But, after a while, things slow down and you hit a wall. You find yourself chasing after prospects and wondering why it is taking so long to convert prospects into clients.

You’re stumped!

You start exploring different techniques and try to find a solution. But, no matter what you try, the results are the same and the sales cycle is a much longer process than what you would like.

So where do you turn when you are stuck in sales quicksand and can’t get your prospects to move forward?

Here’s How You Can Shorten The Sales Cycle and Win More Clients, Increase Sales and Profits with 2 Simple Strategies:

1. Determine, Uncover & Clarify Challenges
If a prospect is not clear about their challenges and the impact of these challenges, this will greatly slow down the entire sales cycle. This is because the client does not yet believe their challenge is significant enough to take action, and guess what, because of this, they won’t take action! It is a waste of time for you to give information before understanding their needs, goals, challenges and problems. You are presenting a “solution” to someone who doesn’t believe they have a “problem.”

So, what do you do about this? Ask a lot of questions! Ask open ended questions. Get curious and don’t assume you understand their problem or challenge no matter how long you have been in the industry. Dig in and really find out what is going on, and ask follow up questions that focus in on the greater impact of their challenges. Uncover the impact of the current challenges on both the organization and the individuals or groups you are selling to. Your questions will help them understand and verbalize that they have a challenge or problem. Now you have the information you need to explain how you can help solve their challenge.

If you find yourself talking more than 20% of the time during your sales meetings with prospects, stop yourself, and ask a question!

2. Always Set A Clear Next Step
Have you ever heard this before? “Thanks for your time today, your product looks great and we will get back to you soon.” Yet, you never hear back, and end up having to chase, follow up, and make multiple calls, send multiple emails to no avail. That is not fun for you, nor is it fun for the prospective client.

How do you solve this?

Well, if you are a great salesperson or great sales minded business owner, you don’t need to chase. You don’t need to pressure. You don’t need to persuade. Really. You need to set up a clear next step, and if your prospect is not ready to take the next step, they will tell you, and you will determine if they are a serious prospect or not, on the spot.

Remember, give your prospects an option to say, “No.” When you do this, all the pressure is taken off of you, and more importantly off of your prospect. That way, they do not feel like they are being “sold,” nor do they feel any pressure from you. Many of the sales coaching programs and sales coaches still are teaching the same old techniques developed decades ago that involve pressure and persuading. You do not need to do that anymore and it does not work.

Simply set up the next step at the end of your meetings. The next step could be a follow-up face to face meeting or a scheduled phone call for example. However, make sure the next step is moving the sales cycle forward and has a scheduled date, time, and location.

Map out your sales cycle and know what steps need to take place. Here is an example of a 5 step sales cycle: 1. Initial appointment, qualification, discovery, 2. Agreement to conduct an in-depth analysis, 3. Demonstration of service or product, 4. Contract review meeting, 5. Signed agreement.

At the end of each meeting, you should be setting up the next meeting and next actions. Explain the next steps you both will need to take to start working together. Map it out for them and provide them with a simple document that explains the next steps with clear time lines. Ask them to commit to the next steps along the way. Guess what happens if you do this effectively? You don’t need to “close” or persuade, the sale will be made, faster, naturally, and more effectively.

I truly enjoy the art of sales and sharing sales tips to sales professionals, sales leaders, sales experts, and entrepreneurs just like you. I am lucky to be able to live and breath my sales approaches everyday for my own business, as well as witnessing my clients putting these techniques into action and reaping the rewards!

These 2 steps will help you shorten your sales cycle and experience dramatically improved sales results. Don’t wait to make these changes, take action now, and make a commitment to yourself.

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How would you like to coach a team that wins at the sales game like top-ranked teams win in the NBA, NFL, and NHL?

Why wouldn’t you? Who’s better at producing consistent winning efforts than professional sports teams?

Business?

Education?

Government?

You gotta be kidding!

Professional sports teams excel where business, education, government and science fail because professional sports teams invest in developing extraordinary coaches who develop extraordinary players capable of winning games, lots of games.

And that’s a nugget of truth that ought to excite even the most jaded sales manager . . . don’t you think? If an extraordinary coach in the NFL can develop extraordinary sports players, why couldn’t you or any other extraordinary Sales Coach develop extraordinary Sales Players?

It’s no accident that successful professional teams win off-field before they ever win on-field. No team reaches the NBA playoffs, plays in the Super Bowl, or wins the Stanley Cup simply because it pays big bucks for talented athletes. To make it to the top of its sport, a winning team, like a winning business, has to play well in every facet of its operations or . . . lose.

You know better than anyone that that the sales game is tough these days. In fact, it may well be tougher today than ever before for even the best sales professionals to generate consistent revenues and profits. You and your sales force work your hearts out, day in and day out, struggling against determined competitors to sell your products and services to prospects and customers who demand everything and more: the lowest possible price, immediate delivery, unblemished quality, plus instant, first-rate service.

Talk about tough!

How can you rise above the fray, how can you set yourself and your sales team apart from your competitors, and how can you achieve the consistent success you so richly deserve?

Simple . . . you find new business models, new strategies and new tactics to cope with the unprecedented challenges you face in the sales game today.

Where can you find these new business models, strategies and tactics?

Like we said before . . . look no farther than professional sports teams.

