you can start to recognize the next time you hear a salesperson attempting to enroll you in one.

The Top Ten Lies We Tell Our Boss (And Ourselves) – And Actually Believe Are True

1. Fear of Failure (or Success): “I’m afraid of failure yet I won’t take the steps to ensure my success. Therefore, if I sit back and do nothing, then I can never fail at anything!”

2. Perfectionism/’Either Or’ Thinking: “Either I create the perfect (prospecting, time management, goal setting, management, coaching) system to use or I don’t do it at all. A similar perfectionism type of story is created by the type of salespeople I refer to as knowledge junkies. Their story can sound like this: “I’m still not ready yet. Just a little more training, research and due diligence, then I’ll be ready.”

3. Taking It All On: “I can’t delegate these tasks that other people may be able to do because they will never do it as good as I can.”

4. Been There, Done That: “The last time I attempted to build my business through prospecting it was a waste of time. Therefore, I know that prospecting won’t work for me.” (Did you ever consider that it was more your approach to prospecting that wasn’t effective?)

5. Playing It Safe: “Sure I’ve been prospecting. I mean, I’ve been targeting my current accounts to see if there are any service issues that need to be handled and whether I can get more business from them. After all, you need to take care of your current customers, right?” (Do you want to survive or thrive? Your choice.)

6. The Accountability Trap. “Of course I have a to-do list. I check things off as soon as I can fit them in.” Do you have a deadline associated with each task on your to-do list? A task without a deadline is another S.C.A.M.M. Writing down a long list of tasks or activities that are not scheduled and have no timelines or completion dates associated with them is another way to avoid accountability. Since you are keeping the timeline open ended, you don’t have to be responsible for completing the tasks by any specific date. No schedule, no commitment.

7. Not Having a Schedule. “I’m so busy that I don’t have time to create my routine! “The absence of a routine frees you from being accountable for certain things you’re responsible for or you may not want to do but have to do in order to reach your goals.

8. Everyone Comes Before Me: “I can’t say ‘No’ to my clients. I have to take care of them or they will go elsewhere, right?” Do you have a salesperson who has a hard time saying, “No” to clients and drops everything at their request? One of my clients, Mary, was telling me that she blocked out Mondays and Fridays for marketing, professional development, research and new business development activities. When I asked her if she honored this, she paused for a moment and then replied, “No.” Mary shared with me the fear she experienced about blocking out two full days, even though she knew that in order for her to build her practice this was a priority. So, inevitably, a client would call and ask to see her on a Friday or Monday. Rather than honoring the appointment she made with herself, she would set the appointment with the client. Mary said she had a real hard time saying “No” to her clients. After all, if she said “No” to them, maybe they would go elsewhere, right? Either that, or she felt her clients wouldn’t be able to meet with her at another time. What a S.C.A.M.M. Either you are going to run your life, or other people and circumstances are going to run you. Honor the commitments you make to others as well as the commitments you make to yourself. Besides, you cannot effectively take care and serve others if you do not take care of yourself first.

9. Interrupt-Driven: “I can’t focus on any task for very long because I am constantly being interrupted by people, situations, problems and new tasks I’m suddenly responsible for. It’s hard to get things done.” This easily distracted salesperson probably has a long list of tasks that never get completed. This person may also be an adrenaline junkie who loves the rush of working on overdrive when trying to do it all and juggle many unfinished and ongoing tasks. Do you become easily diverted or distracted by situations, new tasks or people rather than maintain the focus on your goals and initial objective? If so, you probably have a long list of tasks that never gets completed, because you feel that you’re always being pulled in a different direction.

10. Playing The Victim: “I can’t believe I wasn’t able to schedule an appointment with Mr. Prospect today. I feel so dejected and frustrated, too frustrated to do anything else productive today.” Do you allow one bad experience to snowball and affect the rest of your day? Rather than moving on and forging ahead, this allows you to go into a negative tailspin and destroy the chance of doing anything else productive for the remainder of your day.

The next time you encounter someone who is reluctant to take the necessary actions to achieve the results that matter most, there will always be some type of confining belief, story or S.C.A.M.M. at the core that is getting in the way. Think of it as an objection you may hear from a prospect. If you can uncover, address and defuse their story, you free them up to take the action.

