Mental Health in Sales FREE Training

mastering mental health in sales

Mental Health in Sales - Top Question from Google

How stressful is a sales job?

Here’s the short answer:

Sales can be stressful due to pressure, rejection, and long hours. However, it offers high earning potential, accomplishment, variety, and personal development. Whether it suits you depends on your personality and stress tolerance.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. The Hidden Toll - Why Mental Health Matters

The fast-paced, high-pressure world of sales can take a significant toll on mental health. While the pursuit of success and exceeding quotas can be motivating, the relentless pursuit of performance can often come at a cost.

Statistics paint a concerning picture:

These statistics illustrate the hidden toll that the demands of sales can take on mental wellbeing. Ignoring these concerns can have detrimental consequences, not only for individual salespeople but also for the entire organization.

2. The Unique Challenges of Sales & Mental Wellbeing

Sales professionals face a unique set of challenges that contribute to elevated stress and risk factors for mental health issues compared to other professions. Here are some key factors:

  • Pressure to Perform: Sales are often commission-based, creating significant pressure to meet or exceed individual quotas. This constant pressure to perform can lead to anxiety, burnout, and feelings of inadequacy if they miss their sales goals.
  • Rejection Sensitivity: Sales involves frequent customer rejection, which can be emotionally draining and impact your self-esteem. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that salespeople experience higher levels of rejection sensitivity compared to individuals in other professions [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2010-18724-001].
  • Unpredictable Work Schedules: Many sales roles require long hours, travel, and unpredictable schedules. This work-life imbalance can disrupt sleep patterns, create difficulty maintaining healthy habits, and contribute to feelings of isolation and loneliness.
  • Highly Competitive Environment: The competitive nature of the sales industry can breed feelings of inadequacy, envy, and imposter syndrome, further contributing to stress and anxiety.

By understanding these unique challenges, organizations and individuals can prioritize mental health support and create a more supportive work environment for sales professionals.

3. The Impact of Poor Mental Health on Sales Performance

The negative impact of poor mental health on sales performance is well-documented and can have significant consequences for both individual salespeople and organizations. Here’s a breakdown of some key effects:

  • Decreased Productivity: A study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that employees experiencing symptoms of depression are 37% less productive than their healthy counterparts. This translates to decreased sales calls, missed opportunities, and lower overall revenue generation.
  • Increased Absenteeism and Turnover: Mental health issues can lead to increased absenteeism and employee turnover, further disrupting team dynamics and impacting overall sales performance. A 2018 report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimated that depression alone costs U.S. employers $170 billion annually due to absenteeism, presenteeism (reduced productivity while at work), and medical expense.
  • Diminished Decision-Making: Chronic stress and anxiety associated with poor mental health can impair cognitive function and decision-making abilities. A study published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience found that stress can lead to impaired judgment, reduced creativity, and difficulty focusing, all of which can negatively impact sales strategies and negotiations.

These detrimental effects highlight the importance of prioritizing mental health support within sales teams. By creating a culture of well-being and offering resources and support systems, organizations can empower their salespeople to thrive and improve their performance.

4. Building Resilience: Strategies for Salespeople

The demanding nature of sales can undoubtedly test mental resilience. Fortunately, by developing coping mechanisms and adopting healthy habits, salespeople can learn to thrive in a high-pressure environment. Here are some key strategies:

1. Cultivate a Growth Mindset: Embrace challenges as opportunities to learn and grow. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that individuals with a growth mindset demonstrate greater resilience in the face of setbacks and are more likely to persist towards achieving their goals.

2. Practice Mindfulness and Stress Management: Techniques like meditation, deep breathing exercises, and regular physical activity can effectively reduce stress and improve emotional regulation. A 2017 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that mindfulness-based interventions can significantly reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

3. Seek Social Support: Building strong relationships with colleagues, friends, and family can provide invaluable support and a sense of belonging. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that individuals with strong social networks experience lower levels of depression and anxiety.

4. Celebrate Wins and Focus on Progress: Acknowledge and celebrate even small victories to maintain motivation and build confidence. Focusing on progress, not just the end goal, helps maintain a positive outlook and fosters resilience in the face of challenges.

5. Prioritize Self-Care: Make time for activities that promote relaxation and well-being, such as hobbies, spending time in nature, or getting enough sleep. Prioritizing self-care helps manage stress and prevent burnout, leading to increased resilience and overall well-being.

By adopting these strategies, salespeople can cultivate mental resilience and navigate the challenges of their profession with greater confidence and well-being.  However, if in doubt please seek professional help here https://www.wellityglobal.com  

5. Creating a Supportive Sales Culture

Beyond individual strategies, building and maintaining a supportive sales culture is crucial for promoting mental well-being and optimizing team performance. Here’s how organizations can create a more positive and empowering environment for their salespeople:

  • Open Communication and Feedback: Encourage open communication and regular feedback sessions. This allows salespeople to voice concerns, receive constructive criticism in a safe space, and feel supported by management.
  • Focus on Collaboration: Promote collaboration over cutthroat competition. Encourage knowledge sharing, team problem-solving, and celebrate collective wins. This fosters a sense of camaraderie and reduces feelings of isolation.
  • Work-Life Balance: Implement flexible work arrangements and discourage practices that lead to burnout, such as excessive overtime or constant after-hours communication.
  • Recognition and Appreciation: Recognize and celebrate individual and team achievements. Public acknowledgement of successes reinforces positive behaviors and motivates continued effort.
  • Mental Health Resources: Provide access to mental health resources such as Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or online resources on stress management and mental well-being.
  • Destigmatize Seeking Help: Normalize conversations about mental health and encourage open communication about challenges. This reduces stigma and creates a safe space for salespeople to seek help when needed.

By prioritizing these elements, organizations can create a supportive sales culture that fosters mental well-being, boosts employee morale, and ultimately, drives improvements in sales performance.

6. Benefits of Prioritising Mental Health in Sales

Investing in the mental well-being of your sales team isn’t just the humane thing to do, it’s a strategic decision with demonstrably positive outcomes for both employees and the organization. Here’s how prioritizing mental health in sales can benefit your company:

  • Enhanced Sales Performance: Studies have shown a clear link between mental well-being and sales success. A happier, less stressed salesforce is more productive, resilient, and capable of handling rejection. A study by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that employees who report higher levels of well-being are significantly more likely to be high performers [https://www.apa.org/].
  • Reduced Absenteeism and Turnover: Mental health issues can lead to increased absences and employee churn. By addressing these concerns, companies can experience significant cost savings and maintain a stable, experienced sales team. A 2020 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity each year [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression].
  • Improved Decision-Making: Chronic stress and anxiety can negatively impact cognitive function. By prioritizing mental health, you empower your salespeople to make sound decisions, develop effective sales strategies, and ultimately close more deals.
  • Enhanced Customer Relationships: A happier, more well-balanced salesperson is more likely to project positive energy and build rapport with customers. This fosters trust, strengthens relationships, and increases customer satisfaction.
  • Stronger Employer Brand: Companies that prioritize employee well-being attract and retain top talent. By fostering a supportive environment, you build a positive employer brand that makes your organization more competitive in the talent marketplace.

These benefits highlight the strategic value of prioritizing mental health in sales. By investing in the well-being of your salespeople, you’re not just doing the right thing; you’re also creating a high-performing, successful sales team.

7. Getting Help: Resources for Sales Professionals

Prioritizing mental health is key to success in sales. If you’re struggling, know that you’re not alone. Numerous resources exist to support sales professionals across the globe.

For Sales Professionals in the UK:

For Sales Professionals in the US:

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): A national organization offering support groups, educational resources, and advocacy for mental health: https://www.nami.org/Home
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): Provides mental health information and resources, including a treatment locator tool: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/
  • The Jed Foundation: Focuses on mental health resources and support specifically for teenagers and young adults, including those entering the workforce: https://jedfoundation.org/
  • The Trevor Project: Provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services specifically for LGBTQ+ youth, a demographic with higher rates of mental health concerns: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

For Sales Professionals in Australia:

Additional Resources:

  • Headspace National Support Line (Australia): 1300 22 4636
  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (US): 988
  • Samaritans 24/7 Helpline (UK): 116 123

In addition to these resources, many Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) offered by employers can provide confidential counseling and support services. Don’t hesitate to reach out to your HR department to see what resources are available to you.

Remember, seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Taking care of your mental well-being is essential for success in both your personal and professional life.

8. FREE TRAINING

As part of our giving back Klozers are proud to offer free sales training for the B2B sales community.  Course details:

Building a Sales Mindset & Mastering the Pressure Cooker of Sales

Learning Objectives:

By the end of your training session, your sales team will be able to:

  1. Identify the unique stressors faced by B2B sales professionals.
  2. Understand the negative impact of chronic stress on performance and health.
  3. Apply five practical strategies to manage stress, anxiety, and pressure.
  4. Develop a personalized plan to prioritize your mental well-being.

Course Duration – 90 minutes

Delivery – Live Online

To Request a FREE Course  – >>>Contact Us Here<<<

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Online Sales Training – Supercharge Your Sales Team

Best Online Sales Training Courses

Online Sales Training, how much does it cost?- Top Question from Google

How much does online sales training cost?

Here’s the short answer:

Online sales training varies in cost from free for a recorded program, to $2000 per participant, for live training customised to your needs. 

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Online Sales Training Courses

Online training became popular during the covid lockdowns of 2020, when sales professionals were no longer able to work from their traditional office, or field based roles. 

Overnight the lockdowns made B2B selling much tougher and employers needed to find online solutions to support their teams.

Whilst the lockdowns have thankfully gone, what has remained are sales teams who now work remotely.  Working remotely is often not just working from home.  More often than not working remotely means working from your home in another region or country.

With increases in flights and hotel charges, bringing remote sales teams together has become very expensive. 

“Companies that move sales training online save 30 to 70 percent on travel costs and lost productivity.” – Brevit Group

This is where online training courses come into their own, and can give your sales professionals and sales managers the support they need to grow and develop.

If you’re wondering whether online sales training is an inferior alternative to traditional In-person training, read on to find out can still be an effective tool in your learning arsenal.

What are the Biggest Challenges in Remote Selling?

What are the Top Skills Gaps in your Sales Team?

2. Online Sales Courses Available via Klozers

As a business we now have the ability to deliver our entire portfolio of training courses for online delivery.  These courses are delivered live online with one of our sales trainers.  Each of our sales courses is modular, which means that you can easily swap modules in and out to build a bespoke sales course that meets your exact needs.

We have 17 sales courses available and 65 modules as shown below:

COURSE NAME

TRAINING MODULES (90 mins each)

Sales Fundamentals (Level 100)

Building your Sales Pipeline

Questioning Techniques

Objection

Handling Techniques

The Art of Klozing

AI for Sales

(Level 200)

Pre-call Intelligence & Strategic Targeting

Data Driven Negotiation and Deal Structuring

Hyper personalised engagement & Relationship Building

Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Differentiation

Consultative Selling Skills (Level 200)

Consultative Selling Intro

Perfecting your Value Proposition

Collaborative Problem Solving

Negotiation, Klozing & Customer Success

Story Telling for Sales

Skills (Level 200)

The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Sell

Crafting Your Compelling Sales Narrative

Putting Your Stories to Work in the Sales Cycle

Storytelling Mastery: Taking It to the Next Level

Solution Selling (Level 200)

Uncovering Customer Buying Motives

Perfecting your Value Proposition

Mastering the Sales Conversation

Klozing & Building Long Term Partnerships

SaaS Sales Training (SDRs) (Level 200)

Sales Mindset of a Winner

Perfecting your Value Proposition

Outbound Sales Prospecting

Needs Assessment Discovery & Qualifying

SaaS Sales Training (AEs)

(Level 200)

Pre-demo Preparation

Selling Value not Price

SaaS Product Demos

Objection

Handling Techniques

LinkedIn Sales Training

(Level 200)

Building your LinkedIn Sales Arsenal

The Art of Persuasive Communication

Mastering the Sales Conversation

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Telephone Sales Training (Level 200)

Sales Mindset

of a Winner

Perfecting your Value Proposition

Telephone Sales Skills

Live Calling with Coaching

90 Day Sales Planning

(Level 100, 200 & 300)

Principals of 90 Day Planning

Creating an Effective Action Plan

Communication & Collaboration

Accountability & Motivation

Outbound Lead Generation

(Level 200)

Building a Value Proposition

Cold Email Outreach

LinkedIn Selling Skills

Telephone Sales Skills

Inbound Lead Generation (Day 1 of 2)

(Level 200)

Introduction and Case Study Review

Strategy and Planning

Creating content that converts

Building High Value Assets

Inbound Lead Generation (Day 2 of 2)

(Level 200)

Technical Requirements and Set up

Selling Online

Measurements & Reporting

Action Planning

Key Account Management (Day 1 of 2) (Level 300)

Unlocking the Power of Key Accounts

Understanding the Enterprise Landscape

Building Trusted Relationships

 

Crafting a Winning Key Account Plan

Key Account Management (Day 2 of 2) (Level 300)

Sales Negotiation and Deal Structuring

Implementing Your Key Account Strategy

Maintaining and Growing Key Accounts

The Future of Key Account Management

Sales Negotiation Training (Level 300)

Foundation of B2B Negotiations

Planning & Preparation

Mastering the Negotiation Dance

Beyond the Deal

Enterprise Sales Training

(Level 300)

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

Bespoke Sales Training

(Level 100, 200 & 300)

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

Sales Management & Leadership

(Level 300)

Sales Benchmarking & Improvement Planning

Sales Leadership Styles

Sales Performance & Coaching

Hiring Sales Winners

3. Online Training vs In-Person Sales Training Courses

In-person or face to face delivery of sales training remains highly popular, however, some companies find the costs prohibitive and the disruption to schedules affect productivity. The logistics involved with arranging classroom-based learning can be very costly, not only in terms of your budget, but your time too. 

Online training tends to be delivered in bite sized chunks making it easier for sales reps to consume and less impactful on their diary.  In addition to the challenges of taking time out for traditional face to face training training, some salespeople report struggling after the training to internalise and implement what they have learned.

One or two days away from your desk, usually only serves to create a backlog of work for salespeople to return to and deal with. This creates a tendency to continue “doing what you’ve always done” rather than implementing new sales strategies, new sales skills and new sales techniques.

Technological advancements with products like Microsoft Teams and learning portals have made online sales training much more effective and easier to deliver and consume learning.

Video conferencing, enhanced streaming capabilities and the emergence of powerful and dependable new software have made online sales training much more effective than it was in the past.

It’s now possible to source training from experts around the world, rather than just ones based in your locality. We ourselves are now supporting companies from Melbourne, Australia to San Francisco, California with their sales strategy, business development, selling process, inbound sales methodology and new customer acquisition.

The Klozers team regularly deliver online training to clients with sales professionals in multiple countries and spanning different time zones. 

online sales training

4. Sales Coaching Online

An often overlooked but important part of the learning and development process, is sales coaching.

Training is the transfer of knowledge, whereas coaching is the practical application of the knowledge in the field. Coaching takes what sales reps learn in the classroom, and coaches them through how to implement the new learning and new sales skills in the boardroom.

In addition to being able to provide important context and nuance, a good sales coach will boost the sales professionals morale and confidence.

Sales Coaching can also deliver real value when helping sales managers reps focus on the right behaviours. Learning new skills is worthless unless the skill is then used in the day to day behaviours of the sales representatives.

Many clients now choose a Hybrid delivery model whereby they start a sales training programme with a traditional face to face training workshop, and then follow this up with online sales coaching. 

 “Continuous training results in 50 percent higher net sales per employee.” Brevit Group

 

Exec Sales Coaching

Our executive sales coaching has grown in popularity and the online format works particularly well for time poor sales managers.

The Exec coaching is bespoke to every Exec, however, previous engagements have helped sales leaders with identifying potential buyers, inbound sales methodology, sales strategy, management skills, understanding the buying process, communication skills for inside sales, identifying customer pain points, emotional intelligence for sales professionals and an ongoing focus to close deals and build a successful sales team.

online sales training

5. Advantages of Online Training Courses

A more flexible way to learn:

Studies show that many of today’s b2b sales teams regard online sales training as more useful than classroom-based learning. Learning helps me grow, adapt and achieve my career goals.” LinkedIn Learning Report.  
When salespeople can learn at their own pace, and at a time that suits them, they are more likely to feel engaged with the content.

In addition, they can even access the material in the comfort of their own homes in many cases. Some salespeople will inevitably learn quicker than others, so each sales rep can learn at their own pace rather than receiving training at the pace of the group which maybe too fast or too slow for them.

Most courses are simply accessed via a course link from your PC or mobile device which makes the learning process much easier for the user.

A Bite Sized Approach to Learning

Many sales people prefer the bite size approach our online learning offers. With this approach, they can take in 90 minute segments of content at a time and avoid being overloaded with information.

We typically deliver our courses which contain 4 modules at a rate of 1 module per week.  This allows participants to take in, absorb and most importantly go away and practice the new sales skills and sales strategies in between sessions. 

Nonetheless, online sales programs shouldn’t replace face to face learning completely.  Classroom-based training still offers certain benefits for your businesses, and we believe you should take advantage of both learning methods.

Keeping Your Team Productive

In-person or face to face sales training remains relevant, but it can harm also harm productivity. The logistics attached to arranging classroom-based learning can be very costly, not only in terms of your budget, but your time too.

Online training tends to be delivered in bite sized chunks making it easier for salespeople to consume.
In addition to the challenges of taking time out for traditional event based training, many salespeople report struggling after the training.

One or two days away from your desk usually only serves to create a backlog of work for the sales manager and reps to return to and deal with. Technological advancements with products like Microsoft Teams and learning portals have made online sales training much more effective and easier to deliver and consume.

Course Structure

Whilst traditional in person sales training has been delivered via one or two day sales courses this model does not lend itself to online delivery.

The format simply doesn’t work well with online learning, as asking sales professionals to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day is more likely to put them off learning than encourage them. Our web based sales training is structured very differently around shorter 90 minute sessions with breaks to avoid “Zoom fatigue”.

We have found that sessions lasting 2 hours are simply too long for most people, and our own online sessions are typically no longer than 90 minutes long. In addition, they are deliberately interactive in order to grab and hold the attention of participants. Rather than a one way monolog PowerPoint, every session includes interactive elements to engage participants and create a positive learning environment.

Each session in our web based sales training would normally contain some form of initial introduction and discussion on the topic, a piece of work based activity for the participants to complete, and a review conversation to capture lessons learned at the end.

Finding Specific or Bespoke Content:

Another key benefit of virtual training courses are that it’s now simpler to source the specific type of training you need.  If you require a sales course that’s specific to your industry or a problem that you’re facing, it’s easier than ever to locate people that can provide it.

Salespeople can receive their targeted sales skills training individually if they wish, or via a wider group in the sales team if Peer learning is part of the learning strategy.

Content is less likely to go off-topic when it is delivered online. They can also choose to learn at a time that suits them which helps keep the learning relevant to their needs.

Continuous Learning

We provide many advanced level online training courses for more experienced salespeople, looking to up-skill or refresh their skills, improve their techniques or go on to more leadership oriented subject matter.

A sales training course specifically for groups can also make teams more connected, help strengthen their relationships, increase collaboration, boost sales performance and provide a focus that reinforces the companies ongoing learning and development strategy.

Online training can be better suited for companies seeking continuous learning, whereas many face to face sales courses may see trainers only visit your company once or twice, per annum.

90 day sales plan free template

6. Self-Paced Sales Training Courses

We provide a limited number of Self-paced training courses online, however, we have found that instructor led training, which is delivered live is the optimum approach when engaging sales people and creating a productive learning environment.

Simply put, without engagement there will be no improvement in either sales skills or sales behaviours and any increase in sales performance from the sales team will be negligible.

Live, Instructor led training is much better at capturing and holding the attention of any sales team. In our experience, sales people are extremely busy, and when you are relying on them to find time in their day to complete self paced training it rarely happens.

Every company, every sales team has a specific nuance, a different context in terms of their approach and understanding of Selling skills, changes to sales process, sales performance, sales management and sales results. This can never be catered for in self paced learning. Participants need the ability to question, clarify and even challenge the sales trainer which is only available with instructor led training.

7. Post Training Support

Investing in your sales team is about more than just acquiring skills; it’s about cultivating a culture of continuous improvement, where knowledge drives performance and results.

Our ongoing sales training program transcends the traditional classroom model, providing a robust framework for sustained success:

  • Post-Training Coaching: We don’t stop at imparting knowledge. Our immersive 90-day sales coaching program empowers your team to internalize and master new sales techniques, ensuring practical efficacy and optimal ROI.

  • Peer-to-Peer Mastery Network: Foster cross-pollination of expertise and best practices internally through facilitated peer-to-peer coaching sessions. This collaborative environment fosters confidence, refines skillsets, and provides invaluable constructive feedback.

  • Evergreen Learning Ecosystem: We cultivate a culture of continuous learning and knowledge retention. Ongoing access to training materials, online resources, and refresher sessions keeps your team at the forefront of industry trends and best practices.

  • Victory Celebrations: Recognize and celebrate individual and team achievements, fostering a sense of purpose, reinforcing the value of continuous improvement, and fueling the fire of ambition within your sales force.

Remember, your sales team is the engine driving your success. By investing in their growth, you invest in your own.

Our complimentary consultations are your gateway to crafting a bespoke training program tailored to your unique needs and objectives. Ask any questions, discuss your vision, and let our experts build a roadmap to unleash the full potential of your sales force.

Transform your team from proficient to peak performers. Contact us today and ignite your sales engine!

8. In Conclusion

In today’s cutthroat B2B landscape, crushing your sales objectives demands more than just hustle. It requires a razor-sharp team equipped with mastery of the sales fundamentals, honed leadership skills, and the agility to adapt to ever-evolving customer needs. This is where Klozers online sales training emerges as your best choice.

Imagine:

  • Reps confidently navigating your entire sales process, from prospecting and qualification, inbound sales conversion, to objection handling, closing deals and improved customer relationships.
  • Leaders & Managers inspiring and motivating their teams, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
  • Every interaction infused with customer-centricity, building lasting relationships and repeat business.

The benefits extend far beyond your bottom line. Invest in your team’s growth with online training, and watch as their confidence soars, and their job satisfaction increases. Don’t let outdated training methods hold you back. Take the first step towards unlocking your sales potential today.

Explore our comprehensive course library, featuring everything from sales basics to inbound advanced leadership training. Download our free resources, or contact our expert team to craft a personalized training program that perfectly aligns with your unique goals.

Remember, in the competitive world of B2B sales, the only constant is change. Embrace the power of online training and equip your team with the agility and expertise to thrive in any market.

Key features we provide that will power your success:

  • Flexible, virtual learning: Train at your own pace, even for field sales teams on the go.
  • Ongoing Review: Comprehensive assessments, track progress, manage teams, and ensure everyone’s on track.
  • Live, Instructor led training: Master skills and build confidence with ongoing support.
  • Diverse skill levels: Beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses cater to every member of your team.

The future of your sales success starts now. Invest in your team, invest in online training.hips

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Designing the Best Sales Course

designing the best sales course

Designing the Best Sales Course - Top Question from Google

How do you design sales training that drives ROI?

Here’s the short answer:

  • Identify key sales goals & customer pain points. Align sales training with business objectives and address specific buyer challenges.
  • Build a data-driven curriculum. Leverage your existing sales metrics & data to tailor content and delivery methods.
  • Develop engaging learning experiences. Combine interactive workshops, role-playing, and personalized coaching for maximum impact.
  • Measure & refine for continuous improvement. Track performance metrics and adapt training to ensure ongoing ROI and team empowerment.

Data: Our tailored training programs deliver higher conversion rates and boost employee engagement by.

Call to Action: Download our free guide to designing impactful B2B sales training or schedule a consultation today!

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Designing a Sales Course That Drives Results

In the B2B sales arena, where complex solutions meet with complex decision-making, your sales team is the tip of the spear. Their skills, knowledge, and confidence directly impact your win rate and revenue. But with the sales landscape constantly evolving, off-the-shelf training programs might not be the best way forward for you.

At Klozers we are passionate about delivering results, not training.  Crazy as it may seem, there are still companies who are buying training so they can tick a box. 

Even though we deliver hundreds of our standard sales courses every year, there are times where our clients have a unique situation and benefit from the ability to create a bespoke sales training program.  We’ve put together this simple guide to help our customers design and build a customised training program. 

This helps ensure they get the most appropriate training content, which in turn, drives genuine business results.

2. Why Investing in the Best Sales Training Program Matters

In today’s competitive B2B landscape, having a highly skilled and motivated sales team is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. However, simply throwing any old sales course at your reps won’t do the trick. Investing in the best sales training program possible is the key to unlocking their true potential and driving revenue growth.

Why is this so crucial? Let’s delve into the seven key facets of why the right sales training program can be a game-changer for your business:

  • Boosted Revenue: A well-designed program equips your team with the knowledge, skills, and techniques they need to close more deals and boost your bottom line.
  • Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: When your salespeople are properly trained, they can better understand and meet the needs of your customers, leading to higher satisfaction levels and repeat business.
  • Stronger Brand Reputation: A team that consistently delivers excellent customer service through effective sales calls and meetings can help build a positive reputation for your brand.
  • Reduced Onboarding Time: A well-structured program can help get new salespeople up to speed quickly, reducing onboarding time and maximizing their productivity.
  • Elevated Employee Morale: Salespeople who feel confident and competent in their abilities are more likely to be engaged and motivated, leading to higher morale and lower turnover rates.
  • Sharpened Sales Skills: The program should teach essential skills like developing personalized presentations, overcoming objections, and building rapport, crucial for effective sales interactions.
  • Ongoing Focus on Learning: The best programs offer continuous learning opportunities through regular updates, online courses, and ongoing support, ensuring your team stays ahead of the curve.

So, what makes a sales training program the “best”?

There are many factors to consider, but some of the most important include:

  • Relevance: The content should be relevant to your specific industry, target market, and sales process.
  • Engagement: The program should be engaging and interactive, using a variety of methods to keep learners motivated.
  • Practical Application: The focus should be on teaching skills that can be applied in real-world sales situations.
  • Measurement: The program should have a clear way to measure its effectiveness, so you can track ROI and make improvements as needed.

By investing in a comprehensive sales training program, you give sales teams the tools they need to succeed. Remember, it’s not just about finding the most popular sales courses or the lowest price. It’s about finding the program that aligns perfectly with your specific business needs and empowers your team to build lasting relationships, win more deals, and ultimately, drive sustainable growth for your company.

Ready to take the next step? Explore the vast array of online and in-person training options available, from top-rated programs like Klozers.  There’s a perfect program out there waiting to transform your sales team into a force to be reckoned with.

Remember, the investment you make in sales training today is an investment in the future of your business. Choose wisely, and watch your sales soar!

3. What Constitutes a Sales Training Course?

At Klozers all our courses are modular.  This means that each course is made up of either 4 or 8 modules (1 or 2 day courses).  These modules can be swapped for other modules at no charge. 

Each of our modules last 90 minutes, so on a typical one-day training course we would deliver 2 modules in the morning and 2 modules in the afternoon.  This is obviously then replicated for our two-day courses.  The 90-minute modules allow time for breaks, and ensure the participants are never overloaded with information in any one session.

We’ve included a course agenda below as an example of what a typical 1 day sales training course would look like:  

b2b sales consultancy

4. How Bespoke can the Training Content be?

With Klozers modular framework clients can design and create their own sales training course using any of the modules listed below at for no additional charge.  Our modules are based on what we call the four “high value areas of sales” which are Finding, Klozing, Growing and Developing. 

Regardless of what industry you are in the more time that your sales reps focus on finding companies/people to sell to, once they find them they have to take the prospect through a process to Kloze them and then once they have done all this hard work they need to Grow and keep their new customer.  The last quadrant is “Developing” which is all about continuously developing your sales team in terms of productivity, skills and mindset.

For organisations that need a modules and a course designed exclusively for them, we charge extra for that design time.  In terms of costs this varies based on your individual requirements. 

This way the course can be up to 100% designed and bespoke to the needs of your organisation.

b2b sales consultancy

5. Choosing the Right Sales Training Modules

The training modules listed for each of our sales training courses on the website are the most popular modules for that particular course.  Indeed, many companies take our sales training courses as is, however, you are equally welcome to change the modules if you believe there is another module that is more suitable. 

In order to ensure that you are choosing the right modules you can follow our simple guide below:

Step 1: Diagnosing your Sales Training Needs

Think of your sales department as a high-performance engine. Before making any adjustments to increase performance, you need a thorough diagnostic. Here’s how you can do this:

  • Data Dive: Analyze sales metrics, KPIs, customer feedback, and call recordings to identify common strengths and weaknesses. Areas like prospecting, objection handling, closing techniques or sales process might need to be a focus.
  • Skill Gap Assessment: Use questionnaires or interviews to gauge individual skill levels and knowledge gaps. Are they comfortable navigating complex conversations? Can they effectively showcase your value proposition? What sales skills do they need to improve to get to the next level?
  • Stakeholder Interviews: Talk to sales managers, marketing, and even customers to understand expectations, challenges, and desired outcomes. What specific behaviours would boost win rates?
  • OKRs: If your sales team uses an OKR framework you can design the training in a way that supports the delivery of the OKRs.  What skills do they need to deliver their OKRs? Which OKRs are they struggling with? 
  • Sales Strategy:  You may have a new sales strategy that requires the sales team to approach sales in a different way.  For example: can your sales reps open new markets in a different vertical?  Can your sales professionals reach and hold a conversation with senior level decision makers in Enterprise accounts? Is your strategy focussed on inbound sales from new accounts, or are your nurturing existing customer relationships.

Step 2: Architect the Curriculum

Imagine your training as a strategic roadmap, guiding your team from Point A (current state) to Point B (sales mastery).

  • Define Learning Objectives: what would you like the sales team to be able to do that they currently cannot?  What would you like your sales teams to be better at, than they currently are?
  • Training Modules: Break down the roadmap into logical modules addressing identified skill gaps. This could include prospecting strategies, value proposition development, negotiation tactics, or customer relationship management.
  • Choose the Delivery Method: Will it be in-person / instructor led workshops, live online sales training, pre-recorded online sales training, blended learning, or a mix? Consider your team’s preferences, learning styles, and geographical spread. As a guide currently our most popular delivery method is hybrid where we start the project with a one-day in-person workshop which is then reinforced by 90 days of remote sales coaching.  

Step 3: Inject Real-World Relevance

Textbook scenarios rarely capture the dynamic B2B reality. To make your training impactful, inject real-world relevance.  So where possible we recommend you include:

  • Include senior people: Peer learning can be very powerful and by including senior people from your team they can help the participants connect the training to real world scenarios from their personal experience.  
  • Role-Playing: Consider setting aside one of your modules for roleplay so we can simulate real-world sales interactions like prospecting calls, customer presentations, or objection handling. This allows your team to practice in a safe environment, fostering confidence and refining their skills.

 Step 4: Accountability

Learning is great, however, implementing what is learned is equally important.  It’s vital to consider how you plan to hold the sales representatives accountable to integrating what they have learned into their daily sales behaviours.  This should be carried out by the sales leaders in the organisation.

  • Action Plans: All the courses include an “Action Plan” for participants to complete. 

It’s important that their line manager follows up on this after the training in order to hold participants accountable. 

 

Step 5: Measure and Monitor Success

Training isn’t a one-time event. To ensure sustained impact, you need to measure and monitor success:

  • Pre- and Post-Training Assessments: Use the same assessments used in Step 1 to track individual and team skill development. Have they closed the identified skill gaps?
  • Performance Metrics: Monitor sales data after the training. Did win rates increase? Average deal size? Time to close deals, Sales Process compliance. 
  • Team Feedback: Conduct surveys or interviews to gather feedback on the training’s effectiveness, engagement, and areas for improvement.