When you compare the way business plays the sales game to the way professional sports teams play their games, you discover some interesting dichotomies.

First and foremost, no matter what it says, business doesn’t really demand the most from sales professionals . . . not really. And, because business isn’t seriously serious about holding individual sales professionals accountable for their failures to perform, the typical sales organization loses nine out of every ten sales it attempts to close.

If you applied this win/loss record to the National Football League, which plays 18 to 20 regular season games a year, the typical NFL team would win 2 or fewer games a season.

Unlike professional sports coaches, sales managers typically stay out of the action on the sales playing field. Sales managers don’t have time to work the sidelines like an NBA, NFL, or NHL coach because they’re too busy behind their desks with sales projections, profit and loss statements, personnel problems, factory politics, and company politics.

If professional sports teams played the same way most sales organizations play the sales game, NFL quarterbacks would run failed play after failed play, quarter after quarter after quarter, with no input from coaches. If professional sports teams operated the same way most sales organizations operate, Major League Baseball pitchers would walk player after player, inning after inning, while managers shuffled papers behind desks in offices far away from the action at the ballpark.

Because management is typically out of touch with the sales game, most sales organizations seem to be perfectly willing to put up with sales managers who consistently run bad plays or no plays at all. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, these so-called sales managers seem to be willing to hang on to field sales people who consistently fail to generate a return on the company’s investment because they consistently fail to achieve performance goals and sales projections.

Business doesn’t lead . . . business follows economic cycles . . . and that’s why business gets sales people-bloated during good times and goes sales people-lean during tough times.

When the economy is strong, when sales are easy to come by, business tends to get greedy and tries to snatch every available dollar by throwing too many sales people after what ultimately turns out to be too few sales opportunities.

And then, when the economy falls into a slow cycle, business panics, decides to put survival ahead of greed, and cuts back.

But then, when the inevitable recovery comes along, business gets caught flat-footed and winds up throwing too few people at too many opportunities and scrambles to catch up with demand, creating a costly cycle that plays havoc with sales, profits, and people’s lives.

Business is scary different from professional sports in one particularly harmful way: When business loses, it tends not to accept responsibility for its own failures. In fact, instead of looking to itself to make necessary changes and improvements to strengthen its ability to sell, business tends to blame outside forces including ad agencies, competitors, the government, even customers, for its problems.

The world sees that when a professional sports team loses a game or a season, it doesn’t waste time playing the blame-game. Professional sports teams take immediate responsibility for their failures because nothing, not politics, not money, not even relationships, changes a professional sports team’s motivation to achieve defined performance. Failure to perform (Win) causes the team to make immediate changes in management, coaches, players, training, or whatever else it takes to turn things around.

Business bounces from loss to win to loss because it is unwilling or unable to look at its problems objectively and invest the resources necessary to consistently train and motivate sales professionals who are capable of and interested in performing at the top of their games.

Professional sports teams, on the other hand, accept responsibility by investing whatever it takes to prepare coaches and players to compete and win against their toughest competitors . . . year in and year out.

So, what does this mean to you?

It means this: If you’re serious about winning at the sales game, you’ll study, adapt, and apply the same strategies and tactics professional sports teams use so you can effectively prepare yourself and your team to win against your toughest competitors.

Sales managers will become Sales Coaches.

Sales people will become Sales Players.

And, sales meetings will become sales practices.

After all, if you can’t coach your sales team to renew and reinvent itself as well as a professional sports team to win more sales, more profitably, more often, against even the toughest competitors, in changing market conditions, your customers and prospects lose, individual Sales Players lose, the team loses, and so do you.

Whether you’re a sales manager looking for a breakthrough to increase sales and profits, or a sales professional needing to increase personal income, or a dealer principal wanting to improve return on your investment, your mastery of the skills and techniques we present in this book will undoubtedly help you fully achieve your goals.

Once you have reviewed, re-learned, and applied everything this book offers, all you have to do is expect to win and you will.

* * * *

The old days when the typical sales manager was an authority figure whose primary responsibility was to manage the time and efforts of sales people are as far gone as black & white television, carburetors, and whitewall tires. Also gone are the wasted days when field sales people were forced to scramble around their territories, struggling to make arbitrary quotas just to keep the boss happy.

Those were baseless quotas that required sales people to make so many cold calls, personal calls, and telephone calls each day . . . all of which had to be documented with a wilting stack of call reports to be turned in every Monday morning to the Sales Manager who desperately needed to make sure sales people were working.

And sales people were working alright . . . writing up call reports every Sunday night to be turned in Monday morning!

Ah, the good old days.

The field sales game, like every other aspect of business-to-business business, has undergone incredible cultural, social, and technological changes in recent years. Cell phones, laptop computers, online literature and specifications, and Email have given the average sales professional the ability to fast-track the sales process like never before.

Because information is so widely available and easy to access these days, prospects and customers have the power to place you and your competitors on a level playing field.

So, companies that insist on hanging on to outmoded, traditional sales methods and marketing approaches do more harm than good to their sales and marketing efforts. Restrictive policies (call minimums, call reports, arbitrary office reporting days and times, etc.) are a complete waste of time because they suck the energy out of working hours and therefore don’t do anything to generate sales or profits.