The real danger comes when a manager starts believing and feeding into the story. Instead, try this approach the next time. Rather than coach someone on their S.C.A.M.M, have them rewrite and redefine their story in a more empowering way. For example, you can use the following questions to help them reshape their reality and their perception: “I can understand how you can feel that way. However, is there another way to look at this that might serve you better?” “Is this way of thinking helping you or consuming you?” What else might be true?” “How can you change your thinking around this in a way that would move you forward?” “What do you think it’s going to cost you if you continually buy into that line of thinking?”

After all, every S.C.A.M.M.; every story, belief assumption, worry and fear is created using the very same tool we use to define our goals and dreams; our imagination.

You may find that one or two (or more) of these behaviors describe some of your salespeople’s S.C.A.M.M.’s (maybe even some of your own), and this is actually good news! I never said that you would like bringing these truths to the surface. Although it takes a conscious effort to uncover other people’s diversionary tactics, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you use them, too. However, now that you have a greater understanding and awareness, you can do something about them.

When you notice yourself or your salespeople falling into any of these traps, you can choose to either continue engaging in the S.C.A.M.M., or make a better choice that will generate the results you really want.

Many of the strategies that we engage in today, whether in our thinking as well as in our actions, are often counterintuitive to what we may believe would be the solution to achieving our goals and objectives; especially as it relates to cold calling and prospecting for new business.

Here’s a sample of the top paradoxes of prospecting that make prospecting so challenging. However, once these paradoxes are woven into your thinking, you’ll notice how these contradictions will provide you with a competitive edge that no other marketing piece, feature or benefit of your product or service could even come close to.

1. You want the sale (appointment, demo) but you must detach from the outcome and have no expectation, since the sale is not the initial goal of prospecting.




2. You want the prospect to say “Yes” to taking the next step in your sales process but you have to qualify them first to see if there’s even a fit worth pursuing.




3. You want the prospect to buy from you but must learn to give value unconditionally, whether or not they buy or meet with you.




4. You want to deliver and push through your presentation but you must get the prospect’s permission even before you present.




5. You need to keep your eye on your objective, set your goals and plan your strategy for the future to determine the path to travel on but you must bring yourself back into the present moment during every prospecting conversation.




6. You want to make more money and achieve greater success in your career but you have to make the sales process about the prospect, instead of you, in order to do so.




7. You want to sell to each prospect you speak with but need to qualify them to see if you even want them as a customer. (Remember, if you want to build a business or career you hate, just find the people to work with who you just can’t stand.)

Lets face it. You and I both know that the ultimate objective of your prospecting efforts is to sell more and boost your income. However, to achieve this goal, it’s just not where you are going to focus your energy and thoughts.

If you can understand and embrace these paradoxes, you now have the opportunity to respond to each prospect in a healthier, more productive, and more enjoyable way.

Do you remember like it was yesterday where you could get away with connecting with your key accounts on a less frequent basis? Today, you must over-respond and over-communicate to the needs of your customers or risk losing them to your competition.

If you’re in the transactional selling business or are an order taker, then chances are, you don’t always have the strongest relationships with your customers. Therefore, more time must be spent fostering stronger relationships with key clients in order to insulate them for your competition. After all, tighter budgetary constraints = less spending = fewer and smaller selling opportunities = increased competition. Or does it have to be this way? What about this model.

Tighter budgetary constraints = less spending + making the needed adjustments in your selling strategy to account for this change = Capture greater market share.

This doesn’t mean calling on your key accounts just to “check in.” Just the other day, I received a voice mail from my credit card processing company. They were calling, and I quote, “Just to see how things are going.” Gee, this is certainly not the type of call that’s going to stimulate new sales or more sales.

Instead, have a better set of timely questions that will help you understand how the current economic crisis has affected the way they do business and make purchasing decisions.

Especially today, there are many salespeople who are hiding under their desk in fear not wanting to talk to their customers. This is a perfect opportunity for you to seize more market share.

The salesperson of tomorrow will continue to evolve into more than a salesperson, but a valuable resource and a trusted advisor throughout the entire selling process; and beyond.

This presents a huge opportunity to mine for additional upselling and cross selling opportunities.

Think about it for a moment. To develop the possibility for a sale, you have to uncover two critical things:

First, where the prospect or customer is now (Current State)—->
Second: Where They Want To Be (Desired State)

It’s your job to move them from their current state to their desired state through the use of better questions. If you want to know if your questions are being effective, just ask yourself this; are your questions giving you all of information you need to know about your prospect and their situation? The wrong questions will not only provide you with the wrong information but they will guide you right out of a sale and any selling opportunity that may have existed.