 

 

KLOZERS SALES TRAINING COURSES

KLOZERS SALES TRAINING MODULES (90 mins each)

Sales Fundamentals (Level 100)

Building your Sales Pipeline

Questioning Techniques

Objection

Handling Techniques

The Art of Klozing

AI for Sales

(Level 200)

Pre-call Intelligence & Strategic Targeting

Data Driven Negotiation and Deal Structuring

Hyper personalised engagement & Relationship Building

Competitive Intelligence and Strategic Differentiation

Consultative Selling Skills (Level 200)

Consultative Selling Intro

Building a Value Proposition

Collaborative Problem Solving

Negotiation, Klozing & Customer Success

Solution Selling (Level 200)

Uncovering Customer Buying Motives

Building a Value Proposition

Mastering the Sales Conversation

Klozing & Building Long Term Partnerships

SaaS Sales Training (SDRs) (Level 200)

Sales Mindset

Building a Value Proposition

Outbound Sales Prospecting

Needs Assessment Discovery & Qualifying

SaaS Sales Training (AEs)

(Level 200)

Pre-demo Preparation

Selling Value not Price

SaaS Product Demos

Objection

Handling Techniques

LinkedIn Sales Training

(Level 200)

Building your LinkedIn Sales Arsenal

The Art of Persuasive Communication

Mastering the Sales Conversation

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Telephone Sales Training (Level 200)

Sales Mindset

Building a Value Proposition

Telephone Sales Roleplay

Live Calling with Coaching

90 Day Sales Planning

(Level 100, 200 & 300)

Principals of 90 Day Planning

Creating an Effective Action Plan

Communication & Collaboration

Accountability & Motivation

Outbound Lead Generation

(Level 200)

Building a Value Proposition

Cold Email Outreach

LinkedIn Selling Skills

Telephone Sales Skills

Inbound Lead Generation (Day 1 of 2)

(Level 200)

Introduction and Case Study Review

Strategy and Planning

Creating content that converts

Building High Value Assets

Inbound Lead Generation (Day 2 of 2)

(Level 200)

Technical Requirements and Set up

Selling Online

Measurements & Reporting

Action Planning

Key Account Management (Day 1 of 2) (Level 300)

Unlocking the Power of Key Accounts

Understanding the Enterprise Landscape

Building Trusted Relationships

 

Crafting a Winning Key Account Plan

Key Account Management (Day 2 of 2) (Level 300)

Sales Negotiation and Deal Structuring

Implementing Your Key Account Strategy

Maintaining and Growing Key Accounts

The Future of Key Account Management

Sales Negotiation Training (Level 300)

Foundation of B2B Negotiations

Planning & Preparation

Mastering the Negotiation Dance

Beyond the Deal

Enterprise Sales Training

(Level 300)

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs.

Bespoke Sales Training

(Level 100, 200 & 300)

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

This course content is customised to meet your exact needs

Sales Management & Leadership

(Level 300)

Sales Benchmarking & Improvement Planning

Sales Leadership Styles

Sales Performance & Coaching

Hiring Sales Winners

6. Example: Building a "Value Selling" Masterclass

This is much simpler and easier than most people think, so here’s an example of these steps in action, and used to design a bespoke “Value Selling” masterclass for a B2B software company with customised modules based on their individual requirements:

  • Diagnose: Sales data reveals low win rates for high-value deals. Customer interviews point to weak value proposition articulation throughout the sales process.
  • Architect: The 1 day curriculum includes 4 x modules on 1) identifying customer pain points via consultative  questioning techniques, 2) building compelling value propositions, 3) storytelling in sales presentations, 4. Objection handling and closing techniques.
  • Real-World: Case studies analyze successful high-value deals within the company. Role-playing within the  sessions simulate questioning techniques, value presentations and objection handling.
  • Engage: Interactive exercises help participants build personalized value propositions. Peers from within the business who are regularly above target share their stories.
  • Monitor: Win rates for high-value deals are tracked monthly. Post-training feedback assesses the course’s effectiveness in improving value selling skills.

Remember, your bespoke sales training course is an investment, not a cost. By crafting unique sales training programs tailored to your unique challenges and opportunities, you’ll empower your sales team to become top sales performers. They’ll not just push products, but become trusted advisors, crafting solutions that perfectly align with customer needs and unlock mutual value. This leads to stronger relationships, higher win rates, and ultimately, sustainable business growth.

7. Sales Manager Training

The single biggest influence on any B2B sales professional’s success is their immediate line manager. Great managers create great sales reps, but sales management courses can give them the tools and techniques to be truly impactful. Delivering initial training sessions focused on the entire sales cycle, from inbound sales methodology to account management, is crucial. But to ensure your sales teams learn effectively, their line managers need to be on board too.

The right online sales course or onsite training program for sales leaders, ideally before rolling out training to the wider organization, can significantly improve your chances of sales success. Comprehensive courses from Klozers, focusing on business development, customer acquisition, and building trust, can equip managers to lead and support their teams effectively. They’ll learn specific techniques for nurturing leads, developing personal brands, and closing deals, with real-world exercises and actionable insights to solidify their learning.

Our free virtual courses can offer a convenient and accessible starting point for sales fundamentals, while more in-depth courses with sales simulations provide ongoing learning and enhanced user experience. Regardless of the format, choose a program with a similar structure to your sales process, covering aspects like price points, overcoming resistance, and handling objections. Most importantly, it should help managers build trust with their teams and cater to their specific needs.

Leading sales isn’t just about individual performance; it’s about team dynamics and collaboration. Sales team training programs focused on building trust, developing communication skills, and fostering a customer-centric approach can make a significant difference. These programs can teach managers how to effectively build support for new strategies and initiatives, while also providing them with the tools to manage their teams efficiently and mentor individual members.

Remember, the best sales training programs are those that are unique and tailored to your company’s specific needs. Consider factors like your industry, sales process, and target audience when choosing a program. Whether it’s focusing on digital products or mastering complex sales cycles, the right training can equip your sales managers to accelerate your business growth and lead your team to win more deals.

So, invest in your sales management team with the right training. It’s not just about improving individual skills; it’s about building a high-performing sales organization that can consistently attract customers, close deals, and drive sustainable growth.

8. Post Training Support

Here are some additional ideas to take your bespoke training to the next level:

  • Coaching: Consider our 90 day post coaching support to help your team internalise what they have learned during the training. 
  • Peer Coaching: Encourage peer-to-peer mentorship and practice sessions. This allows team members to learn from each other, share best practices, and provide constructive feedback in a supportive environment.
  • Ongoing Reinforcement: Don’t let the learning stop! We can provide ongoing access to training materials, online resources, and refresher sessions to ensure continual skill development and knowledge retention.
  • Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate individual and team achievements. This keeps the momentum going, motivates further learning, and reinforces the value of continuous improvement.

Remember, your sales team is your engine of success – invest in your people, and watch your business soar.

We provide free consultations where you can ask any further questions you might have about specific aspects of creating your bespoke training course. We’re here to help you turn your sales team into sales champions!

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Klozers Bolsters Leadership Team

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Klozers Bolsters Leadership Team with Appointment of Marc Smit as General Manager to Drive Expansion

Smit brings over 30 years of sales expertise and 17 + years in training experience to Klozers

[Edinburgh, United Kingdom – 01/11/2023]

UK based Klozers, a leading provider of sales training and coaching, today announced the opening of its new European Headquarters in Amersfoort, Netherlands, in conjunction with the appointment of Marc Smit as General Manager.  The decision follows increased demand in Europe for their range of Professional Selling programmes throughout 2023.

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

New European Office

Klozers Founder and Managing Director, Iain Swanston said “We are forecasting record growth for the mainland of Europe, mainly in the DACH and Benelux regions.  Our new Amersfoort, NL office and the appointment of Marc Smit as General Manager, represents our commitment to our existing clients in the region.  Marc has a great track record, not just in sales education, but also in Business Development, and we are looking forward to working with him.”

Smit brings over 17 years of experience in the sales training industry working at the highest level.  Most recently, Smit worked as Partner at the European Institute for Sales, and previously as a Sales Performance Consultant at Miller Heiman where he helped clients achieve significant sales growth and profitability.

In his new role Smit will be responsible for leading Klozers Global Accounts Team and developing Klozers Worldwide Partner Delivery Network.

“We are thrilled to have Marc join our team,” said Iain Swanston, CEO of Klozers.  “His extensive experience in sales training and his proven track record of success make him the ideal person to lead our new European operations.  We are confident that under Marc’s leadership, we will continue to grow, expand our business, and help our clients achieve even greater success. “

Smit is a highly respected sales training expert and consultant.  He is also a certified Miller Heiman Sales Performance Consultant and is passionate about helping sales professionals and sales teams improve their skills and achieve their goals. 

“I am excited to join Klozers and lead the company’s growth and expansion.“ said Smit.  “Klozers is a leader in the sales training industry, and I am committed to helping our clients achieve even greater success.  I look forward to working with our team to develop and implement new sales training programmes and solutions that meet the needs of our clients.

About Klozers

Klozers is a leading provider of professional sales training and coaching.  The company offers a wide range of sales training programmes, exec sales coaching and consulting services.  Klozers clients include Fortune 500 as well as mid-market and large SMEs.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

15 Energizing Sales Kickoff Themes for Your Team

sales kickoff themes

Sales Kickoff Themes - Top Question from Google

What Should be Included in a Sales Kickoff?

Here’s the short answer:

Sales Kickoff Essentials:
– Visionary Leadership: Set clear goals and expectations, inspiring the sales team.
– Comprehensive Product Training: Make sales reps product experts.
– Skill Enhancement: Use role-playing and case studies to sharpen selling skills.
– Recognition and Rewards: Acknowledge achievements to fuel competitiveness.
– Team-Building Activities: Foster camaraderie and collaboration.
– Open Communication: Establish feedback channels for brainstorming and improvement.

A successful sales kickoff is a dynamic blend of motivation, education, and team cohesion setting the scene for the upcoming quarter/year.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

15 Energising Sales Kickoff Theme Ideas

Start: Setting the Stage for Triumph –

Before we immerse ourselves in these sales kickoff themes, let’s decipher the essence of their significance. The art of choosing a theme lies in its power to elevate team spirits, engender unity, and steer your sales squadron toward realizing their objectives. It marks the inception of aligning your team’s endeavors with the overarching goals of your enterprise.

  1. Theme 1: “Unleashing the Inner Dynamo”

    This theme is an expedition into the latent potential residing within your sales troupe. It beckons them to unearth their inherent strengths, surmount challenges, and tap into their latent capabilities. Facilitate workshops and motivational dialogues to kindle the flames of ambition within them.

  2. Theme 2: “Expedition to Excellence”

    Sales, much like life, is a continuous odyssey rather than a static destination. This kickoff spotlights an unwavering pursuit of improvement and excellence. Share stories from your team of individuals who embarked at the very base and scaled the organisational peaks of through sheer dedication and hard work.

  3. Theme 3: “Sales Olympics Extravaganza”

    Transform your kickoff into a spirited competition. Assemble teams, appoint captains, and bestow sales targets with the aura of “medals.” Recognize and reward the champions, rendering the event as exhilarating as the Olympic Games 😉 

  4. Theme 4: “Masters of the Cosmic Market”

    Infuse a celestial dimension into your event, spotlighting the vast expanse of opportunities within the sales cosmos. Empower your team to think expansively, venture into uncharted territories, and metamorphose into the sovereigns of their sales galaxies. Think BAG – Big Ambitious Goals.

  5. Theme 5: “Customer-Centric Champions”

    Shift the spotlight onto the customer. Remind your team that they are not just selling products, but are, in fact, problem solvers and fulfillers of needs. Foster a customer-centric approach in every sales interaction.

  6. Theme 6: “Innovate, or Dissipate”

    Innovation stands as the linchpin to remaining at the vanguard of the sales arena. Challenge your team to traverse the realms of ingenuity, seek novel solutions, and adapt swiftly to the ever-evolving sales landscape.

  7. Theme 7: “Rise and Shine: Morning Motivation”

    Start your kickoff with an invigorating morning session, replete with rituals, exercises, and motivational oratories to infuse your team with an electrifying surge for the day ahead.

  8. Theme 8: “Sales Safari: Conquering New Horizons”

    Lead your team on an allegorical safari, exploring fresh markets and territories as if they were uncharted, exotic realms. Cultivate excitement regarding the journey of conquering these untrodden territories.

  9. Theme 9: “Sales Superheroes Unite”

    Shine a light on the extraordinary capabilities that your sales cadre possesses. Analogize them to superheroes, emphasizing their ability to swoop in and save the day for their clientele.

  10. Theme 10: “Dominating with Data”

    In the era of data analytics, unveil the potency of insights to your team. Harness data-driven strategies to amplify sales and educate them on the art of harnessing analytics for success.

  11. Theme 11: “Harmonious Sales Symphony”

    Draw a parallel between the sales process and a symphony. Every member assumes a pivotal role, and collectively, they orchestrate a harmonious melody. The emphasis here is on teamwork and unity.

  12. Theme 12: “Champions of Adaptability”

    Acknowledge the inevitability of change. Encourage your team to welcome change with open arms, adapt nimbly, and thrive amidst the dynamic sales world.

  13. Theme 13: “Globetrotters of Sales”

    Accentuate the global dimension of sales. Spotlight success narratives from diverse corners of the globe, (does a globe have corners?) underscoring the immense opportunities presented by a global marketplace.

  14. Theme 14: “Decoding the Success Formula”

    Unveil the clandestine ingredients of prosperity within your industry. Furnish insights and strategies that have consistently served as the harbinger of triumph.

  15. Theme 15: “Future-Proofing Your Sales Journey”

    Bring your kickoff to a close by casting your gaze into the future. Engage in discussions about emerging trends and technologies, enlightening your team on how to stay ahead of the curve.

Conclusion: Transmuting Inspiration into Triumph

A successful and memorable sales kickoff event transcends the realm of motivation; it drives genuine behavioural change. Armed with the perfect theme, you have the potential to establish a stage for a year brimming with extraordinary sales accomplishments.

Sales Kickoff Speakers

Bonus - 5 Virtual Sales Kickoff Ideas

 

1. Cyber Odyssey:
Transform your virtual sales kickoff into a futuristic cyber adventure. Invite your sales team members to embark on a virtual journey through a digital realm filled with challenges, puzzles, and opportunities. Each milestone reached could represent a sales goal or a new product launch. Use gamification elements and immersive technology to keep everyone engaged and motivated.

2. Around the World in Sales Days:
Take your sales team on a virtual world tour, exploring different global markets and cultures. Each day of the kickoff could focus on a different region, with presentations, market insights, and sales strategies specific to that area. Encourage team members to dress up in traditional attire, and feature virtual tours or guest speakers from each region.

3. Salespalooza Carnival:
Create a virtual sales carnival with a lively and fun atmosphere. Set up virtual “booths” for various sales-related activities, such as product demos, sales strategy games, and skill-building workshops. Participants can earn “tickets” or points for participating and achieving specific goals, which they can later redeem for prizes.

4. Sci-Fi Sales Summit:
Transport your sales team to a futuristic sci-fi universe where innovative technology and cutting-edge sales techniques are the norm. Create a virtual environment that resembles a space station, complete with holographic presentations and futuristic sales tools. Explore AI-driven sales, virtual reality demos, and discussions about the future of sales.

5. Sales Olympics:
Turn your virtual kickoff into a competitive sports-themed event. Assign different sales teams to “countries” and have them compete in a series of sales challenges and games throughout the event. Award medals or trophies for the highest achievers, and encourage friendly rivalry to boost motivation and engagement.

These unique virtual sales kickoff themes can add excitement, creativity and motivate team members for the next quarter.

Final Thoughts on Sales Kickoffs

Creating the right sales kickoff theme is crucial for a successful event. Whether it’s a yearly in-person gathering, or a virtual meeting, the theme you choose can really affect how motivated and unified your sales team is. A well-chosen theme not only keeps your team interested but also helps them understand your company’s solutions, sales strategy, and goals for the coming year.

For virtual sales kickoffs, coming up with creative ideas is important to keep everyone engaged, especially if people are joining from different places. This can include things like interactive sessions, inspiring speakers, and fun online activities. These ideas help your sales team improve their skills and understand how to sell better, setting the stage for future success.

A good sales theme can also help your sales and marketing teams work together better to achieve your company’s goals. By getting your team involved in team-building activities, training, and discussions about your sales strategy, you create an environment where everyone is motivated to work together.

In the end, a successful sales kickoff starts with picking an exciting theme and ends with everyone growing and working together as a team. This leads to a better way of selling that brings success in the year ahead.

Frequently asked questions on Sales Kickoffs

Answers from the team:

1. How can I pinpoint the ideal sales kickoff theme for my team?

   – Delve into your sales team members persona, aspirations, and the narrative you wish to convey. Select a theme that resonates with team members and will boost team morale. 

2. What components should be integrated into a sales kickoff event?

   – Your sales kickoff agenda should include: success stories, sales presentations, training sessions, workshops, inspirational speeches, team-building activities, and a clear roadmap for the upcoming year are the cornerstones.

3. How can I gauge the effectiveness of a sales kickoff event?

   – Monitor sales performance, team engagement levels, and feedback garnered from attendees to gauge the event’s influence.

4. Can a sales kickoff event be run as a virtual sales kickoff?

   – Yes, with the right tools and meticulous planning, a virtual sales kickoff event can be equally impactful.

5. How frequently should I organize a sales kickoff event?

   – While an annual sales kickoff is typical, consider the possibility of conducting such events on a quarterly or semi-annual basis to sustain ongoing motivation and enthusiasm.

 

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Verkaufstraining für Hochschulabsolventen

***ZUR SOFORTIGEN VERÖFFENTLICHUNG***

Klozers beginnt mit der Mission, Universitätsabsolventen durch kostenlose Bildung zu fördern, mit dem Ziel, 100.000 Absolventen eine Karriere im Vertrieb zu ermöglichen.

[Edinburgh, Vereinigtes Königreich – 05/09/2023

Klozers, ein führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der B2B-Verkaufsschulung, ist stolz darauf, eine bahnbrechende Mission anzukündigen, die sich der Förderung der nächsten Generation von Verkaufsprofis widmet. Unsere Mission ist klar: Wir wollen die nächste Generation von Vertriebsprofis mit den grundlegenden Fähigkeiten ausstatten, die sie brauchen, um in der modernen Vertriebslandschaft zu bestehen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, 100.000 Hochschulabsolventen kostenlos eine erstklassige Vertriebsschulung zukommen zu lassen, weil wir der festen Überzeugung sind, dass Bildung kein Hindernis für den Erfolg sein sollte.

Es gibt einen neuen Weg, den Umsatz zu steigern...

Kaufen Sie kein Verkaufstraining, bevor Sie dieses Video gesehen haben…

Warum wir uns engagieren

  1. 1 von 8 Arbeitsplätzen ist im Vertrieb angesiedelt: Der Verkauf ist einer der größten Beschäftigungsbereiche, und die Kommunikationsfähigkeiten, die für den Verkauf in der modernen Welt erforderlich sind, sind auch in anderen Funktionen außerhalb des Verkaufs wichtig.

  2. Hochschulabsolventen brauchen Hilfe: Es ist wohl schwieriger denn je, einen Arbeitsplatz zu finden und zu behalten. Außerdem verlassen viele Hochschulabsolventen die Universität mit einem hohen Schuldenberg, und der erste Schritt auf der Karriereleiter ist enorm wichtig.

  3. Befähigung der Arbeitskräfte: Wir bei Klozers wissen, dass gut ausgebildete, qualifizierte Absolventen das Lebenselixier erfolgreicher Unternehmen sind. Durch die Vermittlung von Wissen und Fachkenntnissen zur Navigation in der Vertriebslandschaft befähigen wir die Arbeitskräfte und tragen zum Wachstum und Wohlstand von großen und kleinen Unternehmen bei.

  4. Überbrückung der Qualifikationslücke: In der sich schnell entwickelnden Welt des modernen Vertriebs ist es von größter Bedeutung, relevant zu bleiben. Wir bieten umfassende Module zu wichtigen Themen wie dem Aufbau einer Vertriebspipeline, der Beherrschung von Fragetechniken, der Überwindung von Einwänden und der Kunst des Abschlusses, um sicherzustellen, dass die Absolventen in der Lage sind, sich auf dem heutigen wettbewerbsorientierten Markt zu behaupten.

  5. Langfristige Karrieren: Unser Engagement für kostenlose Bildung geht über die Zahlen hinaus; es geht darum, Absolventen zu fördern und ihre Kompetenzentwicklung zu unterstützen. Indem wir in die frühe Wachstumsphase von Hochschulabsolventen investieren, können wir ihnen die Vorteile einer Karriere im Vertrieb näher bringen.

  6. Wirtschaftlichen Wohlstand fördern: Befähigte Absolventen führen zu florierenden Unternehmen, dynamischen Branchen und wohlhabenden Volkswirtschaften. Mit unserem Auftrag leisten wir einen aktiven Beitrag zum wirtschaftlichen Wohlstand der Wirtschaft und der Gesellschaft im Allgemeinen. Dies ist unsere Art, etwas zurückzugeben.

Wie Sie sich uns anschließen können

Wir laden die Geschäftswelt ein, sich mit uns auf diese transformative Reise zu begeben. Gehen Sie eine Partnerschaft mit Klozers ein, und lassen Sie uns gemeinsam den Weg für 100.000 Hochschulabsolventen ebnen, damit sie ihr wahres Potenzial im Vertrieb entfalten können.

Ihre Unterstützung ist nicht nur eine Investition in die Zukunft Ihres Unternehmens, sondern auch in die Zukunft einer ganzen Generation, die eine bessere Zukunft für alle schaffen wird.

Schließen Sie sich uns an, wenn wir eine Gemeinschaft qualifizierter, selbstbewusster und erfolgreicher Vertriebsprofis aufbauen, die die Geschäftswelt voranbringen.

Werden Sie Partner von Klozers und werden Sie zum Katalysator für Veränderung und Gutes – und ermöglichen Sie 100.000 Hochschulabsolventen, sich im Vertrieb zu behaupten, und zwar völlig kostenlos.

Hier finden Sie alle kostenlosen Kurse: Online-Kurse – Klozers

Für Medienanfragen wenden Sie sich bitte an:

Iain Swanston – Vertrieb @ klozers.com

Über Klozers:

Klozers ist ein führender Anbieter von B2B-Vertriebsschulungen, der es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht hat, die nächste Generation von Vertriebsprofis mit den Fähigkeiten und dem Wissen auszustatten, die sie benötigen, um sich in der modernen Vertriebslandschaft zu behaupten. Unser Ziel ist es, Hindernisse für den Erfolg zu beseitigen, indem wir 100.000 Absolventen kostenlos eine moderne Verkaufsschulung anbieten und so zu Wachstum und Wohlstand der Wirtschaft beitragen.

“Eine fantastische Lernerfahrung”

Amanda – Kundenbetreuerin

Simulationen zum Verkaufstraining

Verkaufstrainingssimulationen - Top-Frage von Google

Was ist eine Verkaufssimulation?

Hier ist die kurze Antwort:

Eine Vertriebssimulation nutzt reale Verkaufs- und Kundendienstszenarien, um Unternehmen einen echten Einblick in ihre Vertriebssysteme und -prozesse zu geben. Darüber hinaus vermitteln sie den Mitarbeitern die Fähigkeiten und das Wissen, das sie benötigen, um in ihren Aufgaben zu brillieren und den Kunden einen außergewöhnlichen Service zu bieten.

In this article we will cover...

Es gibt einen neuen Weg, den Umsatz zu steigern...

Kaufen Sie kein Verkaufstraining, bevor Sie dieses Video gesehen haben…

1. Spielverändernde Erfahrungen

Klozers Sales Training Simulation wurde entwickelt, um Unternehmen zu helfen, das Kundenerlebnis zu revolutionieren. Unter Verwendung bewährter Planspieltechniken und fachkundiger Moderation führt unsere Simulation die Teilnehmer zur Entdeckung und Anwendung von Best-Practice-Methoden, die in der Praxis Anwendung finden.

Die Simulation ist ein mächtiger Katalysator, um die Herzen und Köpfe einer Organisation zu gewinnen , die sich in diese Richtung bewegt:

  • Modernisierte Kundenerlebnisse
  • Eine einheitliche, kundenorientierte Vision und Kultur
  • Optimierte Kundenbetreuung und Erfolgsmodelle
  • Erhöhte Kundenbindung und Kundenzufriedenheit
  • Passende Kunden mit Wachstums- und Erfolgspotenzial

2. Optionen für Trainingssimulationen

Wir bieten derzeit drei Simulationsspiele/Szenarien an, die auf folgenden Themen basieren:

a) Unternehmenswachstumsspiel

Die Gewinnung neuer Kunden ist nicht mehr die alleinige Aufgabe der Vertriebsmitarbeiter. Durch die Zusammenarbeit können Unternehmen schnelleres Wachstum und messbare Ergebnisse erzielen.
Unser Spiel zum Unternehmenswachstum führt Ihr gesamtes Team an einem Tag durch eine 2-jährige Geschäftsumwandlung. Indem wir den Mitarbeitern die Möglichkeit geben, das Unternehmen mit den Augen des Kunden zu sehen, helfen wir Ihnen, eine Strategie und einen Plan zur Beschleunigung Ihres Wachstums zu entwickeln.
Das Simulationstraining führt Ihre Teams durch den gesamten Verkaufszyklus, vom ersten Verkaufsgespräch über den Abschluss von Geschäften bis hin zum Onboarding und zur Erneuerung.

b) Verkaufs- und Marketingschulung

Die Vorstellung, dass Vertrieb und Marketing unterschiedliche Einheiten innerhalb eines Unternehmens sind, hat ausgedient. Moderne dynamische Unternehmen folgen nicht mehr dem traditionellen Vertriebs- und Marketingmodell. Sie richten ihre Teams auf Wachstum aus, und unsere Simulation demonstriert in Echtzeit-Szenarien, wie Sie Ihre Vertriebs- und Marketingprozesse beschleunigen können.

Die Simulationen bauen auf früheren Vertriebsschulungen Ihres Vertriebsteams auf und helfen Vertriebsmanagern zu demonstrieren, wie sich alltägliche Vertriebsentscheidungen, Vertriebsprozesse und Vertriebsmitarbeiter an der Front auf das gesamte Kundenerlebnis auswirken.

Diese neuen Fähigkeiten helfen Vertriebsprofis bei der Abwicklung komplexer Verkaufsgeschäfte und bilden die Grundlage jeder effektiven Vertriebsentwicklungsstrategie.

c) Umgestaltung des Kundendienstes

Abwanderung und niedrige CSAT-Werte verhindern im besten Fall jedes Wachstum und im schlimmsten Fall das Ende Ihres Unternehmens. Unsere Schulungssimulation führt Ihr Team durch die Systeme und Prozesse, um Verbesserungen im Kundenservice und im Vertrieb zu erzielen.

Durch die Bereitstellung realer Szenarien in einer risikofreien Umgebung helfen wir den Teams, ihr Selbstvertrauen zu stärken, ihre Fähigkeiten zum kritischen Denken zu entwickeln und letztendlich Verkaufserfolge zu erzielen.

3. Live und interaktive Dashboards

Wir verwenden hochmoderne Business-Dashboards, die so beschleunigt sind, dass die Spieler die Ergebnisse ihrer Entscheidungen und Aktionen während des Spiels in Echtzeit sehen können.

Der Gesamtzusammenhang eines jeden Spiels besteht immer darin, die Organisation erfolgreicher zu machen. Darüber hinaus bieten wir Dashboards für jede “Abteilung” an, damit sie ein besseres Verständnis für die Probleme und Herausforderungen innerhalb dieser Rollen erhalten.

Jedes Spiel besteht aus drei Runden, in denen alle Mitglieder des Verkaufsteams die Möglichkeit haben, zu lernen und die Änderungen umzusetzen, die ihrer Meinung nach das Unternehmen voranbringen. Live-Ranglisten zeigen, wo die Organisation im Vergleich zu ihren Konkurrenten steht, damit das Spiel realistisch ist.

sales training simulations

4. Beurteilungen und Fahrpläne

Während das Spielen einer Trainingssimulation viel Spaß macht und zur Verbesserung der Kultur und der Teambildung im Unternehmen beiträgt, ist es wichtig, dass jedes Spiel einen geschäftlichen Nutzen bringt.

Zu diesem Zweck haben wir unseren eigenen Schulungsprozess entwickelt und verwenden vor der Schulung eine Reihe von Bewertungen, die es uns ermöglichen, die einzigartigen Herausforderungen und Geschäftsprobleme in jeder Abteilung zu erkennen. Unsere Moderatoren konzentrieren sich dann während des Spiels auf diese Themen und bringen die Spieler ins Gespräch darüber, was und wie verbessert werden muss.

Wir arbeiten auch im Voraus mit Ihren Lern- und Entwicklungsteams zusammen, um die Lernziele zu ermitteln, die sie mit der Simulation erreichen wollen.

Der vorletzte Schritt im Prozess ist die Erstellung von Verbesserungsplänen und Fahrplänen, um sicherzustellen, dass alle Lernpunkte erfasst und anschließend umgesetzt werden.

Und schließlich stehen unsere Ausbilder bereit, um Soft Skills und Verkaufstrainings zu vermitteln, die Ihre Kundendienst- und Verkaufsteams auf die nächste Stufe heben sollen.

5. Bewältigung der Herausforderungen Ihrer Kunden

Braucht Ihr Unternehmen Unterstützung bei:

1. Hohe Kunden- und Mitarbeiterabwanderung

Dies deutet auf einen Mangel an Zufriedenheit und Loyalität hin, was dem Ruf und der Rentabilität des Unternehmens schaden kann.

2. Schlecht geeignete Kunden mit geringem Wachstumspotenzial

Ohne ein Verständnis für den strategischen Unternehmensverkauf können einige Kunden Ressourcen aufbrauchen und das Unternehmenswachstum behindern.

3. Kundenerfahrungen mit geringer Zufriedenheit

Geringe Zufriedenheit kann zu geringerer Kundentreue und negativer Mund-zu-Mund-Propaganda führen, was dem Ruf und den Einnahmen eines Unternehmens schadet.

4. Verletzte Dienstleistungsziele

Das Verfehlen von Servicezielen kann zu unzufriedenen Kunden, geringem Vertrauen, verpassten Chancen und Umsatzeinbußen führen.

5. Abgeschottete Organisationen, Informationen und Mentalitäten

Ein Mangel an effektiver Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit kann zu Ineffizienzen führen, die Produktivität verringern und Innovationen behindern.

6. Mangelnde Skalierbarkeit und Nachhaltigkeit

Dies kann das langfristige Wachstum eines Unternehmens verhindern und seine Fähigkeit einschränken, sich an veränderte Marktbedingungen anzupassen und die aktuelle und künftige Kundennachfrage zu erfüllen,

7. Ineffiziente und kostspielige Prozesse

Dies kann zu Produktivitätseinbußen, Kostensteigerungen und Rentabilitätseinbußen führen, die letztlich die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und den Erfolg des Unternehmens auf dem Markt beeinträchtigen.

8. Niedrige FCR-Raten und begrenzte Selbstbedienung

Dies führt zu einem erhöhten Anrufaufkommen, zusätzlichen Kosten für den Kundensupport, erhöhter Kundenunzufriedenheit und wirkt sich negativ auf die Kundentreue und -bindung aus.

6. Gemischt mit traditioneller Ausbildung

Während Trainingssimulationen zweifellos die Herzen und Köpfe der Zuschauer erobern, spielt die traditionelle Schulung des Verkaufsteams auch nach den Spielen eine wichtige Rolle.

Klozers Erfahrung im Verkaufstraining bedeutet, dass Sie sicher sein können, dass unser Team zusätzlich zum Simulationstraining mit Ihnen zusammenarbeitet, um eine effektive Verkaufsstrategie zu entwickeln, Ihren Verkaufsprozess zu rationalisieren, Ihren Verkaufszyklus zu verkürzen und die Verkaufsfähigkeiten Ihrer Verkaufsmanager und Verkäufer zu entwickeln.

Wir verfügen über eine Reihe von Schulungskursen in den Bereichen Vertrieb, Marketing und Kundenservice, die wir dann je nach den Bewertungen, Spielergebnissen und Fahrplänen einsetzen können.

Diese ganzheitliche Lösung liefert die Auswirkungen auf die Teams, die Unternehmen benötigen, um echte Veränderungen voranzutreiben.

Sales Training Simulation

7. Was macht Trainingssimulationen anders

Unsere Spiele unterscheiden sich von herkömmlichen Schulungslösungen dadurch, dass sie sowohl Spaß machen als auch fesselnd sind.

Die Mitarbeiter spielen die Spiele gerne und gehen sofort von der Passivität zur Interaktion mit dem Spiel und ihren Kollegen über.

Zusätzlich zu den spezifischen Lernzielen, die wir gemeinsam mit Ihnen im Vorfeld festlegen, verbessert jedes Spiel die Teambildung, die Teamkultur und die Leistung. Sie haben nicht nur die Herzen und Köpfe der Teilnehmer gewonnen.

Unternehmen verlassen unsere Schulungssimulationen mit klaren Fahrplänen und Maßnahmen zur kontinuierlichen Verbesserung ihres Unternehmens.

Unsere Spiele werden von erfahrenen Teamleitern geleitet, die jedes Spiel auf die Bedürfnisse Ihres Unternehmens und Ihrer Mitarbeiter abstimmen.

“Eine fantastische Lernerfahrung”

Amanda – Kundenbetreuerin

DISC Training for Sales Success

DiSC training for sales

DISC Training for SALES - Top Question from Google

What DISC Personality is best for Sales?

Here’s the short answer:

In all our years of delivering sales training and coaching we can honestly say that we have worked with great salespeople from every quadrant.  Each DISC style has strengths and weaknesses and the best salespeople know how to manage these.

With that said, if you are selling into a vertical such as accountancy, where the group’s DISC culture is predominantly of a similar customer buying style, it is easier for salespeople who are from that same DISC style as the buyers, to build relationships and sell quickly.  

DISC is about preferences, there are no right or wrongs and there are no can do’s and can’t do’s. 

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. DISC training for sales success

Disc training is a valuable tool for everyone who is customer facing, whether they be in customer service or frontline sales. If like us you believe that people buy from people, you will understand that DISC is an effective way to help salespeople build relationships, gain rapport and sell more.

Disc training helps salespeople better understand themselves and others, so they can be more successful in their sales role. 

