Author: Sienna Anderson

Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

The KONA Group offers Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia that deliver results. Your sales people and sales managers will experience behaviour transformation, and you will see a marked improvement in sales, revenues and your bottom line.

Your customised programs can involve DISC Sales Personality Tests, in depth practical training, and a lot of on the job follow up coaching.

Completely Customised Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia

Every organisation is different, with its own set of processes, culture and challenges. That is why ‘by-the-book’, generic sales training courses just do not work.

Every Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia is developed to suit the requirements of your organisation as we want you to make the most of your investment, and we do it by offering complete customisation.

These programs can also be integrated with your Call Centre Training and Sales Management Training and Coaching

Ongoing Reinforcement

Research has proven the benefits and lasting effects of proactive reinforcement. In the absence of reinforcement, participants quickly usually forget all they’ve learnt and get back to their old habits and behaviour.

Our Sales Training Courses in Melbourne are backed by post training reinforcement sessions that make sure that the new behaviours stick and that the change becomes permanent.

Trusted Sales Training Company

When you are looking for results driven sales training courses, think of KONA.

The KONA Group has worked with the biggest corporations in Australia as well as mid size businesses from a wide spectrum of industries. With a proven track record of delivering high value and results, we are a trusted name when it comes to Sales Training Courses in Sydney, Australia

Your Sales Training Programs

Your Sales Training Courses in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia will include a wide range of crucial skills that your sales people will need for lasting success, including:

So if you are looking to increase the effectiveness and results of your organisation, contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or text 0425200883 or email info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your organisation’s results.

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The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Sales Training and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provide Customised Training programs that include:  Sales Training & Coaching, Sales Pipeline Training, Key Account Management Training, Call Centre Training & coaching, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, HR Consulting; DISC and MBTI, and more.

6 Ways to Drive Sales in a Hybrid Workplace

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
How to Make Your Hybrid Workplace Culture Work | Inc.com

Sales Leaders globally are responding to the new reality of hybrid work by doubling down on a new thing called Employee Experience.

Employee Experience

Employee Experience means more than offering new perks or better benefits. It means wholesale changes to workplace culture. Businesses need to work harder for their employees. That is, not just their customers or shareholders. This includes building trust and focusing on workplace culture. Here are 6 Ways to Build Culture in a Hybrid Workplace.

 

1. RETRAIN SALES LEADERS

It takes a different set of skills to manage and lead in a hybrid environment. And given the uncertainty of the times, empathy towards your employees will be any leader’s strongest suit. You need to retrain your managers and leaders. That is, on how they can create structured ways to lead a team that is hybrid.

How C-suite leaders can support a reskilling revolution | EY UK

 

2. EMBED DIGITAL FLUENCY

Make sure your team is ready to work using the new systems and processes. Conduct frequent and detailed training about the new tools your organisation has introduced. Digital technology now impacts every functional area of most organisations. Leaders who understand and prepare for this earlier will see success sooner. Businesses are shifting to a cloud-based architecture at lightning speed. Noteably, technology will continue to play a critical role in transitioning to a hybrid work model. Making workforces digitally fluent and ready for this change is vital for success.

Digital fluency | / Teaching / enabling e-Learning - enabling eLearning

 

3. UPSKILL + EMPOWER YOUR SALESPEOPLE

Establish a clear and periodic upskilling and training program for your employees. The pandemic accelerated the speed of digital transformation by decades. This means the skills we needed to perform one job are evolving as well. Even in a hybrid work culture, you’ll have to upskill your employees. That is, to ensure they have the required skill set for the job they have. Additionally, a robust upskill program will ensure that your employees feel engaged. As well as a part of the company’s growth. This will consequently empower your employees.

How to Create a Robust Upskilling Strategy in 5 Easy Steps?

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Sales Team’s Tailored Driving Sales in a Hybrid Workplace Workshop

 

4. ACCOUNTABILITY

The pandemic has exposed the need for understanding and empathy in hybrid workplaces. Especially as many people live, work and handle schooling and caregiving responsibilities from their homes. But it’s equally important for employers to continue encouraging a culture of accountability. Accountability reminds employees that their work matters. And individual work is crucial to team and overall company success.

What does accountability mean?

5. TRANSPARENCY

Digital tools allow for leadership to be more visible than ever. And also to provide greater opportunities for employees to be involved. In a hybrid workplace, people who are physically present are more proximate to what’s happening in the office. That is why it’s important employees who aren’t physically there are kept informed. That is, so they don’t feel isolated.