The more time sales professionals spend with customers and prospects, the more they sell and the more they earn. If a sales person can’t devote the time required to get face-to-face with prospects and customers to develop working relationships, to objectively assess product and service applications, and to put a human imprint on the selling process, sales will go to the competitor who does.

What’s important to today’s buyer is not whether you claim your yellow widget is cheaper, will last longer, or is more popular than the other guy’s orange widget . . . what is important to today’s buyer is the critical answer to a critical question: Can I trust this person to sell me the right product or service for the right application for the right price so I can get my money’s worth?

Buyers want to know they can trust you and your company to make every possible effort to protect their investment by ensuring that the product or service they buy will maximize productivity and thereby provide a fair return on that investment.

When you’re able to create that level of trust with a prospect, you’re guaranteed a sale.

As you work your way through this article and the series to follow, you’ll learn everything there is to know about virtually every significant business strategy and technique – aligning priorities, benchmarking, competitive analyses, coping with culture change, cutting overhead, goal setting, and managing resources effectively . . . necessary to effectively and quickly increase sales and profits . . . whether you’re selling software systems or Caterpillar® Track-Type Loaders.

Either way, this ain’t rocket science.

Your ability to develop and channel your sales team’s collective skills can only be developed if you’re willing to rely on compelling and profound knowledge, skills and understanding; fundamentals which are not only essential to all great human achievement, but are also found in this article series.

* * * *

Let’s say you’re Darrell Waltrip, Troy Aikman, or Bill Walton and you’re at the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, or the NBA finals and you ask Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcells, or Phil Jackson the following question: “Hey, coach . . . how important is it to prepare for the first practice of the season?”

What do you think he’d say?

No question about it . . . any one of these great coaches would say, “Preparation is everything.”

If preparation is everything (and you know that it is), what, specifically, should you do to prepare for your all-important first practice session where you introduce the Sales Coaching concept?

• Define the primary objective in your first sales practice . . . the questions: Be smart and start at the beginning: Your primary objective is to introduce the Sales Coaching Concept to the sales team. Of course, you’ll be presenting this concept to some folks who admittedly know nothing about it while others on the team may think they already know everything there is to know about Sales Coaching and others will believe they already know everything there is to know. So, what do you think? How will your team react? Will the Sales Coaching Concept be a tough sell? Can you convince the majority of the team that Sales Coaching will increase sales, profits, earnings, and commissions? And, if your team is skeptical, is it because folks just don’t believe in the concept or is it because they don’t understand the rewards and how those rewards apply to the team and the individual. How will you introduce Sales Coaching to your team? Will you simply drop the concept on the group and make a plaintive announcement with the expectation that Sales Coaching will be accepted and implemented immediately? Or, will you start slow, explain the concept, open a dialogue, and patiently work toward consensus? What are your performance expectations . . . for yourself, for individual Sales Players, for the team? How soon do you expect to see an impact on sales and how significant do you expect that impact to be? How much is the company willing to invest – in terms of time, money, and energy – to make sure Sales Coaching works for everyone involved? And, how much (in your opinion) should the company invest in Sales Coaching before it can realistically expect a return on that investment? Last but not least, how do you think this book should impact the every day lives of individual Sales Players and how do you think it should impact the team as a whole?
• The first sales practice . . . the answers: Without pointing fingers, let every Sales Player know precisely what your performance expectations are . . . for yourself, for each individual, and for the entire team as a group. Prepare a list of prioritized expectations, edit the list carefully and thoughtfully, and, even though you should take your list of expectations to the first Practice Session, we suggest you take the time to memorize it. Why? Because you’re likely to get peppered with lots of questions in the first sales practice and you don’t want to get distracted, struggle for answers, get sidetracked, and forget to cover something important.
• Paint an honest but positive picture . . . Nobody likes change, especially sales people. So, let’s face it; you’re likely to get passive, perhaps even aggressive resistance from your Sales Team to the Sales Coaching Concept. So, consider how individual personalities might possibly shape the group’s reaction – positively or negatively – as you decide how best to present Sales Coaching to get broad support. Clearly communicate the potential for growth and success that comes from utilizing the Sales Coaching approach. Talk about the fact that Sales Coaching is more than theory . . . it is a proven, relatively easy-to-use, positive tool each Sales Player can use to consistently increase sales, profits, and income.
• Explain the technical stuff . . . Don’t pull any punches here. Be honest about why you need to make a change. Talk about specific causes for lower-than-acceptable sales, profits, and income. Outline the specific techniques that individual Sales Players – and the team as a whole – can use to increase sales, profits, and income. Though you want to be completely honest, don’t allow this part of your practice session to become about who’s selling and who isn’t. There is nothing to be gained by allowing anyone to slam individual or collective feelings. While the team will respect your honesty, individuals will at the same time appreciate your sensitivity. Nevertheless, we caution you . . . if and when you’re forced to make a choice between honesty and sensitivity, the respect you get from being honest will be far more important to your ability to coach than appreciation will be . . . so tell it like it is.
• Eliminate negatives with positives . . . Let Sales Players know that you have absolutely no interest in criticizing individual mistakes, errors, or shortcomings. Make it clear that your only interest is to equip each Sales Player to sell more, more profitably, more often. Build consensus by actively soliciting viable solutions to any obstacle that may threaten the team’s overall ability to increase sales, profits, and income. Never lose sight of your primary goal: To build a winning sales team.
• Establish new relationships with Sales Players . . . You are now someone you’ve never been before. You are no longer the Sales Manager. You’re not the VP of Sales and Marketing. You’re not the General Manager. You are now the Sales Coach! And, as Sales Coach, your first responsibility is to emphasize the human side of coaching. By that we mean never criticize, put down, or put a Sales Player on the spot – even if you think you’re kidding – in front of anyone else. Make sure that every dialogue develops communications not confrontations. Though you’re still the boss, you will find that a new dimension will have been added to the collective as well as to individual relationships, a leveling of positions that, handled properly, will allow you and Sales Players to work more closely than ever to achieve common goals.