Our sales team training teaches people how to identify their own sales style, different personality types, and how to adjust their approach accordingly. With the right training, salespeople can gain powerful skills that will enable them to close deals and increase their overall sales performance.

2. What is a DISC personality test?

DISC is a personality test that helps us understand what we do and how we behave. DISC tests have been developed over many years from the original assessment, which was developed by William Marston Moulton who based his work around the teachings of Carl Jung and Jung’s book “The Emotions of Normal People”.

So what is DISC?  Well every human being regardless of race, colour or creed has a preferred style of behaviours that they exhibit.  Specifically, every Human Being has a preferred style of behaviours that fall into one of four categories D – I – S or C.  Sometimes we are accused of labelling people, or putting them into boxes when we do this, but please do not be offended.  This is no different to recognising that some people are left handed or that some people have blue eyes, or others have red hair.  

There is no right or wrong, and neither is there a better or best DISC style.  Each of the four quadrants has strengths and weaknesses and this just recognises that none of us are perfect.

Take a DISC Assessment Now!

3. What are the four DISC personality types?

DISC tells us that every individual has a “preferred” way of doing and behaving. These ways predominantly fall within four main types or disc styles. These DISC styles are: D Profile, I Profile, S Profile and C Profile.

Whilst many companies attach words to the styles such as D for Dominance or I for Influencer, we prefer not to, as words on their own can be subjective as individuals can draw different conclusions and meanings from the same words.

The Four most common words used to identify disc styles are:

D – Dominance

I – Influencer

S – Steadiness

C – Compliance

Not every individual fits exactly into the four quadrants and some share the traits of two or more quadrants.  However, each individual does have a centre which is the DISC style they will default to under stress.  

In addition to their natural sales style, some individuals have an adjusted style or work mask. Whilst the natural style never changes, the work mask can change based on the individuals perceptions of what they need to do to be successful. 

 

4. What does DISC training do?

From a sales perspective a DISC sales profile has four main benefits as follows:

  1. DISC assessments help salespeople identify and understand their own personal DISC sales profile.  In addition to a 16 page report on their DISC sales style, each of our participants has the opportunity to book additional training and coaching. 

  2. DISC assessments helps salespeople understand different customer buying styles and quickly build stronger relationships with their customers, thus improving sales effectiveness.

  3. DISC assessments helps sales leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of their sales team and identify where they will need the most support.

  4. DISC assessments helps sales leaders identify the best DISC sales profile among candidates as part of the hiring process.

5. How DISC training drives sales results

DISC sales does more than help improve communication and sales interactions. It empowers salespeople at every step of the sales process and gives each individual specific strategies they can use to improve their sales performance and the customer experience.

In sales we understand that each of us has a different way of selling and that’s what makes us unique. Without loosing our natural sales style, it’s important to acknowledge that our sales style will fit well with many customers, but it may not fit well with others.

Our DISC sales style, in certain circumstances may hurt us and negatively influence the prospect. By providing salespeople with their own disc sales profile you are enabling them to

  • Provide participants with the self knowledge and a deeper understanding of their own natural sales style.

  • Help participants explore their own natural strengths and weaknesses via the disc model.

  • Use the DISC sales model to quickly identify customers and their buying styles and then use that information to practice adapting their styles to each specific customer.

  • Discover specific strategies they can draw upon to improve sales interactions and further develop their own emotional intelligence.

  • Use DISC profiles by placing customers first and at the center of their communication style and build rapport fast.

  • Provide sales leaders with a disc sales map and list of sales priorities to help them manage, train and coach their sales team.

6. How much does DISC training cost?

Our DISC training costs £250 per person plus taxes and includes:

  • 1 x DISC sales assessment complete with in depth information in a 16 page report and a DISC sales profile.

  • 1 x Live, one on one training session delivered remotely with one of our DISC trainers.

  • For DISC sales of groups of 10 or more please contact us in advance.

We also provide DISC training on site, either on your premises, or at an external location of your choosing. Our workshops are highly interactive and designed to deliver the best possible DISC sales learning experience.
The DISC sales facilitation kit our trainers use is proprietary and not available to purchase.  

Take a DISC Assessment Now!

How to Improve Sales Effectiveness

how to improve sales effectiveness

Sales effectiveness - Top Question from Google

How do you measure sales effectiveness?

Here’s the short answer:

How you measure sales effectiveness will depend on your company goals and objectives. Here are 5 measurements or sales KPIs (key performance indicators) to get you started:

  1. Revenue growth. Not everything should be about money, but if your revenue growth is stalled or even worse, going backwards you will need to take action.

  2. Conversion ratio. At a big picture level you will need to ensure the sales team are converting new sales leads. For more detailed conversion ratios, examine the conversion rates between each stage of your sales process such as MQL to SQL.

  3. Average deal size. Increasing your average deal size via cross selling and upselling is a great way to improve your sales effectiveness.

  4. Sales Cycle. Your sales cycle is the time between what we call first contact with a prospect and when you receive money in the bank for your goods and services. The shorter the sales cycle the more efficient your process.

  5. Customer satisfaction. Never forget your customers and ensure that any improvements to your sales effectiveness are not at the expense of customer satisfaction.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. What is Sales Efficiency anyway?

Sales efficiency is simply measuring the ratio of the value gained from the costs of your sales team and the revenue they generate. The greater the ratio then the greater the return and the more effective the sales unit are.

In order to track and measure your sales efficiency you will need to be familiar with all the costs within your sales and marketing departments. Ideally you will have identified your cost per lead and your lifetime customer value.

These sales metrics may vary across products, departments and even salespeople and are the key to any sales improvement plan.

2. Sales Effectiveness framework

Over the years we have found great value in simplifying our own systems and processes, which we then share with our clients. For the last 10 years we have focussed our sales strategy, planning and improvements around what we call the four high value areas of B2B sales. These are:

Finding: you have to find people, companies and opportunities before you can sell to them.

Klozing: once you’ve found a deal you need to be able to take the deal through a sales process and win it.

Growing: once you have done all the hard work of finding and klozing new paying customers you need to keep and grow that account.

Developing: lastly, finding, klozing and growing are all activities undertaken by sales reps and we need to keep them, grow them and build a winning sales culture, all with scalable sales processes.

 

If you simply spend as much time as possible in these four areas it’s almost impossible not to sell more and improve sales effectiveness.

b2b sales consultancy

3. Finding - Lead to Opportunity Conversion Rate

Before we can convert leads to opportunities we need to first measure how good we are at generating leads. What is our process for filling the top of the sales funnel with potential customers and is it scalable? Have we explored all the different channels available and then identified the most fruitful ones.

Furthermore it’s important to define what is a lead? How close are they to your Ideal Client Persona (ICP) and what process do we use to qualify them? In our own business we use MQL and SQL which stands for Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).

We deliberately keep this simple so in our world a marketing lead is simply a contact that has downloaded an asset from our website or attended a webinar, or following us social channels. An MQL is a lead that has actively asked to talk with us whether that be via our website, telephone or email. The key differentiator here is that we have never spoken to them.

Next up is our Sales Qualified leads and these are defined as people who have spoken to sales and meet the criteria of both our ICP and BANT (Budget, Authority, Need and Time) which is a simple sales qualification process.

In our own business we measure our conversion ratio of MQLs against deals closed. Most companies would use SQL against deals closed but our system works well for us and our conversion ratio of MQLs when last measured was 42.22% which we think is pretty good.

It’s also worth noting the importance of lead response time here. According to a Lead Connect survey 78% of customers buy from the first responder. Also sales conversions are 391% higher when the first response is withing 1 minute. Lastly, leads that older than 5 minutes receive an 80% drop in lead qualification. Speed is your friend in lead generation.  

New Customer Acquisition Rates

Whilst conversion ratios are important, what is equally important is new customer acquisition rates. If you have a 100% conversion rate but you only generate and close one deal a month you are unlikely to get the sales results you want or need.

Wherever possible we would recommend a data driven approach and starting with your ICP. The most efficient marketing is laser targeted on the ICP which then generates a better quality of lead. Small changes in messaging and design can have a huge impact on this.

Often times an easy win for both marketing and sales is to use campaigns and special offers to increase conversions and new customer acquisition. Most often recognised as tactics for B2C we have had huge success with clients building campaigns around a special offer.

Interestingly the most successful special offers we have worked with clients on ended up being more expensive than the original offer. The art of selling is not about discounting, it’s about selling your product at your price.

For obvious reasons it’s important that your customer acquisition rate exceeds your customer attrition rate which we cover later in this article.

4. Klozing and Sales Performance

As previously stated Klozing comes when you have found a deal or opportunity, and you then take that deal through your sales pipeline and win it. Most companies will base their sales metrics and how they measure sales effectiveness on closing sales qualified leads.

These sales metrics are influenced or driven by the sales team’s ability and performance. Ability refers to the skills and traits of the sales team to close deals and performance refers to their output. You can have the most highly trained sales reps in the world but unless they perform and are highly engaged they will not close deals. We therefore define sales effectiveness as Ability + Performance = Sales effectiveness.

Let’s break down Ability first. If ability comes from traits and skills what does this mean in real terms?

Traits are important at the hiring phase – what are the sales reps hobbies out of work? Would you hire a gamer who is stuck in their bedroom overnight of the captain of the local football team? Sports people normally excel in sales because they have great traits, self discipline, good work ethics and they are team players.

Skills are obviously important, however, in sales there are a myriad of skills required some of which are more or less relevant depending on the role. For example an AE (Account Executive) will potentially need communication skills, presentation skills and negotiating skills to close deals.

A salesperson focussed on selling to the public sector via bids and tenders would require a completely different skill set.

5. Growing - Retention and Expansion.

A major part of sales effectiveness comes from the ability to not just win new business but hold onto it and expand within those accounts. After all the most difficult and most costly part of sales, namely new client acquisition is done. Growth & retention via cross selling and upselling should be mandatory in every company strategy.

Often the first step in growing is to ensure retention and reduce customer attrition or churn. Companies measure sales churn in different ways for example saas companies may measure churn on their monthly paid subscriptions, however, some companies may be heavily geared to annual subscriptions and this then needs to be taken into account.

Our own belief is that reducing churn is the area of sales effectiveness that every sales organisation should address first. There is no point winning new business if you cannot retain it.

The Critical metrics most often used to reduce churn would be customer satisfaction, user engagement and changes in customer needs.

 

6. Developing - scaling people and process

In our experience developing falls into two main categories as follows, firstly the startups.

Many company founders and sales leaders rush to scale their business before they have the fundamentals in place. They want to hire an entire sales force before they have in some cases proven their value proposition, let alone put in place scalable systems and sales processes for profitable growth. One sales rep who can’t win deals quickly becomes 10 sales reps who can’t win deals which compounds the problems and adds to the existing workload of already time poor sales leaders. Step 1, focus on the value proposition and making it as attractive as possible. Step 2, focus on building repetition and sales effectiveness at scale not just on individual salespeople.

In Developing the second group we deal with are established businesses who need to either reduce costs (no necessarily the cost of people, but the cost of customer acquisition) or simply want to drive performance and an effective sales team.

For these companies the status quo and change is the biggest challenge. Tenured salespeople can be resistant to changes which needs to be taken into account when you are planning for improvements in sales effectiveness.

In many cases delivering sales training is the easy part, creating meaningful behavioural change across an entire team is the bigger problem. So big that many sales leaders simply put up with subpar performance and average output from their sales force.

These are actually the most rewarding projects as they always deliver the biggest impact.

sales effectiveness

7. How to boost sales effectiveness - key questions

Sales Enablement is one of the most common approaches to drive sales effectiveness across sales teams. Sales Enablement is a way of providing the right tools, content, sales training and resources that the sales teams needs to be win more deals.

In addition a modern Sales Enablement department would be responsible for supporting the implementation of the company’s sales strategy, their sales processes, and measuring sales effectiveness across the organisation.

If your sales organization does not have it’s own sales enablement team our recommendation would be to first get a baseline understanding of the overall sales performance of your sales team’s effectiveness.

Its important that any evaluation is from the top down and includes the sales leaders, the sales managers and every sales rep. This would include things like sales opportunities generated, best practices, win rates, quota attainment and effective selling skills and behaviours.

Key Questions 

1. What data do I have?

Sometimes we let perfection get in the way of progress.  What data do you have that you can take actions from?

2. What data should I have?

What data are you going to need to make the right decisions and how can I start recoding it?

3. What data is easy to collect?

Data itself and can end up overwhelming.  Where possible make data collection easy, avoid adding workload to salespeople.

4. No data?  

If you don’t have data score each section on a 1 through 10 with 10 being perfect.  

5. Where are the easy wins?

Find some easy wins to give your project some momentum.

6. Which are the biggest leavers?

Which improvements are going to have the biggest impact?

Taking time out to take a complete measurement of the sales organizations overall effectiveness will provide you with a better understanding help you to identify realistic goals in terms of improvements that you can achieve.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Sales Consultancy | Unlock Your Sales Potential

b2b sales consultancy

Sales Consultancy - Top Question from Google

What do sales consultants do?

Here’s the short answer:

We are professional sales consultants specializing in helping B2B companies by improving their sales performance and achieving their sales goals. We work with a wide range of clients, including SMEs, Mid-Market and Enterprise accounts.

Our sales consultants look at your business as a whole and typically work with clients to identify areas for improvement in sales strategy, sales performance and sales process.  Whilst many companies come to us for sales training, we have learned that in some cases training is the wrong place to start.  

Therefore, we only provide training that we know will be impactful and aligned with the companies overall sales objectives.  

Sales consultants may also work with clients to develop marketing and sales materials, such as brochures, presentations, and proposals, and they may provide guidance on sales techniques and best practices.

Our goal as sales consultants is not just to increase sales, but to do so in a way that is scalable and profitable.  Furthermore we love to leave a legacy after us in terms of an improved culture and continuous improvement in sales performance. 

We do this by providing expertise and guidance on a wide range of sales and marketing-related topics, and by working with clients and their sales teams to develop and implement effective growth strategies.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Why is sales consulting important

No CEO or Sales Director can be an expert in everything.  A proven sales consultant who is external to the business can bring different skills, experiences and perspective to your business.  The reality is that there is nothing that we bring that any CEO or VP of Sales could do themselves.  What we bring is speed – our teams knowledge and skills will fast forward your business quicker that you can do working on your own.  In addition to speed our team brings:

  1. Our consultants bring expertise and experience in sales and marketing to our clients. They can provide valuable insights and guidance on a wide range of sales and marketing-related topics, and they can help you identify areas for improvement in your existing sales approach and to develop effective strategies to achieve real sales growth.

  2. Working with our consultants, we help our clients improve their teams sales skills, productivity and sales performance resulting in real business growth. Our sales consultants will help you to identify and address bottlenecks in the sales process, and they can provide guidance on best practices and strategies to increase new sales enquiries and sales.

  3. Klozers sales consulting services are flexible and scalable, which makes them suitable for companies of all sizes and in a variety of industries. Companies can work with us on a short-term or long-term basis, depending on their needs, and they can scale their support up or down as needed.

We serve as trusted advisors to CEOs and Sales Directors by supporting not just their sales team, but their sales operation as a whole.

Every business is unique so we would love to talk to you and learn more about your business.  Contact us now for a free and no obligation sales consultation.

2. Common Consulting Projects - Sales Process

Often B2B sales can seem complicated and we do our best wherever possible to simplify everything.  Sales is a process and should have logical and measurable start and ending points.  Without a process it’s simply not possible to achieve consistency in either results or performance and more importantly it’s not scalable.  

Our sales consultancy helps you:

  1. Identifying areas for improvement: we work with clients to identify bottlenecks or other issues in the sales processes that are preventing them from achieving their goals. They can then develop strategies to address those issues and improve the sales process.

  2. Providing training and development: we can provide training and development to help your sales force improve their skills and achieve better results. This might include training on sales techniques, product knowledge, or customer service skills.

  3. Developing sales strategies: we work at CEO and Sales Director level to develop sales strategies that align with their business objectives. This might include identifying target markets, developing sales processes and systems, and creating marketing and sales materials.

  4. Analyzing data and market trends: we use data analysis from your CRM and market research to identify trends and patterns that can inform your sales strategy. We can then use this information to develop changes to the sales approach whilst if necessary retaining the original sales strategy.

  5. Providing group pipeline coaching and individual one to one coaching support: we work with sales people to develop 90 day sales plans for their teams and then provide coaching to help the sales teams deliver on the plans.

As part of our endeavours to simplify sales we break each area of the sales process down into the four high value areas of sales.  Which are Finding, Klosing and Growing – we’ve found if you focus all your energies on just finding more people to sell to, then improving your klosing to get more deals over the line and then ensure that you both retain and grow those accounts, its impossible not to sell more.  

The fourth and last high value are of sales is Developing which is the constant development of skills, confidence and knowledge of the sales people themselves. 

b2b sales consultancy

3. Common Consulting Projects - Sales Training

Klozers started as a sales training business back in 2014 and sales training and coaching is at the heart of our business.  We’ve successfully delivered sales training across multiple countries and verticals, from frontline SDRs to boardroom sales leaders.

  1. Developing bespoke training programs: our clients have typically tried generic sales training courses and come to us looking for something different – results.  We work with clients to develop customized sales training programs that meet the specific needs of their people and their organization. These programs might include training on lead generation, sales techniques, customer service, or other relevant topics.

  2. Providing training workshops: our sales consultants can conduct sales training workshops for salespeople, either in person or online. These sessions might include lectures, group discussions, and hands-on exercises to help salespeople learn and practice new skills.

  3. Providing ongoing coaching and support: we have team of experienced sales coaches who provide ongoing coaching and support to salespeople to help them apply their new sales skills in the workplace and to overcome any situational challenges as they arise. This might include providing feedback and guidance on sales techniques, as well as encouragement and support.

  4. Evaluating the effectiveness of training: our consultants can also help clients to evaluate the effectiveness of your in house sales training programs, by collecting data and analyzing the results. This can help clients to identify areas for improvement within their sales force and to refine their training programs as needed.

  5. Sales Team activity: training and improvement to sales processes are important, however, many sales teams struggle to execute the right types and level of sales activity. Every sales team needs to be held accountable to delivering the sales activity required.  

Our sales training can be delivered either in-person at a location of your choosing, remotely online or a hybrid of the two. All our training is aligned with the companies overall sales strategy and goals which ensures you will receive the outcomes, results and business growth you are looking for.

4. Common Consulting Projects - Sales & Marketing Alignment

Aligning sales and marketing within a business is important because it helps to ensure that both teams are working towards the same overall goals and objectives. Here are some examples of the type of projects we work on to align sales and marketing within a business:

  1. Establish clear and common growth goals and objectives: The first step in aligning sales and marketing is to establish clear and common growth goals and objectives for both teams. Examples include setting overall OKR based goals for the business, such as increasing sales revenue or expanding into new markets.

  2. Define roles and responsibilities: It is important for both sales and marketing teams to understand their roles and responsibilities within the entire sales process. This may involve defining the specific tasks and responsibilities of each team, as well as how they will work together to achieve the overall goals of the business.

  3. Communicate and collaborate: To align sales and marketing effectively, it is important for both teams to communicate and collaborate regularly. To this end we are great advocates of “Growth Pods” whereby we remove traditional siloed sales and marketing departments and place professionals from sales and marketing into smaller pods where they work together with common goals.

  4. Use data and analytics: By using data and analytics, both the sales team and the marketing team can better understand the needs and preferences of their customers, and make more informed decisions about how to reach and engage them.

  5. Use shared metrics: Using shared metrics can help to align sales and marketing efforts, as both teams can track progress towards common goals and objectives. This may include metrics such as customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value, or lead conversion rate.

Aligning sales and marketing is a subject close to our hearts as we have gone through the process as a business ourselves.  We can show you exactly how we did it, including the results, warts and all.

b2b sales consultancy

5. Klozers B2B Sales Consultancy - Join us

We’re growing fast and keen to hear from experienced sales consultants who would like to join our team.  Our clients quite rightly demand the best and here are some of the vast array of skills that you will need:

  • Sales and Marketing:  sales and marketing are inextricably linked in modern selling so you will need to demonstrate expertise in all aspects of B2B sales and marketing.  
  • Communication skills: you will need to be a natural communicator and be able to effectively communicate with clients, from CEO & Sales Director level, through to the front line sales team. You should be able to clearly and concisely convey information and ideas, and be able to adapt your communication style to suit different personas.
  • Analytical skills: we will help you analyse the data in your CRM system to help your clients identify trends and patterns, from which you will need to develop solutions for sales growth.

  • Problem-solving skills: we love working with our clients on complex problems and helping them find the best solution for their circumstances.  We don’t believe in a one size fits all solution so you’ll need to be creative in terms of your problem solving.

  • Consultative skills: our genesis as a business was delivering consultative selling skills which is still our best selling course.  Our sales consultants are our brand champions so you will need to be able to work with clients in a consultative manner, and build strong relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

  • Business acumen: sales never operates in isolation of the wider business and our sales consultants need a strong understanding of business principles and how to apply them to different sales scenarios. You should be able to analyze market trends and customer needs, and to develop sales strategies that align with clients’ business objectives.

Klozers are a full life sales and marketing  consultancy meaning we cover everything from the initial value proposition development through to closing more sales deals.  What this means to you is that we work in a fast paced environment and no two days are the same.  It’s great fun and hugely rewarding. 

We are currently recruiting consultants throughout Europe and North America so please feel free to call us for more information. 

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

90-Tage-Verkaufsplan | Kostenloser Download

90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan - Top-Frage von Google

Wie schreibt man einen 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan?

Hier ist die kurze Antwort: Um einen 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan zu erstellen, sollte Ihr Verkaufsteam diese Schritte befolgen:

  1. Bestimmen Sie messbare Ziele: Der erste Schritt bei der Erstellung eines 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplans besteht darin, Ihre spezifischen Ziele zu ermitteln. Dabei sollte es sich um spezifische, messbare, erreichbare, relevante und zeitgebundene (SMART) Ziele handeln, die Ihnen helfen werden, innerhalb der nächsten 90 Tage erfolgreich zu sein. Die Verkaufsziele in Ihrem Plan sollten immer mit der allgemeinen Verkaufs- und Geschäftsstrategie des Unternehmens abgestimmt sein. Konzentrieren Sie Ihre Ziele auf Verkaufsaktivitäten und -verhalten und nicht auf den Umsatz – wenn Sie die richtigen Verhaltensweisen an den Tag legen, dann kommt der Umsatz von selbst.
  2. Zerlegen Sie Ihre Ziele in umsetzbare Aufgaben: Sobald Sie Ihre Ziele festgelegt haben, müssen Sie sie in kleinere, umsetzbare Aufgaben unterteilen. Was müssen Sie tun, um Ihre Ziele zu erreichen? Dabei sollte es sich um konkrete und erreichbare Schritte handeln, die Sie unternehmen können, um Ihren Zielen näher zu kommen. Auch hier sollten Sie nicht an die Einnahmen denken. Betrachten Sie zum Beispiel Ihren Verkaufsprozess und finden Sie heraus, wo Sie entweder das Volumen der neu generierten Verkaufsanfragen erhöhen oder die Umwandlungsquote der von Ihnen generierten Geschäfte steigern können.
  3. Weisen Sie Fristen und Prioritäten zu: Legen Sie für jede Aufgabe eine Frist und eine Prioritätsstufe fest. Dies hilft Ihnen, organisiert und konzentriert zu bleiben, und stellt sicher, dass Sie Fortschritte bei der Erreichung Ihrer Ziele machen. Nutzen Sie die 30-, 60- und 90-Tage-Meilensteine, um sich selbst zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen, anstatt bis zum Ende des 90-Tage-Zeitraums zu warten.
  4. Erstellen Sie eine Zeitleiste: Verwenden Sie eine Zeitleiste oder einen Kalender, um Ihren Fortschritt zu visualisieren und Ihre Aufgaben und Fristen im Auge zu behalten. Dies wird Ihnen helfen, auf dem richtigen Weg zu bleiben und Ihre Ziele nicht aus den Augen zu verlieren. Wir sind große Fans von Vision Boards, also stellen Sie sicher, dass alle Vertriebsmitarbeiter ein persönliches Vision Board erstellen und pflegen.
  5. Überwachen und überprüfen Sie Ihre Fortschritte mit Ihrem Vertriebsleiter: Überprüfen Sie regelmäßig Ihre Fortschritte, um sicherzustellen, dass Sie auf dem richtigen Weg sind, um Ihre Ziele zu erreichen. Wenn Sie nicht die erwarteten Fortschritte machen, passen Sie Ihren Plan bei Bedarf an, um wieder auf Kurs zu kommen.
  6. Übernehmen Sie Verantwortung: Planen ist gut, aber tun ist besser. Der beste Verkaufsplan der Welt ist wertlos, wenn Sie die darin vorgesehenen Maßnahmen nicht durchführen. Der B2B-Vertrieb kann ein schwieriges Umfeld sein, und es ist hilfreich, wenn Sie die Unterstützung anderer haben, z. B. eines Vertriebsleiters, der Sie bei der Umsetzung Ihres neuen Vertriebsplans zur Rechenschaft zieht.

Top-Tipp: Nehmen Sie die vier wertvollsten Bereiche des Verkaufs (Finden, Klären, Wachsen und Entwickeln) in Ihren Verkaufsplan auf, um sicherzustellen, dass Sie die richtige Zeit für Ihre Umstände einplanen. Einige Vertriebsmitarbeiter müssen sich zum Beispiel auf die Gewinnung neuer Kundenkontakte konzentrieren, während andere die Beziehungen zu bestehenden Kunden ausbauen müssen. Sehen Sie sich die KOSTENLOSE Vorlage unten als Beispiel dafür an.

In this article we will cover...

Es gibt einen neuen Weg, den Umsatz zu steigern...

Kaufen Sie kein Verkaufstraining, bevor Sie dieses Video gesehen haben…

90-TAGE-PLAN-VORLAGE

Laden Sie eine KOSTENLOSE Kopie unserer Vorlage für einen 90-Sätze-Verkaufsplan herunter und machen Sie dieses Jahr zu Ihrem Verkaufsjahr.

free 90 day sales planning template

1. Warum sind 90-Tage-Verkaufspläne wichtig?

90-Tage-Verkaufspläne sind wichtig, weil sie den Vertriebsmitarbeitern einen klaren, zielgerichteten Rahmen bieten, um innerhalb eines bestimmten Zeitraums auf bestimmte Ziele hinzuarbeiten. Ein gut ausgearbeiteter 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan kann dem gesamten Team dabei helfen:

  • Bleiben Sie konzentriert und organisiert: Der Verkauf ist der einfachste Job der Welt, aber der schwierigste, um effektiv zu sein. Bei so vielen Ablenkungen ist die Planung ein wichtiger Bestandteil des Verkaufserfolgs. Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan, der die Ziele in spezifische Aufgaben unterteilt und Fristen und Prioritäten festlegt, kann Vertriebsmitarbeitern dabei helfen, organisiert und konzentriert zu bleiben und sicherzustellen, dass sie Fortschritte bei der Erreichung ihrer Ziele machen.
  • Fortschritte verfolgen und Anpassungen vornehmen: Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan kann Vertriebsmitarbeitern dabei helfen, die Bereiche der Vertriebsaktivitäten zu identifizieren, in denen sie in Rückstand geraten sind und die Zahlen aufholen müssen, um wieder auf Kurs zu kommen. Zusätzlich zu den Vertriebsaktivitäten kann der Plan dabei helfen, Qualifikationslücken zu ermitteln, bei denen die Mitarbeiter die Aktivitäten durchführen, aber nicht die gewünschten Ergebnisse erzielen.
  • Steigerung der persönlichen Motivation und Verantwortlichkeit: Es hat etwas Tröstliches und Beruhigendes, einen Plan zu haben und diesen dann auch umzusetzen. Durch die Festlegung klarer Ziele und die Verfolgung der Fortschritte hilft ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan den Vertriebsmitarbeitern, motiviert und verantwortlich zu bleiben und sich bei ihrer Arbeit engagierter zu fühlen.
  • Verbessern Sie die Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit: Oft wissen die Vertriebsleiter in einem Unternehmen nicht genau, was ihre direkten Mitarbeiter tun. 90-Tage-Pläne sind eine gute Möglichkeit, um sicherzustellen, dass die Vertriebsmitarbeiter zur richtigen Zeit an den richtigen Aktivitäten arbeiten. Indem Sie auf gemeinsame Ziele hinarbeiten, kann Ihr 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan Vertriebsmitarbeitern helfen, die Kommunikation und Zusammenarbeit mit ihrer Vertriebsleitung und den Kollegen in ihrem Team zu verbessern.

Insgesamt ist ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan ein wertvolles Instrument, das Vertriebsmitarbeitern helfen kann, ihre Bemühungen zu konzentrieren, ihre Fortschritte zu verfolgen und motiviert und verantwortlich zu bleiben, während sie auf bestimmte Ziele und Vorgaben hinarbeiten.

2. Unterscheiden sich die 90-Tage-Verkaufspläne für einen Vertriebsleiter von denen für einen Verkäufer?

Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan für einen Verkaufsleiter wird sich von einem 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan für einen Verkäufer unterscheiden, da die Aufgaben und Ziele der beiden Rollen unterschiedlich sind.

Für einen Vertriebsleiter kann sich ein 90-Tage-Vertriebsplan auf Ziele wie die Verbesserung der Teamleistung, die Steigerung der Teamproduktivität, die Verbesserung der Vertriebsfähigkeiten des Teams oder den Aufbau von Beziehungen zu wichtigen Kunden konzentrieren.

Dazu können auch Aufgaben wie die Durchführung von Leistungsbewertungen, die Bereitstellung von Schulungs- und Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten für Teammitglieder oder die Entwicklung von Strategien zur Erschließung neuer Märkte gehören.

90-Tage-Pläne sind ein großartiges Instrument, um neuen Vertriebsleitern zu helfen, ihre Wirkung in einer neuen Position zu demonstrieren. Neben ihren Managementaufgaben haben viele neue Vertriebsleiter auch eine Verkaufsquote und sind direkt für einige wenige strategische Kunden verantwortlich.

Für einen Vertriebsmitarbeiter kann ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan auf Ziele wie die Steigerung des Umsatzes, den Abschluss neuer Geschäfte oder die Verbesserung der Kundenbindung ausgerichtet sein. Dazu können auch Aufgaben wie die Identifizierung und Qualifizierung von Leads, die Durchführung von Präsentationen oder das Follow-up mit Interessenten und Kunden gehören.

Wie die 90-Tage-Pläne der Vertriebsmitarbeiter sollten auch die Pläne der Vertriebsleiter immer mit dem allgemeinen Geschäftsplan und der Vertriebsstrategie des Unternehmens verknüpft sein.

asking for the sale

3. Wer sollte die Verkaufspläne erstellen - die Vertreter oder der Manager?

Verkaufspläne sollten immer von den Verkäufern erstellt werden, die für die Ausführung des Plans verantwortlich sind, auch wenn sie neue Verkäufer im Unternehmen sind.

Hier sind einige Faktoren, die Sie bei der Erstellung Ihrer 90-Tage-Verkaufspläne berücksichtigen sollten:

a) Ein modernes Vertriebsmanagement ist eine äußerst arbeitsintensive Aufgabe, und die Erstellung von Aktionsplänen für jedes Mitglied Ihres Teams nimmt aufgrund der vielen Variablen viel Zeit in Anspruch.

b) Wenn neuen Mitarbeitern die Fähigkeiten oder die Erfahrung fehlen, um ihre eigenen 90-Tage-Pläne zu erstellen, sollten die Vertriebsleiter den Planungsprozess nutzen, um ihre direkten Mitarbeiter zu schulen und zu coachen, damit sie selbständiger werden.

Der Verkaufsleiter sollte immer einbezogen werden, da er die Pläne letztendlich abzeichnen muss. Die Übertragung von Verantwortung an die Vertriebsmitarbeiter trägt jedoch dazu bei, ihre Fähigkeiten auszubauen und, was noch wichtiger ist, ihnen das Gefühl zu geben, dass sie für den Plan verantwortlich sind, was wiederum zu einem besseren Engagement im gesamten Team führt.

4. Wie wähle ich die richtigen Ziele und Vorgaben für meinen Plan?

Die Ziele in einem 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan sollten auf die allgemeine Verkaufsstrategie des Unternehmens abgestimmt sein. Ihre Verkaufsstrategie ist Ihr langfristiger Plan, der die Vorgehensweise und die Taktiken beschreibt, die Ihr Unternehmen zur Erreichung seiner Verkaufsziele einsetzen wird. Indem die Ziele des 90-Tage-Verkaufsplans mit der allgemeinen Verkaufsstrategie abgestimmt werden, können Vertriebsmitarbeiter und Vertriebsleiter sicherstellen, dass sie auf die gleichen allgemeinen Ziele wie das Unternehmen hinarbeiten.