That said, the processes of how certain decisions are made should be clear to everyone. Also, remote workers should be treated fairly and equally to their in-person colleagues. Fundamentally, keeping everyone informed builds trust in the business. This in turn fosters a positive workplace culture.

Transparency at work – the foundation of an effective home office - Calamari

 

6. SOCIAL CAPITAL

A major casualty of the pandemic has been social capital. Social capital helps your employees by fulfilling their relationships. As well as fostering new ideas. And by providing a platform for advice to be shared. That is, on how to get things done within the business. Social capital gives employees context and framework. Consequently, by enhancing social capital you are improving decision making. As well as efficiency and productivity.

Managers and leaders need to be intentional about encouraging people to build their networks. That is, to maintain positive cultures in hybrid working situations. They can do this by connecting people across departments. Also, they can encourage this by providing cross-functional learning opportunities. Additionally, social capital can be achieved by creating time for your team to socialise with each other. Not just work. This can be done by making time for teams to have virtual coffee catch-ups and networking discussions with colleagues across the entire company.

Lisa Picard on The Future of Work Isn't Fully Distributed or Remote - PlaceLab | EQ Office

 

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Sales Team’s Tailored Driving Sales in a Hybrid Workplace Workshop

Gather the team and we will take care of the rest – learning and laughs included.

Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.

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LAURETTE WITH HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY ON IT FOR KONA GROUP SALES TRAINING SALES HEALTH CHECK

 

Sales Performance & Sales Training

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

How to Boost More Revenue Through Strategic Sales Training

sales performance & sales training kona

Do you often perceive sales training as a cost-intensive event? Or that once-in-a-while opportunity where your organisation comes together to try and fix what’s broken?

Instead, what if you saw sales training as –

  • A strategic investment
  • And a proactive exercise that boosts faster and more sales?

Sales Training is a Revenue Generating Activity

If managers are able to make the connection between sales coaching and higher sales performance, then sales training becomes a revenue generating activity, not a ‘dreaded’ cost-intensive event.

Clearly, there is not one sales manager who wouldn’t then agree that sales training or coaching is crucial.

However, a recent survey carried out by Viddler revealed that 147 out of 150 sales executives agreed that “poor sales coaching” was a major weakness of most sales companies.

Another recent survey by Highspot reported that out of 79% of companies who engage in some form of strategic sales enablement process, 64% indicated ‘sales training must be improved.’

Engage in customised sales training to suit their business

Perhaps it’s time for sales managers to begin to reassess their sales enablement programs to ensure they are engaging in a more customised sales training suiting their unique business structure.

They need to take action, measure performance through good constructive feedback, and turn information into action.

Sales managers need to take action

Sales Managers should take inventory of the effectiveness and sales capability of their sales people so that the sales training can be customised to them, and not a generic ‘off the shelf’ course.

Measure performance through good constructive feedback

This can be done by assessing the gaps between where the business is right now and where you want it to be, or by benchmarking against competitors. A number of sales performance metrics can be used to measure as well as improve sales performance and grow revenue.

A few key performance metrics to focus on should include but not limited to:

  • Time spent selling, (to identify and eliminate possible sales blocks)
  • Lead response time (to ensure that your sales people are responding to leads quickly and efficiently).
  • In addition, standard size of a closed deal is also an important metric to help measure and eliminate deals that are not worth pursuing —sometimes sales people prefer to spend time pursuing small deals because they are easier to get.

Turn information into action

The ability to transform information into action that can add value to your business is the crux of business intelligence (BI). The secret to getting actions such as boosting sales, improving customer service skills, and making intelligent decisions, is having the right information.

All the information that you’ve amassed from constructive feedbacks, customer insights, sales training programs and more should be put into action.

This quote from biomedical informatics and biotechnology entrepreneur, Atul Butte, just about sums it: “Hiding within those mounds of data is knowledge that could change the life of a patient, [business] or change the world.”

KONA Group runs a series of different training programs:  sales training, sales management training; call centre training; customer service training and more — all customised to YOUR strategy, YOUR industry, YOUR people, YOUR customers, YOUR outcomes and results.

Contact KONA Group on 1300 611 288 or email info@kona.com.au to discuss how you can improve your business results.

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4 Ways to Make 2022 Your Sales Strategy G.O.A.T.

