Author: Sienna Anderson

Tour de Chance – Day 2

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

The KONA Group’s Glenn Dobson continues his daily blog as he rides from Melbourne to Sydney to raise money for the company charity, ‘Fighting Chance’.

South Gippsland is as Emerald green as Ireland. The cows stand udder deep in a verdant, rolling landscape, a sure sign of one thing – rain! In buckets. Along with a continuing gusting, blustering wind, the riders faced a daunting start to day two on the road. The conditions put paid to the rail trail segment of the day’s ride, with the mud and grit of the trail clogging the gears and threatening permanent mechanical outages. A quick rinse of the bikes at the quaint village of Fish Creek and all was back in order on the tarmac roads. As the riders passed in the shadow of the giant propellers of the aptly placed Toora wind farm the rain was long forgotten. Some strong pace work was possible with the sustained tailwind, speeds hitting 50kms on the long flat stretches into the early lunch destination, Yarram. There were plenty of calories to replace and Kiwi Wayne Oxenham led the field, the family-sized 20cm Boston bun no doubt helping ease the pain felt as his mighty All Blacks fell for the first time to the green of Ireland. He even smiled when handed a cold Guinness at the end of the ride – true pluck. The run into Sale was hard grind on dead roads. Chloe Irwin Whitney, the first woman to ride the Tour de Chance, is pictured above wearing the Spirit jersey, awarded to her on Saturday night to mark this milestone – chapeau! Day three is another long slog of 177 km with 1342m of vertical, a mere warm up for day 4. Oh, the humanity! Tour fact : Using today’s 7 plus hours in the saddle and conservative estimate of an average energy output of 175 watts per cyclist, our team today has generated enough kilowatts to power an average Australian household for two days.

The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Sales and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provides customised training programs that include: Sales Strategy, Sales Training & Coaching, Call Centre Training & Coaching, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, and more.

So contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email: info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your business results.

Tour de Chance – Day 3

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
The KONA Group’s Glenn Dobson continues his daily blog as he rides from Melbourne to Sydney to raise money for the company charity, ‘Fighting Chance’. A long slog to the Snowy River town of Orbost began well with sun and a following breeze for day three of the Tour de Chance. The road and trail from Sale to Bairnsdale was a pleasant mix, notwithstanding the occasional navigational glitch. The run to lunch at Lakes Entrance ended with a panoramic downhill vista of the outlet to the sea from the vast lake system. Sadly an unfortunate rear-ending incident just short of Lakes took two riders out for the day, one needing a reassuring visit to the medical centre. This left a depleted team to tackle the most gruelling stage yet, the 50kms into Orbost. Eight to nine hours in the saddle today. Whew! With sincerest apologies to AB “Banjo” Patterson and The Man From Snowy River, this scrap of doggerel attempts to tell the tale. There was movement at the nurses station, for the word had got around That Jack of No Regret had got in strife, And banged his head – his bike was worth a thousand pound, But now was all cracked and gathered in the fray. All the tried and noted riders from the cities near and far Had mustered at Orbost overnight, For the bike boys love hard riding where the wild hills are, And the bikes themselves were polished shiny bright. And tomorrow down by Kosciusko, where the pine clad ridges raise Their torn and rugged battlements on high, This Jack from Snowy River will be a household word, And the Tour de Chancemen will tell the story of his ride. Day four to Bombala is tough enough to be a Tour de France stage – 162kms and 2,698m of vertical. Allez! Allez! Allez! Tour fact. Day four’s climbing will be 470m more than Mt Kosciusko’s height and will take the cumulative climb to 6370m, higher than Mr Kilimanjaro. Some time on Day six the team will have topped Everest!

The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Sales and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provides customised training programs that include: Sales Strategy, Sales Training & Coaching, Call Centre Training & Coaching, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, and more.

So contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email: info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your business results.

Sales Excuse # 3 – Our Price is too high!

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
high-price-road-sign

In Sales Excuse #1 we looked at the common excuse of “No One is Buying”. In Sales Excuse #2 we looked at ways for sales people to improve their time management

In Sales Excuse #3, how often do your sales team say they didn’t make the sale because “Our price is too high? We are too expensive”, “Our competition is cheaper than us!”, “If we were cheaper we could sell more!”?

This is just another excuse where sales people focus on their own ‘3Ps’ of Product, Price and Problems rather than on the value they can add to customers.  There are some simple things we can all do to have quality conversations with our customers, which in turn, leads to better quality sales and repeat business.