Im Folgenden finden Sie einige Möglichkeiten, die Ziele eines 90-Tage-Verkaufsplans mit der Verkaufsstrategie des Unternehmens in Einklang zu bringen:

  1. Ermitteln Sie die messbaren Ziele des Unternehmens: Der erste Schritt bei der Ausrichtung des 90-Tage-Verkaufsplans auf die Verkaufsstrategie des Unternehmens besteht darin, die allgemeinen Verkaufsziele des Unternehmens zu verstehen. Dazu können Ziele wie die Steigerung des Umsatzes, die Expansion in neue Märkte oder die Verbesserung der Kundenbindung gehören.

  2. Bestimmen Sie, wie sich der 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan in die Gesamtstrategie einfügt: Sobald Sie die allgemeinen Verkaufsziele des Unternehmens ermittelt haben, können Sie bestimmen, wie der 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan in die Gesamtstrategie passt. Dazu kann es gehören, spezifische Taktiken oder Ansätze zu ermitteln, mit denen das Team zur Erreichung der allgemeinen Verkaufsziele beitragen kann.

  3. Verwenden Sie OKRs, um Ziele zu setzen: Das OKR-System ist ein Rahmen für die Festlegung von Geschäftszielen, der von vielen Unternehmen verwendet wird, um Wachstum und Verbesserungen voranzutreiben. Wir verwenden dies in unserem eigenen Unternehmen und bei unseren Kunden, die es lieben.

Insgesamt kann die Ausrichtung der Ziele in einem 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan auf die Verkaufsstrategie des Unternehmens dazu beitragen, dass Vertriebsmitarbeiter und Vertriebsleiter auf die gleichen übergeordneten Ziele wie das Unternehmen hinarbeiten und zum Erfolg der gesamten Verkaufsstrategie beitragen.

free 90 day sales planning template

5. Wie setze ich 90-Tage-Aktionspläne mit meinem Vertriebsteam um?

Verkäufer können ein schwieriges Publikum sein, und sie mögen vor allem keine Veränderungen oder Dinge, die sie als bedrohlich empfinden. Deshalb ist es so wichtig, einen kooperativen Ansatz zu wählen und dafür zu sorgen, dass Sie sowohl ihre Herzen als auch ihren Verstand gewinnen. Hier geht es ebenso sehr um Change Management wie um den Verkauf.

In diesem Sinne sollten Sie einen Workshop mit Ihrem Team veranstalten:

  • Bestimmen Sie die Ziele und Vorgaben des Teams: Der erste Schritt bei der Erstellung eines 90-Tage-Verkaufsplans besteht darin, die spezifischen Ziele zu ermitteln, auf die das Team hinarbeiten sollte. Dabei sollte es sich um spezifische, messbare, erreichbare, relevante und zeitgebundene (SMART) Ziele handeln, die dem Team helfen werden, innerhalb der nächsten 90 Tage erfolgreich zu sein.
  • Zerlegen Sie die Ziele in umsetzbare Aufgaben: Sobald Sie die Ziele des Teams festgelegt haben, müssen Sie diese in kleinere, umsetzbare Aufgaben unterteilen. Dabei sollte es sich um konkrete und realisierbare Schritte handeln, die das Team unternehmen kann, um den Zielen näher zu kommen.
  • Weisen Sie Fristen und Prioritäten zu: Legen Sie für jede Aufgabe eine Frist und eine Prioritätsstufe fest. Dies wird dem Team helfen, organisiert und konzentriert zu bleiben und sicherzustellen, dass es Fortschritte bei der Erreichung der Ziele macht.
  • Erstellen Sie eine Zeitleiste: Verwenden Sie eine Zeitleiste oder einen Kalender, um den Fortschritt des Teams zu visualisieren und die Aufgaben und Fristen im Auge zu behalten. Dies wird dem Team helfen, auf Kurs zu bleiben und sich auf die Ziele zu konzentrieren.
  • Vermitteln Sie den Plan an das Team: Sobald der Plan fertig ist, teilen Sie ihn dem Team mit und stellen Sie sicher, dass jeder seine Aufgaben und Verantwortlichkeiten versteht.
  • Überwachung und Überprüfung der Fortschritte: Überprüfen Sie regelmäßig die Fortschritte des Teams, um sicherzustellen, dass es auf dem richtigen Weg ist, die Ziele zu erreichen. Wenn das Team nicht die erwarteten Fortschritte macht, passen Sie den Plan bei Bedarf an, um wieder auf Kurs zu kommen.

Denken Sie daran, dass die wirkungsvollsten Workshops diejenigen sind, in denen die Verkäufer zu Wort kommen, gehört werden und glauben, dass es ihre eigenen Ideen sind, die sie dann umsetzen werden.

6. Wie halte ich die Mitglieder meines Verkaufsteams dazu an, die 90-Tage-Pläne einzuhalten?

Eine Kultur der Verantwortlichkeit ist für den Erfolg eines jeden Unternehmens unerlässlich, und alle Verkaufspläne sind wertlos, wenn sie nicht eingehalten werden. Wenn Sie zum ersten Mal Verkaufspläne einführen, sollten Sie die Messlatte für die Aktivitäten niedrig ansetzen, damit sie auch erreichbar sind. Sie können dies anhand des Aktivitätsniveaus des Leistungsträgers messen, und wenn Sie diesen als Maßstab heranziehen, können Sie sofort das Argument ausräumen, dass dies nicht möglich ist, weil alle zu beschäftigt sind.

  1. Kommunizieren Sie den Plan klar und deutlich: Vergewissern Sie sich, dass die Vertriebsmitarbeiter ihre Ziele und die spezifischen Aufgaben, die sie zur Erreichung dieser Ziele erfüllen müssen, verstehen. Vermitteln Sie klar und deutlich die Fristen und Prioritäten und stellen Sie alle notwendigen Ressourcen oder Unterstützung zur Verfügung, um ihnen zum Erfolg zu verhelfen.

  2. Vereinbaren Sie regelmäßige Kontrolltermine: Planen Sie regelmäßige Besprechungen mit den Mitgliedern des Vertriebsteams, um ihre Fortschritte zu überprüfen und bei Bedarf Unterstützung und Anleitung zu geben. Diese Kontrollbesuche können persönlich, telefonisch oder per Videokonferenz durchgeführt werden.

  3. Verfolgen Sie den Fortschritt und überprüfen Sie die Ergebnisse: Verwenden Sie Tools wie Dashboards oder Software zur Leistungsverfolgung, um die Fortschritte der Mitglieder des Vertriebsteams bei der Erreichung ihrer Ziele zu verfolgen. Überprüfen Sie diese Ergebnisse regelmäßig, um festzustellen, in welchen Bereichen Teammitglieder im Rückstand sind, und bieten Sie bei Bedarf zusätzliche Unterstützung an.

  4. Feedback und Coaching: Bieten Sie den Mitgliedern des Vertriebsteams konstruktives Feedback, Schulungen und Coaching an, damit sie ihre Leistung verbessern und ihre Ziele erreichen können. Dazu kann es gehören, Hinweise auf bewährte Verfahren zu geben, verbesserungswürdige Bereiche zu ermitteln und den Teammitgliedern Unterstützung und Ressourcen anzubieten, damit sie erfolgreich arbeiten können.

  5. Legen Sie Konsequenzen für die Nichteinhaltung fest: Legen Sie klare Konsequenzen für Vertriebsteammitglieder fest, die ihre Ziele nicht erreichen oder den Plan nicht einhalten. Zu diesen Konsequenzen könnten zusätzliche Schulungen oder Coachings, Kürzungen von Provisionen oder Prämien oder sogar eine Kündigung gehören, falls erforderlich.

Die Kunst des Vertriebsmanagements besteht darin, Ihre Vertriebsmitarbeiter unter Druck zu setzen, aber wenn Sie sie zu sehr unter Druck setzen, verlieren Sie sie geistig. Besser noch: Verknüpfen Sie ihre persönlichen Ziele mit Ihren Unternehmenszielen und beobachten Sie, wie sie sich selbst anspornen.

Nehmen Sie unbedingt eine “Verpflichtungserklärung” in Ihren Plan auf und lassen Sie sie von Ihren Vertretern lesen und unterschreiben. Dies ist eine gute Möglichkeit, um den Rahmen abzustecken und sie daran zu erinnern, dass sie für ihre eigenen Ergebnisse verantwortlich sind.

free 90 day sales planning template

7. 90-Tage-Verkaufsplan für neue Mitarbeiter vs. Verkaufsplan für bestehende Mitarbeiter?

Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für neue Verkäufer sollte ganz anders aussehen als dieser 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan, der für bestehende Verkäufer konzipiert ist. In den meisten Fällen wird der einstellende Manager die ersten 30 Tage nutzen, um einem neuen Vertriebsmitarbeiter eine so genannte nicht-verkaufsbezogene Schulung zu geben. Als Teil des anfänglichen Onboarding- und Schulungsprozesses erhält ein neuer Mitarbeiter eine Schulung über die Vision des neuen Unternehmens, die Mission des Unternehmens, Produktschulungen und Branchenkenntnisse,

Im weiteren Verlauf des 60- bis 90-Tage-Verkaufsplans konzentriert sich das Training schnell mehr auf Themen des Verkaufswissens. Dazu gehören das Wertversprechen, die Zielmärkte, die Generierung neuer Leads und die wichtigsten Kunden, denen Priorität eingeräumt werden muss.

Hier sind einige zusätzliche Dinge, die Sie für neue Mitglieder Ihres Verkaufsteams berücksichtigen sollten:

  1. Schwerpunkt: Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für Personen, die eine neue Stelle im Vertrieb antreten, sollte sich mehr auf die Einarbeitung und Schulung konzentrieren, während ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für bereits tätige Vertriebsmitarbeiter eher auf spezifische Ziele und Vorgaben ausgerichtet sein kann. Neue Mitglieder des Verkaufsteams benötigen beispielsweise mehr Unterstützung beim Verständnis ihres Verkaufsgebiets, des Verkaufsprozesses und des Hintergrunds von Großkunden, die sie übernehmen.

  2. Aufgaben: Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für neue Mitarbeiter kann Aufgaben wie das Kennenlernen der Produkte und Dienstleistungen des Unternehmens, Treffen mit wichtigen Interessenvertretern und die Beobachtung von Verkaufsgesprächen umfassen, während ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für bestehende Vertriebsmitarbeiter Aufgaben wie die Durchführung von Präsentationen, die Nachverfolgung von Leads und den Abschluss von Geschäften umfassen kann.

  3. Ziele: Ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für neue Mitarbeiter kann Ziele wie das Vertrautwerden mit dem Verkaufsprozess und den Aufbau von Beziehungen zu wichtigen Interessengruppen enthalten, während ein 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan für bestehende Verkäufer Ziele wie die Steigerung des Umsatzes oder die Verbesserung der Kundenbindung enthalten kann. Es ist wichtig, dass jeder neue Vertriebsmitarbeiter versteht, wie das Unternehmen Erfolg definiert und

Insgesamt können die Schwerpunkte und Aufgaben in einem 90-Tage-Verkaufsaktionsplan je nach den spezifischen Bedürfnissen und Zielen des Verkaufsteams oder der Einzelperson sowie deren Erfahrung und Fachwissen im Verkauf variieren. Es ist wichtig, Ziele und Aufgaben zu wählen, die spezifisch, messbar, erreichbar, relevant und zeitgebunden (SMART) sind, um die Erfolgsaussichten zu maximieren. Dazu gehören wöchentliche persönliche Ziele, das Befolgen der Verkaufsprozesse des Unternehmens und das Erbringen qualitativ hochwertiger Arbeit, die sich messbar auf die Verkaufsquote auswirkt.

“Eine fantastische Lernerfahrung”

Amanda – Kundenbetreuerin

Unleash your Sales Potential | Hire a Sales Coach

sales coach

Sales Coach - Top Question from Google

What is a Sales Coach?

A sales coach is a professional who helps sales professionals develop their skills and knowledge, with the goal of improving their sales performance. Sales coaches may work with individuals or small groups of sales reps, and may use a variety of techniques, such as one-on-one coaching, role-playing, and interactive activities to help sales professionals develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.

Sales coaches may focus on a range of topics, including sales strategy, sales techniques, customer relationship management, communication skills, and problem-solving. They may also work with sales leaders, sales managers and sales professionals to identify and overcome any personal or professional challenges that may be hindering their sales performance.

Sales coaches are typically experienced sales professionals themselves, with a proven track record and may have a background in sales management or training. They may work with sales professionals at all levels, from entry-level salespeople to experienced sales managers and sales leaders.

Overall, a sales coach can be a valuable resource for sales professionals who are looking to improve their skills and increase their sales performance.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. What are the benefits of sales coaching?

Sales coaching can offer a range of benefits to sales professionals, sales managers and organizations as a whole, including:

a) Improved sales performance: By helping sales professionals develop their skills and knowledge, sales coaching can help improve their sales performance. This may include increased sales revenues, higher conversion rates, and better customer satisfaction.

b) Increased confidence and motivation: Sales coaching can help sales professionals feel more confident and motivated in their roles, which can lead to improved performance.

c) Personalized development: Sales coaching is typically more personalized than sales training, as it is tailored to the specific needs and goals of the individual or small group. This can make it more effective in helping sales professionals develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.

d) Greater accountability: Sales coaching often involves setting specific goals and tracking progress, which can help sales professionals stay accountable and motivated to achieve their objectives.

e) Enhanced team culture: Sales coaching can help foster a positive and supportive team culture, which can lead to improved collaboration and teamwork.

Overall, sales coaching can be a valuable resource for sales professionals and organizations looking to improve sales performance and achieve long-term success.

2. The business case for sales coaching

Here are a few statistics that support the need for sales coaching:

a) Companies that invest in sales coaching see an average of 8.9% sales increase: According to research by the Corporate Executive Board, companies that invest in sales coaching see an average sales increase of 8.9% within the first year.

b) Salespeople who receive coaching are more likely to hit their targets: Research by the Sales Executive Council found that salespeople who receive coaching are 63% more likely to hit their targets compared to those who do not receive coaching.

c) Coaching leads to increased productivity: A study by the International Coach Federation found that coaching leads to a productivity increase of 86%.

d) Coaching leads to improved employee retention: According to research by the Corporate Executive Board, companies with high-quality coaching programs have a 7% lower turnover rate compared to those without coaching programs.

e) Coaching leads to better customer satisfaction: A study by the Corporate Executive Board found that companies with high-quality coaching programs have a 13.5% higher customer satisfaction rate compared to those without coaching programs.

These statistics demonstrate the significant impact that sales coaching can have on sales performance, productivity, employee retention, and customer satisfaction.

Hire a Sales Coach
Hire a Sales Coach

3. Individual sales coaching vs Group sales coaching

Individual sales coaching involves working with a single sales professional on a one-on-one basis to help them develop specific skills and knowledge. This type of coaching is typically more personalized and tailored to the specific needs and goals of the individual. 

Individual coaching may be conducted in person or virtually, and may involve a range of topics such as sales strategy, business development and sales calls.  An effective sales coach would also deliver one on one sessions on techniques, sales cycle, controlling sales conversations, role-playing, interactive activities, and feedback sessions. A sales coaches job is to help build confidence and encourage sales reps to reflect on their own sales performance.  

It’s not the role of the sales coach to motivate reps. Top performers in sales are self motivated not just by revenue goals and more sales, but by their own professional development.

Group coaching, on the other hand, involves working with a small group of sales professionals to help them develop their skills and knowledge. Group coaching may be conducted in person or virtually, and may involve a range of techniques, such as group discussions, interactive activities, and role-plays. 

Group coaching can be an effective way to help sales professionals learn from one another and share best practices. An effective sales coach may attend team meetings, support weekly sales meetings and drive performance improvement across the sales team. 

Overall, both individual and group coaching can be effective approaches to sales development, and the most appropriate approach will depend on the specific needs and goals of the sales team or individual, as well as the resources and time available for development. 

4. How do I create a sales coaching programme

Creating a sales coaching program can be a complex process that requires careful planning and attention to detail. Here are some steps to consider when creating an effective sales coaching program:

a) Define your goals: Clearly define your goals for the coaching program. What do you want to achieve? What specific skills or knowledge do you want to develop in your sales team? Having clear goals will help you design a program that meets your needs and helps you achieve your objectives.

b) Identify your target audience: Determine who your coaching program will be for. Will it be for your entire sales team, or just a specific group? Understanding your target audience will help you tailor the program to meet their specific needs and goals.

c) Determine the format: Decide on the format of your coaching program. Will it be in-person, virtual, or a combination of both? Consider factors such as convenience, cost, and the preferences of your target audience when choosing a format.

d) Select a coach: Choose a coach who has the experience and expertise to meet your needs. Consider factors such as their background, their coaching style, and their availability when selecting a coach.

e) Create a schedule: Determine the frequency and duration of your coaching sessions. Will they be weekly, biweekly, or monthly? How long will each session be? Consider the schedules of your participants and the goals of your program when creating a schedule.

f) Plan the content: Design the content of your coaching program to meet your specific goals and the needs of your target audience. This may include topics such as sales techniques, customer relationship management.

5. How do you coach a sales person?

Coaching a salesperson can be a rewarding and challenging experience, as it requires strong communication skills, a deep understanding of sales techniques, and the ability to adapt to the individual needs and goals of the sales rep. Here are some steps to consider when coaching a salesperson:

a) Establish a relationship of trust and respect: Building trust and respect is essential for any coaching relationship. This may involve establishing clear expectations, being open and honest with feedback, and showing genuine interest in the salesperson’s development.

b) Identify the salesperson’s strengths and areas for improvement: Assessing the salesperson’s strengths and areas for improvement can help you tailor your coaching to their specific needs and goals. This may involve observing their sales interactions, reviewing their performance data, and asking for feedback from the salesperson and their colleagues.

c) Set specific, measurable goals: Setting specific, measurable goals can help the salesperson stay focused and motivated, and can provide a roadmap for their development. Consider setting both short-term and long-term goals, and be sure to track progress regularly.

d) Provide ongoing support and feedback: Offer ongoing support and feedback to help the salesperson develop their skills and knowledge. This may involve one-on-one coaching sessions, role-playing, or other interactive activities that allow the salesperson to practice and apply what they have learned.

e) Encourage self-reflection and continuous learning: Encourage the salesperson to reflect on their performance and seek out opportunities for continuous learning. This may involve encouraging them to read industry publications, attend training.

sales coach
Sales Coaching

6. What are the best sales coaching techniques?

There are a wide range of sales coaching techniques that can be effective in helping sales professionals develop their skills and knowledge. Here are a few examples:

a) One-on-one coaching: One-on-one coaching involves working with a sales professional on a one-on-one basis to help them develop specific skills and knowledge. This type of coaching is typically more personalized and tailored to the specific needs and goals of the individual.

b) Role-playing: Role-playing involves simulating real-life sales situations and allowing the sales professional to practice and apply what they have learned. This can be a useful technique for helping sales professionals develop their communication and problem-solving skills.

c) Interactive activities: Interactive activities, such as case studies or simulations, can be a useful way to engage sales professionals and help them apply their knowledge to real-world situations.

d) Group coaching: Group coaching involves working with a small group of sales professionals to help them develop their skills and knowledge. Group coaching may involve group discussions, interactive activities, and role-plays, and can be an effective way to help sales professionals learn from one another and share best practices.

e) Feedback sessions: Providing ongoing feedback can be a valuable technique for helping sales professionals improve their performance. Feedback sessions should be conducted in a constructive and supportive manner, and should focus on specific areas for improvement.

Overall, the best sales coaching techniques will depend on the specific needs and goals of the sales team or individual, as well as the resources and time available for development.

7. Examples of sales coaching questions

There are a wide range of sales coaching questions that can be effective in helping sales professionals develop their skills and knowledge. Here are a few examples:

  1. What are your specific goals for this coaching session?

  2. What are your current challenges in the sales process?

  3. What do you feel confident about in your sales approach?

  4. What are your areas for improvement in your sales approach?

  5. How do you currently handle objections from prospects?

  6. How do you currently build relationships with prospects and customers?

  7. How do you currently follow up with prospects and customers?

  8. How do you currently measure your sales performance?

  9. What are some best practices or strategies that have worked well for you in the past?

  10. What resources or support do you need to achieve your goals?

Sales coaching questions should be tailored to the specific needs and goals of the sales professional or small group, and should be designed to encourage reflection, learning, and action. By asking thoughtful and targeted questions, sales coaches can help sales professionals identify areas for improvement, develop new strategies and approaches, and track their progress towards their goals.

8. What skills does a sales coach require?

A good Sales coach requires a range of skills to effectively coach sales reps including:

a) Sales expertise: Coaches should have a deep understanding of sales techniques, customer relationship management, and the sales process. This may involve having a background in sales management or training, or having extensive experience as a sales professional.

b) Communication skills: Coaches should have strong communication skills, including the ability to listen actively, ask clarifying questions, and provide feedback in a constructive and supportive manner.

c) Coaching skills: Coaches should have a strong understanding of coaching principles and techniques, including how to set goals, provide feedback, and facilitate learning and development.

d) Adaptability: Coaches should be able to adapt to the specific needs and goals of the salespeople they are working with, as well as to any changes in the sales environment.

e) Empathy: Coaches should be able to show empathy and understanding for the challenges and concerns of the salespeople they are working with, which can help build trust and rapport.

By developing these skills, coaches can become more effective at helping sales professionals develop their skills and knowledge, and improve their sales performance.

Sales Coach
Effective Sales Coaching

9. Does a sales manager need a sales coach?

Sales managers can benefit from sales coaching just like sales professionals can. In fact, sales coaching can be especially valuable for every sales manager, as they often have a greater responsibility for leading and developing their sales teams.

Sales coaching can help a sales manager develop a range of skills, including:

  1. Leadership skills: Sales coaching can help sales managers develop their leadership skills, such as communication, delegation, and team-building.

  2. Sales techniques: Sales managers can benefit from sales coaching to help them stay up to date with the latest sales techniques and best practices.

  3. Coaching skills: Sales managers who are responsible for coaching their team members can benefit from sales coaching to help them develop their coaching skills and techniques.

  4. Problem-solving: Sales managers often face a range of challenges, such as managing difficult customers or navigating complex sales environments. Sales coaching can help them develop problem-solving skills and strategies to address these challenges.

Overall, sales coaching can be a valuable resource for any sales manager looking to develop their skills and knowledge, and improve both their performance and that of their sales reps.

10. What role should sales leadership play in sales coaching?

Sales leadership plays a crucial role in coaching, as they are responsible for setting the tone and direction for the team’s development. Here are a few ways in which sales leadership can support coaching within their organization:

  1. Establish a coaching culture: Sales leadership can help create a coaching culture by emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and development, and by providing resources and support for coaching efforts.

  2. Set clear goals and expectations: Sales leadership should communicate clear goals and expectations for sales coaching, and ensure that coaching efforts are aligned with the overall goals and objectives of the organization.

  3. Provide resources and support: Sales leadership should provide the necessary resources and support to enable effective coaching, such as training materials, coaching tools, and dedicated coaching time.

  4. Encourage self-reflection and continuous learning: Sales leadership can encourage sales professionals to engage in self-reflection and continuous learning by setting aside dedicated time for coaching, providing access to resources and training, and recognizing and rewarding the efforts of those who engage in coaching activities.

  5. Model coaching behaviors: Sales leadership should model coaching behaviors by demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning and development, and by providing supportive and constructive feedback to sales professionals.

Overall, sales leadership plays a crucial role in establishing a culture of coaching and supporting the development of sales professionals within the organization.

11. What's the difference between sales coaching and sales training?

Sales coaching and sales training are two different approaches to sales development that can be used to help sales professionals improve their skills and knowledge.

Sales training is a structured program that is designed to help sales professionals develop specific skills and knowledge. It may involve a range of delivery methods, such as lectures, interactive activities, and simulations, and may be delivered in person or virtually. Sales training is typically more general in nature, and is focused on providing sales professionals with a broad range of skills and knowledge that they can apply in a variety of situations.

Sales coaching, on the other hand, is a more personalized approach that is tailored to the specific needs and goals of the sales professional or small group. Sales coaching may involve one-on-one sessions with a coach, role-playing, and interactive activities, and is typically more focused on helping sales professionals apply what they have learned to specific challenges or situations. Sales coaching may also involve setting specific goals and tracking progress to help sales professionals stay motivated and accountable.

Overall, the main difference between sales coaching and sales training is the level of personalization and focus on specific goals and challenges. Both approaches can be valuable resources for sales professionals looking to improve their skills and knowledge, and the most appropriate approach will depend on the specific needs and goals of the sales team or individual, as well as the resources and time available for development.

12. Do I need a background in sales to be a sales coach?

Having a background in sales can be beneficial for sales coaches, as it can provide you with a deep understanding of sales techniques, customer relationship management, and the sales process. However, it is not necessarily a requirement for successful sales coaching.

Sales coaches may come from a variety of backgrounds, and may have expertise in areas such as leadership, business development, communication, and coaching techniques. What is most important for a sales coach is the ability to understand the needs and goals of the sales professionals they are working with, and to provide support and guidance to help them develop their skills and knowledge.

Overall, while a background in sales can be beneficial for coaches, it is not the only factor that determines their effectiveness. The most important qualities for a sales coach are the ability to understand the needs and goals of their clients, and to provide support and guidance to help them achieve success.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Mastering the Art of Asking For The Order

asking for the order

asking for the order - Top Question from Google

How do you ask customers for the sale? (The short answer)

You should always remember, people do not like being sold to, but they love buying.  With this in mind the best way to ask for the order, is not to ask for the order.  If you use a consultative sales approach the customer will realise for themselves that there is a good fit between what you are selling and their needs.  The best sales professionals never have to ask for the order.  They simply create the right conditions for the buyer to buy.  

If you are using a traditional sales approach in B2B sales, there are several ways to ask customers for sales, depending on the context and the relationship you have with them. Here are some examples:

  • If you are in a business setting and have already established a relationship with the customer, you can ask for a sale by stating the benefits of your product or service and explaining why it would be a good fit for their needs. For example, you could say, “Our product has been proven to improve efficiency and save time, which I think would be valuable for your business. Would you like to discuss a purchase?”
  • If you are cold-calling or contacting potential customers for the first time, it’s important to be polite and respectful. Start by introducing yourself and your company, and then explain how your product or service can help them. For example, you could say, “Hi, my name is [Name] and I’m with [Company]. We offer a [Product/Service] that can help [Benefit]. Can I schedule a call to discuss how it could benefit your business?”

Overall, the key to asking for the sale or indeed anything, is to be polite, respectful, and informative. Show the value of your product or service, and be prepared to answer any questions they may have.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Why it's important for salespeople to ask for the sale?

Not everyone is familiar with, or uses a consultative sales approach.  Therefore, it’s very important for those using traditional sales methodologies to ask for the sale. Asking for the sale is the final step in the sales process, and it’s what ultimately determines whether the salesperson is successful in making a sale. 

By asking for the sale, the salesperson is taking the initiative and putting the decision in the hands of the customer. This can be a powerful way to persuade the customer to make a purchase, and it can also help the sales person to close the deal more efficiently.

In addition to winning more sales, asking for the sale is also a crucial part of building a successful sales career. Sales is a profession that requires persistence, confidence, and the ability to handle rejection. 

Asking for the sale helps sales professionals to develop these skills, and it can also help them to build a track record of success. The ability to ask for the sale has a direct impact on the sales performance of your sales team.

2. Why asking for the sale can lose sales professionals the deal

Asking for the sale is an important step in the sales process, and it’s essential for making a successful sale. However, if it’s not done in the right way, it’s possible that asking for the sale could lose the deal. Here are a few reasons why this might happen:

  1. The customer isn’t ready: If the customer isn’t ready to make a decision, asking for the sale can be premature and can push them away. It’s important to carefully gauge the customer’s level of interest and readiness before asking for the sale.

  2. The customer has objections: If the customer has objections or concerns, asking for the sale without addressing those issues can be counterproductive. It’s important to listen to the customer’s objections and to address them before asking for the sale.

  3. The sales person is pushy or aggressive: Asking for the sale in a pushy or aggressive manner can be off-putting to the customer. Salespeople should be direct and clear in their request, but they should also be respectful and professional.

  4. The customer is dissatisfied: If the customer is unhappy with the product or service, or with the salesperson’s performance, asking for the sale can be futile. In these cases, it may be better to address the customer’s dissatisfaction and try to resolve the issues before asking for the sale.

Overall, asking for the sale is a crucial part of the sales process, but it’s important to do it in a way that is appropriate for the specific situation and customer.

asking for the sale

3. How fear of rejection stops sales professionals asking for the sale

Fear of rejection can definitely stop salespeople from asking for the sale. Asking for the sale is an inherently vulnerable position, and it requires the salesperson to put themselves out there and potentially face rejection. This can be intimidating, and it’s natural for salespeople to be afraid of being rejected.

However, it’s important for salespeople to overcome this fear and to ask for the sale anyway. Rejection is a natural part of the sales process, and it’s something that every salesperson will experience at some point in their career. By accepting that rejection is a possibility and by developing the skills and strategies to handle it effectively, sales people can overcome their fear of rejection and become more successful in their careers.

Sales people can overcome their fear of rejection in a number of ways, including the following:

  1. Develop a positive attitude: A positive attitude can help salespeople to stay motivated and focused, even in the face of rejection. By believing in themselves and their abilities, salespeople can maintain a sense of confidence and resilience, which can help them to overcome their fear of rejection.

  2. Practice effective rejection management: Sales people can learn how to manage rejection effectively by using techniques such as reframing, refocusing, and redirecting. These techniques can help sales people to view rejection in a more positive light, and to move on from rejection quickly and confidently.

  3. Seek support: Sales people don’t have to face their fear of rejection alone. Seeking support from colleagues, mentors, and peers can provide valuable encouragement and advice, and can help sales people to feel more confident and capable.

  4. Learn from rejection: Instead of viewing rejection as a failure, sales  people can learn from it and use it as an opportunity to improve. By analyzing why a particular sale didn’t go through, salespeople can identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to overcome similar objections in the future.

By adopting these strategies, sales people can overcome their fear of rejection and become more successful in their careers.

4. How to build confidence in salespeople

Here are some tips for building confidence in a sales team:

  1. Provide training and development: A sales team who are well-trained and well-equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed are more likely to be confident in their abilities. Invest in sales training and development programs that provide sales professionals with the tools and resources they need to be successful.

  2. Encourage positive thinking: Positive thinking is a powerful tool that can help sales professionals to build confidence and overcome challenges. Encourage sales professionals to focus on their strengths and to believe in their ability to succeed.

  3. Set achievable goals: Setting challenging but achievable goals can help sales professionals to feel a sense of accomplishment and to build their confidence. Create a goal-setting framework that provides clear benchmarks and rewards for success.

  4. Provide support and encouragement: Sales can be a tough and demanding profession, and sales professionals often face rejection and disappointment. Provide support and encouragement to help salespeople stay motivated and focused, and to build their confidence over time.

  5. Celebrate success: Recognizing and celebrating the successes of salespeople can help to boost their confidence and to reinforce the behaviours and strategies that lead to success. Make sure to celebrate both individual and team successes, and to provide public recognition for outstanding achievements.

By implementing these strategies, sales managers and leaders can help sales teams to build confidence, improve sales performance and to become more successful in their careers.

asking for the sale

5. Why salespeople feel uncomfortable asking for the sale

Asking for the sale can be uncomfortable for a sales person because they may fear rejection or feel like they are being pushy or aggressive. Additionally, some people may be unsure of how to ask for the sale in a way that is polite and respectful, or they may not be confident in their product or service. Here are some reasons why a sales person may feel uncomfortable asking for the sale:

  • Fear of rejection: Asking for the sale means putting yourself out there and potentially facing rejection. This can be intimidating and uncomfortable, especially for people who are sensitive to criticism or who have low self-esteem.

  • Concern about being pushy or aggressive: Some people may worry that asking for the sale will make them appear pushy or aggressive, which can be off-putting to customers. This may be especially true for people who are naturally reserved or introverted.

  • Uncertainty about how to ask for the sale: Asking for the sale is a skill that requires practice and finesse. If a sales person does not know how to do it effectively, it can make them feel unsure and uncomfortable.

  • Lack of confidence in their product or service: If you don’t believe in your product or service, it can be difficult to persuade others to buy it. This lack of confidence can make it uncomfortable to ask for the sale.

Overall, asking for the sale can be uncomfortable for many people because it involves overcoming these fears and doubts. However, with practice and the right mindset, you can learn to ask for the sale in a way that is confident and persuasive.

6. What are sales closing techniques?

Sales closing techniques are strategies that salespeople use to persuade a potential customer to make a purchase. These techniques can take many forms, but they all aim to help the salesperson overcome any objections the customer may have and to move the conversation towards a successful sale. Some common sales closing techniques include using a trial close to gauge the customer’s level of interest, asking for the sale directly, offering a discount or special deal, and using scarcity or urgency to create a sense of need. Sales closing techniques can be effective, but it’s important for salespeople to use them in an ethical and transparent manner.

Examples of sales closing techniques:

  1. The trial close: This involves asking the customer a question that helps the salesperson gauge their level of interest in the product or service. For example, the salesperson might say, “Based on what you’ve told me, it sounds like this product could be a good fit for your needs. Am I correct?”

  2. Asking for the sale directly: This is a straightforward approach where the salesperson simply asks the customer if they would like to make a purchase. For example, the salesperson might say, “Do you want to go ahead and place your order today?”