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Make Your 2022 Sales Kickoff the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time)

For many post the pandemic, the thought of actively selling makes their hair stand on end. The dreaded sales task, or worse, networking events, leaves the body shuddering. But pandemic or not, products and services still need to be sold. So, what are the steps to make that apprehensive sales strategy more enjoyable? And also more rewarding. That is, to ensure you get the desired outcome.

Garret Norris, CEO of the KONA Group and Sales Executive Coach, teaches businesses and sales teams how to confidently sell their products and services. Here he shares with you his top tips and 4 Must Haves in Your 2022 Sales Strategy.

Get your team onto these tips (and if you’re one of the wise ones, get them on a Sales Intensive Workshop), and learn how to calm the networking nerves. That is, learn to prospect confidently to ensure your pipeline is full all year. Have a read and get busy living the dream.

4 Must Haves in Your 2022 Sales Strategy

1. EMBED A HYBRID SALES MODEL

The good part of the past two years sent sales teams into survival mode. The attitude was typically to move our offline operations all entirely online. That is even just for the short term. And we would then all see how it pans out. However, as we know, fortune favours the brave. And for those of us who jumped into the deep end and invested in remote working options, ultimately reaped the benefits as the pandemic drew on, and on, and on.

“According to HubSpot’s 2021 Sales Enablement Report, 64% who transitioned to remote selling met or exceeded their revenue targets.”

Hybrid Sales Strategy

Now we are at the time where many are playing catch up. To stay ahead in 2022, it is now time to shape our policies and processes around a hybrid working model.

And guess what? It is not just remote leaders or salespeople who are benefitting from moving towards remote operations. The “LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2021 revealed 50% of buyers believed remote working had made the purchasing process easier too”.

Book Your Team’s Tailored 2022 Sales Strategy Workshops

2. PERSONILSATION!

Personalisation in sales pretty much means the act of tailoring your pitch so it acutely addresses the pain points, needs, and challenges of your client. That is, all while making them feel appreciated.

In other words, personalisation in sales means getting rid of generic one-liners and messages. Instead, replace them with ones that provide a more customised customer experience.

Talking Business: Predictive analytics to improve personalisation and boost sales

Among many Personalisation Techniques in his Sales Intensive Workshops, Garret suggests for higher levels of conversion, embedding some of these tips:

  • WHAT’S IN A NAME: Include your customers’ names in the subject line.
  • SPECIAL EVENTS: Send them a note on their birthday. (Keep in mind this means knowing how to create a customer profile, so you know when their birthday is. As well as those other important points you gained from your quality questioning skills!)
  • RECALL A CHAT: How did your daughter go at the championships? Did Billy get his braces?
3. KNOW YOUR WHY

According to Garret, the key to knocking the sales nerves out of your system is by having a really solid value proposition and knowing it off by heart. He adds, your reason for selling – your Why Statement – should be at the core of your sales strategy. To help craft your team’s Why Statement, Garret suggests asking yourself three questions.

  1. Why do we do what we do?
  2. What are the problems that I’m going to solve for them?
  3. How am I going to solve their problem?

Your value position is not an elevator pitch about your product or service. Rather it is the problems it solves for them. Now once you have crafted your Why Statement, make sure you know it back to front. As well as the answers to all the possible questions that could come out of it.

In Garret’s Workshops and Coaching sessions, he role-plays with his clients to go through the various scenarios and questions that a potential client might ask. He says that after doing this, clients are much more confident in pitching their product or service. As well as very keen to strike up a conversation at a networking event. They often replay these conversations as a team and share answers and insights

4. GET TECHY

It does indeed circle back to our work-from-home setup. Consider, just how much time have we spent in front of screens during the last two years? So it stands to reason that buyers too have now developed a preference for digital.

Sales Technology Landscape: Blueprint

Now, from a buyer’s perspective, that may mean relying more on live chat options. Or perhaps platforms where questions can be posed and answered on demand. But it also speaks to wider technology sales trends in 2022. Such as automation’s growing role. Or giving your salespeople more tools to drive efficiency and productivity. Keep up with the apps, software, and databases that make the selling and buying process a lot smoother for both you and your customers.

To Book Your Team’s Tailored 2022 Sales Strategy Workshops

Stay ahead of your competition by ensuring your team is sales savvy and ready for 2022. Gather the team and we will take care of the rest – learning and laughs included.

Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.

