As adults, we may forget the amount of time that we spent at the beginning of every school year reviewing what we had already learned. Sometimes, it was just a simple review. Other times though, that second chance at learning was just what we needed to understand the topic at hand.

In the spirit of going back to school, here are five “back to basics” lessons for sales trainers from some of our Sales Training textbooks.

Lesson 1: Develop good habits, because every little thing matters (10 Steps to Successful Sales). Good habits don’t appear out of thin air. They’re behaviors that must be cultivatedevery day. We’re all aware of the big things that can make or break us, but how often are we late for meetings, or forget to return phone calls? These small details can often add up to create a big problem. Get to work building the right habits for the little things, and you’ll be amazed at how often they diffuse disasters before they can even start.

Lesson 2: Partner with Your Sales Team (Sales Training Basics). The only thing learned in an “us vs. them” classroom setting is how quickly nothing will get done. An easy way to partner with your sales team is to identify their number one goal for the year and focus on how to help them achieve it. While working towards this goal, make sure your training is concise, relevant, and immediately applicable. If you have feedback or criticism, try to keep it positive and offer solutions to the problems you see.

Lesson 3: Teach good listening skills (Sales Training). Just as you can’t train your salespeople if they’re always talking, customers can’t make a purchaseif they are never given  a chance to speak. Instead of preparing what you have to say, listen intently and ask questions. A client doesn’t want to waste hours trying to solve problems , so they’ll likely tell you what they need quickly. The faster you can quickly identify a client’s needs, the faster you can start your pitch. If you practice this enough times, you’ll realize how successful you can be without saying a word!

Lesson 4: Organize your salespeople by priority (Sales Coaching). You should break your salespeople up into three categories: the crisis zone, the command zone, and the develop zone. Your “crisis zone” includes your salespeople who are underperforming. Address the reasons for this and aggressively work to get them back on the right path. Your superstars belong in the “command zone.” More often than not, they’re still not at peak performance, so work with them to reach their maximum results. Lastly, your “develop zone” defines  your average salespeople. They have the potential to become your superstars, so your focus here should be to draw out their personal strengths and cultivate them.

Lesson 5: Use the right metrics for evaluation (Sales Training that Drives Revenue). In order to be successful, you first have to define success. Some possible ways to measure success are through the number of accepted proposals, increased size of orders, or increase in gross or net revenue. Try to avoid personal scores from the salespeople, as this is subjective and can vary from person to person. Overall, ensure that you know whether the information you’ve provided  is being applied.

Going back to basics from time to time can be a good thing. It gives you an opportunity to review things you already know and approach other items with a different perspective than the first time around. So with that in mind, start learning and start training!

Sales training apathy can get the best of anyone, sales trainer and salesperson alike. Here are some practical and effective ways to beat back that glazed look and get back to being focused.

Less Fluff, more meaning. If you strip away all of your PowerPoints, videos, and whatever other bells and whistles you have and all you’re left with is the contents of a shriveled up beach ball (read: nothing), then you’ve got a problem. You already know who your audience is; now you need to make sure that your information is catered to them. Instead of taking the time to gloss up your typical presentation, use that time to gear your items more towards what the salespeople need at that time. To take it to the next step, try formatting your information in ways that directly synch up with what their expected objectives are. This results in not only valuable information, but a unique training session every time.

Make it fun for you too. Remember that conversation you had with your friends about weekend plans? Now think back to the last training session you gave. Chances are there was one distinct difference in them: passion. It’s hard to maintain the same level of passion for your work as your leisure, especially when you’re doing the same thing over and over again at work. But if you can find a way to mix things up and rediscover a long lost love of one part of your presentation, you’ll see even the most disinterested salesperson on the edge of their seat. People feed off of enthusiasm and it’s up to you to start the frenzy.

Focus on the “What,” not the “How.” In other words, focus on the goal, not the methods of getting there. This may go against everything you’ve ever learned about “caring about the journey, not the destination,” but by focusing on your goal, you can help both yourself and your salespeople carve out their own paths. There is not just one way of selling a product or service, so concentrating on the “how” may end up hindering their results later on. You should certainly be giving guidance on how to do actions, but by keeping the attention on the endgame, you’re ensuring you aren’t stifling anyone’s creativity or boring yourself to tears by giving the same talk over and over again.