  3. Offering a discount or special deal: This involves offering the customer a financial incentive to make a purchase. For example, the salesperson might say, “If you decide to order today, I can offer you a 10% discount on your purchase.”

  4. Using scarcity or urgency: This involves creating a sense of need or urgency to persuade the customer to make a decision quickly. For example, the salesperson might say, “This offer is only available for a limited time, so if you want to take advantage of it, you’ll need to act now.”

  5. In certain circumstances such as selling home products like kitchens and windows, it can help to introduce an order pad or order form to help capture the customers order details.  The visible introduction of the order pad can prompt the buyer into moving forward.  

It’s important to note that these are just examples, and every sales person should use the closing techniques that are most appropriate for their specific situation and customers.

Sales Courses UK

7. Handling objections in sales

Objections from prospects are common as they try to reach the best buying decision for themselves.  However, in most cases they are not objections, they are simply the buyers way of saying that they require more detail. Nonetheless, the inability to handle objections will cost both the sales person and the company in lost sales. Here are some tips for handling objections in sales:

  1. Listen carefully to the objection: It’s important to understand exactly what the customer is saying and why they are objecting. Ask clarifying questions and pay attention to their body language and tone of voice to get a better sense of their concerns.

  2. Acknowledge the objection: Show the customer that you understand their concerns and that you are taking their objections seriously. This can help to build trust and rapport with the customer.

  3. Address the objection: Once you understand the customer’s objection, provide a response that addresses their concerns. This might involve providing additional information, offering a solution, or addressing any misconceptions the customer may have.

  4. Ask for the sale: After you have addressed the customer’s objections, it’s time to ask for the sale. Be direct and clear in your request, and be prepared to overcome any additional objections that the customer may have.

  5. Follow up: If the customer still isn’t ready to make a purchase, follow up with them at a later date. This can help to keep the conversation going and can increase the chances of making a sale in the future.

It’s important to remember that handling objections is an ongoing process, and every sales person should be prepared to handle objections at every stage of the sales process.

8. What are sales transition statements and how do you use them?

Sales transition statements are phrases that help you smoothly move from one part of a sales conversation to another. They can be used to introduce a new topic, ask for a sale, or overcome objections. Here are some examples of how you can use sales transition statements:

  • Introducing a new topic: “In addition to [current topic], there is another aspect of our product that I think you might find interesting. It’s [new topic].”

  • Asking for a sale: “Based on what we’ve discussed, I think our product would be a great fit for your needs. Are you ready to move forward with a purchase?”

  • Overcoming objections: “I understand your concern about [objection]. Let me assure you that [reassurance/solution to objection].”

To use sales transition statements effectively, make sure they are smooth and natural-sounding. Avoid using language that sounds too salesy or pushy, and focus on addressing the customer’s needs and concerns. By using these phrases to move smoothly from one topic to another, you can help guide the conversation and ultimately persuade the customer to make a purchase.

9. What are the most popular sales closing phrases?

Sales closing phrases or sales closing questions are used to conclude a sales conversation and persuade the customer to make a purchase. Some of the most popular sales closing phrases include:

  • “Are you ready to move forward with a purchase?”

  • “Can I count on you to buy today?”

  • “If you’re happy with everything we’ve discussed, shall we go ahead and get started?”

  • “Based on what we’ve discussed, I think our product is a great fit for your needs. What do you think?”

  • “I’m confident that our product will help you [achieve goal/solve problem]. Are you ready to make a commitment?”

It’s important to remember that these phrases are just suggestions, and the best sales closing phrase will vary depending on the situation and the customer. The key is to find the right questions or phrase that feel natural and authentic, and that helps you conclude the conversation in a way that persuades the customer to make a purchase.

objection handling training

10. Why a consultative sales approach is important in modern selling

A consultative sales approach is important in modern selling for several reasons. First, it allows the salesperson to better understand the customer’s needs, goals, and challenges, and to tailor their solutions to meet those needs. This can help to create a more personalized and effective sales pitch, and it can also help to build trust and rapport with the customer.

Second, a consultative sales approach is more focused on the customer’s needs than on the salesperson’s goals. This can help to create a more mutually beneficial and long-term relationship with the customer, rather than a transactional one-time sale.

Third, a consultative sales approach is more adaptable and flexible than traditional sales approaches. In today’s fast-paced and constantly changing business environment, salespeople need to be able to adapt quickly and to provide solutions that meet the customer’s evolving needs. A consultative sales approach allows salespeople to do this more effectively.

Overall, a consultative sales approach is important in modern selling because it allows salespeople to provide more effective solutions, to build stronger relationships with customers, and to be more adaptable to changing business conditions.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Objection Handling Training | Transform Resistance into Results

Objection Handling Training

Objection Handling Training - Top Question from Google

How do you teach Objection Handling? (The short answer)

There are several different ways to teach objection handling in sales, and the best approach will depend on the specific situation and the learning goals of the sales team. Here are a few common approaches to teaching objection handling in sales:

  1. Workshops and presentations: One approach to teaching objection handling is to provide workshops and presentations on the topic, covering the key principles and strategies for effectively responding to customer objections. This can be an effective way to provide an overview of the topic and to introduce the key concepts to the sales team.

  2. Case studies and examples: Another approach is to use case studies and examples to illustrate the principles of objection handling. For example, a trainer might provide a case study that describes a real-life situation where a customer raised an objection, and then ask the sales team to brainstorm responses to that objection. This can be a useful way to help salespeople apply the principles of objection handling to real-life situations.

  3. Role-playing and simulations: Role-playing and simulations are hands-on activities that can help salespeople practice and develop their objection handling skills. For example, a trainer might ask the sales team to role-play different scenarios where customers raise objections, and then provide feedback and guidance on how they can improve their responses. This can be an effective way to help salespeople develop the skills and confidence they need to handle objections effectively in real-life situations.

Overall, there are several different approaches to teaching objection handling in sales, and the best approach will depend on the specific situation and the learning goals of the sales team. By using a combination of training, case studies, and hands-on activities, trainers can help salespeople develop the skills and strategies they need to handle objections effectively and move forward with the sale. 

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. What are sales objections?

Sales objections are concerns or reservations that potential customers may have about a product or service being offered. These objections may be related to price, value, quality, or any number of other factors, and they can make it difficult for sales professionals to close a sale.

Objections are a natural part of the sales process, and it is the job of the sales professional to address these objections and overcome them in order to move the sales process forward.

Some common sales objections include concerns about cost, lack of need or interest, and competitors’ offers.

2. Are sales objections ever a good thing?

Sales objections can be a good thing, as they provide an opportunity for salespeople to better understand the customer’s concerns and address those concerns in a way that moves the sale forward.

By listening carefully to the customer and asking clarifying questions, salespeople can gather valuable information and use that information to tailor their response to the customer’s specific objections.

In addition, sales objections can provide valuable feedback that can help salespeople improve their sales techniques and strategies.

For example, if a customer raises an objection about the price of a product, the salesperson can use that feedback to develop a more compelling value proposition or to negotiate a more favorable price. By learning from customer objections, salespeople can improve their sales pitch and increase their chances of closing the sale.

Overall, sales objections can be a good thing because they provide an opportunity for salespeople to better understand the customer’s concerns and address those concerns in a way that moves the sale forward.

By listening carefully to the customer and using the information they provide, salespeople can improve their sales pitch and increase their chances of closing the sale.

Objection handling training

3. What is the difference between a stall and objection in sales?

A stall in the sales process typically refers to a moment when the conversation between the sales professional and the potential customer reaches a point where it seems to stop moving forward. This might happen because the customer is unsure about how to proceed, or because they are hesitant to make a decision. 

In contrast, an objection in the sales process typically refers to a specific concern or reservation that the potential customer has about the product or service being offered. This might be a concern about price, quality, or any number of other factors. 

The key difference between a stall and an objection is that an objection is a specific issue that the sales professional can address and attempt to overcome, while a stall is a more general lack of progress in the sales process.

4. What skills are involved in objection handling?

Objection handling involves a range of sales skills that are designed to help salespeople effectively respond to customer objections and move forward with the sale. Here are a few examples of skills that are involved in objection handling:

  1. Active listening: Effective objection handling involves being able to listen intently to the customer and understand their specific concerns. This requires salespeople to pay attention to what the customer is saying and to ask first open ended questions and then clarifying questions to gather more information.

  2. Empathy: Being able to empathize with the customer and understand their perspective is an important skill in objection handling. By being able to put themselves in the customer’s shoes, salespeople can better understand the customer’s concerns and provide a more effective response.

  3. Persuasion: Persuasion is an important skill in objection handling, as it involves being able to persuade the customer to overcome their objections and move forward with the sale. This requires salespeople to be able to articulate the value of the product or service and to convince the customer that it is the right solution for their needs.

  4. Conflict resolution: Objection handling often involves resolving conflicts or disagreements between the salesperson and the customer. This requires salespeople to be able to stay calm and composed, even in difficult or stressful situations, and to find creative solutions that address the customer’s concerns and move the sale forward.

Overall, objection handling involves a range of skills that are designed to help salespeople effectively respond to customer objections and move forward with the sale. By developing these skills, salespeople can improve their ability to handle objections and close deals more effectively.

objection haning training

5. Which part of the sales process receives the most sales objections

Sales objections often occur during the later stages of the selling process, when the customer is considering making a purchase. This is typically the point in the process where the customer has a good understanding of the product or service being offered and is weighing the pros and cons of making a purchase.

Objections can occur at any stage of the selling process, but they are most common during the following stages:

  1. Sales calls: More and more sales people are struggling to speak with the right person, establish trust, and address prospect’s objections at the very start of the sales cycle on outbound sales calls.  

  2. The presentation stage: During the presentation stage, the salesperson is typically showcasing the product or service and highlighting its key features and benefits. At this stage, the customer may have questions or objections about the product, its features, or its price.

  3. The handling objections stage: As the name suggests, this stage is specifically focused on addressing any objections that the customer may have. The salesperson will need to carefully listen to the customer’s concerns and provide specific responses to address those objections.

  4. The closing stage: The closing stage is when the salesperson is trying to persuade the customer to make a purchase. This is typically the most challenging part of the sales process, as the customer may have lingering doubts or concerns that need to be addressed before they are willing to make a decision.

Overall, the handling objections stage is where sales objections are most likely to occur, as this is the stage where the salesperson is specifically focused on addressing the customer’s concerns. However, objections can occur at any stage of the sales process, and it’s important for salespeople to be prepared to handle them at any time.

6. Are there different ways to handle objections in sales?

Yes, there are several different ways to handle objections in sales. Here are a few common approaches:

  1. Acknowledge the objection and validate the customer’s concerns: This approach involves acknowledging the customer’s concerns and showing them that you understand why they might have those objections. For example, you might say something like “I can understand why you might be hesitant about making a decision right now. Many people have similar concerns, and I’m here to help you understand why our product is the best solution for your needs.”

  2. Ask clarifying questions: Another approach is to ask the customer clarifying questions to better understand their objections and address their concerns. For example, you might ask, “Can you help me understand why you’re concerned about the price of our product?” or “What specifically about our product is causing you to have doubts?” By asking questions, you can gather more information and tailor your response to the customer’s specific objections.

  3. Address the objection directly: Another approach is to address the objection directly and provide a specific response to the customer’s concerns. For example, if the customer is concerned about the price of your product, you might respond by explaining the value that your product offers and how it can save them money in the long run.

  4. Use a trial close: A trial close is a technique where you ask the customer a question that moves them closer to making a decision, such as “Based on what you’ve told me, do you think our product is a good fit for your needs?” If the customer responds positively, you can use that momentum to move forward with the sale.

Ultimately, the best way to handle objections in sales will depend on the specific situation and the customer’s concerns. It’s important to listen carefully to the customer and tailor your response to their specific objections.

Sales Courses UK

7. Are sales objections real or a smokescreen?

Sales objections can be real or a smokescreen, depending on the situation and the customer’s motivations. In some cases, a customer may raise an objection because they genuinely have concerns or doubts about the product or service being offered. In these cases, the prospects objections are real and need to be addressed in order to move forward with the sale. In most cases a common objection is simply a request for more information to help the prospect move to the next stage of the buying process and make the right buying decision. 

However, in other cases, a customer may raise an objection or make a false statement as a way to stall or avoid being sold to. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as if the customer is not fully convinced of the value of the product or if they are feeling pressured to make a decision. In these cases, the objections may be a smokescreen and not reflect the customer’s true concerns.

It’s important for salespeople to carefully listen to the customer and determine whether their objections are real or a smokescreen. If the objections are real, the salesperson can address them directly and provide specific responses to address the customer’s concerns. If the objections are a smokescreen, the salesperson can use various techniques, such as asking clarifying questions or using a trial close, to move the conversation forward and help the customer make a decision.

8. What are the most common sales objections?

There are many different sales objections that customers may raise, and the specific objections that a salesperson encounters will depend on the product or service being sold and the customer’s individual needs and concerns. However, there are some common objections that salespeople often encounter, including:

  1. The price is too high: Salespeople often receive price objections, especially if the product or service being offered is more expensive than the customer’s budget, or what they are used to paying.

  2. I need to think about it: This objection is often raised when the customer is unsure about making a decision and needs more time to consider their options.

  3. I’m not interested: This objection is often a polite way for the customer to say that they are not interested in making a purchase.

  4. I’m not ready to buy right now: This objection may be raised if the customer is not currently in a position to make a purchase, either because they are not ready or because they do not have the necessary funds.

  5. I’m happy with my current provider: This objection may be raised if the customer is satisfied with the product or service they are currently using and sees no reason to switch to a new provider.

Overall, objections can vary widely depending on the situation and the customer’s specific concerns. It’s important for salespeople to be prepared to handle a variety of objections and to tailor their response to the prospects concerns and objections.

9. How important is role plays in objection handling training?

Role-playing is an important part of sales objection handling training, as it provides an opportunity for salespeople to practice handling objections and develop their skills in a simulated environment. 

Role-playing can be especially useful for helping salespeople overcome common challenges and obstacles that they may face when handling objections. For example, role-playing can help salespeople practice staying calm and focused under pressure, or dealing with difficult or aggressive customers. 

In addition, role-playing can be a fun and engaging way to learn, which can help salespeople retain the information and skills they are learning. 

Overall, role-playing is an important part of sales objection handling training, as it provides an opportunity for salespeople to practice and develop their skills in a simulated environment. 

By role-playing different scenarios, salespeople can learn and experiment with different strategies and responses, and build the confidence and skills they need to handle objections effectively in real-life situations.

objection handling training

10. What sales topics are included in objection handling training

Sales objection handling training typically covers a range of topics related to effectively responding to prospects objections and moving forward with the sale. Here are a few examples of topics that might be covered in objection handling training:

  1. Common objections and how to respond to them: Sales objection handling training often covers common objections that salespeople may encounter, such as concerns about the price, the product’s features, or the customer’s readiness to make a purchase. The training will typically provide specific strategies and responses that salespeople can use to effectively address these objections and move forward with the sale.

  2. Listening and questioning skills: Effective objection handling involves being able to listen carefully to the customer and understand their specific concerns. Sales objection handling training will often cover listening and questioning skills that can help salespeople gather more information and tailor their response to the customer’s specific objections.

  3. Overcoming objections and closing the sale: The ultimate goal of objection handling is to overcome the customer’s objections and move forward with the sale. Sales objection handling training will often cover techniques and strategies that salespeople can use to persuade the customer to make a purchase, such as using a trial close or highlighting the value of the product or service.

Overall, sales objection handling training covers a range of topics that are designed to help sales reps effectively respond to customer objections and move forward with the sale. These topics can help salespeople develop the skills and strategies they need to handle objections and close deals more effectively.

11. Are their any sales objection handling games for training?

Interactive training games are an important part of your training course materials.  There are several sales objection handling games that can be used for training purposes. These games are designed to help sales reps practice handling common objections and develop the skills and strategies they need to effectively respond to customer concerns.

Here are a few examples of sales objection handling games that can be used for training:

  1. Role-playing: In this type of game, a sales rep can practice handling objections by role-playing different scenarios. For example, one salesperson can play the role of the customer and raise objections, while the other salesperson plays the role of the salesperson and responds to those objections. This type of game can help salespeople practice different strategies for handling objections and see how those strategies work in a simulated environment.

  2. Case studies: Case studies are real-life scenarios that salespeople can use to practice handling objections. For example, a case study might describe a situation where a customer raises an objection about the price of a product. The salesperson can then analyze the situation and come up with a response to address the customer’s concerns.

  3. Interactive workshops: Interactive workshops are sessions where salespeople can learn and practice handling objections through group activities and discussions. For example, a workshop might include activities where salespeople work in teams to brainstorm responses to common objections, or where they practice role-playing different scenarios.

Overall, sales objection handling games can be an effective way to train salespeople and help them develop the skills and strategies they need to effectively handle objections and move forward with the sale.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Next Generation Sales Training Providers

Sales Training Providers

Sales Training Providers - Top Question from Google

What is the best way to train a sales team?

The best way to train a sales team will depend on the specific needs and goals of your organization. However, there are a few key strategies that can help ensure the success of your sales training program.

First, it’s important to identify the specific skills and knowledge that your sales team needs in order to be successful. This will help you create a training program that is tailored to your team’s needs and will focus on the most important areas for improvement.

Once you have identified the skills and knowledge that your team needs, you can begin to develop a training program. This could include a mix of in-person workshops, online courses, and one-on-one coaching. It’s important to create a diverse training program that includes a variety of learning methods, as this will help engage and motivate your team.

Another key strategy for training a sales team is to provide ongoing support and reinforcement. Training should not be a one-time event, but rather an ongoing process. This should include regular check-ins with team members, follow-up training sessions, and ongoing coaching and support.

Overall, the key to successful sales training is to create a customized program that is tailored to your team’s needs and provides ongoing support and reinforcement. With the right training program in place, you can help your sales team develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. How sales training can improve sales performance?

Sales training can improve sales performance in several ways. First, it can help salespeople develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective at their jobs. This can include sales training topics such as communication, relationship-building, negotiation, sales process, selling skills, and product knowledge. By developing these skills, salespeople can become more confident and effective at selling, which can improve their performance.

Sales training can also help salespeople stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices in the sales industry. This can help them use the most effective techniques and approaches to selling, which can improve their performance and help them close more deals.

In addition, sales training can help salespeople improve their time management and organization skills. This can help them stay focused and productive, which can lead to better performance and increased sales.

Overall, sales training can improve sales performance by helping salespeople develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective, stay up-to-date on industry trends, and improve their time management and organization skills. By providing sales training, you can help your team become more confident and effective at selling, which can improve their performance and contribute to the overall success of your organization.

2. Are sales training courses the best way to train sales professionals?

Sales training courses are one way to train salespeople, but they may not be the best option for every organization. The best way to train salespeople will depend on the specific needs and goals of your organization, as well as the preferences and learning styles of your team members.

Sales training courses can be a good option for organizations that want to provide comprehensive training on a wide range of topics. They can be a particularly effective way to train new salespeople or salespeople who are new to the organization.

However, sales training courses can be time-consuming and costly, and they may not be the best option for organizations with limited time and resources. In addition, some salespeople may find courses to be less engaging and interactive than other types of training.

Overall, sales training courses can be a useful and effective way to train salespeople, but they may not be the best option for every organization. The best approach will depend on your specific needs and goals, as well as the preferences and learning styles of your team members.

Alternative ways to deliver sales training

a) Work-based learning is a type of education and training that takes place in a real-world work environment. It typically involves hands-on learning experiences that are directly related to the learner’s field of study or occupation.

Work-based learning can take many different forms, such as sales meetings, sales campaigns, sales process and on-the-job training. It often involves a combination of classroom instruction with practical experience, with the goal of providing learners with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their chosen field.

Work-based learning is often seen as a valuable complement to traditional classroom-based education, as it provides learners with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in a real-world setting and gain practical experience. This can help them develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their careers.

Overall, work-based learning is highly effective as 70% of learning is doing, and work based learning minimises classroom time and maximises practical sales tasks which your sales team would or should be doing anyway. 

b) Sales Benchmarking is a type of training based on the existing best practice within a company.  Many sales training providers advocate specific sales methodology which often means salespeople have to relearn their entire sales approach. 

This may be relevant if the companies sales performance is very poor, however, if the sales team are successful they will waste a lot of time and energy starting from scratch again. Additionally, successful sales professionals are unlikely to be motivated to relearn everything when they are already hitting their sales targets.  

Sales benchmarking is a process in which a company compares the sales effectiveness of their top performers in order to identify areas where the rest of the sales team can improve. This comparison is typically done using a set of company-specific metrics, such as average sales per customer or conversion rate, and can help a company identify strengths and weaknesses in its sales strategy and tactics. 

Once best practice within the company has been established the company can introduce bespoke sales training programs to the rest of the salespeople in order to bring them up to standard of the top performers.  By regularly benchmarking its sales performance, a company can track its progress over time and make adjustments as needed to improve its overall sales performance.

3. The most important sales skills for salespeople.

The most important sales skills for sales reps are the skills that are necessary for them to be successful at their jobs. These skills will vary depending on the specific needs and goals of your organization, but here are a few skills that are commonly considered essential for sales people:

  1. Communication skills: Sales professionals need to be able to communicate effectively with customers, both in person and in writing. This includes being able to listen actively, ask powerful questions, and deliver persuasive presentations.

  2. Relationship-building skills: The sales person needs to be able to build strong relationships with customers and establish trust and credibility. This includes being able to connect with customers on a personal level and understand their needs and concerns.

  3. Negotiation skills: Sales people need to be able to negotiate effectively with customers in order to close deals. This includes being able to handle objections and find common ground in order to reach mutually beneficial agreements.

  4. Product knowledge: Sales professionals  need to have a deep understanding of the products and services they are selling in order to answer customers’ questions and address their concerns.

  5. Time management and organization: Sales reps need to be able to manage their time effectively and stay organized in order to stay productive and meet their goals.

Investing in professional selling skills training and coaching is an essential part of both staff performance, staff retention and improving your sales results. The skills listed above are commonly considered the essentials for success in sales.

Sales Training Providers | Klozers
Sales Training Providers | Klozers

4. How important is sales management training?

Yes, sales management training is important for several reasons. First, it can help sales managers develop the skills and knowledge they need to effectively lead and manage their teams. This can include sales training topics such as leadership, coaching, communication, and managing their sales team’s performance.

Sales management training can also help sales managers understand the latest trends and best practices in the sales industry. This can help them stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and technologies, and ensure that their teams are using the most effective approaches to selling.

In addition, sales management training can help sales managers build their confidence and improve their ability to lead and motivate their teams. This can help them create a positive and supportive work environment, which can improve morale and engagement among their team members.

Overall, sales management training is important because it can help sales managers develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective leaders, stay up-to-date on industry trends and best practices, and build confidence and motivation among their teams.

5. Customising Content for Sales Teams

Yes, sales training content should be customized for different sales teams such as inside sales and field sales. This is because different teams have different needs and goals, and a one-size-fits-all approach to training may not be effective.

By customizing sales training content for different teams, you can ensure that the sales training programme is tailored to their specific needs and goals. This can help the training be more effective and relevant, which can improve the team’s performance and overall success.

Customizing sales training content can also help engage and motivate team members. By providing training that is tailored to their needs and interests, you can help team members feel more connected to the material and more motivated to apply what they have learned.

Overall, customizing sales training content for different teams can improve the effectiveness and relevance of the training, and can help engage and motivate team members. By taking the time to customize training content, you can help your sales teams develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful.

Sales Training Need analysis

6. Sales training courses we offer

We provide a full range of sales training courses, however, it’s important to note that the majority of sales leaders now demand learning content bespoke to their business needs.  Thankfully, the days of training being a simply tick box exercise are long gone and sales leaders are looking for training aligned with both their corporate visions and their business needs.  

Each of our training courses constitutes a number of learning modules.  Whilst each sales training course includes a list of recommended modules many of our clients choose to swap modules based on their own needs.

We currently provide sales training programmes covering:

Sales Fundamentals

SaaS Sales Training

Telesales Training

B2B Lead Generation Training

LinkedIn Training

Consultative Selling Skills

Key Account Management

Sales Negotiation Training

Sales Management Training

Enterprise Sales Training

Sales Courses UK

7. How do I choose the best sales training provider?

When choosing a sales training company, it’s important to consider several factors to ensure that you select the best company for your organization. Here are a few key factors to consider:

  1. The company’s expertise and experience: The best sales training companies are those with expertise and experience in sales training and development. Look for companies with a proven track record of success and a reputation for delivering high-quality training.

  2. The company’s training programs and services: The training programs and services offered by the company should be tailored to your organization’s specific needs and goals. Look for a company that offers a range of training programs and services, including in-person workshops, online courses, and individual coaching and mentoring.

  3. The company’s facilitators and trainers: In addition to providing an engaging delivery the facilitators and sales trainers should be experienced and knowledgeable in their field. Look for facilitators and trainers who have a proven track record of success in sales and training, and who have the skills and expertise to deliver high-quality training.

  4. The company’s cost and customer service: The cost of the training programs and services should be reasonable and competitive. Look for a company that offers competitive pricing and is willing to work with you to create a training program that fits your budget and schedule. In addition, the company’s customer service should be responsive and helpful, and should be able to answer any questions you may have.

Overall, when choosing a sales training company, it’s important to consider the company’s expertise and experience, training programs and services, facilitators and trainers, and cost and customer service. By considering these factors, you can choose the best sales training company for your organization.

Sales Training Providers

8. Bespoke sales training programmes?

There are lots of great sales training providers to choose from and we thank you for considering Klozers.  

Many of our clients choose Klozers one of three min reasons as follows:

  1. We eat our own dog food.  This means that every sales strategy and tactic that we teach, we use in our own business.  This means we have a deep understanding of exactly what works and what doesn’t.
  2. OKR based training.  We use OKRs which is a business goal setting framework to connect every learning module to your companies vision and strategy.  This avoids generic sales training which simply doesn’t work.
  3. We’re not your average corporate sales trainer – we still sell for a living every day.  This includes generating  sales leads and new business remotely, from all over the world.  
We have an open door policy with our clients and we will show you exactly what we do to win new business and help you replicate it in your world.  Come and join us at Klozers.  

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Die Kraft der B2B-Verkaufsschulung freisetzen

b2b sales training - Top Frage von Google

Was ist das beste B2B-Verkaufstraining?

Wir bei Klozers sind nicht so arrogant zu glauben, dass wir die besten Verkaufstrainer der Welt sind, aber müssen Sie der Beste in dem sein, was Sie tun? Sie können der beste Verkaufstrainer der Welt sein, aber wenn Sie nicht in der Lage sind, eine Marke aufzubauen und Ihr Unternehmen effektiv zu vermarkten, wird Sie niemand finden.

Ja, wir streben unbedingt danach, die besten Verkaufstrainer zu sein, aber das allein reicht einfach nicht aus. Wir verstehen das Geschäft, wir verstehen, wie man Vertrieb und Marketing zusammenbringt und eine großartige Marke aufbaut, die auch in allen wichtigen Suchmaschinen gefunden werden kann – so sind Sie hierher gekommen.

Es ist schwierig, das beste B2B-Verkaufstraining zu bestimmen , da die Effektivität eines Trainingsprogramms von einer Vielzahl von Faktoren abhängen kann, wie z. B. den spezifischen Bedürfnissen des Unternehmens und des Verkaufsteams, dem Fachwissen der Trainer und der Qualität der Schulungsunterlagen.

Am besten recherchieren und vergleichen Sie verschiedene Verkaufstrainingskurse, um festzustellen, welcher Kurs für Ihr Unternehmen am besten geeignet ist. Im Allgemeinen sollte ein gutes B2B-Verkaufstrainingsprogramm umfassende Schulungen zu den Verkaufsprozessen, -techniken und -strategien des Unternehmens sowie zu Produktkenntnissen und Kundendienstfähigkeiten bieten.

Es sollte auch praktische Übungen und Rollenspiele beinhalten, um den Vertriebsleitern und den Mitgliedern des Vertriebsteams praktische Erfahrungen zu vermitteln und ihnen zu helfen, das Gelernte in der Praxis anzuwenden.

In diesem Artikel werden wir...

Es gibt einen neuen Weg, den Umsatz zu steigern...

Kaufen Sie kein Verkaufstraining, bevor Sie dieses Video gesehen haben…

1. Wie lerne ich B2B-Verkauf?

Es gibt verschiedene Möglichkeiten, den B2B-Vertrieb zu erlernen, z. B. durch die Teilnahme an Kursen oder Workshops, durch die Teilnahme an Konferenzen oder Seminaren und durch das Sammeln von Erfahrungen im Rahmen von Schulungen am Arbeitsplatz. Hier sind einige Schritte, die Sie unternehmen können, um den B2B-Vertrieb zu erlernen:

1. Informieren Sie sich über die Grundlagen des B2B-Verkaufs, einschließlich der Unterschiede zwischen B2B- und B2C-Verkauf, gängige B2B-Verkaufsprozesse und -techniken sowie die wichtigsten Fähigkeiten und Kenntnisse, die für den Erfolg im B2B-Verkauf erforderlich sind. Dies kann durch Online-Kurse, Bücher oder Fachpublikationen geschehen.

2. Erwägen Sie eine formale Ausbildung im B2B-Vertrieb, z. B. ein Studium oder ein Zertifizierungsprogramm. Viele Hochschulen und Universitäten bieten Studiengänge in den Bereichen Wirtschaft, Vertrieb oder Marketing an, die eine solide Grundlage für die Prinzipien und Praktiken des B2B-Vertriebs bieten.

3. Treten Sie einer Berufsorganisation oder einem Netzwerk für B2B-Verkaufsprofis bei. Diese Organisationen können Zugang zu Branchenveranstaltungen, Ressourcen und Vernetzungsmöglichkeiten sowie zu Möglichkeiten der beruflichen Weiterentwicklung und Schulung bieten.

4. Suchen Sie nach Praktika oder Einstiegspositionen im B2B-Vertrieb, um praktische Erfahrungen zu sammeln und Ihre Fähigkeiten zu entwickeln. Die Arbeit unter der Anleitung erfahrener Vertriebsprofis kann Ihnen wertvolle Einblicke und praktische Fähigkeiten vermitteln, die Ihnen zum Erfolg im B2B-Vertrieb verhelfen können.

5. Lernen Sie kontinuierlich und entwickeln Sie Ihre Fähigkeiten durch ständige Fortbildung und berufliche Weiterentwicklung. Die B2B-Vertriebslandschaft entwickelt sich ständig weiter. Daher ist es wichtig, über die neuesten Trends, Techniken und Technologien in diesem Bereich auf dem Laufenden zu bleiben.

2. Wie schule ich ein B2B-Verkaufsteam?

Um ein B2B-Verkaufsteam zu schulen, müssen Sie ein umfassendes Schulungsprogramm entwickeln, das die wichtigsten Fähigkeiten und Kenntnisse abdeckt, die die Teammitglieder benötigen, um in ihrer Rolle erfolgreich zu sein. Im Folgenden finden Sie einige Schritte, die Sie bei der Schulung eines B2B-Verkaufsteams befolgen können:

1. Ermitteln Sie den spezifischen Schulungsbedarf des Teams, indem Sie eine Bedarfsanalyse durchführen. Dies kann Gespräche mit Teammitgliedern und Managern sowie die Analyse von Verkaufsdaten und Leistungskennzahlen umfassen.

2. Entwickeln Sie einen Schulungsplan, der die wichtigsten Fähigkeiten und Kenntnisse abdeckt, die die Teammitglieder entwickeln müssen, z. B. Produktkenntnisse, Verkaufstechniken und Fähigkeiten im Kundenservice. Der Plan sollte auch spezifische Ziele für die Ausbildung sowie einen Zeitplan und ein Budget enthalten.

3. Wählen Sie eine Schulungsmethode, die für das Team und den zu behandelnden Stoff geeignet ist. Dies kann persönliche Schulungen, Online-Kurse oder eine Kombination aus beidem umfassen.

4. Verwenden Sie eine Vielzahl von Schulungstechniken und -aktivitäten, um die Teammitglieder zu engagieren und zu motivieren, z. B. Vorträge, Fallstudien, Rollenspiele und Gruppendiskussionen.

5. Bewertung der Wirksamkeit des Schulungsprogramms durch Bewertungen, Feedback und Leistungskennzahlen. Nutzen Sie diese Informationen, um bei Bedarf Verbesserungen und Anpassungen am Schulungsprogramm vorzunehmen.

6. Laufende Unterstützung und berufliche Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten für Teammitglieder, damit sie ihre Fähigkeiten und Kenntnisse weiter ausbauen können. Dies kann Mentoring, Coaching und Zugang zu Branchenveranstaltungen und Ressourcen umfassen.