LAURETTE WITH HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY ON IT FOR KONA GROUP SALES TRAINING SALES HEALTH CHECK

 

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Top 10 Brain Teasers to Get You into Gear for 2022

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Brain teasers and logic puzzles are known to improve short-term memory loss? Testing your knowledge bank with brain teasers and other types of riddles keeps the connections between your brain cells firing. Additionally, when we learn how to solve brain teasers, we improve our ability to focus too! So to kick start the year ahead with our minds sharp and prepared, try these Top 10 Brain Teasers to Get You into Gear for 2022.  
Brain Teasers Questions
1. On my way to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks, each sack had seven cats, and each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were going to St. Ives? 2. Which is heavier? A kilo of feathers or a kilo of rocks? 3. You are a cyclist in a cross-country race. Just before the crossing finish line, you overtake the person in second place. What place did you finish in? 4. A man is looking at a photograph of someone. His friend asks who it is. The man replies, “Brothers and sisters, I have none. But that man’s father is my father’s son.” Who was in the photograph? 5. How much dirt is there in a hole that is 1m deep, and 80cm in diameter?

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6. There are three houses. One’s red, one’s blue, and one’s white. If the red house is to the left of the house in the middle, and the blue house is to the right to the house in the middle, where is the white house? 7. You’re in a cabin and it’s pitch black. You have one match on you. Which do you light first: the newspaper, the lamp, the candle, or the fire? 8. A man pushes his car to a hotel and tells its owner he’s bankrupt. Why? 9. A man left home running. He ran a short way and then turned left, ran the same distance and turned left again, ran the same distance and turned left again. When he got home, there were two masked men. Who were they? 10. What is special about these words: job, polish, herb?  
 
Brain Teasers Answers
1. One! Only I was going to St. Ives 2. Both weigh exactly one pound! 3. Second. If you pass the person in second, you take second, and they take third. 4. His son. 5. None, because a hole and contains no dirt. 6. In Washington DC. 7. You light the match first. 8. Because he’s playing Monopoly. 9. The catcher and the umpire. 10. They are pronounced differently when the first letter is capitalized.  

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Team’s Tailored Professional Development Workshops

Gather your team and we will take care of the rest – learning and laughs included.

Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.

 LAURETTE WITH HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY ON IT FOR KONA GROUP SALES TRAINING SALES HEALTH CHECK

Why the Best Salespeople get Lucky

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Have a Lucky Day!

Garret Norris | KONA Group CEO

All through my sales career and even today people have commented on how “lucky” I am… My response has been and will continue to be, “It’s hard work being this lucky”.

When I had large teams of salespeople, throwing “luck” in as a conversation sometimes helped but they also knew how unreliable it is. I have seen luck occasionally give lift to morale, but attributing success or failure to random outside factors drains salespeople’s willingness to try new strategies and they sometimes use it as an excuse (“Oh I was just unlucky with that deal“).

Consequently, I urge sales managers to de-emphasise luck, instead stressing the importance of stable, measurable, and controllable factors such as motivation and activity = results.

Activity leads to results.

To find out more contact the KONA Group 1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au

But if you choose to ignore “luck” altogether, you stand to fall behind competitors who have learned how to manage it.

Manage it? Yes: In my experience, luck should be viewed as a controllable determinant of salespeople’s achievement. Success derives not from effort alone but from a combination of effort, thus, creating “luck”. An understanding of luck’s synergistic role in success can improve performance and increase young salespeople’s confidence in the face of uncertainty and failure.

I have conducted many exploratory interviews with salespeople, including successful sales professionals and new salespeople, and research involving over 250 salespeople who sold many different products and services. The salespeople all had territories and targets and used a customer-relationship-management system.

Through this process I found that experienced salespeople can tell many tales of luck, and they tend to say that an important factor in their jobs is provoked luck: unexpected events that come about because their strategic behaviour has maximised the opportunities.

An example of provoked luck is one of my team who first lost a key account, then won it back because he called them every three months, emailed them relevant information and made sure that he remained their “strategic adviser” (see below KONA’s Six Levels of a Sales Professional).

Then, as “luck” would have it, he had an opportunity to help an executive of the client with industry advice, and the client put in a good word for him (this salesperson was always getting himself into lucky circumstances!!!).

The six stages of a sales professional.

To find out more contact the KONA Group 1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au

My research findings involving salespeople has allowed me to estimate the importance of luck-related events in selling.

For example, following our sales training, a particularly renowned company’s sales team of 70 people sold more than $1.32M in services in one quarter – and they attributed more than two-thirds of the revenue to luck.