Sometimes, especially near the end of the summer, it’s easy to see everyone’s attention slipping as the training session goes on. But if you keep it meaningful, exciting for everyone, and focused on results, you’ll see a classroom of energetic learners instead of war-weary salespeople.

When times are tough, you’ll always feel better if you’re burying yourself in work. What you need to be sure of though, is that the work you’re doing is productive and not just a good way to “look busy.” In terms of lead generation, making 500 cold calls instead of 100 doesn’t mean that you’ll instantly do more business. Put your energy towards calling referrals if you can, or use that energy for something else besides generating a higher phone bill.

2) Make sure you give some attention to your high performers; now is not the time that you want to lose them. – Richard Dickerson, The Brooks Group

Your high performers are what propel your business forward and, whether you want to admit it or not, help keep you afloat in rough economic waters.  However, High performers know that they’re high performers; they also know that if they wanted to, they could probably perform just as well somewhere else. To keep their minds (and bodies) from wandering right out of your company, be sure to give them plenty of attention and incentives for staying with your business.

3) Don’t try to turn everyone into a high performer; work on weeding out your weakest sales reps instead.  - Howard Stevens, HR Chally

 On the other hand, high performers are a rare commodity. While it may someday be possible to turn every single one of yours salespeople into a high performing superstar, the amount of time, effort, and funds to do this simply isn’t worthwhile in this economy. In contrast, it’s relatively quick and easy to identify your weakest performers and act accordingly. By removing your low performers and replacing them with “just average” salespeople, you’ll generate more business than you would with a small team of superstars.

 4) Two of the most important qualities for sales reps in this new economy are achievement orientation and understanding of impact and influence.  - Jean Mackintosh, Thomas International USA

Your sales reps need to be able to see how their actions affect the big picture. Not only that, but they need to see their client’s big picture and align their pitch to accommodate those needs. If you can make sure that your sales reps know how to align your company’s vision with your client’s vision, then they’ll not only be successful, but they’ll be geared towards achievement now that they know how to do it.

5) Not only does everyone need to be in the right job, but everyone needs to be communicating and collaborating to create the best sales strategies. – Paula Cushing. IBM

The days of the “lone gunman” salesperson are over. Everyone needs to be communicating with each other to make sure that all of your clients are having their needs met. People that were not traditionally involved with sales are now being brought along on sales calls, and don’t expect that trend to stop any time soon. By working together, your team can guarantee that they’ll be able to marginalize their weaknesses and maximize their strengths.

Would you add anything to this list? What are you changing (if anything) to shape up your sales teams and survive tightening budgets? Tell us in the comments and check out our online, on-demand conference available only until July 28^th for more lessons from industry experts.

It feels logical to focus on the winners, but it is actually more successful when managers focus on weeding out the failures.”

We asked if Howard could elaborate and he followed-up with four main points to remember when you are evaluating your sales teams and considering your training and development options:

1. Someone who is an “average” professional salesperson…who usually makes quota, who almost always takes good care of customers, etc. will always make his company solid profits. There are quite a few of this kind of salesperson for you to choose from when building your sales team.
2. The superstars are rare. There aren’t enough to go around. Even the Yankees can’t buy enough of the superstars to fill every position. So it is more profitable to start today with a good solid performer that will make the company money, than to leave the business unsold while you are waiting to find the rare superstar.
3. Superstars are always at risk, they are more visible and attractive to the competition who just make them “an offer they can’t refuse.” If your superstar moves on they will take their training experience and even, potentially, some of their customers with them. For example, many of the top Las Vegas acts will not hire performers who are too talented because they are too hard to replace… as well as too expensive to maintain.

So, as you go through the process of evaluating, developing and maintaining your sales force, remember to focus on weeding out the lowest performing salespeople rather than constantly rewarding your superstars. Build an average team and you will do better overtime than if you constantly struggled to maintain a team of superstars.

If you’re looking for more insights on the critical steps to developing high performing sales teams, be sure to register for our online, on-demand conference available now through Wednesday, July 28.

Howard Stevens, founder, chairman and CEO of HR Chally Group, a talent management, leadership development, and sales improvement corporation providing personnel assessment and research services to more than 2, 500 customers in 35 countries  for over 33 years.