EPILOGUE

There is an old saying in professional football that applies to Sales Coaching: The will to win is meaningless without the will to prepare to win.

As Joe Gibbs, one of the all-time great NFL coaches, once said, “A winning effort begins with preparation. The game may be played on Sunday, but it is won on the practice field during the week; in meeting rooms, where coaches and players prepare the game plan; and in the weight room where the best players do a few extra repetitions.”

How is this any different from your Sales Game? Your Sales Game is played on a prospect’s field whenever a Sales Player gets in front of a prospect to assess the need to buy, to make a presentation, and to ask for an order. How does your Sales Player get on the playing field? How does your Sales Player get in the right position, in the right place, at the right time, in front of a prospect to play the game and score the win?

Practice.

And where do Sales Players practice? They practice in your conference room when they run selling scenarios by their teammates; they practice in your office when they work out specific strategies and tactics with you; and they practice in front prospects and customers in real time.

And, where will you find your best Sales Players?

Like Coach Gibbs said, you’ll find them doing a few extra repetitions . . . not in the weight room, but perhaps in front of a mirror at home as they practice a little harder to become a lot better.

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1. Who are you, coach? – What makes you unique? How can you use your personal and professional experience, skills, and education to challenge, direct, and inspire your team? How do your favorite professional sports coaches’ attitudes, personality traits, and skills manifest themselves when their teams win on the playing field? And how can you emulate those same attitudes, personality traits, and skills to help your team win?

a. Define and learn the basic Coaching Skills you need to succeed

b. Beat your fears by honestly confronting and overcoming your weaknesses

c. Differentiate between coaching and training and coaching and counseling and know when to use the appropriate technique to achieve specific coaching goals

d. Don’t kid yourself . . . know how and when your personality traits can help or hurt your ability to coach effectively . . . and do something about it before it’s too late!

e. Know your limits. You can’t be everything to everyone. Select one or more Assistant Sales Coaches to peer coach and help you achieve your overall Sales Objectives on a realistic timetable

f. Remember that persistence pays – Once you define team performance goals, don’t back down or let up . . . if you do, you’ll lose credibility and your team will struggle

g. Build meaningful relationships with Sales Players by focusing on communication, credibility, and trust

h. Walk your walk and talk your talk: Although this book presents a viable set of plans, built on three decades of successful selling experience; it still needs to be sold, not delivered, to your players. After all, before they’ll take full advantage of Sales Coaching, they have to believe in Sales Coaching

2. Make the most of your coaching time – There are only so many hours in a work week and you’ll want to make the most of the time you can devote to Sales Coaching. If you manage your schedule wisely, you’ll find that you have the ability to focus on some neglected long-term aspects of your job, such as strategic planning, long-term market analysis, etc.

a. Analyze how you currently use your time on the job and adjust your schedule to realign your workload with Sales Coaching priorities

b. Determine what percentage of your time should be devoted to Sales Coaching

c. Set-Up Team Sales Practices in lieu of traditional Sales Meetings – Keep them short (30-45 minutes) and to the point – Always leave Sales Players wanting more

d. Schedule early morning 15-30 minute Individual Sales Player Practices to monitor each Player’s progress

e. Considering that your ability to Coach effectively is directly related to your ability to evaluate Sales Players in action, set up a schedule of one-day field trips with individual Sales Players

f. Make the most of your coaching time by knowing when to coach, when to counsel, and when to sell

3. Evaluate your current sales force – Before you can build a winning Sales Team, you need to evaluate each Sales Player’s strengths and weaknesses to determine where, when, and how to coach each individual through to success

a. Objectively evaluate individual Sales Players’ strengths and weaknesses – Caution: Put your ego away for the duration, get rid of any old baggage (conflicts, disagreements, etc.), and start fresh with each individual

b. Identify individual Sales Players who will benefit most from Coaching; Top Performers won’t need as much help as others, so be prepared to devote as much of your time and energy on coaching the less effective, less experienced, less confident Sales Players

c. Establish an individual coaching plan for each and every Sales Player

4. Field Sales Coaching and review – After all the talking finally fades away, take a road trip. Invest a full day on the road with each Sales Player, calling on former, current, and prospective customers. Evaluate the following aspects of each individual Sales Player’s capabilities:

a. Appearance and Body Language

b. Overall Organizational Skills

c. Call Preparation Skills

d. Advance Knowledge and Understanding of each prospect’s needs

e. Relationship Building Skills

f. Listening and Communication Skills

g. Closing Skills

h. Sales Call Follow-Up and Follow-Through Capabilities

i. Telephone, Computer, and Email Skills

j. Ability to Prospect and Generate New Leads

k. Territory Management Skills

l. Ability to Develop and Work a Viable Territory Marketing Plan

5. Team evaluation and goal setting – One of the most challenging tests you will face as you become a winning Sales Coach is the test of your ability to adapt to change. Because you have to build your team to fit your players, not the other way around, your first and perhaps greatest test will be to adapt your Coaching Style to take advantage of the collective strengths of each and every player on your team.