Below are the questions I mentioned I would blog about from the webinar series I delivered the other day for Hoover’s with Dr. Denis Waitley and Tom Hopkins.

Here are some relevant questions to explore with your current customers and prospects to uncover their priorities, how they are making purchasing decisions today and any upselling opportunities that may exist:

1. How has the current market/economy impacted your business?


2. What are you now doing differently as a result?


3. How have your priorities changed? What’s your single most important initiative?


4. How are decisions regarding (new purchases, existing purchases, working with current venders) made now? Has that changed?


5. How has this impacted the way you allocate your budget and your spending?


6. How is this all affecting you and your job?


7. How can I be a resource to you?

When prospecting, it’s going to be the following decision oriented questions that are going to move the sales process forward and motivate your prospect to want to buy from you. These types of discovery questions will enable you to develop a greater sense of urgency that will motivate them to make a buying decision.

1. Mr. Prospect If you could eliminate three of your biggest problems, headaches, or stresses as they relate to [STATE SERVICE/TASK] what would they be? (If there were three problems that you would want to see resolved with your current service provider what would they be?) (Ineffective solution, frustration, stress, etc.)


2. How does this (current problem, headache) affect you and your life? (Tie in the challenges they are experiencing to their position. What’s their personal cost as a result of these challenges?)


3. If you don’t make any changes, then what do you think it’s going to cost you over time? (What is it going to cost you by not changing? What additional opportunities do you think you’re letting pass by? How will this affect your bottom line?


4. Do you think there are opportunities you may miss out on by not changing? What cost do you incur by keeping things the way they are?)

The “I’m Sensing That” Statement

When talking with someone, such as one of your employees (or customers), did you ever get the feeling that they were not being one hundred percent honest and upfront with you? I’m often told that managers really don’t have a foolproof approach to extracting the truth, the real truth out of someone without sounding either confrontational or pushy.

Instead of confronting the person about their innate concern, the manager takes what this person says and tries to do their best to work their solution around it, even though they know that their employee isn’t telling them something.

After all, what could you say to a salesperson who you feel is not being forthright? “I think you’re lying to me or not telling me everything.” This is certainly not an approach I would endorse. Aside from putting the salesperson on the defensive, there’s a good chance that this approach will destroy any chance of getting this person to open up to you any more than they already have.

How can you tell when there’s something else a salesperson may be holding back from you? Here are a several signs.

1. A sudden change in their performance.


2. A sudden change in their activity.


3. A sudden change in their attitude, disposition or work ethic.


4. A sudden change in their behavior around the office, amongst their co-workers or towards you.


5. A reluctance to doing something they’ve typically done before.


6. A failure to honor certain commitments which they historically never had a problem doing.


7. There’s a noticeable misalignment between their intentions and their actions. (For example: You schedule a meeting to provide some additional coaching and training and the salesperson keeps canceling or delaying it due to some other ‘scheduling issues’ or sales related activities.)

Or, maybe you’re in the process of screening a new candidate for the sales position that needs to be filled. It seems the person has a clear interest in the position and you have a keen interest in hiring them but there are some inconsistencies in their resume which makes you question their long term commitment.

If you have ever run into a situation like this, there is a strong chance that there’s something else the person isn’t telling you. Here’s a great way to find out what’s really going on.

Use Your Senses

If a person makes a statement (or fails to confirm or do something for you) that causes your spider senses to tingle, trust and listen to your instincts. Remember, sometimes, just like when you’re selling a prospect, the real objection is two to three questions deep. Here’s an example of how you can use the “I’m sensing that” approach when you feel there’s something else that needs to be brought out to the surface when talking with one of your employees.

You: “Rob, based on our conversation a couple of weeks ago, do you still agree that it would be to your advantage for us to meet one to one so that you can get the personalized training and attention needed to handle some of the challenges you’re running up against?”

Rob the Salesperson: “Yes. I definitely see the benefits.”

You: “Well, we’ve been attempting to get together since then but it seems that something always gets in the way of our meeting. I know you’re working hard to bring in a few more accounts before the quarter is over but I’m sensing there may be something else that’s getting in the way of scheduling this meeting so that we can begin the work we can do together. Is that true (or, Is there any truth to this/how I’m feeling)?”