We kicked off the event yesterday afternoon with a live keynote presentation from Howard Stevens of HR Chally. In his presentation, titled “Processes of World-Class Sales Teams: Critical Steps to Improve Your Sales Results,” Stevens shared with us his thoughts on how sales team managers can be more efficient and data-driven in order to operate at a c-suite level and save their teams and budgets in today’s economy. “Today, the c-suite wants strategic partners,” Stevens said. “Sales team managers need to focus on the metrics and provide accurate inventories of talent available versus talent needed. They must also develop concrete plans to close the gaps.”

 From now until July 28 conference participants have the opportunity to learn from training and development experts like Brian Lambert from Forrester Research, Inc. and  Paula Cushing from IBM. Sessions hosted by LaVon Koerner of Revenue Storm and Richard Dickerson of The Brooks Group will feature new, timely data to help sales team managers make the right training decisions for today’s market. See our complete list of presenters on the conference website here. 

 Each of our 10 sessions is available on-demand on your schedule. Session topics include:

• how to build a high-performance, collaborative sales team
• secrets to performing well in today’s economy
• how to transform your sales team from solution providers into consultative executive-level business partners

 Registration is open and available for the next week so you can learn from our experts on your own time. Register now and follow us on Twitter @salesdrivers  for additional insights all week long!

It’s easy for clients to think of salespeople as the product they’re selling. And, it’s just as simple for a salesperson to look at clients as the products they’ll buy. The problem with dealing with people this way is that in this equation, each of you is interchangeable. The very moment that either of you believes there could be a better deal elsewhere is the very moment when a potential sale is lost.

So if you want to be unique (and therefore specific to the equation), it’s imperative that you build a relationship with your clients. And what’s the first step to building a relationship? Breaking down the barriers that separate the two of you!

Our problems have a habit of becoming barriers between ourselves and the rest of the world. It’s all too easy for anyone, especially your client, to become swept up in the problems swirling around him or her and forget about everything else.

Now, we all know that everyone has problems like our own. The server that forgot your order may be preoccupied with an argument he had with his spouse. The angry email you just received could be from someone who’s stressed out about their own workload. The co-worker that snapped at you for no reason may be worried about how she can pay her bills this month. And most importantly, the client you’ve just met can be preoccupied with these types of problems at any given time.

If you want to build a strong relationship then, you need to immediately break down these barriers. What are some of the quickest ways to do this?

Break down your own barriers. The long, stressful commute you had today? Never happened. The anxiety pangs you’re starting to get about your next house payment? Nonexistent. Make sure to check your own problems at the door and give your prospective client your full attention. If you can break down your own barriers beforehand, you’ve already won half the battle.

Ask questions. Instead of going into your “tried and true” speech that may only touch on 3 of your client’s 10 burning questions, ask questions about your client’s current situation and the problems he’s facing. You can still reach into your bag of tricks, but now you’ll know exactly what to pull out.

 Meet their expectations. All clients have an idea of what they want their experience with you to be like. To meet and exceed this expectation, stay friendly and stay engaged. Now is not the time to start trying to figure out facts and figures in the back of your head while smiling and nodding. Make sure that you come across as knowledgeable and ready to answer any questions they may have.  And most of all, let them know that you’re confident that this is the best decision that both of you can make.

There will always be obstacles when it comes to working with clients. But if you keep these ideas in mind, then you’ll definitely make it over the first and greatest hurtle.

Great Training takes practice and knowledge of human performance improvement principles. Your job is to evoke a knowledge transfer that makes an impact to specific business results that are measurable and defined.  But, not everyone listens to you. (Surprise!)

Here are some solid, human performance principles that you can incorporate into your training regardless of your curriculum that will encourage and motivate anyone. 

• Don’t be concerned by bottom line pressures. Prioritize the top 5 things you want to accomplish in the classroom everyday you teach. Tell your students what those priorities are and WHY they are important to you.

• Tell your students your exact purpose and what is expected of them. Tell them that they have all the talent they need to be successful with a little persistence and determination.

• Present your ideas for the greater good and make money a secondary focus. Money is a goal that is attained as a result of peak performance and productivity.

• Focus on performance success. Meet your students where they are and don’t get upset when they don’t understand. Work with them until they master their skill and “feel” significant to the organization. Be their friend.

• Love your students like you would love your children, regardless of how old they are or where they came from. Love covers a multitude of mistakes and insecurities. You can be the BEST teacher they ever had.

• Help your students move from “Me” to “We”.

