What is the lifeblood of any organization? Innovation? Talent? Intellectual property, perhaps? But the answer in this case is sales.
Without sales, no one eats, and the company goes bankrupt.
Despite this economic reality, accolades for the market success of a product rarely fall upon sales teams; seemingly, the superiority or ingenuity of the product “sold itself.” Professional salespeople treated with the respect they deserve and nurtured with the resources they require will consistently maximize profit for the firm. A disenfranchised sales team however – one that feels disconnected from the core essence of the firm’s value proposition, or worse, disrespected by its peers and ignored by management – will perform at a substandard level. Its members will produce enough to not get fired, nothing more. And profits – not to mention sales force momentum and company morale – will stagnate.
Besides facilitating the purchase, front line salespeople serve multiple, integral functions: brand ambassadorship, customer service, crisis intervention, technical support, product management…the list goes on. If your company experiences problems in these and other areas, consider investing in coaching for your sales teams. Here are three ways that illustrate the power of coaching in sales training engagements.
Conflict resolution
Of course, sales teams are trained to assuage any doubts a prospect may have about a product. Imagine how powerful they would be if trained to resolve conflict all along the sales cycle as well as after the prospect signs on as a customer. Coaching in sales training engagements teaches salespeople how to advocate for their firm and their customers equally; as a result they become invaluable mediators. Effective conflict resolution often marks the difference between a long-term client signing on again or moving on to a competitor.
Sustaining and maintaining relationship
Every salesperson builds relationships. The value that coaching brings to the equation is to equip sales teams to sustain relationships through emotionally combustible times – change of leadership, ownership, malfunction, fraud or disastrous publicity. Customer and supplier relationships sustained through tough times create more opportunity for repeat business as well as stellar referrals.
Brand loyalty
Excellent marketing that delivers oodles of qualified leads will invariably fall flat if the product’s sales team doesn’t “match” the brand experience. Qualified coaches teach sales teams to create a seamless brand experience from initial contact with the brand all the way through to the purchase and your firm’s next sales engagement.
- Lead from the front lines: The power of coaching in sales training engagements - November 18, 2014
- How to fire an employee without crushing their soul - October 15, 2014
- Workplace team conflict: Avoidance is an option, just not the best one - September 15, 2014