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Thursday, January 4, 2018

Only 1 in 7 Sales Reps Do this Vital Practice

ONLY 












Years ago I attended a sales development workshop conducted by the Sandler Group.

That's when I heard the statistic. 

Sitting in class, I was stunned when the instructor said, “Only one in seven salespeople self-assess after a sales call.”

How could that be? I instantly thought. To me, it was a standard operating procedure. I assumed everyone did it. All the time.

Then, the instructor added, “…. and, those who do are the top performers.”

Bingo! It made total sense to me. After all, how could you get any better if you didn’t analyze your own performance on a regular basis.

Yet over 85% of salespeople didn’t do it. Maybe they didn’t know how. Maybe they didn’t want to be at fault. Maybe they didn’t even know why it made a difference.

But it did. It mattered tremendously.

If a person didn’t self-assess, they’d be stuck in mediocrity, blissfully unaware that top performers were doing anything differently from them. Or, they’d get progressively discouraged, questioning if they were cut out for sales and ultimately quitting.

Hearing this statistic was a defining moment for me. It reaffirmed my own behaviors. I'd discovered a sales best-practice. 

Sales managers will never reach their full potential (Or quota) unless they coach their salespeople how to think about their actions in a way that enabled them to continuously improve.

Sales managers who consistently produce results through their team realize that questions are their best tool in helping salespeople get better. They provoke curiosity and imply that there were alternative ways to do things. (I’ve listed some helpful ones below.)

An impactful coaching conversation leads to lots of impromptu role-plays where sales reps can test out new ways of doing things. It is an experiment in getting better.

Good sales managers love exploring their salespeople’s challenges (aka issues, obstacles, objections, delays, losses) the most. Their goal is to help each person get to the root cause of their particular selling challenge.

(Check out our blog: The 5 "Whys:" Getting to the Root Cause of a Problem Quickly)

It's a great learning opportunity—for example, when a prospect asks about price early on in the meeting—and upon learning it quickly replied, “We don’t have any money in the budget.”

“Mmmm,” the sales manager can say to the rep , “Based on my experience, something you said elicited that response. What were you talking about just before your prospect brought up the budget issue?”

Then the sales manager backtracks, reviews the rep's actions, brainstorms different approaches and do quick mock calls to see if they could possibly lead to better responses.

It gets salespeople thinking. Exploring. Testing. Assuming personal responsibility for their success. Getting better.

By showing reps how to self-assess on a regular basis, their sales results will improve enabling them to outperform even their own expectations. 

While that “1 in 7” statistic is an incredible number. It truly is a difference maker!

Self-Assessment Questions

Here are some good questions you can ask yourself or your reps. Use them after a phone call or a sales meeting.

 Overall
  • How do you think that call/meeting went?
  • Did you accomplish your objective?
  • If not, was it a realistic one?
  • Is the next meeting on the calendar? If not, what happened? 
What Went Well?
  • As you review the call/meeting, what were the best parts?
  • What were you doing then that was so effective?
  • How can you integrate that into future conversations?
What Needed Improvement?
  • What surprised you, put you off your game?
  • What did you forget to do/say/ask that could make a difference?
  • Where did you run into trouble? What do you think caused that?
  • What could you have done things differently? What else? What else?
To get the maximum impact, use these questions frequently. Make them a regular part of your personal self-assement or your sales management process.


To your greater success,

Peter C. Mclees, Sales Coach and Trainer
Smart Development
petercmclees@gmail.com
Mobile: 323-854-1713



We help sales reps and sales organizations accelerate their sales.

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