In fact, of more than $430,000 raised in selling, about 60% came from what they call “luck circumstances,” with the rest deriving from standard sales processes. From 76% to 88% of the “luck” circumstances were incidences of “provoked luck”. LUCKY, THEY HAD THE TRAINING!!!!

My research findings involving salespeople has allowed me to estimate the importance of luck-related events in selling.

To find out more contact the KONA Group 1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au

The numbers would no doubt vary somewhat in other contexts, but I’m confident that provoked luck – that is, activity – is part of sales success in many if not all segments (but my question is, if no activity happened would they have been so lucky?).

So how do you manage this hugely important sales input?

The key is – belief.

I found that the greater a salesperson’s belief that success is a combination of luck and effort and that good luck will come, the greater a person’s sales activities, such as making phone calls, meeting prospects, qualifying prospects, and gathering intelligence about prospects and competitors.

The greater the sales activities, the greater the opportunities for luck and the greater the person’s provoked luck. The greater the provoked luck, the higher the performance.

Quantity, Direction, Quality.

To find out more contact the KONA Group 1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au

Belief in the power of luck seems to boost self-assurance, thereby helping experienced sales professionals remain optimistic in the face of setbacks and assisting inexperienced salespeople in overcoming uncertainty and fear of failure.

These factors are critical in helping salespeople maintain motivation and job satisfaction. They also matter a lot in reducing turnover, especially for new salespeople.

Not only does a belief in luck boost sales behaviours, but it works the other way around too: sales behaviours can set the stage for improved luck.

Here are a few such behaviours that your sales team can be trained in:

  • Building a strong pipeline: Salespeople should be trained to search for knowledge about customers, prospects, competitors, and the overall market. The more field intelligence a salesperson has, the smarter (or “luckier”) they become.
  • Manage the Key Accounts: Being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important life skills to learn. Communication is defined as transferring information to produce greater understanding. The quality of our communication can only be measured by the response we receive from the other person, do not blame the other person if they don’t understand you!
  •  Managers should be setting high goals: I’m not talking about targets. I’m talking about number of calls, numbers of meeting and real measurable activities, such as trying to surpass one’s past performance. Salespeople should be encouraged to adopt such goals, because they drive forward-looking behaviours. Ambitious goals make salespeople more creative and strategic.
  • Negotiate to sell more value:  Poor sales negotiating may be costing you as much as 50% of your net profit. Economic uncertainty has taught customers to push hard on price and terms, and even relatively receptive buyers use aggressive negotiation techniques. For sellers, the impact on average price can be as much as 5%, which in turn can represent up to 50% of net profits.

To learn how to MAKE YOUR SALES TEAM “LUCKY” contact KONA: 1300 611 288 for a confidential conversation, or Email us at info@kona.com.au today.

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What are the Considerations When Hiring Sales People?

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

Hiring the best sales professionals for your company is not a task that anyone can administer.

What most executives don’t know is that hiring salespeople can be expensive, considering that they have to be trained first before they can be deployed in the field.

Companies typically spend more on hiring in sales than they do anywhere else in their business.

So how do you improve the returns on this investment in hiring salespeople?

Developing criteria of what you are looking for, such as experience, industry contacts, and knowledge of your product and the market will help you dissect the eligibility of a prospect sales professional. Ideally, this person would be good at building a sales force, so they should be a player-coach as well.

If you are ready to hire a professional salesperson, you need to develop criteria and a list of questions to ask. In this post, we will give you different tips on how you can start hiring a sales professional. Here are a few considerations:

Visible Sales Professional Experience

One good way of knowing if one is legitimately appropriate at being a sales professional in your company is with their experience in this field.

Your recruitment team should develop a process wherein sales experience will be readily seen and evaluated during application; casual questions that uncover their level of sales expertise during the initial interview and written exams that have actual sales situations that can show how effective they are in making sales decisions are just ones of the techniques that you can integrate.

Clear Understanding of Sales Process

Once you’ve determined if their previous sales experiences is sufficient enough to match your company needs, it is now the time to know if they have proper knowledge about the intricacies sales process. You may ask during the interview the methods they go through when engaging a potential customer, such as:

  • Do they use a database of contacts and write to prospects and then follow up with a phone call?
  • How many calls do they believe it takes before they get a meeting, and how many sessions until they get a sale?

Another way to gauge the capability of a budding salesperson to close sales is to give them an object or concept and see if they can get you to buy.