B2B Sales Training
Analyse der Vertriebsfähigkeiten und -bedürfnisse

3. Welches sind die besten Themen für B2B-Verkaufsschulungen?

Die besten Schulungsthemen hängen von den spezifischen Verkaufsfähigkeiten, Bedürfnissen und Zielen des Verkaufsteams sowie von den zu verkaufenden Produkten oder Dienstleistungen ab. Im Allgemeinen sollte eine gute B2B-Verkaufsschulung die folgenden Themen abdecken:

1. Verständnis des B2B-Verkaufsprozesses, Verwaltung der Verkaufspipeline, einschließlich der Unterschiede zwischen B2B- und B2C-Verkäufen und der typischen Phasen eines B2B-Verkaufszyklus.

2. Entwicklung von Schlüsselkompetenzen im B2B-Vertrieb, wie z. B. Akquise, Networking und Aufbau von Kundenbeziehungen.

3. Erlernen effektiver B2B-Verkaufstechniken, wie beratendes Verkaufen, Lösungsverkauf, Steuerung von Verkaufsgesprächen und wertorientiertes Verkaufen.

4. Erwerb von Produkt- und Kundenkenntnissen, einschließlich der Merkmale, Vorteile, Probleme und Anwendungen der zu verkaufenden Produkte oder Dienstleistungen.

5. Entwicklung von Fähigkeiten im Bereich Kundenservice, wie Kommunikation, Verhandlung und Problemlösung.

6. Verständnis der Konkurrenz und der Möglichkeiten, die Produkte oder Dienstleistungen des Unternehmens von denen der Wettbewerber zu unterscheiden.

7. Einsatz von Technologie und Tools wie CRM-Systemen und Software zur Vertriebsautomatisierung zur Unterstützung des Verkaufsprozesses.

8. Kennenlernen der Richtlinien, Verfahren und Standards des Unternehmens für ethische und konforme Verkaufspraktiken.

Es ist erwähnenswert, dass die meisten Trainingsprogramme keine Inhalte für die Vertriebsmanager/Vertriebsleiter innerhalb der Vertriebsorganisation enthalten. Unserer Ansicht nach ist dies ein Fehler, da der Verkaufsleiter / die Verkaufsleiter eine zentrale Rolle bei der Verstärkung der Schulung nach der Übergabe spielen.

4. Was sind die besten Verkaufsschulungsmethoden?

Es gibt viele verschiedene Trainingsmethoden, die effektiv sein können, und die beste Methode hängt von Ihren spezifischen Bedürfnissen und Zielen ab. Unserer Erfahrung nach sind Online-Verkaufstrainingsprogramme und aufgezeichnetes Material wahrscheinlich die am wenigsten effektive Form der Verkaufsschulung.

Vertriebsmitarbeiter brauchen Interaktion und Kontext, und vielbeschäftigte Vertriebsmitarbeiter haben zu viele Ablenkungen, um sich auf ein Online-Schulungsprogramm zu konzentrieren. Das Vertriebscoaching eignet sich jedoch für die Online-Bereitstellung, vorausgesetzt, das Coaching findet live statt.

Zu den gängigen Methoden der Verkaufsschulung gehören:

1. Rollenspiele: Hierbei werden Verkaufstechniken und -szenarien mit einem Partner geübt.

2. Fallstudien: Hier werden reale Verkaufsszenarien analysiert und erörtert, wie sie zu bewältigen sind.

3. Präsentationen: Hierbei handelt es sich um eine Präsentation zu einem Verkaufsthema, z. B. zu Produktmerkmalen oder Abschlusstechniken.

4. Workshops: Hierbei handelt es sich um die Teilnahme an einer strukturierten Schulungsveranstaltung zu einem Verkaufsthema, z. B. Verhandlung oder Akquisition.

5. Coaching: Hierbei handelt es sich um die persönliche Zusammenarbeit mit einem Vertriebscoach, um Ihre Fähigkeiten und Leistungen zu verbessern.

Unabhängig von der Methode, die Sie wählen, ist es wichtig, dass Ihr Verkaufstraining auf praktische Fähigkeiten ausgerichtet ist, die in der realen Welt angewendet werden können, und dass es Möglichkeiten für Feedback und Verbesserungen bietet.

5. Was sind Verkaufstrainingsprogramme?

Verkaufstrainingsprogramme sind strukturierte Schulungsprogramme, die den Verkäufern helfen sollen, ihre Fähigkeiten und Leistungen zu verbessern. Diese Programme decken in der Regel ein breites Spektrum an Themen ab, darunter Akquise, Aufbau von Beziehungen, Präsentation von Produkten oder Dienstleistungen, Verhandlung und Geschäftsabschluss.

Verkaufstrainingsprogramme können von Unternehmen, Berufsbildungsorganisationen oder Bildungseinrichtungen angeboten werden. Sie können in verschiedenen Formaten angeboten werden, z. B. in Präsenzseminaren, Online-Kursen oder selbstgesteuerten Lernmaterialien.

Ziel eines Schulungsprogramms ist es, den Vertriebsmitarbeitern zu helfen, das Wissen und die Fähigkeiten zu entwickeln, die sie benötigen, um in ihrer Rolle erfolgreich zu sein.

B2B Sales Training Workshops
Ausbildung zum Verkaufsleiter

6. Was ist der Unterschied zwischen einem Verkaufstrainingsprogramm und einem Verkaufstrainingskurs?

Ein Verkaufstrainingsprogramm und ein Verkaufstrainingskurs ähneln sich insofern, als sie beide den Verkäufern eine Schulung zur Verbesserung ihrer Fähigkeiten und ihrer Leistung bieten. Es gibt jedoch einige wesentliche Unterschiede zwischen den beiden.

Ein Verkaufstrainingsprogramm ist in der Regel ein umfassenderes und strukturierteres Training. Sie kann mehrere Kurse oder Module umfassen und über einen längeren Zeitraum durchgeführt werden. Ein Vertriebstrainingsprogramm kann auch Möglichkeiten für Coaching, Mentoring und fortlaufende Unterstützung beinhalten, damit die Vertriebsmitarbeiter das Gelernte in ihrer täglichen Arbeit anwenden können.

Im Gegensatz dazu ist eine Vertriebsschulung in der Regel eine kürzere, gezieltere Schulung, die ein bestimmtes Thema oder eine bestimmte Fähigkeit abdeckt. Ein Verkaufstraining könnte sich zum Beispiel auf einen bestimmten Aspekt des Verkaufsprozesses konzentrieren, wie z. B. Verhandlung oder Akquisition. Ein Verkaufstraining wird häufig in einer einzigen Sitzung durchgeführt und umfasst keine laufende Unterstützung oder Betreuung.

Im Allgemeinen ist ein Verkaufstrainingsprogramm ein umfassenderes und intensiveres Schulungserlebnis, während ein Verkaufstrainingskurs ein konzentrierteres und gezielteres Schulungserlebnis darstellt. Welche Option für Sie die beste ist, hängt von Ihren spezifischen Bedürfnissen und Zielen ab.

7. Auswahl einer Verkaufsmethodik

Die Wahl einer Verkaufsmethode kann eine schwierige Aufgabe sein, da es viele verschiedene Verkaufsmethoden zur Auswahl gibt und kein einheitliches Konzept. Im Folgenden finden Sie einige Tipps, die Ihnen bei der Wahl der richtigen Verkaufsmethode für Ihr Unternehmen helfen:

  1. Bestimmen Sie Ihre Ziele: Bevor Sie sich für eine Verkaufsmethode entscheiden, sollten Sie sich darüber klar werden, was Sie erreichen wollen. Möchten Sie Ihren Umsatz steigern, die Kundenzufriedenheit verbessern oder ein anderes Ziel erreichen? Auf diese Weise können Sie feststellen, welche Verkaufsmethode für Ihre Bedürfnisse am besten geeignet ist.

  2. Recherchieren Sie verschiedene Verkaufsmethoden: Sobald Sie wissen, was Sie erreichen wollen, können Sie sich über verschiedene Verkaufsmethoden informieren, um herauszufinden, welche mit Ihren Zielen übereinstimmen. Ziehen Sie eine Reihe von Methoden in Betracht, darunter traditionelle Ansätze wie Lösungsverkauf und beratendes Verkaufen sowie modernere Ansätze wie Inbound Marketing und Value Selling.

  3. Denken Sie an Ihr Team: Nicht alle Vertriebsmethoden sind für jedes Team geeignet. Berücksichtigen Sie die Stärken und Schwächen Ihres Teams und wählen Sie eine Methode, die zum Erfolg beiträgt. Wenn Ihr Team zum Beispiel gut im Aufbau von Beziehungen ist, könnte ein beratender Verkaufsansatz gut passen.

  4. Holen Sie Feedback ein: Sobald Sie Ihre Optionen eingegrenzt haben, sollten Sie Feedback von Ihrem Team und anderen Interessengruppen einholen. Dies kann Ihnen helfen, eine fundierte Entscheidung zu treffen und sicherzustellen, dass die gewählte Methodik von Ihrem Team gut angenommen wird.

  5. Testen und anpassen: Keine Vertriebsmethodik ist perfekt, und Sie müssen möglicherweise Anpassungen vornehmen, damit sie für Ihr Team funktioniert. Testen Sie verschiedene Ansätze und sammeln Sie Feedback, um herauszufinden, was am besten funktioniert. Seien Sie bereit, Anpassungen vorzunehmen und neue Dinge auszuprobieren, um Ihren Verkaufsprozess zu verbessern.

Insgesamt ist die Wahl einer Verkaufsmethode ein iterativer Prozess, der sorgfältige Überlegungen und laufende Tests und Anpassungen erfordert.

8. Durchführung von Schulungen

Wir bieten persönliche Schulungen, Fernschulungen und eine Kombination aus beidem an. Bei der Präsenzschulung findet die Schulung an einem physischen Ort statt, z. B. in Ihren Büroräumen oder in einem Konferenzraum eines Hotels, wo der Schulungsleiter und die Lernenden im selben Raum anwesend sind. Dies ermöglicht eine persönliche Interaktion und kann eine gute Option für praktisches oder experimentelles Lernen sein.

Bei der Fernschulung hingegen wird die Schulung aus der Ferne durchgeführt, beispielsweise über das Internet oder eine virtuelle Plattform. Dies ermöglicht es den Lernenden, von überall aus an der Schulung teilzunehmen, und kann eine gute Option für Lernende sein, die sich in verschiedenen geografischen Gebieten befinden oder terminliche Einschränkungen haben.

Sowohl die persönliche als auch die Fernschulung haben ihre Vor- und Nachteile. Persönliche Schulungen können interaktiver und ansprechender sein, sind aber auch teurer und zeitaufwändiger. Fernschulungen hingegen können bequemer und kostengünstiger sein, aber es fehlt ihnen möglicherweise die persönliche Interaktion und die Möglichkeit des praktischen Lernens wie bei einer Schulung vor Ort.

Unser beliebtestes Modell ist die Hybrid-Variante, die einen ersten Workshop vor Ort und ein anschließendes Online-Coaching umfasst.

Welcher Ansatz für Sie der beste ist, hängt von Ihren spezifischen Trainingsbedürfnissen und -zielen ab. Es kann hilfreich sein, Faktoren wie die Art der Schulung, die Sie durchführen, die Lernziele, die Bedürfnisse und Vorlieben der Lernenden und die Ihnen zur Verfügung stehenden Ressourcen zu berücksichtigen.

9. B2B-Verkaufstraining - Kommen Sie zu uns

Klozers bietet Schulungen und Coaching sowohl persönlich als auch über das Internet an. Unser Training gibt Ihrem Team die umfassende Ausbildung, die es braucht, um potenzielle Kunden zu identifizieren und mit ihnen in Kontakt zu treten. und so effektiv wie möglich an sie zu verkaufen.

Unsere Verkaufstrainer unterstützen Sie bei der Entwicklung und Durchführung von Schulungsworkshops und einem Verkaufscoachingprogramm, die auf Ihr Unternehmen und Ihr Verkaufsteam zugeschnitten sind.

Jede Sitzung baut auf dem vorhandenen Wissen Ihres Geschäftsentwicklungsteams auf und darauf, wie es derzeit verkauft. Wir bieten Ihren Vertriebsmitarbeitern und Ihrem Führungsteam kontinuierliche Unterstützung, um sicherzustellen, dass Sie mit mehr potenziellen Neukunden in Kontakt kommen und echte Umsätze und Erträge erzielen.

Wenn Sie Interesse haben und mehr über unser Training erfahren möchten, können Sie hier einen Termin mit einem unserer Spezialisten für Verkaufstraining vereinbaren .

“Eine fantastische Lernerfahrung”

Amanda – Kundenbetreuerin

LinkedIn Workshops | Cracking the Code for Social Selling

LinkedIn Workshops

Linkedin workshops - Top Question from Google

What is a LinkedIn Workshop

A LinkedIn workshop is a training session that focuses on teaching people how to use LinkedIn effectively. This could include topics such as creating a strong profile, networking with others, and using LinkedIn to find job opportunities.

A LinkedIn workshop might be offered by a professional training organization, a college or university, or a company that provides social media training. It could be held in-person or online, and could be a single session or a series of sessions. The goal of a LinkedIn workshop is to help participants learn how to use LinkedIn to their advantage in their professional lives.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. LinkedIn Workshops - Introduction

In today’s digital age, social selling is more relevant than ever. It’s about connecting and interacting with customers on social media networks and LinkedIn is the daddy of them all. LinkedIn is a platform with 720 million B2B decision makers that helps businesses find and create professional relationships.

Whilst originally designed as a job search platform for recruiters, LinkedIn is now the home of social selling and business development on the web.

Through our LinkedIn training workshops, you’ll learn all the strategies and tools to engage your exact target audience. Also, you’ll understand LinkedIn-specific features to develop professional connections and build both your personal, and your company’s presence on the platform.

In this post, we’ll discuss the basics of social selling on LinkedIn and how to get it right.

For details on LinkedIn training workshops and how you can book a workshop, please use visit the Book a Call page.

2. Create a professional LinkedIn profile

Your personal LinkedIn profile is like the landing page on a website. Not only does it showcase your personal brand, it acts to generate leads and new business for you. Your LinkedIn profile can be found by existing connections as well as potential clients, completing their due diligence before contacting you.

LinkedIn provides a handy wizard on sign up to help complete your professional profile. Be sure to go further than just adding your expertise and include details on your professional knowledge and interests.

gtm strategy
Personal Profile - LinkedIn Training Workshops

3. Build your Professional Network

Most people on LinkedIn simply connect with potential new clients and then forget about building relationships.

LinkedIn is a business networking platform so after you have connected with prospects you should continue to interact with them (not sell to them).

How do you do this? The basics are simple – Like, Share and Comment on their content.  

The reality is the harder you try and sell to someone, the more they will resist you, especially on LinkedIn.

4. Interact, Interact and then Interact some more

Most people are unsure of the best way to generate leads and win new business on LinkedIn.

The easiest way to explain this is to treat LinkedIn like traditional in-person networking – if you wouldn’t say it or do it in-person, then don’t do it online.

Not interacting on LinkedIn is like turning up to a traditional networking event and then sitting in the cloakroom all afternoon.

Once you’ve related your Ideal Client Profile to your target audience on LinkedIn, then you need to interact with them.

Network with fellow industry professionals and potential new clients and like, comment and share their content.

5. Focus on great content

Your marketing team should already be sharing insightful content via your company page on LinkedIn.

So, you should re-post this adding your own personal insights and tips.

Avoid over sharing sales content on your products and services, and instead, focus on industry content that is educational and helps position your company as the Subject Matter Experts.

We advocate no more than one piece of sales content every three posts, and a minimum of one piece of sales content every five posts.

If you don’t have your own content, you can curate content from other sites and share content from your own connections.

Linkedin Training Workshops
LinkedIn Training Workshops

6. Social Selling Techniques - serve before selling

In line with Emersons Law of Compensation on LinkedIn, givers gain.

Prospects will not buy from you until they know, like and trust you. If you want prospects to trust you, you must first give value. The LinkedIn platform is essentially a digital marketing platform that allows you to nurture prospects and potential clients.  

Yes, you can purchase a LinkedIn automation tool and run what we call scorched earth campaigns, but these tools damage your personal and company brand, as well as putting your account at risk of closure as they are against LinkedIn’s rules.

You should also be aware that when other users block you on LinkedIn, you are blocked for life, not just while you are employed in your current role. This makes success in future jobs much more difficult.

7. Create a Content Schedule

Posting content regularly is a great way to position your business on LinkedIn and a content schedule is an important part of your planning.

From our own experience, the maximum you should be posting content is 1 per day for national brands, and twice per day for international brands to cater for the time differences. 

The minimum we would recommend you use LinkedIn to post content in order to be successful is twice per week.

According to research from Hubspot the best times to post your sales and marketing content on LinkedIn is:

Between 12pm – 3pm, 3pm – 6pm, or 6pm – 9pm.

Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

8. Build a Foundation

From a business development stance, unless you already have a strong social media presence, your tactics may not work in the short term. 

Think of LinkedIn as a mini-website where you place relevant information. That information is like seeds, and in order to benefit from those seeds, you must first feed and nurture them regularly. 

Don’t sow the seeds and turn up the next day expecting a Harvest. Why should potential customers do business with you from the start? Share content that explains why.

LinkedIn Workshops
LinkedIn Training Course

9. Evaluate what works

LinkedIn is a moving goal post and what works can change. In addition to the type of marketing content you post, evaluate the content type. Short Form vs Long Form, Video vs text, Carousel vs .PDF and Polls. You would be surprised at how different the results can be.

Comparing performance to a single image post with text:

Document posts get 2.2 to 3.4x more reach

Polls get 2.1 to 2.9x more reach

Carousel posts get 1.8 to 2.3x more reach

Text and multiple pictures (montage) gets 1.2 to 1.6 times more reach.

10. Training Format

As a company we believe in work-based learning. This teaching style focuses on getting learners out of the classroom and learning via doing. 

Our LinkedIn training is designed around your learning priorities and where possible, we adjust the training content to fit your needs.  Rather than theory based, each workshop provides a hands-on approach on how to use LinkedIn. 

Each training course is delivered either In-person, or remotely online via a one-day workshop, or half day workshop.

11. LinkedIn Workshops

Klozers provides LinkedIn training workshops both in-person and remotely online. Our LinkedIn training will give your team the comprehensive training they need to identify potential customers, connect with them. and sell to them as effectively and in as non spammy a way as possible.

Our Sales Trainers will help you design and deliver training workshops that are bespoke to your business.

Each session will build on the existing knowledge of your business development team and how they use LinkedIn. We provide ongoing support for your people and your leadership team to ensure you connect and talk to more potential new clients and generate real sales and revenue.

If you are interested and would like to find out more about our LinkedIn Training, you can book a call with one of our LinkedIn training specialists here.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Business Development Training | Everything you Need to Know

Business Develpoment Training

business development training - Top Question from Google

What are Business Development Skills?

Selling has changed so much in recent years which is reflected in the skills that the modern sales professional needs to be successful.  Regardless of the industry every Business Development Professional requires:

  • Communication Skills
  • Sales Prospecting Skills
  • Social Selling Skills
  • Research and Planning Skills
  • Networking & Relationship Management Skills
Whilst skills are important, what’s more important are the traits or habits of the individual.  For example, are they reliable, are they coachable, do they take ownership or play the victim?  Skills can be learned and whilst traits and habits can be changed, most companies simply don’t have the time or resources available to rebuild the character of an individual.

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Business Development Training - Introduction

Business development refers to the plans and methods used to increase a company’s value and growth. Business growth tactics may include activities such as relationship-building, market expansion, and brand awareness initiatives.

Business development isn’t just about opening new accounts.  It should be the process of positioning the business for long-term growth by using a variety of business development strategies and taking a more targeted approach than salespeople do when closing deals with specific consumers.

Business development training has become more important than ever as salespeople find it harder and harder to open new accounts.  True business development includes market appraisal, positioning and strategy, not just traditional selling skills.  

2. Why is Business Development Important?

Business development helps an organization grow by assisting with expanding and improving its sales, revenues, product offerings, talent, customer service, and brand awareness. It serves as the connecting link between all of a company’s divisions or departments.

Here are three reasons why business development training is crucial

1. It creates vital new connections

Building relationships is important in the business development process. Skilled business developers focus on making connections with senior level decision makers in their prospects C-suite. Making connections is only the start of the process with customers.  We still believe that people buy from people and relationship building also plays a critical part of any business development strategy.  When done correctly, connections are often made for life and many salespeople have made a career exclusively from their own, personal, black book.

2. It’s an essential strategy for boosting sales and reducing costs.

Every business loses a percentage of their customers each year.  Bankruptcies, takeovers and changes in buying teams affect us all.  These accounts need to be replaced for the company to maintain its performance, let alone grow. The process of developing a business requires finding strategies to increase the amount of revenue a company obtains while minimizing revenue loss. By having people who are focused on business growth, an organization can decide which markets and products have the greatest profit potential and which deals to pursue first.

3. It can enhance the company’s brand reputation

Business developers can assist a business in developing a stronger brand because marketing is essential in long-term value to a business’s growth. Business developers should collaborate closely with the marketing department using their business experience and skills to create strategies and campaigns that expand the company’s target market and attract the right type of new customers.

business development training
Business Development Courses

3. The significance of business development at different stages of company growth

Business development strategies for a well-established firm with 1,000 plus workers look very different from the business development strategies for a startup with ten employees. This is because there are numerous stages of business development, and the specific tasks within each stage differ depending on the size and maturity of an organization. Of course, budgets and resources also have a major impact on this.  

Each type of company—startups, medium-sized businesses, large, well-established businesses—needs a unique business development strategy.

  • Start-ups

A new company needs to lay a strong foundation to survive and grow. Business development strategies for startups focus on building that foundation by validating product market fit, building use cases in different verticals, and gaining valuable case studies to help scale future sales. Not every salesperson has the skills and tenacity to break new ground, as this can be extremely hard work. 

  • Mid-sized businesses 

As a firm grows, the need for more structure and process within sales appears.  This can have a negative effect as it impacts the culture of the business.  The friendly, team environment can start to wain with the introduction for more management which is needed because there are more people.  Nonetheless, new business development becomes even more crucial to the growth of the business.  As members of the founding team may have undertaken business development duties throughout the start-up and SME phase, this is usually impossible to maintain as the have a bigger business to run, with more people reporting to them. Business Development can sometimes become swallowed up by the business-as-usual sales, and dedicated teams are often required to avoid this.  By enhancing and releasing new products, searching for new markets, winning new “marquee” accounts and investing in expansion, businesses in this stage can continue to expand. A skilled business developer may execute these tasks, allowing senior executives to focus on ongoing operations and other administrative obligations.

  • Large, Enterprise companies 

The resources and client base that larger, more established firms have built up over time are available to the BD teams, regardless they still need to hunt for fresh growth opportunities and partnerships. During this period of business development, winning new accounts can be much easier as they now have the power of a large brand behind them.  Bigger budgets allow more focus on finding, cultivating, and putting into practice new ideas from both inside and outside the company, leading to innovation, new partnerships, and strengthened relationships with both present and potential customers.

4. Understanding the Basics of Business Development

Business Development Training Workshops
Professional Business Development Courses

In the modern era, sales, marketing, engineering, product management, vendor management, and other divisions are all involved in business development. Initiatives for differentiation, alliances, bargaining, and networking are also active. These many departments and operations are all motivated by and coordinated around the goals of organizational development, business training and leadership skills.

Sales

In most cases the role of the Business Development Manager is usually to focus on a particular market, or a certain set of accounts (Account Based Selling).  This targeting must include the companies Ideal Client Profile (ICP) and the Buyer Personas in order to be successful. Sales strategy, planning and management are all pre-requisites for success. 

Marketing

Whilst not everyone agrees with our position, we believe that marketing is there to deliver sales leads.  Brand building and raising awareness are too often excuses used to justify poor results.  From experience marketing should be fully aligned with sales and support business development activities.  Marketing should lay the ground work and position the brand before the BD professional even makes contact.  

Strategic Partnerships or Initiatives

Partnerships should not be limited to those that can deliver direct sales.  It’s advisable to form strategic partnerships and collaborate with companies that have a common target audience to increase your brand awareness in a market.  Our recommendation would be to wherever possible always partner with a bigger brand than your own.  By leveraging the power of a bigger brand, you will automatically raise your own brand awareness and positioning in the buyer’s mind. 

Project Management/Business Planning

Winning any new business is never easy, however, wining new enterprise deals is often the most difficult of all.  This requires thorough planning, patience and persistence.  Simple tried and proven tools like SWOT analysis, Ansoffs Matrix and OKRs play a vital part in preparing to win at business development.

Product Management

Modern product management simply must be built on differentiation.  There are simply too many products and services that have no discernable difference and ends up in buyers making their selection based on price.  Features and benefits are not points of differentiation as they will simply be copied by your competitors if they have any value in the market.  

Vendor Management

In many cases, growth is simply not possible without the support of your vendors.  However, Vendors can play an important part of business development as they can feed into product development, partnerships and sales and marketing.  Can you work together with your vendors to co-create the next generation of products and services?

Networking, and Relationships

Much as we love technology, people buy from people.  When two products and services are the same the business developer who is the best at building relationships will win.  Nobody wants to buy from a salesperson they don’t like or get on with. The best business development professionals have taken their personal skills past what we call the “functional skills level” and have developed leadership skills that are vital for both internal, and external communications.  

Cost Reduction

Business development and scaling up isn’t just about adding more salespeople to the team.  It’s about knowing your customer acquisition costs and working tirelessly to reduce these.  New ideas and strategies that fill the top of the sales funnel need to continuously be tried, tested and measured. 

business development course
Business Development Courses

5. Business Development Training - Conclusion

We would love to be your partner for growth and help your team be the best they can be.  Our business development training is available for delivery either In-Person, Remote or a hybrid combination of the two. 

Our professional business development courses include the latest in remote selling and includes time set out for role-playing.  Our sales training follows the work-based learning methodology which is designed to minimise classroom/theory time and maximise the time spent on practical, work-related projects.  

Every business development course we deliver is led by a skilled and experienced sales trainer who still sells for a living in the real business world.  This ensures they have a genuine understanding of front line selling.  In addition, over 80% of the training content we deliver is customised to meet the relevant skills and learning outcomes our clients are looking for.  We don’t just deliver generic business development training courses.

 

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

8 Steps to Crafting an Effective Go to Market Strategy

go to market strategy

Go to Market Strategy - Top Question from Google

What is a Go to Market (GTM) Strategy?

A go-to-market strategy (GTM) is a detailed plan made to successfully introduce a product or service to the market. A strong GTM strategy involves target audience identification, a marketing plan, and a sales strategy. GTM strategies should identify a market issue or business pain and present the product as a potential solution.

A GTM strategy is, to put it simply, how a business chooses to sell a product to the market. It is a practical roadmap that assesses a solution’s likelihood of success and forecasts its performance using market research, precedents, and competitor data.

It’s also important to remember that go-to-market strategies aren’t limited to tangible goods. For a new service, a new division of your firm, or even a brand-new venture, you can develop GTM strategies. Lastly, you can develop a GTM strategy to relaunch or reinvigorate an existing product or service.  

In this article we will cover...

There’s a new way to deliver sales growth…

Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video

1. Go to Market Strategy - Introduction

The path to success is littered with failure and whilst failure can be a great teacher, it comes at a cost. The best ideas, whether they be SaaS or a traditional business model, can easily fail without a GTM strategy that can deliver growth and profits.   

Without good planning, it’s impossible to tell if you’re pursuing the correct audience, entering a market too early or late, or aiming for one that’s oversaturated with comparable products. You don’t want to waste time and money on developing a product that won’t be successful.

You need to create a well-thought-out, doable, and efficient go-to-market strategy if you want to prevent those potentially disastrous hiccups and hangups. Most of the time, navigating that process is anything but simple.

This information will walk you through all you need to know to develop an effective and successful GTM strategy. This framework applies to B2B companies, startups, and essentially any new business or product you intend to sell, either to existing customers or new customers.

2. Why do you need a Go to Market Strategy?

With 660,000 new startups every year, 20% of which are no longer trading after 12 months and 80% not trading after 60 months, the odds of success are against you.  Even if you invest a lot of work, time, money, and resources into producing a new product or service, your project could fail if your go-to-market strategy is poorly thought out.

It’s critical to begin developing a go-to-market strategy as you create something new, one that is tailored to meet the product, your budget and buyer persona.

The majority of errors and oversights that might ruin the launch of a new product can be avoided by developing simply planning a go-to-market strategy prior to launch. Even if the product is well-designed and unique, a launch might be hampered by things like poor product-market fit or perceived oversaturation in the market.

A go-to-market strategy can help you manage expectations and iron out any wrinkles before you invest in bringing a product to market, although it can never guarantee success.

Lastly, your GTM strategy is an important tool for providing a centre point and focus, for your sales and marketing teams.  

gtm strategy
Go to Market Strategy

3. Go-to-Market Strategy vs a Marketing Plan

A go-to-market plan is specifically designed for introducing a new product or entering a new market. A marketing plan, on the other hand, normally provides specifics on how your entire business marketing strategy will be carried out. 

A marketing plan, like an annual roadmap or an all-encompassing digital marketing strategy, is a long-term strategy to help you reach your marketing objectives rather than being launch-specific. 

Your GTM approach is adapted to a particular launch, but it is based on your long-term marketing strategy.

4. The 8 components of a Go-to-Market Strategy

Go-to-Market Strategy
Go to Market Strategy

The essential components of a go-to-market strategy are as follows:

1. VALUE PROPOSITION

Your value proposition is the starting point on the journey that is product/market fit.  In the simplest terms your value proposition defines how your product will address your target customers’ needs better than any alternatives. 

2. Target Audience:

Who is affected by the issue or pains your product addresses? How much are they prepared to spend on a fix? Can you target your existing customer base in addition to new? How big is the Total Available Market (TAM)? What is their buying process. Are we targeting SMEs, Mid-Market or Enterprise?

3. Position:

Who is the current provider and what makes you different.  Who is already providing what you are launching? What is the status Quo? Does a market exist for the product/service, or is it already saturated? What position will help us achieve competitive advantage in the market?

 4. messaging: 
Words are the most undervalued, yet important sales tool.  How do we convey our Value Proposition and Position in words?  Are we consistently A/B testing the messaging in our marketing campaigns?
 

5. Channels: How will the product or service be distributed? A website, an app, or a distributor from a third party? Have we costed each channel?

6. Door opener:

What is our irrefusable first offer that will capture new clients?  How do we get that offer in front of our Ideal Client Profile?

 7. embed & expand:

 In SaaS the onboarding of new customers represents the biggest challenge with 25% of users abandoning apps after the first use.  How do we onboard and delight new customers and then spread throughout the organisation?

8. Promote & Refer:

Starting with the end in mind, how do we create brand ambassadors who in turn create a recurring stream of client referrals

5. What types of Go-to-Market Strategies are there?

The best products will fail even with many customers if sales can’t be processed and service levels can’t be maintained. The best products will fail even with many customers delivered by the go-to-market strategy (step forward the revenue delivery strategy and pricing strategy).

The midpoint of this journey does not, however, fit every go-to-market strategy perfectly. Depending on what will be your growth engine, your go-to-market strategy will be different. 

There are two options: growth that is driven by products and growth that is driven by sales.

A product-led go-to-market strategy

The focus of growth is placed on the product using a product-led go-to-market strategy. The product functions as both a remedy for a company issue and a silent salesperson by enabling clients to purchase, renew, and upgrade without ever leaving the product.

The absence of a salesperson during the discovery and research stages of the sales journey is also crucial to the concept of this self-serve sales model. Theoretically, the product should contain all the information a potential buyer may need, from the features and technical specifications of the solution to the pricing alternatives and contract conditions.

A freemium offer is one of many approaches used in product-led go-to-market strategies to first attract consumers before later converting them to paying clients. The line between product strategy and go-to-market strategy becomes hazier in product-led go-to-market strategies since the product serves as the primary sales channel.

The customer journey is influenced by factors including site architecture, product design, user experience (UX), and copy, which makes these factors more crucial to the go-to-market strategist.

A sales-led go-to-market strategy 

A salesman initiates and closes sales in a sales-led go-to-market approach. Even while the product will play a significant role in any sales conversation, the actual transaction (as well as any subsequent renewals and upgrades) happen off the platform.

This strategy is frequently used when a product is so ground-breaking, intricate, or expensive that numerous parties must participate in the decision-making process over several months (Enterprise Sales). Due to the resource-intensive nature of the sales process, the company will concentrate on making fewer sales at greater margins.

Sales-led go-to-market strategies are driven by people rather than the product, which makes the continuing connection to product marketing weaker. Instead, product marketing and go-to-market strategies will collaborate closely to establish the advantages of the solution and the target market at the outset of a sales-led growth plan.

Equally, product and revenue delivery strategies are more disjointed in a sales-led go-to-market strategy, where the product is not the means of processing orders.

go-to-market strategy
Go to Market Strategy

6. Go-to-Market Plan Methodologies

The funnel and the flywheel are the two main approaches for establishing a go-to-market strategy. The flywheel technique employs inbound marketing and other strategies to create long-lasting client relationships, in contrast to the conventional, one-off funnel method, which focuses on attracting leads and nurturing them into sales.