• Have the courage to stop the training if it is not going the way that you want. Start over and ask your students for help! It will be your BEST class!

• Let who you ARE speak for what you believe in a politically correct and diverse workplace.

• Cooperate with Uncertainty. Embrace change.

• Thank your students for helping you become successful. Your Success is determined by how many people you make successful.

Solving Problems

According to the World Class Selling book “New Sales Competencies”, Solving Problems involves “Creatively bringing new or alternative perspectives forward to overcome difficulty or uncertainty.”

How do we make it easier for you to manage solving problems? Let’s break it down to a manageable effective action.

The best way to approach solving challenges creatively is to find a fresh perspective and focus on the key actions that bring about change. Change and knowledge transfer can be can be effective with the right focus and planning.

Access Resource Intelligence to Solve Problems

Learn about changes in your business from all angles possible. Salespeople need to be PROACTIVE. You need to respond quickly to change in the marketplace and find problems to solve that your product and service can address.

Watch or read community and industry news reports, subject matter content and published customer opinion discussions where you can introduce the use of your products, or services to provide valuable solutions. Business research done externally and internally will always show you business challenges that you can inquire about. Be creative and have fun getting the “who, what, where, why, when and how”.

Set Your Daily Top (5) PRIORITRY Objectives

• What is your top 5 objectives for the day? WRITE THEM DOWN.

• What are the OBJECTIVES of each of those priorities? WRITE THEM DOWN.

• What is the OBJECTIVE of each of your sales calls? WRITE THEM DOWN.

• What SYSTEM are you using to chart sales performance and log progress on solving problems?

Bring value to your customers. Decision makers and customers want to understand how to reduce costs, increase revenue and optimize performance.

Know what Decision Makers want ahead of time

There are many types of decision makers. To solve their problem you simply need to find out their pain and what challenges they are experiencing that can be directly addressed by the product or service you are selling. Decision makers want you to get to the point. Make sure you know AHEAD OF TIME how to ask the RIGHT questions that will get them emotionally involved in sharing their challenges with you. This can be done by analyzing the behavior of other decision makers in their industry and offering solutions. But, more importantly, you must get involved in making them tell you what their personal challenges are. Otherwise, your efforts are pointless and you will not sell a thing to them.

Identify and Develop Options for Decision Making

Identify ways to make quality assessments during the decision making process and how to act on decisions. Understand how do develop a key word SWOT Analysis and marketplace review with the PEST Analysis. Group workshop programs and online virtual conferences are great problem solving “think tank” resources!  Look for ways to assess and grow your sales skill level. Become more creative, learn new decision making techniques, hone in on your language clarity, sense of timing and judgment, and LEARN HOW TO IMPLEMENT action plans. This will separate you from the rest of the Sales Experts in your industry.

Then look no further, because the July Virtual Conference is here!

The topic is “Developing High Performing Sales Teams.” We’ll be having speakers from various backgrounds give their own spin on this topic and help you figure out what’s missing from your team. To register, please click here. For more info, please click here.

Sales Closing: NO PAIN. NO CHANGE.

Decision Makers know why you are there. You are asking them for time, or money in the form of “solving their problem”. Buyers are conditioned to automatically resist you as you “ask for the sale”. There is intense pressure to “make a decision”.  The ONLY way buyers will buy from you is if they have verbalized their painful problem to you, and have acknowledged that your solution will help them regardless of the money or time it takes to get it solved.  Buyers buy because you have made them verbalize their PAIN. They will do anything to avoid it!

People do not buy facts.

Decision makers make decisions intellectually and buy emotionally.

It is “emotional” vs. “Intellectual.

Buyers only buy because they are:

1. Painfully in need of a solution to a critical problem
2. Boredom or indifferent to their current state
3. Want to discover a better business strategy to move from PAIN to PLEASURE

If there is NO PAIN, there is NO change!

Sales Trainers should have an arsenal of SMART QUESTIONS that can be given to the sales team that helps them get the information they need to make the prospect verbalize their emotional pain during the sale. It is part of the DISCOVERY process and should be a vital part of the sales curriculum delivery.

These questions are short, static and open ended.

“Tell me more about that…”

“How long has this been a problem…”

“How much would you say this is costing you…”

“How does that make you feel”…

These emotional sales drivers will help you uncover the REAL source of the problem – if one exists in the mind of the buyer – and will justify their reason for moving forward with your solution.