Thorough Personality Assessment

It might be complicated to assess the personality of an individual at the first interview. But, if your company keeps up with the ever-growing profiling of professional salespeople in the business industry, assessing will be an easy task for you.

Research based upon thousands of exit interviews shows that a primary cause of poor performance and turnover is poor job fit. People, especially salespeople with a variable pay component, become frustrated when they hire for tasks that are a poor fit with their skills and preferences. That is why nowadays, assessing first the personality of an individual plays a huge part in how they are capable of handling the position as a part of your sales team.

Search for Growth Potential

If your goal in recruiting sales staff is to build a high calibre sales team, you need individuals who are equipped to scale the career ladder. These individuals will fill leadership roles on your sales team and eventually work their way to positions in sales management and beyond.

The sales industry is continuously adapting with different techniques that most consumers prefer when closing a deal, so it is only wise to hire an individual that is willing to grow with you as a company that provides great service and experience to its customers.

Contact KONA Customised Training and Consulting today and let us help you assemble of professional salespeople that deliver results for your company through our Sales and Management Training. Contact us today to learn more about our services. 

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9 Ways to Blow a Deal | Learn from Your Sales Mistakes

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
 
There are many learnings on how to win deals. But, if you’re in the sales game, sometimes it feels like it is easier to blow a deal than it is to close one. But, why would we teach you how to blow a deal rather than how to win one? Well, because, if you know what not to do, you won’t do it. While we do our best to close every deal, it is important to realise that even the best get beaten sometimes.

 

SALES MISTAKES ARE A GOOD THING

The instant you lose a prominent prospect can be an overwhelming emotional time. That is, you can become overwhelmed with confusion, disappointment, and even despair. Additionally, anger and resentment can also surface.

The fact of the matter is, losing a deal is a good thing. Sounds like lunacy right? But think about it. You will never get a better chance to critique and analyse your actions. And also learn where you went wrong and what mistakes you made. All of this will undoubtedly increase your sales efficiency and ultimately your conversion rate moving forward.

 

LEARNING FROM SALES MISTAKES

There are small subtle things we do or say – or do not do or do not say – that can make or break a deal. Don’t let these deal breakers be the reason you lose a strong business opportunity. Knowing how to win leads is crucial. But what about how to lose a lead? Here are 9 Ways to Blow a Deal and how you can learn from your sales mistakes.

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1. CUSTOMER IGNORANCE

Deal breaker number one, and unfortunately and all too common one – not knowing your client or customer.  And more frighteningly, you have done absolutely no research on your prospect. If you don’t know anything about them or their company how can you possibly be on the same page as them and help them?

10 Ridiculous Sales Mistakes You Need to Stop Making | Inc.com

 

2. RIGHT PLACE, WRONG PERSON

If you are not talking with the right person then you are also not connecting with the right person. If you want to close a deal, you must identify the correct contact and work on understanding their needs. That is, make sure you are directing your efforts towards the decision-maker.

What Should You Do When You Don't Believe in What You're Selling?

 

3. YOU ARE NOT ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

You need to convince your prospect you and your company are the ANSWER to their problems. But how are you to know the answer to their problem if you do not ask the right questions to find out what their problem is? Ask your customer about their challenges, where they are struggling, and what their goals are. By understanding these points you will be able to tailor your approach to their needs.

 

 

4. FIXED ON FEATURES

One of the strongest ways to win a lead is to sell beyond your benefits. That is, learn to sell on value! Selling on Features and Benefits alone is not enough. But how are you to know how your customer will benefit from your product or service if you do not know the value of your own organisation. Whether your prospect is already using a competitor’s solution or is considering you as a first-time vendor, you need to make them understand why your company is better, different, and best primed to help them. Does your team have a unified why statement?

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Team’s Tailored How to Win Leads Workshop

 

 

5. ME, ME , ME

Before you can even sell your product or service, you need to understand the problem that the prospect is facing. You might be the greatest company in the industry and can rattle off why you’re so great, but if you are not talking about the customer and their pain points it won’t matter.

Yes, talk about what value you can bring them and why you are their best if not only solution – but then stop. Stop and listen. Listen to your prospects talk about themselves. Give them all the attention they deserve and be respectful at all times. And when you do talk, discuss the points they raised (were you listening?) ask them questions, and let them answer. This will help direct the conversation.