a. Consider each Sales Player’s attitude, personality, potential, skills and talents to determine precisely how much Peer Coaching and Direct Coaching is necessary to achieve specific increased Market Segment and Territory Sales Goals

b. Define and Benchmark key performance standards for Individual Sales Players and for the Entire Team – Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annually

c. Identify Typical Sales Cycles by territory and establish team progress benchmarks to move efficiently through each cycle

d. Assess and prioritize the resources – facilities, equipment, time, supplies – you’ll need to build a winning team over the next year

e. Establish and Publish a Specific Internal and External Sales Training Calendar for the entire year

EPILOGUE

Winning Sales Coaches live by winning principles. Consider, if you will, the winning principle of the three Ds: Desire, Dedication, and Determination.

Desire is what motivates you to become a winning Sales Coach. The good news about desire is: If you really want to be the best Sales Coach you can be, you will.

Dedication is a measure of how much you are willing to sacrifice to satisfy your desire. You may want your company to be number 1 in sales in your territory, but so does every other person in your position. The key difference is how badly you want to be number one. Are you willing to pay a higher price than your competitors are willing to pay? Will you actually apply the lessons learned in this book? Will you do whatever it takes to build the finest Sales Team anywhere, no matter what it takes?

If Desire motivates you and if Dedication is the measure of the price you’re willing to pay, Determination is what keeps you in the game . . . no matter how tough it may be, no matter how long it may take!

So, how determined are you?

There’s nothing new here.

This is the same old stuff we’ve heard . . . from mothers, fathers, teachers, and coaches . . . all our lives.

Nevertheless, is there anything untrue about what we’ve just said?

No?

Then, what are you waiting for?

Stop managing and start coaching . . . now!

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Are you as a Sales Leader or Manager facing any of these issues with your team? Sales training often isn’t enough to produce long term change in your sales team.

Read this list to see if you might benefit from a sales coach:

Having trouble with:

• Generating new customers
• Increasing returns on marketing campaigns
• Failure to consistently achieve sales revenue goals
• Reduce ever-lengthening sales cycles
• Increasing costs of maintaining an effective and productive sales team
• Keeping the sales team motivated
• Shrinking margins – mounting pressure to discount
• Protecting and developing dwindling key accounts
• Increasing erosion of market share
• Increased failure to forecast revenue with any degree of accuracy
• Increased quantity and ferocity of competition and being outsold by competitors
• Limited product knowledge in the field
• Declining customer satisfaction and increasing customer expectation
• Global market rationalization Increasing number of stalled sales opportunities
• Finding and keeping good people
• Managing salespeople who plan and manage their time and territory by the seat of their pants – they don’t seem to have a game plan or a strategy as to how they are going to win
• Reducing the “last three weeks of a sales quarter” syndrome where everyone scrambles to try and pull in as much as they can to hit sales targets and we end up giving away our margin
• The current economic crises are impacting on sales team’s ability to consistently achieve their sales quotas
• Operating in markets where there seems to be more and more “gatekeepers”, buying committees, tendering processes, RFPs, etc., all of which prevent the sales team from gaining access to decision makers
• It is becoming increasingly tough to get to talk to the people who matter about what they really need and want when it comes to buying our services
• We struggle to speed up the buying process and close more deals more often
• Sales teams that needs constant motivating. They seem to lack passion, focus and commitment
• “Give us a quote” is a common response my salespeople are hearing. So what I find is that my salespeople often invest large chunks of their time putting together proposals for prospective clients that have no real intention of buying from them
• The message we hear from our customers over and over is, “Your competitor can do it faster and cheaper.” And they are right! How do we sell against that?
• No predictable and accountable selling process that moves the sale forward smoothly
• Constantly grappling with costly, wasteful, and ineffective sales practices (e.g., low yield on direct marketing, low close ratios, high costs for branding, tradeshows, or product development)
• I don’t have a clue where to start to get sales back on track!

If you or your sales team are facing any of these common issues, you should consider getting coached!

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There are highly qualified sales coaches like myself – and then there are others who just jumped on the sales coaching bandwagon so they can profit from you even though they have not proven themselves to be worthy of getting you as a client.

Knowing this, how can you find the best sales coach for you and your organization? Simply ask the 10 questions below….

Here Are My Top 10 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Sales Coach So You Can Achieve Breakthrough Results:

1. What is your personal track record of success in sales?

I was ranked #1 sales performer in the U.S. for 4 years at two global Fortune 500 Companies. I generated over $135 Million in Sales Revenue. I know what it takes to become a top sales professional.

This is not true for many sales coaches as they do not have the credentials of being a #1 performer in a large organization multiple times. And, many sales coaches do not have extensive experience building, developing and managing sales forces.

But what if those are your goals? See the concern? If they have not walked the walk, and proven they know what it takes to achieve great sales results, how can you expect them to know what it takes to achieve extraordinary results?