At The KONA Group we train and coach Sales Teams every day that are looking to improve their results and when price is a common excuse for underperformance we recommend the following 3 insights as a starting point.

1. Have the right conversations.

Quality Conversations start with Quality Questions.  Asking interesting ‘High Value’ open questions that encourage your prospects and customers to talk about themselves and their business is critical. You want customers to value having a conversation with you, not look for a reason to get rid of you as early as possible, so how do you have these conversations? It’s easy really, you ask the right questions based on your customers Business, Market, Competition and Future…. and then you shut up and listen.

In meetings with customers and prospects your salespeople should only be talking 20% of the time. Listening means really listen, not just be quiet whilst waiting for your turn to speak.

2. Adding value to your customers BUSINESS is the key to make selling easy.

Adding value to an existing or potential customer is not just about selling your product or service. Often during a quality conversation with a customer many opportunities to add value will emerge and while some of these will involve your products and services, if you look at the non-product related challenges they face from a Business perspective, you will find more opportunities to add value.

Most businesses are bombarded with salespeople trying to flog them a product or a service regardless of their need however your Sales Team will be amazed at what happens when they start to have quality conversations focused on the customer’s Business rather than the 3Ps. Think rapport building on steroids!

3. Make it about the customer, even when you want it to be about you…

It is easy to say ‘Put the customer at the centre of everything your do’ but salespeople rarely do. It is not about you but rather is always about the customer, even when it really is about you.  The moment a customer or a prospect believes that you are only in it for yourself then TRUST melts away and you are back to a price based haggle.

Put your own self-interest to one side and focus on the customer, their organisation, their issues, their strategy and allow the opportunities to add value with your products and services to emerge.  You may even find that you never have to actually close the deal, your prospect may do it for you! At the end of the day, all else being equal, most customers will make a price-based decision.  It a salespersons job to make sure that all things are not equal.  

They need to be the difference, the X factor, the point of differentiation, and then their customers will buy from them, regardless of price!

 

Going forward: If Quality ‘non-product’ conversations are a challenge for your team then customised sales training and coaching WILL help your people to become more successful. Constantly ‘sharpening the saw’, as Stephen Covey puts it, is a critical component of being a sales professional.

So to discuss how we can design a customised sales training and coaching program for your organisation please contact the KONA Sales Performance Specialists via email at info@kona.com.au or call 1300 611 288.

Because Hope Is NOT a Sales Strategy

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Author – Garret Norris – https://www.linkedin.com/in/garretnorris/

Tour de Chance – Day 1, but not without casualties..

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

The KONA Group’s Glenn Dobson continues his daily blog as he rides from Melbourne to Sydney to raise money for the company charity, ‘Fighting Chance’.

Day 1 completed, but not without casualties!  Bad luck struck early as the first day of the Tour de Chance was blown off course by gale force winds and three metre swell

On the road before 6am and 5 kms after starting, in rain and near dark, we had our first casualty when one of the cyclists crashed to the ground from his bike smashing his head into the asphalt 

He was taken to the nearby Mornington Hospital severely concussed and through safety protocols was later required to retire from riding for a week and out of the Tour De Chance

The remainder of the team restarted and headed cautiously for destination one, the Phillip Island ferry at Cribb Point. 

Ten minutes into the crossing the skipper called off the journey because of high seas threatening the ferry and after smashing into one of the docks during a half way drop off

Back on terra firma the sun opened one eye and,  peeping through a blanket of clouds decided it was too wet and cold, rolled back over and went back to sleep leaving the remaining cyclists to battle the elements

Time for plan B, which was now plan C, when what was supposed to be a fast ride along the beautiful sun drenched Victorian coastline was severely challenged as we were continuously smashed by a driving wind, intermittent showers and a grey and threatening sea to our right 

One of the lighter riders (65kgs) even got lifted of the ground as they rode along but maintained their composure long enough to avoid another accident

A large part of todays ride was on a traffic-free trail and the risks posed by the high winds were carefully measured before riders completed the run from Wonthaggi to Inverloch, cold and wet but with an enthusiasm that defied the weather and the day’s setbacks.

Day 2 promises less wind, further rain, a challenging 188kms of cycling and an accumulated 823m of climbing, and I can’t wait!

Tour fact. Should we raise our target of $500,000 from our 23 riders, that works out at just over $17 per km per rider. 