The circular flywheel concentrates on luring, enticing, and pleasing prospects, leads, and customers, whereas the funnel is focused on the awareness, deliberation, and decision stages of the customer’s journey. When a lead turns to a customer, the flywheel continues as the business must keep drawing them in, keep them interested, and satisfy them with top-notch customer service, fresh content, and possibly new products.

You should follow these phases in your planning approach whether you’ve chosen to use the flywheel or the funnel.

  1. Make your buyer persona stand out.
  2. Finish the value matrix for your persona.
  3. Specify your lead generation and content strategies.
  4. Modify and refine as you go.
  5. Keep and satisfy your clients.

7. How to build a Go-to-Market Strategy

7.1. Determine the personas and the buying centre

As obvious as it seems, it is a key point, the first step in putting your product on the market is to think about your customer.

A complicated B2B solution often has a buying group of six to ten decision-makers. The “purchasing centre” is set up with these people.

Although it’s vital to keep in mind that some job titles may serve more than one role, each of those buyers normally fulfils one of the following roles:

Users are those who consistently use your product, influencers are those who persuade others to buy it, decision-makers are those who approve final purchases, and buyers are those who control the budget.

  • Initiator: Someone who initiates a purchase or expresses an initial interest
  • User: Consistently uses your product
  • Influencer: One who persuades others that the product is necessary
  • Decision-maker: Approves the purchase 
  • Buyer: Owns the budget
  • Approver: The initiative’s final approver who pushes it on a broader scale. (Most likely someone in C-suite)
  • Gatekeeper: Blocker in the implementation or approval of a product. 

Depending on the product, sector, and vertical you’re selling to, these positions change. Gather your team and discuss the various job roles that your solution might affect.

7.2. Create a value matrix to aid in messaging identification

After mapping the personas for your buying centre, it is the best time to map out your value matrix.

Each buying centre persona, their business issues, and how useful your solution is in resolving those issues are broken down into a value matrix.

A relevant marketing message connecting the problem and solution must also be included in the value matrix.

Create a chart with one column for each persona. List the daily pain points that each persona experiences below. Include them in a row if your product can alleviate or resolve any of these issues.

In the end, the message must effectively convey both the value and the pain point. Agitating the pain point is the most effective technique to accomplish this. While most people will take a pain reliever to treat a headache, they are considerably less likely to take a daily vitamin to avoid the pain altogether. Your product’s value should be in relieving the suffering, not in acting as a vitamin.

7.3. Examine your messaging

After establishing your value matrix, it’s time to test your messaging. Utilizing the messages you’ve just generated for various audience members, begin promoting on social media networks.

You will have to test variables to find out what works in your marketing campaigns. The three variables you will test are the channel on which you advertise, the audience you aim for, and the message you convey.

Think about where your audience is before determining where to test. Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are potential paid digital advertising channels. Test different channels, then keep advertising on the ones that convert well. And stop spending money on channels that convert poorly.

7.4. Before putting ANY copy or adverts into widespread use, optimize them based on the findings of your tests

Optimize for your target customers next. Some ad networks offer advertisers settings for highly focused audiences. For instance, LinkedIn provides options for firm size, region, job title and function. To determine which audience is more likely to click or convert, test several possibilities.

Spending money where you’ll get the most return on investment is the key in this situation.

Additionally, you’ll test your messaging to determine which versions are most effective with your audience. Your advertising’ engagement and conversion rates will show you which value propositions and pain points are the most effective.

After gathering this data, you can use the successful insights to guide your larger campaigns.

7.5. Recognize the buying process

After developing your personas and value matrix, go further to comprehend the path a potential client would travel, both from the buyer’s and your company’s perspectives.

From your customer’s viewpoint, the buying process is straightforward. It will essentially go as follows:

  1. After realizing they have an issue, the buyer does some investigation.
  2. The buyer narrows down the list of prospective solutions.
  3. Until a choice is chosen, that list is reduced by speaking with the solution provider’s sales teams and by evaluating different product use cases.

From a business standpoint, the buyer’s journey used to resemble a funnel. The top of the traditional sales funnel has a high level of general interest. As opportunities come off the pipeline, it gradually gets smaller.

The sales funnel is no longer the ideal lens through which to see your buyer’s journey. Instead, we advise employing the flywheel model, which adopts a more comprehensive strategy and centres on your client, converting leads into customers and active promoters.

Customers go through three stages in the flywheel model: attract, engage, and delight.

The period of attraction comes first. This stage of content draws a potential customer in. This might be a blog post, whitepaper, or video. A lead gets here by clicking on an advertisement, social media post, or search engine result.

These actions, however, do not suggest that the lead is prepared to make a purchase just yet.

The engaging step then follows. At this point, a potential customer has shown that they have an issue that your solution can address. This allows you to engage them with educational content through digital behaviours like downloading an ebook or signing up for a webinar.

Marketing normally oversees the entice and engage phases of the lead generation and qualification process, while each firm has its unique divisions. Through messaging and content, your marketing staff must pique the attention of the target audience, raise awareness of the product, and inform them of its benefits.

The prospect should request a price estimate or a trial period at the halfway point of the engagement process. They’re about to choose whether or not to buy.

When the potential customer reaches this stage, the sales group takes over. For large deals, the procedure will typically look like this:

  • Make contact: The sales representative and lead start talking.
  • Qualification: To determine whether a potential customer meets the minimal requirements to buy the product, the sales representative learns more about the business, and their customer’s problems, and asks questions.
  • Demo/Presentation: For SaaS companies there is typically a demo provided by an Account Executive to present the solution.  
  • Business case: To determine whether a product can meet their needs, a prospect may test it out through a free trial or POC.
  • Evaluation: The organization’s decision-makers compare the product’s price to the outcomes of the business case.
  • Negotiating: Pricing specifics and feature requirements are discussed by sales representatives and decision-makers.
  • Close: A contract is reached, and your prospect becomes a client.
  • Renewal (Optional): The contract or subscription of your customer is renewed.

The lead leaves the engage phase and enters the delight phase as soon as your sales agent closes the deal. When a client reaches this point, you should please them with a simple onboarding procedure and welcoming customer care alternatives.

Then, hopefully, your customer will become a promoter. They increase your consumer base, which keeps the flywheel turning and helps you expand more effectively.

7.6. Select the four most popular sales strategies

You’ve completed all the necessary groundwork; the next step is to choose a plan of action to introduce your product to the market. It’s critical to take into account your method’s complexity, scalability, and cost because no single approach will be effective for every product or market.

Typically, there are four go-to-market sales strategies, each of which is tailored to a particular product and company model.

The Self-Service model.

When a customer makes an independent purchase, it is considered self-service. This business-to-consumer strategy is frequently used when a customer may discover and purchase a product online via a website like Netflix or Amazon.

Simple products with a low price point and big sales volumes are the greatest candidates for this. It’s challenging to construct, but when it does, it has a quick sales cycle, requires no upfront investment to hire salespeople, and is very profitable.

You won’t need a sales crew, but you will need a marketing team to promote your website and increase conversions. This gives you a competitive advantage. Experts in pricing strategy, growth marketing, performance marketing, and content marketing would likely make up the core marketing team, however, there may also be other team members.

The Inside Sales Business Model

The inside sales business model is used when a sales representative must develop a prospect before a contract can be closed. With a product of moderate complexity and cost, this kind of model performs best.

The sales cycle length varies from a few weeks to a few months. In this case, you’ll invest in sales and support teams, but inside sales representatives are less expensive than field representatives.

This business is fairly simple to develop and grow as you add additional team members, and it has the potential to be successful with huge sales volumes. In this arrangement, the sales team is often made up of a sales manager and a small number of representatives.

The Field Sales Business Model

When you have a whole sales organization that closes big business agreements, that is the field sales, business model. These are frequently complicated products with high price tags, which also means that there are frequently few offers and a lengthy sales cycle.

Due to the high salaries and experience of the field salespeople, the sales team in this model is frequently quite expensive. Because it costs time and money to recruit and train a whole sales staff, this model is simple to create but more challenging to scale.

A sales manager, field representatives, sales engineers, a team of sales development representatives (SDR), and sales operations are among the group’s members.

The Channel Model

Finally, in the channel model, a third-party partner or agency sells your goods on your behalf. Building this is challenging since it can be challenging to find and educate potential employees about the advantages of your product. They frequently have lower sales motivation than your own sales team would.

However, because you don’t have to pay for your own sales team, this strategy is inexpensive. It functions best when the product aligns with the partner’s interests.

Depending on your industry or target market, you can combine or contrast these approaches. Instead of investing in an expensive sales team too soon, businesses should scale over time.

7.7. Use inbound and/or outbound techniques to increase brand recognition and demand development

Now you must attract the interest of your target market to fill your pipeline. Demand generation, which may be accomplished through both inbound and outbound tactics, is how this happens.

With inbound, customers find your brand through marketing initiatives and contact you or express interest in you of their own will.

Social media, content, or paid advertisements that lead to a landing page are a few examples of channels that generate organic inbound traffic.

When a salesperson makes a cold outreach contact with a lead, this is known as outbound demand generation. They could accomplish this by calling leads, sending warm emails, reaching out to contacts on a contact list, or gathering leads at trade shows.

The leads are guided to additional instructional information and eventually into the sales funnel once interest has been developed through these tactics.

7.8. Create content to attract inbound prospects

In general, inbound leads are less expensive to acquire and easier to convert than outbound leads. This is because inbound prospects are already aware of your product, partially educated on the business problem you answer, and typically more interested in purchasing it.

The secret to creating that inbound interest is content marketing, which will bring visitors to your website.

By identifying and targeting keywords that your potential customers might use to search for your products or services, your content marketing team will increase the amount of inbound traffic to your website.

Search engine optimization (SEO), which is how a search engine ranks the information on the internet after a query is entered into the search bar, is at the heart of content marketing. This will contribute significantly to your organic website traffic.

Although various products might require various launch strategies, the template and instructions below should help you develop a sound initial plan that can be modified as you go.

7.8.1. Conduct keyword research

Choose keywords that are relevant to your product, determine their volume (how frequently people search for them), the difficulty of ranking for them (i.e., how competitive they are), and find out who is already ranking for them.

7.8.2. Conduct content research

Come up with content ideas that contain that term. Look for existing articles on these subjects to help you plan your content calendar.

7.8.3. Content creation

Put those concepts into action and commission seo optimised articles on those subjects from writers in order to drive traffic to your website.

7.8.4. Design

Make your information more visually appealing and engaging by including pertinent photos, infographics, videos, and other multimedia.

7.8.5. Promote

Share the links to your material on social media or in emails to your client database to increase traffic to your website.

7.8.6. Create links

Make contact with other publishers and request that they link to your work to increase traffic. You get site authority as a result, which raises your SEO ranks.

7.8.7. Conversion rate

Monitor and gauge your content’s engagement and conversion rates. Drop what doesn’t work and continue with what does. Restart the cycle of content generation after that.

7.9. Look for methods to improve your pipeline and boost conversion rates

Selecting a sales strategy and developing a demand-creation process are not sufficient for growth.

Sales is a numbers game, and you can only improve by tracking your success. Volume, conversion rate, and time are the key performance indicators (KPIs) for managing a sales staff.

You should keep tabs on the volume of your pipeline, which measures how many opportunities enter the flywheel.

then keep tabs on how many leads ended up becoming clients. You can determine your overall conversion rate by comparing the volume of opportunities in your pipeline to the number of closed agreements.

7.10. Examine the sales cycle and shorten it

Finally, keep tabs on the length of your sales cycle. This is how long it takes for an opportunity to get from the top of the sales funnel to a closed or successful deal. The conversion between each stage should be sped up. This can be achieved by recognizing typical objections (and iterating ways to eliminate them before they arise), doing continual lead nurturing, and coming up with ideas for how to locate the most suitable clients.

7.11. Lower the price of acquiring customers

You’ll also need to reduce the expense of acquiring new customers as a business owner. At first, this will be incredibly expensive, but as time goes on, you’ll need to optimize your procedures to lower this cost or you’ll end up losing more money than you gain.

The cost of acquiring a new customer or contract is expressed as a cost per $1. The less your marketing activities affect your PNL, the more profit you make per customer, and the lower the cost of customer acquisition.

7.12. Plan out ways to reach out to your current clientele

A well-known proverb in the sector states that acquiring new customers is seven times more expensive than doing business with current ones. This is because if you’re offering a fantastic shopping experience, your current consumers already know, like, and trust you.

Renewals, cross-selling, and upselling are the best ways for businesses to increase revenue and profits. 

Many people view sales as a mysterious black box. However, business executives may enhance their processes to increase productivity thanks to analytics and emerging sales AI solutions.

7.13. As you go, modify and improve

Entrepreneurs who possess specific abilities are not the only ones who can build a successful business.

You’ve probably already built your product, and creating a corporation is a fairly similar process. Throughout the process, you must remain strategic and work to improve.

You can create a firm if you take your time and keep improving. Revisit the parts of your plan that need adjustment. Keep track of what is working and come up with ideas for how to build on it.

7.14. Keep and impress your clients

You’ll concentrate on keeping up your client relationships and generating positive word-of-mouth during this time. A flywheel method can be considerably more beneficial in this situation than a funnel that finishes with sales.

go to market strategy

8. What's the Purpose of a Go-to-Market Strategy

When properly implemented, the go-to-market strategy will bring all stakeholders together and develop a roadmap to make sure each one accomplishes the objectives and milestones set forth, paving the way for market success.

In general, a go-to-market strategy is employed to produce the following advantages within a company:

  • highlight your competitive advantage to your target customers in a new market.
  • A marketing strategy with a distinct direction for all parties involved.
  • A shorter time for products and services to reach the market.
  • A higher likelihood that a product or service launch will be successful.
  • Lessening the likelihood that unsuccessful product or service launches would result in additional expenditures.
  • Improved capacity to respond to adjustments and consumer demands.
  • Better handling of difficulties.
  • A proven route for advancement.
  • Assured effective client experience generation.
  • Assurance of legal conformity.

Go-to-market plans can refer to the precise measures a business must take to direct client interactions for established products, even though they are frequently linked with product launches.

Organizations need a thorough grasp of the target market and the working environment to develop a GTM strategy that works. The management system for the GTM strategy should be built, and both new and existing procedures should be documented.

9. Conclusion

It’s essential to develop a comprehensive and effective GTM strategy as part of your overall marketing strategy before launching a new product or service.

A go-to-market plan is an action plan for your business that outlines how the entire team will do market research, introduce products, and evaluate their success. Our suggestion would be to take the key points from your go-to-market strategy, present them to your executive team for approval, then establish deadlines and concentrate on execution.

By following the instructions in this tutorial, you’ll be well on your way to launching a new product that will benefit your potential clients and make money on the market.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Sales Team OKRs | Achieving Sales Goals with OKRs

sales team okrs

Sales Team OKRs - Top Question from Google

Are OKRs good for Sales?

OKRs (Objectives, Key Results) are good for sales because they help with engagement, productivity and ensure that the sales teams activities are aligned, and delivering against the company’s growth strategy. Sales OKRs are not an alternative to KPIs and actually work alongside KPIs to improve your sales.  

In this article we will cover...

“The most useful and best days training I’ve ever had.  Love your style.”

Gary CEO

1. Our OKR Journey

As a company we must confess that we have been slow to move away from our traditional Balanced Scorecard based approach to management.  We fell foul of the old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.  Our Scorecards were ruthlessly simple and served us well for many years as we continued to customise and fine tune them to our business. 

Our belief that because we were using and tracking our most important KPIs led us to ignore the OKR methodology, when in reality they are very different and each bring different value to sales and business management.

Our driver for change came from the need to help our clients with managing their sales teams, many of whom were SaaS or IT based business.  Our clients were already using the OKR methodology and applying it to their sales function was easier than introducing our previous scorecard approach. 

As a company one of our key differentiators has always been that we only teach sales strategies and tactics that we use in our own business.  So, in mid-2021 we dropped our traditional scorecards and moved over to the OKR methodology.

They say everything in life has a purpose and timing wise our move to OKRs could not have been better.  Since rebuilding the business after our traditional face to face training and coaching business was wiped out by the lockdowns, we have had a huge focus on growth.  

Without a doubt, our OKRs have helped us with strategizing, planning and then executing.  This resulted in a record turnover for 2021 and an amazing start to FY 2022.

I’ve shared some of our own Objectives and Key Results as examples later in this article for those who would like some more detail.  But first…

2. How are OKRs different from KPIs?

Many companies use sales KPIs which is great and we would encourage you to continue doing so.  This is because OKRs and KPIs are very different and perform different “roles” within your sales management function. 

The primary role of sales KPIs are to measure Performance and or Quality.  In the world of sales we have lots of KPIs such as Cost of Customer Acquisition, Churn, Sales Conversion Ratios in fact the list goes on and on.  In our experience there is often too much time creating reports full of KPIs that no one has the time to read or action.  Over reporting is definitely a problem you should be aware of. 

So, to summarize KPIs measure performance and quality in the BAU (Business as Usual) activities of sales.  As a simple example, if your sales reps are making out bound sales calls then your KPIs might look something like this:

Number of dials made – Performance KPI

Conversion ratio of dials to demos – Quality KPI

OKRs on the other hand are very different, bigger and more encompassing. But despite this, OKRs are a really simple process to implement and follow.  Here’s our definition of OKRs:

Objectives are inspiring BAG goals (Big Audacious Goals).  These Objectives typically come from either strategy implementation, change in direction that the company has chosen, an improvement that may have been highlighted by your KPIs, or some form of innovation.  Please read on for some examples of each. 

OKRs are your driving force for change, improvement & innovation.

Once these Objectives have been chosen you then decide which Key Results would indicate that you were either progressing or had achieved your Objective.  You can include sales KPIs in your Key Results as a measurement.

sales team goals
Sales OKR examples

3. How do I Set up OKRs

There are many books and teachings around the Objectives and Key Results methodology and implementation which we would encourage you to read.  Our system may be slightly different to those as we have customised them to the world of sales, so feel free to refine our process to your own business.  With that said the process we use works and will work in your business as is.

3.1 Start with your ultimate objective

This is your purpose, your why, the reason you exist.  In the majority of cases this has already been defined in your Business Plan. Therefore, as long as your purpose and why is still relevant then this should be a very quick exercise.

It’s worth pointing out that no sales rep is motivated by things like increasing profit margins, market share or your exit strategy.  Therefore it’s important that your Ultimate Objective resonates with everyone in the sales team, not just the shareholders.

sales team goals
Sales OKR examples

3.2 Next identify your Strategic Sales objectives

These should come from your sales strategy and by achieving these you would have achieved or at least be making progress towards the Ultimate Objective that you have defined. For teams new to Objectives and Key Results, and those with limited resources chose a maximum of three strategic sales objectives. 

In terms of implementation wherever possible these objectives should be exiting and motivating to the sales team.  Buy in and engagement are key to your success so it’s important that the sales team feel motivated to achieve the objectives.  

With our own clients we encourage the leadership team to choose 5 strategic objectives and then ask the sales teams to choose three.  By simply including and allowing them a say in the objectives helps dramatically with engagement and performance, when the hard work starts.

With your Strategic Sales objectives it’s important to think big hence we use the phrase BAG Goals – Big Ambitious Goals.  Whilst the big goals may seem unattainable and in reality it may even turn out to be unattainable, studies show that most companies achieve 70-80% of their Objectives.  Achieving 70-80% of a Big Ambitious Goal delivers much more impact than 100% of a regular goal.    

In terms of the time frame, the Ultimate Objective would be at the least an annual goal but more likely a 3 -5 year goal.  The Strategic Objectives would be at least a quarterly (three month) goal with larger annual goals for example broken down into quarterly milestones. 

Another important consideration is which are of the sales the objectives are.  What we mean by this is that every sales team regardless of what they sell has four core areas they need to focus on.   We call these the high value areas of sales and they are Finding, Closing, Growing & Developing.  

When you focus your time and energy exclusively on finding, closing and growing sales, it’s almost impossible not to sell more.  Developing is the continued personal and professional development of the team.  

In an ideal world you would pick one objectives that directly correlated with either Finding, Closing and Growing.  Circumstances may dictate you need to focus on one are which is fine but we would advise against having all three objectives in the one area of sales. 

Your Strategic Sales Objectives need to excite, inspire and motivate the sales team.  As always, we strongly recommend running personal goal setting sessions and linking the Reps personal goals to the business goals. 

Sales OKRs

3.3 Identify your key results

With your sales team first identify the key results that would indicate progress towards or attainment of your sales objective.  The Key Results should be as specific and detailed as possible, and also be timebound. 

When defining the Key Results it’s important to understand and include the Lead Indicators and not just the Lag Indicators.  Lead Indicators are the KPIs recording the activities and actions that lead to the results.  

Here’s an example a client set an Ultimate Objective of creating a new recurring revenue stream.  The WHY behind this was to help balance the peaks and troughs in their Business as Usual sales.  

They then decided on a Strategic Sales Objective of increasing the LTV (Life Time Value) by 50% by end of Q3.  They set themselves three Key Results as follows:

* Increase their Customer Satisfaction Score to 7 by end of Q2 

* Increase the number of annual contracts they sold to Enterprise Accounts by end of Q2 

* Upsell 15% of users from their Base subscription to the Premium

From these Key results the Team collectively decided what activities they would need to undertake in order to attain the Key Results.  (There were many more activities required than this, but we have abbreviated)

sales team goals
Sales OKR examples

The answer to these questions can be used to create a series of milestones within your plan that would be used to track progress to the original Key Results.  

Now we have defined our objectives and key results that last step is to create our Sales Sprints and define the activities within the sprints.  These are the activities that the sales reps need to undertake in order to achieve the Key Results. 

It’s worth reiterating that the earlier and greater involvement that the sales reps have in the design and planning the more engaged they will be.  Simply throwing a list of Activities at Reps and dressing it up as a Sprint won’t work. 

At this stage it would not be unusual for the Sprint activities to include actions and input from other departments.  For OKRs focussed on finding new prospects you may require input from marketing to work alongside the SDRs and create a new sales campaign.  Including marketing and indeed any other department is the first step to fully aligning your sales and marketing functions which is always positive.

4. Sales OKR Examples

As previously mentioned, one of the reasons our clients love our Sales Training is how we only train our clients on the same sales strategies and tactics that we use in our own business.  We test and prove everything before we include it in any of our training.  

The slide below shows our own Sales OKR examples that as a team we are working towards through the year.  Not all our Strategic Objectives are on track and some are ahead and we are happy to share what’s working and what’s not.  

Here’s a brief summary to help you understand:

Strategic Sales Objective 1

Increase International revenues 300% by end of Q4 – we are currently behind on this but our pipeline suggest we can still achieve this.  I think we underestimated how much work was involved in getting set up for this, however, despite being behind this is really exciting.

Strategic Sales Objective 2

Increase Monthly Recurring Revenue 300% by end of Q4 – we are on target for this OKR which is great.  With that said, in retrospect we perhaps were not ambitious enough when setting the original Objectives. By achieving this Objective we have now increased our Customer Lifetime Value which helps with our gross profit margin.  Lots of wins with this particular goal.

Strategic Sales Objective 3

Increase P1P1 from 30 – 100 by end of Q4 – P1P1 refers to the number of keywords we have at Position 1 on Page 1 of Google which drives our Inbound Lead Generation.  The Goal was to increase the number from 30 to 100 and considering we have over 250 keywords on Page 1 itself we thought this was achievable.  This has however, proven to be much more difficult than we though and we currently only have 48 Keywords at Position 1.  This means it’s taken 7 months to add 18 keywords to the top of Google and we need another 52 in the remaining 5 months.  That is still a huge achievement and we still have a little over a Quarter to go so fingers crossed we can make up some ground.  

Other Sales OKR examples we have supported our clients with are:

Sales Cycle – reducing the sales cycle which came from a Business Objective which was to improve cashflow in the organisation.  Using the sales analytics from withing the clients CRM we undertook a thorough sales pipeline analysis to understand which deals where lagging, why they were lagging and what remedial action could be taken.    Reducing the sales cycle was one of a number of activities that contributed to this.

Sales Process  most companies either lack a formal sales process or they have a sales process but their salespeople struggle to follow the sales process consistently.  Improvements in sales process re typically linked to KPIs around sales performance.

Quarterly Revenue – as you would expect many companies are keen to drive growth and quarterly revenue is a common OKR that we encounter.

Monthly Recurring Revenue – monthly recurring revenue or MRR whilst predominantly associated with SaaS businesses, is a good indicator for every business that measures the sales from existing customers.

Channel Partners – channel partner development is common for those looking to scale quickly and profitably.  Channel Partners, strategic partnerships and affiliate programmes are fast, low cost and proven routes to market.

Examples of OKRs
Sales OKR examples

5. Where does Sales Training Fit in the OKR system?

Sales Training is very different to most business training in that sales results are dependant on so many variables it can be difficult to prove a connection between the training and the new revenue.

Furthermore, without the input and support of the Sales Leadership Team training is often left without reinforcement, resulting in salespeople, resorting to the original behaviours prior to the training starting.  It’s a vicious circle.

In addition, many of the issues around sales and growth revolve around these challenges:

  • How do we align the day to day sales activities with the companies overall sales growth strategy?
  • How do we keep the Sales People focused on the right type of sales activities and hold them accountable to these activities?

  • How do we provide an objective way to measure the sales performance and activities of our sales people?

  • How do we align the remuneration of sales people with the right sales activities that support our sales strategy?

  • How do we provide an objective way to report sales performance so we can identify skills gaps within sales management and the sales team?

Fortunately the OKR system answers all of these questions and more.

Whether using our own system or that of our clients we work with the Sales Manager to provide weekly sales reports, update sales targets, refine the overall sales approach, analyse lost deals and ensure the sales efforts of each team member are aligned with the sales OKRs.

Our OKR based Sales Team Coaching program provides training as and when required by the Sales Sprints.  This ensures that we are providing training and coaching that has a direct correlation to the clients Sales Objectives.  

The training therefore is highly targeted, customised and relevant to the participants. This is why our clients get genuine sales success and grow sales consistently.

The most common training and coaching we provide is currently around customer engagement which includes supporting every Team Member with their sales pitch as part of their overall sales approach, sales pipeline analysis, pipeline coaching,  individual sales targets – behavioural and commercial.

6. How do I run the Sales Sprints?

Just to recap Sales Sprints are the activities that the sales team choose to undertake in order to achieve the Key Results that signal the Sales Objectives have been met. 

OKR sales meeting structure
Sales OKR examples

There are many experts on Lean, Agile, Scrums, Sprints and Kanban each of which is designed for developers.  Sales and Salespeople are slightly different and we have adapted the original Lean methodology to suit the needs and circumstances of our clients.  

Here’s some guidance notes based on our experience:

5.1 The sales leaders must include the sales team early in the planning process to get buy in.

5.2 Invest time early on to run a personal goal setting session and then link the personal and business goals.

5.3 Train and Coach the Team Leaders and Managers hard as they are the glue that holds everything together.

5.4 Implement monthly 121’s with the sales managers and the sales team.

5.5 Never force training on the salespeople.  Those who don’t want to learn, won’t.  As frustrating as it sounds, these people need to be allowed to fail before they can overcome their own ego.  

5.6 Every project has ups and downs.  The downs are where the deep learning starts and where the biggest gains are to be made.  

We run monthly sprints each of which lasts for 3 weeks.  This allows the teams a breather from the intensity of the Sprints, for the last calendar week of the month yet maintains the momentum in the Sprint.  If training is required our preference is to deliver this during the first two weeks of the Sprints which ensures the team can spend the later half of the month focussing on the Sprint and their Business As Usual activities ie; closing deals.

“A fantastic learning experience”

Amanda – Account Manager

Der vollständige Leitfaden für Verkaufskurse

In this article we will cover...

“Die nützlichsten und besten Schulungstage, die ich je hatte. Ich liebe Ihren Stil.”

Gary CEO

Was sind Verkaufsschulungen?

Verkaufstrainingskurse erleichtern den Wissenstransfer, der über ein Klassenzimmer, einen Workshop oder Online-Schulungsinhalte vermittelt wird.

Alle Verkaufstrainingskurse erfordern Lernziele, die durch Inhalte unterstützt werden, die den Lernstilen der Teilnehmer entsprechen, und sollten in einem positiven Lernumfeld durchgeführt werden.

Es gibt hauptsächlich zwei verschiedene Arten von Schulungen: die erste ist produkt- und branchenbezogen, die zweite konzentriert sich auf Verkaufsstrategien, -taktiken und -fähigkeiten.

1. Warum sind Verkaufstrainingskurse wichtig?

Vertriebsschulungen sind ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Lern- und Entwicklungsstrategie eines Unternehmens. In den meisten Fällen wird die Ausbildung dazu genutzt:

1. Einarbeitung neuer Vertriebsmitarbeiter, um ihnen zu helfen, ihre umsatz- und gewinnbringenden Punkte schneller zu erreichen.

2. Überführung bestehender Mitarbeiter in neue Rollen oder Beseitigung von Leistungsdefiziten. Unternehmen, die interne Mitarbeiter einstellen und bestehende Mitarbeiter weiterbilden, können durch Verkaufstrainings ihre Fähigkeiten ausbauen und ihr Selbstvertrauen stärken.

3. Umgang mit leistungsschwachen Verhaltensweisen. Professionelles Verkaufen wird nicht an Schulen und Universitäten gelehrt, und viele Menschen lernen es einfach durch die Praxis. Das ist gut, aber viele Vertriebsleiter finden einfach nicht die Zeit, um Vertriebsmitarbeiter zu coachen und zu betreuen, daher ist eine effektive Vertriebsschulung notwendig.

2. Arten von Verkaufstrainingskursen

Offene Verkaufskurse

Offene Verkaufskurse werden in der Regel in Hotels im ganzen Land abgehalten und sind offen in dem Sinne, dass jeder aus jedem Unternehmen teilnehmen kann.

Dies führt dazu, dass etwa 12-20 Teilnehmer aus verschiedenen Branchen mit unterschiedlichen Erfahrungsniveaus teilnehmen, was es für alle schwierig macht, ihre Lernziele zu erreichen.

Diese werden häufig von so genannten Kursaggregatoren durchgeführt, bei denen es sich im Wesentlichen um Marketingunternehmen handelt, die Kursplätze verkaufen und dann einen unabhängigen Verkaufstrainer mit der Durchführung des Kurses beauftragen.

In vielen Fällen werden jedoch “Geisterkurse” angeboten, die dann vielleicht stattfinden, aber in vielen Fällen werden vier oder fünf Kurse gestrichen und zu einem einzigen Kurs zusammengefasst, wenn die erforderliche Teilnehmerzahl nicht erreicht wurde. Dies kann zu Problemen führen, da die Teilnehmer in letzter Minute Reisevorbereitungen treffen müssen, die zusätzliche Kosten und Zeit verursachen.

Die meisten unserer offenen Kurse finden in den großen britischen Ballungsräumen London, Manchester und Glasgow in Schottland statt.

Hausinterne Verkaufskurse

In House Sales Kurse werden exklusiv für ein Unternehmen durchgeführt. Dadurch hat der Kunde mehr Kontrolle über die Veranstaltungstermine, den Kursinhalt und den Veranstaltungsort.

Diese Kurse können in monatliche oder jährliche Verkaufssitzungen eingebunden werden und sind oft mit neuen Verkaufskampagnen oder neuen Verkaufsinitiativen verbunden.

Da der Kunde 100 % Kontrolle über den Inhalt hat, ist es viel einfacher, maßgeschneiderte Work Based Learning-Inhalte einzuführen, die das Engagement und die Lernergebnisse steigern.

In einigen Fällen entscheidet sich der Kunde dafür, Marketing- oder Betriebsmitarbeiter einzubeziehen, damit das gesamte Unternehmen eine gemeinsame Verkaufssprache verwendet.

Inhouse-Verkaufskurse beginnen in der Regel bei £3.000 ($4.550) für einen eintägigen Kurs mit mindestens 5 und maximal 12 Teilnehmern. Für einen zweitägigen Kurs müssen Sie mit Kosten in Höhe von etwa 4.500 £ (5550 $) rechnen.

3. Verkaufsschulungsstatistik

Verschiedene Untersuchungen haben ergeben

  1. Verkäufer, die ihre Verkaufsziele verfehlen – 67 %

Es ist zwar nicht möglich zu wissen, ob die Verkaufsziele jemals erreicht werden konnten, aber es ist sicherlich wahr, dass viele Vertriebsmitarbeiter Schwierigkeiten haben, ihre Verkaufsziele zu erreichen.

  1. Verkäufer nicht vorbereitet – 82%

Entscheidungsträger sind besser als je zuvor auf Produktinformationen vorbereitet, da sie ihren Kaufprozess oft schon weit fortgeschritten haben, bevor sie überhaupt mit einem Vertriebsmitarbeiter sprechen. Dies bedeutet mehr denn je, dass Vertriebsmitarbeiter Vordenker sein müssen, um einen echten Mehrwert zu liefern.

  1. Verkaufskontakte nicht nachverfolgen – 79%

Dies ist zwar sehr hoch, zeigt aber mehr denn je, dass das Marketing vollständig auf den Vertrieb abgestimmt werden muss.

  1. Verfehlte Leistungsmeilensteine – 71%

Das Verfehlen von Leistungszielen kann ein Hinweis auf mangelndes Coaching durch die Manager sein, da sie mit einem vollen Terminkalender zu kämpfen haben.