Salesperson: “Well, actually.”

And now, let the truth be known! Whether he had a bad experience with another manager, is reluctant to admit he is a little intimidated by this process, has a faulty perception of what “coaching” really means (broken wing mentality/something’s wrong with you vs. delivering more value to employees/I want to invest into you because your worth it) fears his job security, is worried what other people may think, doesn’t want to hurt your feelings by saying “No,” or wasn’t motivated by a reason compelling enough that would make this a priority, these are a few of the obstacles that can fly under your radar unless you dig deeper.

Notice the question I ask doesn’t put the person on the defensive simply because I’m not accusing him of doing anything that would make him wrong. I’m not offending him by pointing my finger and playing the blame game. For example: “Every time we plan to meet, you keep rescheduling with me.” “You told me that you were going to call me but you never did.” “You said we would be able to get together for a few minutes.” “I told you I was going to call you on Friday at 9A.M. and when I did you weren’t there.”

Instead, here’s one of the very few times during a coaching relationship that you can actually make it about you; your feelings, that is. Beginning a statement with, “I’m sensing” acknowledges how you are feeling. Then, ask the person for help in determining whether your feeling is, in fact, valid.

This approach gives the other person you’re talking with the space and permission they need to share the real truth, concern, or more of what is going on without feeling pressured. Of course, there are those occasions when the person is actually telling you the truth or simply isn’t interested in speaking with you. That’s why it’s critical to tap into your intuition and trust your instincts to determine how deep you actually want to dig to uncover the truth about what is stalling your ability to create a breakthrough in one of your people.

Are you toxic? Take the toxic leadership assessment here.

Are you leading your team or slowly and unknowingly eroding it from the inside out? Do you still navigate your ship using old school motivational tactics? Do you have your people living in fear? Are complaints rampant, as well as turnover? Are you spending most of your days putting out fires? Are you oblivious to the role you’re playing in any of this?

Do you ever stop to think that some of the challenges you’re faced with now might have something to do with how you might be managing your people and your business? The rules of business have changed overnight and the areas most impacted – sales and leadership.

How good of a leader are you? Maybe it’s time for you to abandon your role as Chief Problem Solver. Here’s your chance to get real about the behaviors and strategies you need to abandon today in order to get yourself out of your own way of producing the results you need. Then, you’ll be able to experience what my clients do: A 30% gain in sales.

In this assessment, you will find a list of 27 toxic management strategies that need to be abandoned. And for those managers, executives and business owners who take this assessment and react with, “Wait, this isn’t me.” I applaud you. Either you’re really that good – or really that blind (clueless and disconnected also come into mind- well, then there are those egomaniacal megalomaniacs, but need I digress). And make sure you take the coaching assessment to ensure you’re most effectively leading and coaching your people.) However, just to make sure you don’t have your blinders on, feel free to share this assessment with your team and have them fill this assessment out this assessment on you, anonymously, of course. Can you handle the truth?

Finally, for those people who are reading this blog and feeling as if they’re being managed by this type of manager, I give you this warning. If you have any desire to share this assessment with your manager or boss, make sure you know how they’ll receive it – as a subtle gesture of good will and compassion or a threat and an insult? If the latter, consider doing it anonymously.

take the toxic leadership assessment here.

Take the Coaching Assessment Here.

The rules of business have changed overnight and the areas most impacted – sales and leadership. How do you lead your team differently today compared to the way you did just six months ago? Have you benchmarked the skills needed to lead your team through tough economic times?

After all, I hear many managers tell me how they’re coaching their people, yet in the same breath, report how they’re still experiencing the same problems they’ve always had, and worse today. Then, how effective can your coaching actually be?

If you’re still experiencing the same problems you did before you started coaching your team, then it’s time to recognize the sign; something’s not right. Is it you, the person you’re coaching or your coaching approach?

So, if you think you’re coaching your people, take this Self Awareness Assessment to gauge your coaching acumen.

How effectively are you coaching your team? Just look at the results. Here’s your chance to get real about the areas you need to firm up and develop in order to get the results my clients experience – a 30% gain in sales. This assessment will help you benchmark the areas you need to develop as well as the strategies you need to implement in order to lead your team during good and bad times and most important, get them to thrive today.