Now, it can be hard to find a sales coach’s past sales performance on his or her website or on LinkedIn, so be sure to ask or do your own online research and find out.

2. Will you customize your sales coaching programs around my particular needs and goals?

Many sales coaching programs simply place all individuals and businesses into the exact same sales coaching process. In effect, each business or individual is taught in a training format that starts with certain skills or techniques and moves on to the next set of techniques. They do not take into consideration the immediate challenges at hand, nor do they focus on customizing the program around the strengths of the individual or organization, while identifying and addressing weaknesses.

Before you hire a sales coach, ask how they customize their sales coaching program. If they don’t have some good examples to share, run fast, or face receiving cookie-cutter coaching which will greatly impede your results.

3. What is your general sales philosophy?

Sales coaches often have a very traditional perspective when it comes to sales and selling. This results in the coach teaching you to persuade, push, be very aggressive, and to forcefully change the mind of others. This will make both you and the prospective client feel uncomfortable. This will automatically lead to lost sales.

Many of the old persuasive selling techniques really are a thing of the past. They don’t work. Yet, many sales coaches are still teaching the same stuff. If you want to increase your sales potential then you need a sales coach who understands how to create a genuine, natural, customized sales philosophy for each individual they coach. If they don’t, watch out.

4. What professional coach training do you have?

You may find a sales coach who has a respectful sales background like me. But, in many cases they’ll have very little, if any professional coaching training. There is a big difference between calling oneself a coach, and having 100’s of hours of face-to-face coaching training. If they do not have this training, you may not receive all the support you need around motivation, focus, changing your mind set, accountability, and being able to support you towards success in your entire life. If you hire a sales coach who does not have professional training, do not expect the same results. You will not be supported holistically around all the intangibles that help people reach extraordinary results.

5. Do you offer monthly programs?

Many sales coaching programs involve a 6 month or longer commitment or a large upfront investment just to get started. Be careful, because if you don’t see the results you want with your sales coach, you are stuck. Look for a coach who offers flexibility. Including, month-to-month programs or packages that enable you to minimize your upfront risk as you initiate your partnership with the sales coach. When working with a top-level expert sales coach, you should quickly see results. Then you make the decision to invest in the coaching, versus being trapped in a long-term agreement with a coach who is not an ideal fit for you.

6. What experience do you have managing or leading a sales force?

Often a sales coach may have experience selling, but they will have little or no experience actually managing, developing and leading sales teams. If you are a business owner who is focused on building and developing your sale team, then you need a sales coach who has something of value to offer.

7. How did you end up becoming a sales coach?

Find out if the sales coach made the conscious choice to become a coach for the right reasons, or if they burned out of corporate America or fell into the position as a back up because they lost a job. You want a coach who loves coaching, sales and changing lives. Look for a coach with whom you connect with. Look for a sales coach who truly cares about your success and loves the work he or she does. If you do not sense a great deal of passion in their voice when they describe how they became a sales coach, talk to another coach.

8. How else can you support me to achieve my goals?

The sales coach you are thinking about hiring may know how to sell, but does this sales coach lack the necessary skills to provide the support you need when it comes to mindset, motivation, focus, productivity, effectiveness, and discipline. Teaching and sharing new skills is just one small piece of effective sales coaching. When an expert sales coach can support a client with all the intangibles, far greater results are possible. Pay attention to how they answer this question and ask for examples.

9. Can you show me new and innovative ways to increase sales?

If the sales coach is not aware of how to use social media, blogs, website marketing, SEO, AdWords, effective article writing and publication, LinkedIn and other similar tools to grow their own business, how can they help you to grow yours?

Technology is always changing and there are ways to use it to increase your sales results. Find a sales coach who is using these tools on a daily basis to grow their sales coaching business. Find a sales coach who can show you how to generate leads, contact new prospects and network effectively in the modern era of sales. If they don’t use these tools, keep on looking.

10. Do you have a coach?

I don’t know if I have ever been asked this by a prospective sales coaching client, but I share the information freely. I work with a coach. I get a tremendous amount out of it and I am convinced of the value of coaching. How can you be a coach, but say you don’t need a coach yourself?

Even the best in the world like Tiger Woods have multiple coaches to stay on top and reach even higher levels of success. As soon as you stop learning, growing, improving and developing, what kind of an example are you showing for your own clients? Find a sales coach who has a coach, believes in coaching, uses coaching to continue to become a better coach, a better entrepreneur, and a better person. Find someone who inspires you to do more and doesn’t just coach you, but leads by example. If they don’t have a coach, just ask them why. This is an important question to ask and I’m guessing you will decide to move on pretty fast after they say they don’t need a coach or don’t have one.

Find a sales coach who is right for you by asking these questions. Look for a sales coach who truly cares about you and your success. Make sure the sales coach you select takes the time to get to know you, your sales goals and challenges. Follow these tips and you will ensure you partner up with the right sales coach for you to achieve amazing sales results.

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Are you looking to hire a sales coach to improve your career, leadership, life, business and sales results?

Well, I’m going to tell you right now that there are many sales coaches in the field and it is hard to know where to start or what to look for when hiring a coach. There are highly qualified sales coaches like myself and then there are others who just jumped on the sales coaching bandwagon so they can profit from you even though they have not proven themselves to be worthy of getting you as a client.