Ultimately, you might falsely believe that by talking “at” the prospect is a great approach to avoid any awkward silence. It is not. Be comfortable with the silence. Is your team equipped with the Power of the Pause tools?

Sales Hack – Embrace Silence - Alice Heiman

 

6. YOU TAKE OBJECTIONS PERSONALLY

You’re in the objection game, so expect them, get used to them, and – USE them. You must have the tools to know how to handle difficult customers, as they will undoubtedly cross your path. Be able to overcome concerns and more importantly anticipate them so you readily put those concerns to rest, and gain commitment. Once you can handle objections it is only then you can use them to your advantage. Does your team know how to turn a challenge into an opportunity?

5 Best Tips for Overcoming Objections in Sales | Salesforce

 

7. EMAILS ONLY TYPE OF PERSON

Email may be a great medium to introduce your company and solutions to a potential customer, but emails should not be your selling strategy. Too much can be lost in translation. You also are not able to effectively capture tone or emotion. A face-to-face meeting (even virtually) or a phone call are the best ways to have open dialogues and really work through a sale. Ultimately, this form of visible connection will open you up to the amazing new world of non-verbal ­communication tells. Can your team read their customers?


 

8. SCARED TO TALK COSTS

Price may not always be the main objection a customer has, but it will certainly come up in the conversation. Not everyone can talk costs, to know how to win a lead, you must have the courage to think like a leader, and have all styles of conversations. Ultimately, you need to make sure you are able to talk about prices for all products and services. Someone may always be willing to do something cheaper but that doesn’t mean it will be effective. Show them the value. Do your salespeople know how to focus on the value of the solution to be able to defend price?

 

9. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE TOOL IN YOUR KIT

In Sales, you need to be adaptable. One selling approach does not fit all. If you are talking to someone more analytical in nature, give them data. If you are talking to someone who is direct, match the approach without long-winded answers. Know your customer’s behaviour style and you will know how to best sell to them. Do you know how to read and adapt to your clients?

 

Don’t let these selling setbacks be the reason you lose a deal.

Our HOW TO WIN LEADS WORKSHOPS are now running for group sessions in person and online.

We can help you and your team overcome these common sales hurdles, and ultimately see profitable results instantly.

Wouldn’t it be great to outperform your competition and win more deals?

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Team’s Tailored How to Win Leads Workshop

Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or emailinfo@kona.com.auanytime.

 

LAURETTE WITH HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY ON IT FOR KONA GROUP SALES TRAINING SALES HEALTH CHECK

Call Centre Training

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

Improve Your Call Centre and Customer Service Team’s Skills and Results

Call Centre Training in Sydney, Australia

Are you looking to improve your Call Centre and Customer Service team’s skills and results?

Do you want to increase your sales and repeat business?

Are you looking to build lasting relationships and increase your market share?

KONA’s Call Centre Training programs turn your good people into winning people as your team will learn new techniques, hone their existing skills and become confident customer service partners to your customers

No matter what industry you operate in, no matter the size of your business, no matter the qualifications of your team, if you require results driven, highly effective Call Centre Training, contact KONA today.

Call Centre Training that Develops Champions

KONA Group’s Hearts and Minds Call Centre Training program has been crafted over years of experience in Sales Training and Customer Service Training in Call Centres. We will transform your good people into true champions by transforming their behaviour and their performance.

Does that sound too good to be true?

Feel free to go through our case studies and you will find clear evidence that our approach not only works, but it delivers results that will stun you.

What to Expect from Your Call Centre Training?

So what kind of results can you expect from your Customer Service Training?

Your sales people will:

  • Improve their productivity and reduce AHT (Average Handling Time)
  • Reduce Escalation
  • Increase Customer Retention
  • Increase sales conversions and revenues
  • Communicate with confidence and professionalism
  • Counter objections with confidence
  • Become effective negotiators
  • Build strong relationships from the top down
  • Convert a sales pipeline of inbound and outbound leads and inquiries

Customised Customer Service Training and Coaching

Generic, ‘off the shelf’, by the book, Call Centre Training Courses do not deliver effective results, and they are not the best use of your investment if you are looking to develop a highly effective team that deliver the results you need.

So if you are looking to increase the effectiveness and results of your Call Centre and Customer Service team, contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you improve your organisation’s results.

The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Call Centre Training,  Sales Training and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provide Customised Training programs that include:  Sales Training & Coaching, Sales Pipeline Training, Key Account Management Training, Call Centre Training & coaching, Customer Service Training, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, HR Consulting; DISC and MBTI, and more.