  1. Impact Training ist ineffektiv – 80%

Trotz zahlreicher Studien, die dies bestätigen, verwenden viele Unternehmen immer noch 1- oder 2-tägige Verkaufstrainingsveranstaltungen, die nur begrenzte Ergebnisse liefern.

  1. Verlorene Kunden aufgrund von Gleichgültigkeit – 65%

Wenn Ihr Unternehmen typisch ist, werden über 70 % der Einnahmen des nächsten Jahres von den Kunden dieses Jahres stammen. Key Account Management ist unerlässlich, um Ihre Kunden an sich zu binden und die Konkurrenz auszusperren.

Sales Courses UK

4. Auswahl einer Verkaufsmethodik für Ihre Schulungsprogramme

Bevor Sie mit einem Verkaufstraining beginnen, ist es wichtig, dass Sie sich überlegen, welche Verkaufsmethodik Sie wählen. Dies wirkt sich nicht nur auf die Art und Weise aus, wie Sie verkaufen, sondern hat auch direkte Auswirkungen auf viele andere wichtige Faktoren in Ihrem Unternehmen. Die Art und Weise, wie Sie Ihr Produkt oder Ihre Dienstleistung vermarkten und positionieren, die Länge Ihres Verkaufszyklus, die Gewinnspannen, die Sie erzielen, Ihre Vertragsbedingungen und sogar die Höhe der Löhne und Provisionen, die Sie Ihren Vertriebsmitarbeitern zahlen, können von der von Ihnen gewählten Verkaufsmethode beeinflusst werden.

Eine starke Vertriebsmethodik kann fast wie eine Religion sein. Es handelt sich um eine Reihe gemeinsamer und geteilter Überzeugungen über das Verkaufen, die alles von der Einstellung von Verkäufern bis hin zu Verkaufstaktiken und -strategien beeinflussen. Wenn sich jedoch Ihre Branche und/oder die Marktbedingungen ändern, ist die Umstellung Ihrer Vertriebsmitarbeiter von einer Vertriebsmethodik auf eine andere zwar nicht unmöglich, aber vergleichbar mit der Aufforderung an jemanden, die Religion zu wechseln.

Für jedes bestehende Unternehmen kann das Versäumnis, den Vertrieb aufgrund von Veränderungen auf dem Markt auf eine andere Methodik umzustellen, den Unterschied zwischen Erfolg und Überleben bedeuten.

Die Anhänger und Befürworter der einzelnen Methoden können heftig in die Defensive gehen, und es ist erwähnenswert, dass keine “eine” Methode unbedingt besser ist als eine andere. Der Grund für die Entwicklung der verschiedenen Verkaufsmethoden war der Bedarf an diesen Methoden.

High-End-Beratungsunternehmen wie Bain & Company, die eine beratende Verkaufsmethodik verwenden, könnten nicht mit einer transaktionalen Verkaufsmethodik arbeiten, genauso wenig wie Ihr lokales Kabelunternehmen, das einen transaktionalen Verkauf betreibt, mit einer lösungsorientierten Verkaufsmethodik arbeiten könnte.

5. Die besten Verkaufskurse beginnen mit einer Bedarfsanalyse

Sobald Sie sich für eine Vertriebsmethodik entschieden haben , ist es wichtig, eine Art Trainingsbedarfsanalyse durchzuführen, um sicherzustellen, dass der Vertriebstrainer und die Schulungsinhalte den Problemen entsprechen, die Sie zu lösen versuchen, und dass sie so gut wie möglich sind. Es ist sehr leicht, die Aufmerksamkeit und das Engagement von Vertriebsmitarbeitern zu verlieren, wenn die Schulungsinhalte für sie einfach nicht relevant sind.

Damit ein Training effektiv und messbar ist, ist es wichtig, die Lernziele im Voraus zu vereinbaren und sie dann mit der Rolle des Teilnehmers im Verkauf, seiner Verkaufserfahrung, seinen Verhaltensweisen, seinen Verkaufsfähigkeiten und den Verkaufstechniken abzugleichen, auf die das Training abzielt. Als Nächstes sollten Sie besprechen, wie Sie die Lernziele und die Aneignung der neuen Verkaufsfähigkeiten erfassen und messen werden.

Dies kann die Schaffung neuer Strukturen und Berichtssysteme beinhalten, um sicherzustellen, dass die Vertriebsmitarbeiter für die Übernahme der neuen Verkaufstechniken und des neuen Verkaufsverhaltens verantwortlich sind. Im schlimmsten Fall sollten Sie darauf vorbereitet sein, Vertreter und Saboteure, die versuchen, die von Ihnen vorgenommenen Änderungen zu vereiteln, zurückzurufen. Die Menschen mögen keine Veränderungen, und einige Verkäufer werden ihr Bestes tun, um sich Ihren Änderungen zu widersetzen.

Der beste Weg, eine Trainingsbedarfsanalyse durchzuführen , besteht darin, Daten aus Ihrem Vertriebssystem zu verwenden und zu analysieren, mit welchen Teilen des Verkaufsprozesses die Vertriebsmitarbeiter Schwierigkeiten haben. In Ermangelung harter Daten hat ein guter Vertriebsleiter möglicherweise die für den Erfolg erforderlichen Verkaufsfähigkeiten als Teil einer umfassenderen Stellenbeschreibung definiert, und Sie könnten diese als Ausgangspunkt verwenden.

Es ist auch möglich, die Vertriebsmitarbeiter selbst zu befragen, allerdings werden die Ergebnisse je nach Position des Unternehmens im Reifegradmodell des Vertriebs variieren. Es kann vorkommen, dass Verkäufer nicht wissen, was sie brauchen, und in solchen Fällen verlangen sie unserer Erfahrung nach ein Training für Präsentationsfähigkeiten, das in fast allen Fällen einfach nur ein Ablenkungstraining ist. Das ist ein Training, das zwar schön ist, aber keine Grundvoraussetzung darstellt und von wichtigeren Themen wie der Lead-Generierung ablenkt.

Es ist auch möglich, Ihr Verkaufsteam mit den besten Praktiken zu vergleichen, um die Lücken in Bezug auf Verkaufsfähigkeiten, Aktivitäten und Leistungen zu ermitteln, die fehlen, und dann das Training auf die Verkaufsfähigkeiten zu stützen, die für die erfolgreiche Durchführung dieser Aktivitäten oder Leistungen erforderlich sind.

Es ist möglich, allgemeine Verkaufstrainings durchzuführen, doch ist dies von einem erfahrenen Trainer abhängig, der dem Publikum die Zusammenhänge und Feinheiten so erklären kann, dass es sie nachvollziehen kann.

Vielleicht möchten Sie einen Vertriebsschulungsberater einstellen, dessen Aufgabe darin besteht, das Führungsteam dabei zu unterstützen, eine langfristige Strategie (in der Regel für 3 bis 5 Jahre) zu entwickeln, welche Lern- und Entwicklungsstrategien für das Unternehmen geeignet sein könnten. Dies kann die Entwicklung strategischer Aktionspläne und die Sicherstellung der Abstimmung zwischen allen erforderlichen Interessengruppen im Unternehmen beinhalten.

Ein guter Schulungsberater kann auch die Notwendigkeit eines Change-Management-Prozesses erkennen, bevor er ein Verkaufstrainingsprogramm startet. Oftmals kann eine Änderung der Verkaufsstrategie eine vollständige Änderung der Unternehmenskultur bedeuten, und das ist keine schnelle Lösung.

Verkaufstraining Bedarfsanalyse

6. Maximieren Sie Ihre Investition in einen Schulungskurs

Wie bei jedem Projekt gibt es bestimmte Schritte, die Sie vor und nach einer Schulung unternehmen können, um den Nutzen Ihrer Investition zu maximieren.

1) Änderungsmanagement. Erwägen Sie den Einsatz von Change-Management-Prinzipien, um die Vertriebsmitarbeiter bei den von Ihnen geplanten Veränderungen zu begleiten und zu unterstützen. Das bedeutet nicht, dass Sie ein komplettes Änderungsprogramm benötigen, sondern dass Sie die grundlegenden Prinzipien eines Änderungsmanagementplans befolgen. Veränderungen können für manche Menschen schwierig sein, und es ist eine gute Praxis, diese Menschen bei jeder Veränderung zu unterstützen.

2) Abstimmung der Verkaufsinhalte mit den Lernergebnissen. Der Inhalt muss relevant sein, um die Vertriebsmitarbeiter zu interessieren und ihrem Wissens- und Erfahrungsstand zu entsprechen. Darüber hinaus muss der Verkaufstrainer in der Lage sein, die Verbindung zwischen der Theorie und den realen Szenarien, mit denen die Verkäufer konfrontiert werden, zu demonstrieren, um das Engagement der Vertreter zu erhalten. Der Trainer sollte auch in der Lage sein, neue Strategien und Techniken nicht nur in Rollenspielen, sondern auch live vor der Klasse zu demonstrieren.

3) Eventbasierte oder Impact-Trainings, die 1 bis 2 Tage dauern, erfordern eine Form der Nachbereitung des Kurses. Dies wird am besten im Voraus mit dem Ausbilder und den Verkaufsleitern vereinbart. Dies sollte eine Form der Online-Unterstützung durch den Verkaufstrainer nach 30, 60 und 90 Tagen beinhalten.

4) Ausbildungsmethodik. Verkaufskurse sollten nach Möglichkeit interaktiv und praktisch sein und nicht auf Theorie basieren. Außerdem verbessert der Einsatz von Gamification das Engagement, die Lernergebnisse und die gesamte Lernumgebung. Wo es möglich ist, sorgen Work Based Learning-Programme, die sich auf reale Verkaufsszenarien konzentrieren, für ein höheres Maß an Engagement und bessere Lernergebnisse.

5) Vertriebsmanagement. Zusätzlich zur Vertriebsmanagementschulung sollten die Vertriebsleiter an allen Vertriebsschulungen teilnehmen, damit sie den gesamten Kontext der Schulung kennen und verstehen und die Vertriebsmitarbeiter nach der Schulung durch Coaching unterstützen können. Die Vertriebsleiter sollten sich täglich darauf konzentrieren, wie sie die positiven neuen Verhaltensweisen im Vertrieb verstärken können, bis sie zu neuen Vertriebsgewohnheiten werden.

6) Aktionsplanung. Oft sind Verkäufer nach ein oder zwei Tagen Abwesenheit vom Büro so beschäftigt, dass sie einfach vergessen, neue Strategien oder Taktiken anzuwenden. Vertriebsschulungen sollten immer neue 90-Tage-Aktionspläne enthalten, die den Vertriebsmitarbeitern helfen, die neuen Strategien und Fähigkeiten, die sie gelernt haben, zu planen und anzuwenden.

7) Interne Herausforderungen und Hindernisse. Oft gibt es innerhalb einer Organisation vermeintliche Hindernisse, die Vertreter als hinderlich empfinden. Es lohnt sich, diese im Voraus zu besprechen und nach Möglichkeit zu beseitigen, auch solche, die von der Geschäftsleitung als “Ausreden” empfunden werden. In Wirklichkeit dient dies nur dazu, ein Schlaglicht auf die eigentlichen Ursachen eines Problems zu werfen.

Verkaufstrainings können unter den richtigen Umständen sehr effektiv sein. Wir sind jedoch der Meinung, dass die Ergebnisse umso besser sind, je mehr Zeit und Überlegung in die Planung und Vorbereitung eines Trainings investiert werden.

Sales Courses UK

7. Vor Beginn eines Verkaufskurses

Um die häufigsten Fallstricke zu vermeiden, und wenn der Verkaufskurs die vom Unternehmen gewünschten Ergebnisse liefern soll, empfehlen wir, die folgenden Punkte zu überprüfen:

1) Beteiligung der Führungsebene

Viele Unternehmen möchten den Vertriebsmitarbeitern vermitteln, dass die Ausbildung keine Modeerscheinung oder ein vorübergehendes Phänomen ist. Um die angestrebten Ergebnisse zu erzielen, wird das Unternehmen auf der Ebene der Führungskräfte gesponsert, und die Führungskräfte nehmen an den ersten Schulungen des Verkaufsteams teil.

Dies zeigt dem Team, dass sie das Ausbildungsprogramm ernst nehmen. Bei größeren Unternehmen bedeutet dies nicht, dass der CEO anwesend sein muss, aber als grobe Faustregel gilt, dass bei jeder Schulung zwei Führungsebenen über den Verkäufern anwesend sein sollten. Für die meisten Unternehmen bedeutet dies einfach den Vertriebsleiter und den VP of Sales oder den Vertriebsdirektor.

2) Neue Strukturen für das Vertriebsmanagement

Damit ein Training effektiv und messbar ist, ist es wichtig, im Voraus zu vereinbaren, welches Verkaufsverhalten und welche Fähigkeiten das Training ansprechen soll und wie Sie die Lernziele und die Umsetzung der Lernziele erfassen und messen werden.

Dies kann die Schaffung neuer Strukturen und Berichtssysteme erfordern, um sicherzustellen, dass die Vertriebsmitarbeiter für die Übernahme der neuen Fähigkeiten und Verhaltensweisen verantwortlich gemacht werden. Im schlimmsten Fall sollten Sie darauf vorbereitet sein, Vertreter und Saboteure, die versuchen, die von Ihnen vorgenommenen Änderungen zu vereiteln, zurückzurufen. Menschen mögen keine Veränderungen, und einige Verkäufer werden ihr Bestes tun, um sich Ihren Änderungen zu widersetzen.

8. Erfahrene Vertriebsprofis mit Anfängern mischen

Viele Unternehmen haben eine Mischung aus Vertriebsmitarbeitern in Bezug auf ihre Erfahrung und ihr Fachwissen. Dies führt bei der Durchführung von Schulungen oft zu dem Dilemma, ob Sie die Fach- und Erfahrungsstufen mischen oder getrennte Programme erstellen sollen.

Dies hängt vom Inhalt und dem Kontext ab, denn ein guter Verkaufstrainer wird die erfahrenen Verkäufer einsetzen, um die Gruppe mit Beispielen aus dem wirklichen Leben des Unternehmens zu unterstützen. Das hilft den neuen Vertretern sehr und schafft ein tolles Lernumfeld.

Dies hilft den erfahrenen Vertretern jedoch nicht unbedingt beim Lernen, so dass es genügend neue oder fortgeschrittene Inhalte in der Schulung geben muss, um sie bei der Stange zu halten. Neue Vertriebsmitarbeiter sind immer daran interessiert, neue oder fortgeschrittene Inhalte zu lernen, so dass es viel einfacher ist, sie bei der Stange zu halten.

Die Einbeziehung der Vertriebsleiter in die Schulung ist ebenfalls wichtig, damit sie genau verstehen, was der Ausbilder den Vertretern empfiehlt. Auf diese Weise können sie sie nach der Schulung für alle vereinbarten Maßnahmen zur Verantwortung ziehen.

Sales Courses UK

9. Themen und Lernziele von Verkaufstrainingskursen

Es gibt viele verschiedene Themen im Bereich des professionellen Verkaufens, und es ist wichtig, die Inhalte auf die Bedürfnisse des Unternehmens und der Vertriebsmitarbeiter abzustimmen.

Bestimmte Themen haben einen gewissen Grad an Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den Vertriebsmitarbeitern, wie z. B. Social Media oder Essential Sales Skills, andere Themen sind jedoch spezifischer für eine bestimmte Vertriebsrolle, wie z. B. Key Account Management Training.

Die nachstehende Liste ist zwar nicht endgültig, aber ein guter Ausgangspunkt, um die drei Hauptbereiche des professionellen Verkaufs aufzuteilen: neue Möglichkeiten finden, neue Möglichkeiten erschließen und bestehende Kunden ausbauen.

Ein weiterer guter Ausgangspunkt ist die Schulung des Vertriebsmanagements, denn ohne eine effektive Führung im Vertrieb wird die Wirkung jeder Vertriebsschulung gemindert.

Vertriebsmanagementschulungen sind für jedes Unternehmen, das ein beständiges und nachhaltiges Wachstum anstrebt, von entscheidender Bedeutung.

Jedes Vertriebstrainingsprogramm sollte einen Lernpfad bieten und die Vertriebskarriere der Teilnehmer fördern und verbessern. Die Teilnehmer müssen etwas davon haben, und ihre Vertriebskarriere sollte für sie wichtig sein.

KURSMODULE FÜR VERKAUFSTRAINING VERKAUFSSCHULUNGSMODULE MIT LERNZIELEN
Verkaufsbotschaften Die Lernenden sind in der Lage, eine Verkaufsbotschaft zu verfassen, die vermittelt, was sie tun, für wen sie es tun und welchen Nutzen sie für die Zielgruppe haben.
Soziale Medien Die Teilnehmer werden in der Lage sein, ihr LinkedIn-Profil zu optimieren und neue Vertriebskontakte mit proaktiven Verkaufsstrategien zu generieren.
Lead-Generierung Die Lernenden werden in der Lage sein, einen kontinuierlichen Strom neuer Verkaufsmöglichkeiten zu generieren.
Beratende Verkaufskompetenz Die Lernenden kennen den beratenden Verkaufsprozess und sind in der Lage, ihn anzuwenden.
Verkaufen über den Wert und nicht über den Preis Die Lernenden sind in der Lage, geschäftliche Probleme aufzudecken und zu quantifizieren und dann potenziellen Kunden einen klaren ROI in Bezug auf unsere Produkte und Dienstleistungen aufzuzeigen.
Rapport aufbauen Die Lernenden sind in der Lage, das DiSC-Profil und die primäre sensorische Dominanz eines potenziellen Kunden zu erkennen und diese Instrumente zum Aufbau einer Beziehung zu nutzen.
Sales Pipeline ManagementDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, ihre Verkaufspipeline zu messen und zu analysieren und gewichtete Verkaufsprognosen zu erstellenHandling Stalls & ObjectionsDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, mit Kundenstopps und Einwänden umzugehen und sie zur Fortsetzung des Verkaufs zu nutzen GesprächsführungVerkaufsverhandlungsfähigkeitenDie Teilnehmer verstehen die Hauptkomponenten einer effektiven Verkaufsverhandlung und demonstrieren dies durch die Erstellung ihrer eigenen BATNASolution SellingDie Teilnehmer verstehen einen komplexen Verkaufsprozess mit mehreren Entscheidungsträgern in mehreren Abteilungen und sind in der Lage, diesen zu steuernKey Account ManagementDie Teilnehmer verstehen den Key Account Management-Prozess und wenden diesen auf nominierte Kunden anFortgeschrittene ZuhörfähigkeitenDie Teilnehmer Die Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, fortgeschrittene Zuhörfähigkeiten anhand von Rollenspielen zu demonstrierenSteuerung des VerkaufsgesprächsDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, ein Verkaufsgespräch mit einem Fragetrichter zu steuernPräsentationsfähigkeitenDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, überzeugende Präsentationen zu erstellen und zu haltenFortgeschrittene FragefähigkeitenDie Teilnehmer verstehen und erstellen Fragetrichter, die auf einer Ursachenanalyse von Geschäftsproblemen basierenTelefonverkaufstrainingDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, Recherchen durchzuführen, Die Teilnehmer verstehen die Grundlagen des Networking und wissen, wie man die richtigen Veranstaltungen ansteuert und Kontakte im Netzwerk knüpft. RollenspieleDie Teilnehmer können ein reales Verkaufsszenario live vorführen, um einen potenziellen Kunden zu gewinnen. Cross Selling & Up SellingDie Teilnehmer haben ein klares Verständnis von Kundenzufriedenheit und sind in der Lage, effektive Verkaufsstrategien zu entwickeln, um Cross Selling und Up Selling zu steigernVerkauf an die C-SuiteDie Teilnehmer können den schrittweisen Verkaufsprozess für den Verkauf an Unternehmensorganisationen darlegenWie man Interessenten recherchiertDie Teilnehmer können demonstrieren, wie man einen Interessenten auf der Grundlage eines von ihnen erstellten Perfect Prospect Profil zu recherchieren, das sie erstellt habenWie man Interessenten qualifiziertDie Teilnehmer können mehrere Kriterien aufzeigen, bei denen ein Interessent nicht in die allgemeine Wachstumsstrategie passtWie man sich differenziertDie Teilnehmer können aufzeigen, wie sie ihre Produkte oder Dienstleistungen über Differenzierung und nicht über den Preis differenzierenKommerzielles BewusstseinDie Teilnehmer können die Bilanz eines Unternehmens lesen und verstehen, Die Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, die Bilanz eines Unternehmens, die Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung und die Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung zu lesen und zu verstehenBitte um EmpfehlungenDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, die Merkmale eines guten potenziellen Kunden zu erkennen und ihn um Empfehlungen zu bittenZielsetzungDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, 90-Tage-Aktionspläne zu verwenden, um ihre Produktivität zu verbessernErzählen von GeschichtenDie Teilnehmer sind in der Lage, Kundengeschichten sowohl proaktiv als auch reaktiv zu erstellen und vorzutragen

10. Rollenspiel zum Verkaufstraining

Es gibt viele verschiedene Themen im Bereich des professionellen Verkaufens, und es ist wichtig, die Inhalte auf die Bedürfnisse des Unternehmens und der Vertriebsmitarbeiter abzustimmen.

Bestimmte Themen haben einen gewissen Grad an Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den Vertriebsmitarbeitern, wie z. B. Social Media oder Essential Sales Skills, andere Themen sind jedoch spezifischer für eine bestimmte Vertriebsrolle, wie z. B. Key Account Management Training.

Die nachstehende Liste ist zwar nicht endgültig, aber ein guter Ausgangspunkt, um die drei Hauptbereiche des professionellen Verkaufs aufzuteilen: neue Möglichkeiten finden, neue Möglichkeiten erschließen und bestehende Kunden ausbauen.

Ein weiterer guter Ausgangspunkt ist die Schulung des Vertriebsmanagements, denn ohne eine effektive Führung im Vertrieb wird die Wirkung jeder Vertriebsschulung gemindert.

Vertriebsmanagementschulungen sind für jedes Unternehmen, das ein beständiges und nachhaltiges Wachstum anstrebt, von entscheidender Bedeutung.

Jedes Vertriebstrainingsprogramm sollte einen Lernpfad bieten und die Vertriebskarriere der Teilnehmer fördern und verbessern. Die Teilnehmer müssen etwas davon haben, und ihre Vertriebskarriere sollte für sie wichtig sein.

Sales Courses UK

11. Verkaufskurse - Übungsbeispiel

Befragungstechniken Beispiel

1. Offene/geschlossene Fragen – Offene Fragen werden verwendet, um weitere Informationen zu sammeln, und geschlossene Fragen sollten zur Bestätigung verwendet werden.

2. Zusammenfassende Fragen – Eine zusammenfassende Frage wird verwendet, um zu bestätigen, dass Sie richtig verstanden haben, was der Interessent gesagt hat. Dies geschieht durch eine Zusammenfassung oder Paraphrasierung der Aussage des Interessenten und das Hinzufügen einer Bestätigungsfrage am Ende.

3. Trichterfragen – Eine Trichterfrage wird verwendet, um das Verkaufsgespräch auf einen bestimmten Bereich oder ein bestimmtes Thema zu lenken.

4. Umleitungsfragen – Umleitungsfragen werden verwendet, um das Gespräch zu steuern und den Interessenten davon abzuhalten, im Verkaufsprozess voranzukommen, wenn der Verkäufer noch nicht bereit ist, voranzukommen.

5. Gegensätzliche Umleitung – Eine gegensätzliche Umleitungsfrage ist die Beantwortung einer Frage mit der gegenteiligen Antwort, die der Interessent erwarten würde, und verwandelt sie in eine Frage.

6. Vermutungsfragen – Eine Vermutungsfrage ist eine Frage, von der wir wissen/vermutlich annehmen, dass der Interessent die Antwort nicht kennt.

Man würfelt mit zwei Würfeln, wobei ein Würfel der Fragewürfel ist. Das heißt, egal auf welcher Zahl der Würfel landet, der Verkäufer muss diese Art von Frage stellen. Wenn der Würfel zum Beispiel auf 2 fällt, muss der Verkäufer eine zusammenfassende Frage stellen.

Der zweite Würfel bezieht sich auf die Phasen des Verkaufsprozesses. Wenn also der Würfel, der dem Verkaufsprozess zugeordnet ist, auf 1 fällt, muss der Vertriebsmitarbeiter eine zusammenfassende Frage stellen, die er zur Qualifizierung eines potenziellen Kunden verwenden würde.

Um die Übung unterhaltsamer zu gestalten, können Sie eine Stoppuhr hinzufügen, so dass die Reps die Frage in weniger als 15 Sekunden beantworten müssen. Jeder wird in der ersten Runde scheitern, was wichtig ist, da dies die Angst vor dem Scheitern sofort beseitigt und die Übung dadurch viel unterhaltsamer wird. Es ist nicht ungewöhnlich, dass eine ganze Klasse dies in 45 Minuten schafft, und wenn man es über 4-6 Wochen wiederholt, wird es zur zweiten Natur und wirklich einfach.

12. Verkaufsfähigkeiten und Verkaufstechniken

Das Erlernen neuer Verkaufsfertigkeiten und -techniken ist ein wichtiger Bestandteil jedes Schulungsprogramms. Es ist jedoch wichtig, dass die neuen Verkaufsfertigkeiten eingebettet werden und nicht in Vergessenheit geraten.

Vertriebsmitarbeiter lernen wie alle anderen Menschen auch, indem sie etwas tun. Daher ist es wichtig, dass ein Teil Ihres Planungsprozesses Schritte zur Verstärkung, zum Coaching und zur Rechenschaftspflicht umfasst.

Hier ist ein effektives Vertriebsmanagement entscheidend. Jede Verbesserung der Verkaufsleistung wird nur von kurzer Dauer sein, wenn die neu erworbenen Fähigkeiten und Verkaufstechniken von den Verkaufsleitern nicht gründlich verinnerlicht werden.

Es ist wichtig, Feedback einzuholen und die Qualität und die Ergebnisse jeder Schulungssitzung zu bewerten.

Unsere eigenen Feedback-Formulare geben den Teilnehmern die Möglichkeit, sich zu den drei wichtigsten Bereichen einer jeden Schulungsveranstaltung zu äußern:

  1. Lernumgebung – hat der Nutzer eine positive und unterstützende Lernumgebung erlebt?
  2. Entsprachen die Schulungsinhalte den Lernergebnissen und waren sie von hoher Qualität?
  3. War der Trainer unterstützend und kenntnisreich in der Materie.

Es ist auch wichtig, die Inhalte am Tag Ihrer Vertriebsschulungen zu sammeln, da es schwierig sein kann, die Inhalte im Nachhinein oder digital zu erfassen.

Unser Ziel ist es, ein Exzellenzzentrum für berufliche Weiterbildung und Coaching zu schaffen.

13. Verkaufstrainingskurse für Einsteiger

In der Vergangenheit waren viele allgemeine Verkaufskurse auf verschiedene Niveaus und Funktionen ausgerichtet, z. B. Grundkurse für Verkaufskompetenzen für Anfänger sowie Kurse für Fortgeschrittene und Profis für Personen mit mehr Verkaufserfahrung.

Die Kunden erkannten jedoch, dass es möglich ist, die Qualifikationsniveaus der Teilnehmer zu mischen, wenn die Schulungsinhalte nicht allgemein gehalten und auf das Publikum zugeschnitten sind. Dies hat den zusätzlichen Vorteil, dass Peer Learning entsteht, das nachweislich einen höheren ROI als allgemeine Schulungen bietet.

Durch die Mischung von Anfängern und erfahrenen Verkaufsprofis hilft sich jede Gruppe gegenseitig. So können beispielsweise erfahrene Vertreter spezifische Zusammenhänge zum Verkaufsmaterial herstellen, und neue Vertriebsmitarbeiter treiben die Schulung voran, da sie neue Konzepte schneller aufnehmen, weil sie alte Methoden und potenziell negative Verhaltensweisen nicht verlernen müssen.

Insgesamt gesehen hat die Mehrheit der Menschen in der Verkaufsbranche keine formale Verkaufsausbildung absolviert und sieht den Verkauf leider nicht als Berufswahl. Ohne die erforderlichen Fähigkeiten tun sich viele Verkäufer schwer und machen entweder weiter oder verlassen die Branche. Erfolg und die Ausschöpfung des eigenen Potenzials im Vertrieb haben ebenso viel mit persönlicher Entwicklung zu tun wie mit beruflicher Entwicklung und Lebenskompetenz.

14. Online-Verkaufskurse

In der Vergangenheit waren viele allgemeine Verkaufskurse auf verschiedene Niveaus und Funktionen ausgerichtet, z. B. Grundkurse für Verkaufskompetenzen für Anfänger sowie Kurse für Fortgeschrittene und Profis für Personen mit mehr Verkaufserfahrung.

Die Kunden erkannten jedoch, dass es möglich ist, die Qualifikationsniveaus der Teilnehmer zu mischen, wenn die Schulungsinhalte nicht allgemein gehalten und auf das Publikum zugeschnitten sind. Dies hat den zusätzlichen Vorteil, dass Peer Learning entsteht, das nachweislich einen höheren ROI als allgemeine Schulungen bietet.

Durch die Mischung von Anfängern und erfahrenen Verkaufsprofis hilft sich jede Gruppe gegenseitig. So können beispielsweise erfahrene Vertreter spezifische Zusammenhänge zum Verkaufsmaterial herstellen, und neue Vertriebsmitarbeiter treiben die Schulung voran, da sie neue Konzepte schneller aufnehmen, weil sie alte Methoden und potenziell negative Verhaltensweisen nicht verlernen müssen.

Insgesamt gesehen hat die Mehrheit der Menschen in der Verkaufsbranche keine formale Verkaufsausbildung absolviert und sieht den Verkauf leider nicht als Berufswahl. Ohne die erforderlichen Fähigkeiten tun sich viele Verkäufer schwer und machen entweder weiter oder verlassen die Branche. Erfolg und die Ausschöpfung des eigenen Potenzials im Vertrieb haben ebenso viel mit persönlicher Entwicklung zu tun wie mit beruflicher Entwicklung und Lebenskompetenz.

15. Kosten für Verkaufsschulungen

Die Kosten für Verkaufstrainings im Vereinigten Königreich variieren von kostenlosen Online-Kursen und kostenlosen Workshops bis hin zu £ 20.000, abhängig von vielen Variablen. Die meisten Kurse sind jedoch entweder ein- oder zweitägig und kosten in der Regel zwischen £ 1.200 und £ 1.500 pro Person und pro Tag.

Wir haben eine Auswahl an Kursen ab £1200 pro Tag im Angebot, die Business Development Training, Verhandlungsgeschick, Customer Relationship Management, LinkedIn Selling, Consultative Selling Skills, Sales Management Training und Key Account Management Training umfassen.

“Eine fantastische Lernerfahrung”

Amanda – Kundenbetreuerin

16. Verkaufstraining Standorte

Wir sind in der glücklichen Lage, schnell zu wachsen und haben vor kurzem regionale Büros in Deutschland, Indien und den USA eröffnet, um unsere internationalen Kunden zu betreuen. Im Vereinigten Königreich verfügen wir über drei Hauptschulungszentren, aber wie Sie sich denken können, reisen wir zu vielen unserer Kunden, um sie persönlich zu unterrichten. Unser gesamtes Kursangebot steht auch internationalen Kunden über unser Online-Vertriebstrainings- und Enablement-Portal zur Verfügung. Bitte kontaktieren Sie uns für weitere Details.

16.1 Vertriebsschulungen in London

Viele offene Schulungskurse werden in und um London angeboten. Unsere eigenen Kurse finden in der Nähe des Flughafens London Heathrow statt und ermöglichen einen einfachen Zugang zu Europa, London und dem M4-Korridor. Einzelpersonen aus jeder Organisation können teilnehmen. Kurspreise, Termine und Verfügbarkeiten finden Sie online auf unserer Buchungsseite.

16.2 Verkaufstraining in Manchester

Für den Norden Englands werden die meisten Kurse in und um Manchester angeboten. Unsere eigenen Kurse finden in der Nähe des Flughafens London Heathrow statt und ermöglichen einen einfachen Zugang zu Europa, London und dem M4-Korridor. Einzelpersonen aus jeder Organisation können teilnehmen. Kurspreise, Termine und Verfügbarkeiten finden Sie online auf unserer Buchungsseite.

16.3 Vertriebsschulungen in Schottland

Die meisten Ausbildungskurse in Schottland finden entweder in Edinburgh oder Glasgow statt. Unsere eigenen Kurse finden in Edinburgh statt, nur einen kurzen Spaziergang vom Bahnhof Edinburgh Waverley entfernt, im historischen Teil der “Old Town”. Einzelpersonen aus jeder Organisation können teilnehmen. Kurspreise, Termine und Verfügbarkeiten finden Sie online auf unserer Buchungsseite.

Die meisten Schulungsanbieter bieten offene und Inhouse-Schulungen an einem Ort Ihrer Wahl an, allerdings müssen Sie sich in der Regel auf eine Mindestanzahl von 6 Personen festlegen.