Knowing this, how can you find the best sales coach for you and your organization? Simply ask the questions below…

Here Are My Top 7 Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Sales Coach

1. What is your personal track record of success in sales?

I was ranked #1 sales performer in the U.S. for 4 years at two global Fortune 500 Companies. I generated over $135 Million in Sales Revenue. I know what it takes to become a top sales professional.

This is not true for many sales coaches as they do not have the credentials of being a #1 performer in a large organization multiple times. And, many sales coaches do not have extensive experience building, developing and managing sales forces.

But what if those are your goals? See the concern? If they have not walked the walk, and proven they know what it takes to achieve great sales results, how can you expect them to know what it takes to achieve extraordinary results?

2. Will you customize your sales coaching programs around my particular needs and goals?

Many sales coaching programs simply place all individuals and businesses into the exact same sales coaching process. They do not take into consideration the immediate challenges at hand, nor do they focus on customizing the program around the strengths of the individual or organization, while identifying and addressing weaknesses.

Before you hire a sales coach, ask how they customize their sales coaching program. If they don’t have some good examples to share, run fast, or face receiving cookie-cutter coaching which will greatly impede your results.

3. What is your general sales philosophy?

Many of the old persuasive selling techniques really are a thing of the past. They don’t work. Yet, many sales coaches are still teaching people just like you to persuade, push, be very aggressive, and to forcefully change the mind of others. This will make both you and the prospective client feel uncomfortable and will automatically lead to lost sales.

If you want to increase your sales potential then you need a sales coach who understands how to create a genuine, natural, customized sales philosophy for each individual they coach. If they don’t, watch out.

4. What professional coach training do you have?

You may find a sales coach who has a respectful sales background like me. But, in many cases they’ll have very little, if any professional coaching training. There is a big difference between calling oneself a coach, and having 100′s of hours of face-to-face coaching training. If they do not have this training, you may not receive all the support you need around motivation, focus, changing your mind set, accountability, and being able to support you towards success in your entire life. If you hire a sales coach who does not have professional training, do not expect the same results. You will not be supported holistically around all the intangibles that help people reach extraordinary results.

5. How did you become a sales coach – and why?

Find out if the sales coach made the conscious choice to become a coach for the right reasons, or if they burned out of corporate America or fell into the position as a back up because they lost a job. You want a coach who loves coaching, sales and changing lives. Look for a coach with whom you connect with. Look for a sales coach who truly cares about your success and loves the work he or she does. If you do not sense a great deal of passion in their voice when they describe how they became a sales coach, talk to another coach.

6. Can you show me new and innovative ways to increase sales?

If the sales coach is not aware of how to use social media, blogs, website marketing, SEO, AdWords, effective article writing and publication, LinkedIn and other similar tools to grow their own business, how can they help you to grow yours?

Technology is always changing and there are ways to use it to increase your sales results. Find a sales coach who is using these tools on a daily basis to grow their sales coaching business. Find a sales coach who can show you how to generate leads, contact new prospects and network effectively in the modern era of sales. If they don’t use these tools, keep on looking.

7. Do you have a coach?

I’m a sales coach and I still work with a coach. I get a tremendous amount out of it and I am convinced of the value of coaching. How can you be a coach, but say you don’t need a coach yourself?

As soon as you stop learning, growing, improving and developing, what kind of an example are you showing for your own clients? Find a sales coach who has a coach, believes in coaching, uses coaching to continue to become a better coach, a better entrepreneur, and a better person. Find someone who inspires you to do more and doesn’t just coach you, but leads by example. If they don’t have a coach, just ask them why. This is an important question to ask and I’m guessing you will decide to move on pretty fast after they say they don’t need a coach or don’t have one.

Find a sales coach who is right for you by asking these questions. Follow these tips and you will ensure you partner up with the right sales coach for you to achieve amazing sales results.

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Have you ever experienced a loss for words when a prospect asks you “Is this one of those pyramids?” or “Is this like Amway or Mary Kay?” Perhaps you said the wrong thing and lost their attention. Your prospects will always have objections about your MLM business, but with the right MLM training techniques, you can easily resolve them when you follow these 5 steps.

This discussion on handling questions and objections only deals with those objections that come up during an invite call; as in the first time you talk to a prospect and are inviting them to look at your MLM business.

Let’s start off with defining what “Handle Questions and Objections” means.

Definition of “Handle:” to deal with effectively (there are a lot of replies out there, but they don’t handle the question or objection).

Definition of “Questions:” something asked.

Definition of “Objections:” expressed or unexpressed opposition (to be against or resistant to).

The purpose of Handling Questions and Objections is to get the prospect beyond their question(s) and/or opposition(s), which are currently stopping them from attaining what they stated they need, want or don’t want as it pertains to your network marketing business.

When your prospect doesn’t do what you’ve asked them to do (like listen to a CD or attend an MLM business briefing) he/she has an unresolved question and/or objection. There are two kinds of questions and/or objections:

EXPRESSED – when your prospect expresses a question or objection, be very thankful! It’s one you don’t have to DIG UP! (Example: My sister tried a network marketing business and she failed.)

UNEXPRESSED – when your prospect withholds their questions or objections. Your job is to locate and remove the unexpressed questions and objections. (Example: Your prospect doesn’t show up to a follow-up appointment.)