Based on today’s performance, that’s great value so please either meet us with a hot cup of tea, or better still donate to this great charity at https://tourdechance2016.raisely.com/glenndobson

The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Sales and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provides customised training programs that include: Sales Strategy, Sales Training & Coaching, Call Centre Training & Coaching, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, and more.

So contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email: info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your business results.

Leadership & Management Training

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

3 ways Leadership and Management Training can improve your organisation’s results

There’s an old saying that says “employees don’t leave jobs; they leave poor managers.” Whether you agree with that saying or not, the point is, responsibility to develop leadership talents of all employees is important, but especially crucial for your Middle to Senior Managers Leadership was once defined as ‘the practice of mobilising people to make progress on challenges…” so because change is an ongoing characteristic of any business dynamics, the leadership practice of engaging people to make progress, to grow, and to participate is critical to success. A current Deloitte survey of 7,000 companies revealed 89% of Business Leaders held “strengthening the leadership pipeline” as a pressing issue and following are 3 ways leadership development can improve your organisational success: Talent Development is important and with Managing and Engaging Change, should come first leadershipWhile Leadership and Management Training is increasingly becoming a top priority for many businesses, how quickly an organisation’s employees are willing and ready to embrace change is just as important to achieving better results. Change could imply many things: organisational culture, technological advancement, redefining roles and KPIs to align to customer expectations; innovating new ways to accommodate external factors. Developing and retaining strong leadership talent and Managing Change should go hand-in-hand as they are both critical for the long-term success of an organisation. Effective communication is vital Too many business leaders are heard to say “but I told them what the strategy was, so they should be doing it. What is wrong with them?” Regardless of whether your organisational culture operates an open door policy or a chain of command, effective communication is very vital in helping to foster healthy working relationship between management and their teams. Communication is that one golden thread that ties all the other leadership fundamentals such as accountability, transparency, discipline, strategic alignment, values etc, together. With good communication comes increased productivity and efficiency for your business. Good leaders are essentially good communicators and so don’t blame your people if your message is not being understood and actioned as you want immediately, especially in Australia where employees will nod and say to your face “Yes, I understand and am onto it” just to get you off their back Developing a Leadership Pipeline of your Middle Managers The result of a 2015 CMI survey of 1,456 members highlighted a disturbing disconnect between middle and senior management. Results from the survey also revealed that 85% of managers agreed that bridging the trust gap between middle managers and senior leaders is becoming increasingly important. office heirachyAs organisations now more than ever operate a more flattened system, the role of middle managers becomes more important as they are the ones who communicate and drive your strategy on a day to day basis with the ‘troops’. Middle Managers roles are evolving to include responsibilities in making key decisions that can potentially impact on the organisations success, including ensuring that their organisation’s vision and strategy are carried out. So when you think of the Leadership Capacity in your organisation, how confident are you that you have the strength of leadership required to take you into the future The KONA Group’s customised Leadership and Management Training Programs are totally result focussed and tailored to the unique needs of leaders in your organisation. So contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help your organisation grow and increase organisational capability. 

Update 1 Tour de Chance… 12 hours and counting

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

Hi All, 

Despite having been here a few times before, with less than 12 hours to run to the start of the 2016 Tour de Chance the familiar feelings of excitement and nervousness are no easier to keep in check than the very first Tour.

As you will see from the daily distances below the 1,300 kms cycle route this year is a lot longer than before and a lot hillier, and at 88 kilos I will be having to come up with new tactics to stay with the 70 kilo youngsters in the group!

Yesterday the support vehicles were loaded with bikes and provisions and headed off towards Melbourne early morning. 

They meet up with the riders this afternoon in Melbourne for final preparations and briefings. Then at around 6am Saturday it all begins in earnest!

Cold morning starts, strong winds and a bit of rain the weather forecast is not all that encouraging but there is not much we can do about that other than take some HTFU spray and get started

We will no doubt have a bit of a bitch and moan to each other about the conditions, and then someone will say something like the hardest day in the saddle is easier than the best day for the young people at Fighting Chance … and then we will wake up to ourselves and get started

KONA’s tag line is Hope Is Not a Strategy and it is really encouraging to see that we are just a tick shy of $300,000 raised as of this morning which is fantastic and thank you for all of your support

A few people (having seen recent reports on institutional charitable organisations and the inefficiency of their fundraising models) have asked me how much of their donations will actually make it to supporting the interns at Fighting Chance. 