Contact Us

6 Essential Skills Needed in a Post Lockdown Workplace

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
mans hand holding a black suitcase and disposable mask in the new world of business skills

As most of Australia emerges from lockdown, we are left to work out what a COVID workforce will be moving forward.

There is a lot that is unknown, however, one thing is certain, things will never go back to being exactly the way they were BC, you know, before COVID.

The way in which we work is one of the many changes resulting from a pandemic world. And as such we now find that our core business skillsets need to also be adapted. There are 6 Business Skills Needed in a Post Lockdown Workplace that your team will need to adopt to succeed in the aftermath of a pandemic.

1. ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY
business skills women doing yoga on her desk

The world was already evolving rapidly BC, and the pandemic just accelerated it. Whatever the catalyst is for change, change has occurred, and we need to accept and adapt to it being the norm.

The need for meetings has not changed, but what has changed is the acceptance and flexibility we are affording one another when it comes to how we conduct them. To succeed in this new world we are in, we will need to be able to adapt to an ever-evolving workplace. Additionally, we will need to have the ability to continuously update and refresh our communication skills.

2. TECH SAVVINESS
How to Make Your Business More Tech Savvy

One of the best ways to prepare yourself and your team for change is to acquire skills that keep you ahead of the game. The pandemic fast-tracked digital transformations in companies to a level and a speed that was never before seen. The reality is advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, and robotics will make businesses more resilient to future disruptions. And any team or business that can adapt to new technologies will be in a great position.

 

3. CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
Creativity At Work: 6 Ways To Encourage Innovative Ideas - Barking Up The Wrong Tree

We have already seen the importance of creativity and innovation during the pandemic. Businesses that have been able to come up with ways to deliver services virtually or quickly shift to new products have been able to better weather the storm. In this brave new world we are in, we need human ingenuity to invent and dream up new products to be prepared for the “next thing”. Human creativity is going to be essential, particularly in managing our key accounts. That is, we need to step outside the square and look at how we continue to offer value solutions through creative thinking.

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Team’s Tailored Business Skills in the New World Workshop

4. PERSONALISED LEADERSHIP
Read A MORE Personalised Leadership Style? Online

To succeed in today’s new world, Leaders need to be empathetic and adopt a personalised approach to managing individuals within a team. A Personalised Leadership Development plan is what helps turn a manager into a Leader. A Personlised Leadership Framework begins by developing a strategic growth plan. That is, one that outlines both short and long-term plans. By developing this style of Leadership Framework, an individual is able to increase skills, knowledge, and experience through layered learnings. And additionally, Leaders will be able to build positive mental reinforcements as well as create a firm foundation of leadership ability.

 

5. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Intricately linked to Leadership is another skill that is even more important in uncertain and challenging times. That is, Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Fundamentally, the ability to be aware of, express, and control our emotions and be aware of others’ emotions is what emotional intelligence is all about. At times when people might feel uncertain about their job and the future of their business, it is key to connect with people. That is, on an emotional level.

Individuals with strong EQ will be coveted by organisations of all sizes and in all industries.

Throughout the Work From Home stages, we have been measuring Leaders’ EQ and coaching them on how they best navigate through these times. As we move post-COVID life, it is this type of measurement and forward thinking by leaders that will become mainstream.

6. COMMIT TO A LIFETIME OF LEARNING

According to the World Economic Forum, in just five years, 35 percent of the skills deemed essential today will change. There’s only one way to remain relevant in an ever changing world: commit to a lifetime of learning.

When faced with a tight job market, professionals with advanced and expert job skills will still be in demand. Additionally, they will likely struggle less to find employment.

With so many learning options available these days, people are often tempted to simply go to Google, type in some general search terms, and start one of the first courses that pops up. That’s a waste of time. Job requirements are quickly evolving. To ensure relevance, you need to focus on learning the latest emerging skills.

Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.'' Leonardo Da Vinci - 1076x1023: QuotesPorn

The good news is that improving your skills has never been easier with KONA’s Business Skills in the New World Workshop. It can be virtual or face to face, we customise all the learnings to your team’s needs and challenges.

click here to contact the KONA Group red button or call 1300 611 288

To Book Your Team’s Tailored Business Skills in the New World Workshop

Call us at KONA on 1300 611 288 for a conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.

LAURETTE WITH HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY ON IT FOR KONA GROUP SALES TRAINING SALES HEALTH CHECK