These questions and objections, whether expressed or unexpressed, can stop and ARE stopping your prospect from getting what he/she has stated they want (more money, work from home, etc). So you need to effectively handle these.

I can assure you, if you don’t handle the questions and objections now, they will linger in your prospect’s mind; even if they still sign up in your network marketing business! It’s happened in my business: I sign someone up; we go through all of the MLM training together; my new person seems excited about network marketing, and then all of the sudden, she’s nowhere to be found; doesn’t answer my calls and won’t return them. Most times, they disappear because of an unexpressed objection or question I didn’t resolve when I first introduced them to my MLM business.

There is a formula for handling questions and objections. The reason a formula is necessary is because it helps you do all the necessary steps to effectively handle the objection. If you just “give the reply,” you can miss all the other necessary steps to HANDLE the question or objection and worse, you can upset or give extra strength to their objection. Many, many times I’ve seen the objection fizzle to nothing just by properly doing the first three steps of the “Objections Remedy Formula.”

OBJECTIONS REMEDY FORMULA

Step 1. Listen completely through the question/objection.

Purpose: So you are sure you get the correct objection, and for you to respect the prospect’s right to communicate a full thought without you feeling your thought is more important.

Step 2. Confirm understanding.

Purpose: So that you handle the real objection or question!

Here’s an example:

Prospect: “Is this sales?”

Networker: “I want to make sure I fully understand your question. Could you clarify what you mean by ‘sales?’”

Prospect: “Would I have to go out and sell products door to door?”

Networker: “Oh, now I understand. Thank you for clarifying that. Are you looking for this type of sales?” (further clarification)

Prospect: “Absolutely not.”

Step 3. Make the question or objection valid, but don’t agree with the objection. Use the same intensity or slightly less intensity.

Definition for first part of Step 3 above: when you make a question or objection valid, you make it important.

Purpose: you want to make the objection important because it’s important to the prospect. Making it important doesn’t mean you also have to agree with it. If you agree with it, you will give it extra strength; this is not the desired effect. You want them to know that you heard them and that you understand their concern.

Definition for second part of Step 3 above: intensity is the volume and animation you use. Using similar intensity helps you communicate better with your prospect. If your prospect is very animated about something and you sit there like a stump, your level of communication will lessen. Conversely, if you’re very animated and your prospect is subdued, the same non-optimum effect occurs.

CORRECT: “I completely understand your concern.” (Made objection important without agreeing with it.)

INCORRECT: “I feel (felt) the same way…” (This is incorrect because you agreed with objection.)

INCORRECT: “Oh! I totally agree! I would NEVER go door to door. Are you kidding me? That is so below me!” (This is incorrect because you agreed with the objection and used too much intensity.)

Step 4. Handle or facilitate handling Questions and/or Objections.

The purpose of handling questions and objections is to get the prospect past the concerns that stop him/her from getting what they’ve stated they need and/or want as it pertains to your MLM business. The most effective way to handle objections is to get the prospect to create a solution to their own objections.

CORRECT: “In the past there had been people who used the door-to-door method to find prospects, but there are many other ways to locate interested prospects. What methods of prospecting do you feel comfortable with?”

Prospect: “Well, I wouldn’t mind mailing out postcards. I also like running newspaper advertisements.”

Networker: “Good, both of those can be effective ways to find prospects.”

See, the networker is not “handling” the objection; he/she is facilitating the prospect to handle their own objection. The key is to ask questions that lead the prospect to their own solution. If you say it, then it can be challenged. If the prospect says it, then it must be true!

NOTE: Do not move to the next step, “Complete and Return to Previous ‘Inviting Formula’ Step,” until you are certain the objection(s) is handled.

Step 5. Complete and return to previous “inviting formula” step.

Definition: The “Complete and Return to Previous Step” completes the conversation about the question or objection, and moves prospect and networker to the step of the Inviting Formula they were on, prior to the question or objection.

Note: The “Inviting Formula” is a series of steps that guide you through an entire conversation with a prospect. The full MLM training on Inviting can be found in a CD series I authored called “Professional Inviter.” (see http://www.FirstClassMLMTools.com)  For quick reference in this article, the “Inviting Formula” is:

1. Greet
2. Qualify
3. Invite
4. Handle any Questions/Objections
5. Close to Action
6. Follow-up or Follow-through

Example: “Thanks for bringing that up. Now that I know a tad bit more about you, tell me, you sound like you’ve had experience in marketing; is that correct? (Moving prospect and networker back to Qualify step of “Inviting Formula”, which was where they were at when the “sales” question arose.)

Prospect: “Yeah, I’ve been doing it my whole adult life.”

Networker: “That’s great. So you understand that marketing is “how you find the customer?”

Prospect: “Absolutely. Companies couldn’t exist without marketing.”

Networker: “Since you know that, have you ever thought about marketing for your own business?”

It’s very important that you get good at using the above formula in order to have success in your MLM business. See, when you take the responsibility of prospecting someone and inviting them to join your MLM team, you are agreeing to become their teammate, a teammate that will help their mate get over the obstacles that stop them from making a lot of money.

If they could have done it on their own, they would have. They need you! They’ve put this “objection” in their way of wealth. You, being a good teammate, can help get them beyond this obstacle. The “Questions & Objections Remedy Formula” I’ve given you above will accomplish that.

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