Click on this link to go to the assessment where you will find a list of 27 coaching skills, competencies and strategies that the world’s most successful sales coaches, sales leaders and sales organizations have in common.

Take The Coaching Assessment to measure your true coaching acumen. Click here.

I hope by know, we’re all painfully aware of the costly lesson this economy has taught us. The skills, the thinking and the strategies that got us here today will not take us where we want to be tomorrow. And these uncertain times have highlighted more than ever, how we have collapsed American Entitlement with the American Dream.

The simple truth is, in order to earn more we need to learn more, especially as it relates to selling, retaining your current customers and leveraging new selling opportunities.

Here’s what I’ve observed over the last six months, how the current marketplace has impacted the way we sell and connect with our prospects and clients. Granted, some of these trends have been going on for a while now. However, these last six months have put more and more companies at this crossroad, face to face with this critical decision: adapt, innovate and change or suffer from corporate inefficiency, rigidity and declining profits. Upgrade your sales and leadership strategy to respond to these times. Here’s how.

1. Yesterday, it was more of a transactional sale. You show up and take an order or worse, you wing your presentation.

Today, you need to redefine your selling strategy and become a consultative sales champion in order to survive and thrive.

• If you’ve only gotten into sales over the last few years, you’ve never sold in tough times. More than ever salespeople need the training and coaching to stay on top.
• Benchmark best practices. What are the stages of the sale you need to move your prospect through?
• Leverage technology to manage your pipeline.
• Focus on key targeted accounts through better qualification and discovery process. (More and better questions.) Research each customer and know their business.
• Order takers don’t always have the strongest relationships. More time must be spent fostering stronger relationships with key clients. This doesn’t mean calling to ‘check in’ but have a better set of timely questions that will help you understand how the current economic times have affected the way they do business and make purchasing decisions.
• Become keenly aware of the lifetime value of every customer using better defined metrics.
• Doubling sales productivity isn’t always the answer. Consider by doing so, you’re also cutting the time you have to invest in your key accounts, in half.

2. Yesterday, you can sell features and benefits.

Today, you must reinvent your M.V. P. (Most Valuable Proposition) and develop core compelling reasons which will then move your product or service from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘need to have.’

• Less discretionary spending and tighter budgets means less allocation of funds for anything other than what is necessary. “Nice to have’s” Are being cut out of budget. You must position your product as a need to have.
• Saying you’re the best isn’t good enough. You do so by being clear with your value proposition and a faster R.O.I.
• You must focus on the cost of not making changes/ the pain of no change/keeping things the same vs. selling the warm and fuzzy benefits.
• Fewer selling opportunities + increased competition = customers demanding more value for less money.

3. Yesterday, managers were able to tolerate more mediocrity amongst their team.

Today, leaders must transform into coaches and be more fully accountable for their team.

• Get Out Of The Fear Based, Survival Driven Mentality and develop a coaching culture.
• Develop a 30 Day Tactical Turnaround Strategy for Underperformers
• Do Not Be Seduced By the potential you see in others.
• Relinquish Your Role as The Chief Problem Solver
• Stop coaching the uncoachable
• Become less tolerant of mediocrity and underperformers
• More diligent hiring and recruiting practices as companies cannot afford the cost of a mis-hire, especially with time of the essence.

4. Yesterday, you could get away with connecting with your key accounts on a less frequent basis.

Today, you must over-respond and over-communicate to the needs of your customers or risk losing them to your competition.

• Many salespeople are hiding under their desk in fear. A perfect opportunity for you to seize more market share.
• Insulate your key accounts/current customers. Less spending = less sales volume = increased competition.
• Become more than a salesperson, become a valuable resource and a trusted advisor.
• This presents a huge opportunity to mine for additional upselling and cross selling opportunities.
• Help them reach their objectives, save money and increase revenue. Their top goals!
• Retention is the new growth strategy? Doubling sales activity? You need a fine balance between being a great hunter as well as a great farmer. More strategic selling.

5. Yesterday, you could be more lax with your daily activity and do enough just to get buy.

Today, you must refine your daily habits and become a master of your day.

• Many entrepreneurs are willing to do the things they want rather than the things they need to do to drive the growth of their business.
• What are the non-negotiable revenue generating activities they need to engage in every day?
• How are they being held accountable for doing so? That’s were a defined daily routine comes into play.

• Time is your most valuable non negotiable commodity. Invest it in the right activities done the right way.
• You can’t hide anymore.

6. Yesterday, companies had a larger budget to invest in marketing to drive more leads and prospects to the sales team.

Today, more and more companies are shifting to cold calling to generate new prospects and new leads. These were also many of the same companies who used to be resistant to this concept! This is another learned skill set and strategy that needs to be developed and embraced by your sales team.

7. Yesterday, salespeople had larger travel and expense accounts to meet with and romance their prospects and clients.

Today, more sales are happening virtually, online and over the phone. This requires learning and adapting to a new way of selling via new communication channels.

Defusing Objections

Rather than react to an objection with a statement that creates an adversarial posture between you and the prospect (Example: defending your position, service, or product) respond to the objections you hear with a question using the three step I.G.O. Permission Based Selling Rather than react to an objection with a statement that creates an adversarial posture between you and the prospect (Example: defending your position, service, or product) respond to the objections you hear with a question using the three step I.G.O. Permission Based Selling™ process to defuse them. Here’s how.process to defuse them. Here’s how.

Tip From The Coach: Remember, after gathering the information during your discovery process, use this information to conclude your sales process and ask for their business. If done effectively, all you are really doing is reconfirming the information that they previously shared with you as to why they want to use you and your company – because you’ve satisfied all of their needs.

I. Isolate the objection
G. Gain permission to have a dialogue.
O. Offer solutions or new possibilities.

Step 1. Isolate the Objection:
Ensure that you are actually dealing with a valid objection rather than a smokescreen. You don’t want to overcome smokescreens because you can’t. That’s the inherent quality of a smokescreen; if you overcome one, the prospect will just create another one. Therefore, isolate the objection down to its core to see if the initial objection they shared with you is really the truth or if it’s something else. The “something else” could be that they don’t believe you, don’t trust you yet, don’t believe you or your product can help them, they may not be the decision maker, they have been burned before, they are simply having a bad day and you are their new target, and so on. Confirm whether the objection they shared is the core objection or if the real objection is actually something else. These questions will enable you to expose what their primary concern actually is.

Step 2. Get Permission: Get permission to discuss solutions and have a dialogue.

Now that you’ve smoked out the real objection, it’s time to offer a solution. However, the key for this conversation to work without you sounding like a high pressure or “cheesy” salesperson is to first get permission. You can create a new opening to overcome a prospect’s concern by asking for permission to do so.

1. “Mr. Prospect, if budget was no longer an issue for you, would you be open to exploring this in more detail?”




2. “Mrs. Prospect, if there was a way to make this slide comfortably into your budget, would you be open to discussing this in more detail?”

Use “If” Questions:
Reverse or take away the objection to determine if “not having a budget” or if “working with another vender” is the only thing that’s truly getting in the way. Now that I’ve hypothetically removed this objection, their response should be a “Yes,” which would then give me the permission to allow me to continue our conversation and focus on a solution; such as uncovering a measurable budget, a time they would have a budget, or the results they really want, rather than dwelling on the objection or the problem. Once again, keep in mind that if they respond with a “No,” then there’s still something else going on, you haven’t uncovered the core objection or another objection or roadblock that they haven’t shared with you yet.

Step 3. Offer a Solution:
If they say “Yes,” you now have a prospect who is interested in hearing more about the solutions you offer.

Tip From The Coach: Salespeople don’t overcome objections, prospects do. The only person who can truly overcome an objection is the prospect. Salespeople create the opportunity for this to occur through their effective use of questions. Selling is therefore the art of asking questions, listening openly and intentionally, and gaining information; not giving it.

The next time you hear, “It’s too expensive/ too much. The price is a bit too high,” here are some better questions to respond with.

1. Too high? How high is too high?


2. How much is too much?


3. How much were you hoping it would be?


4. I can understand wanting to stay within a certain range. However, would you agree that the price is an accurate reflection of the value in relation to the results you can expect (ROI)?


5. (If you sell financing.) What’s too much? The overall investment or the monthly installment you could make?

Tip From The Coach: Sell The Difference. Now, you are in a position to sell the difference not the full amount of the sale. For example, if the price is $7000 and they felt it was $2000.00 more than they wanted to spend, then you now need to build the value and sell the difference, the $2000.00 rather than the entire $7000.000.