I have explained that the Tour costs are minimal as the riders cover our own expenses, and that all the money donated goes directly to Fighting Chance to be used expressly for the purpose of establishing new centres and changing more lives of young people with disability. 

So please be assured of the direct impact of your contribution and if you are yet to support us here is the link to the donor page.

https://tourdechance2016.raisely.com/glenndobson

As in the past I will provide daily update emails of our progress on the road – I hope that you enjoy the read. I love your feedback and questions, so please don’t hesitate to drop me a note.

Stay well and best regards

Glenn

Glenn@KONA.com.au

Day 1 – Sat 5th Nov- Mornington – Inverloch – 116km

Day 2 – Sun 6th Nov- Inverloch – Sale – 183km

Day 3 – Mon 7th Nov- Sale – Orbost – 177km

Day 4 – Tues 8th Nov- Orbost – Bombala – 162km

Day 5 – Wed 9th Nov- Bombala – Jindabyne – 108km

Day 6 – Thurs 10th Nov- Jindabyne – Queanbeyan – 169km

Day 7 – Fri 11th Nov- Queanbeyan – Braidwood– 74km

Day 8 – Sat 12th Nov- Braidwood – Kiama – 166km

Day 9 – Sun 13th Nov- Kiama – Audley (Sydney) – 99km

https://tourdechance2016.raisely.com/glenndobson

The KONA Group is Australia’s Leading Sales and Sales Management Training and Coaching company and provides customised training programs that include: Sales Strategy, Sales Training & Coaching, Call Centre Training & Coaching, Negotiation Skills Training & Coaching, Motivational Speakers, and more.

So contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email: info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your business results.

Cycle For Charity
Interview with Glenn Dobson

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

What does it really take to cycle 1,300 kms in 9 days for charity?

In this week’s interview between KONA Group MD Glenn Dobson and Tour de Chance major sponsor Just Better Care, Glenn shares the excitement and fears of this year’s ride as we learn more about how and why ‘every day’ people push themselves to their limits to help people with severe disabilities, while still balancing a successful business and family. JBC: Why are you cycling 1,300kms from Melbourne to Sydney in November? Are you crazy?! GD: There’s two reasons – the first is to spend a week in the fresh air and challenging myself physically in a multi-day sporting event. Endurance events are something I just love doing – since I reached 40 I’ve run across the Sahara and Australian deserts; completed 23 Ironman triathlons and this is my third Just Better Care Tour de Chance so I just love the challenge. The other side, the other reason is that I have a healthy family – I’ve got two healthy daughters, I’ve got three healthy grandchildren – and I think sometimes we all get caught up in the day to day and we forget how lucky we actually are. So for myself it’s a real chance to give back. I couldn’t do what the carers do at Just Better Care or at Fighting Chance so this is my way of contributing to society. JBC: How are you preparing? GD: My preparation this year has been a lot different to previous years as I haven’t been on the bicycle for 16 months since last years ride from Brisbane! I had to dig my bike out of the garage, dust it off and actually get back on it about 6 weeks ago. Outside of that I’ve really gotten into Crossfit which is about weights, strength, gymnastics, running, rowing, climbing, jumping – the whole shebang. Physically I’m quite healthy but 1,300kms well test me out. Anybody can go out and ride for a day or two but at day 3 it starts to gets hard. When you have to get back up day after day after day your body doesn’t recover quickly enough and you have to really push through the mental and physical barriers. Day 2 we will cycle 183 kms, day 3 is 177 kms, day 4 is 162 kms and so on, so an endurance event like this is 80% mental and 20% physical. Also because it is a charity event it’s not a race – the Tour de Chance will be 18 guys and a lady who will be supporting each other and everybody will help each other to get through the tough days. JBC: What are your expectations? GD: My expectations for myself are to finish the ride and to enjoy it without being too fatigued. However financially it’s to raise desperately needed funds for Fighting Chance. The charity industry is a very competitive industry and if each rider achieves their $15,000 donation target, or more, that makes a very big difference as we will change the lives of over 80 young people with disabilities by opening up 2 more ‘Hubs’. In addition, KONA is Australia’s leading Sales Training and Sales Management Training company so I revel in sales targets and as soon as that $15,000 target went up I had everything working towards it. Our consultants, families and and clients have been making donations and/or selling raffle tickets; we’ve had BBQs and sausage sizzles; run events; taken donations; we’ve used LinkedIn, eDMs, Facebook; had donation buckets in retailers & car boot sales; door knocked most of the businesses in the local suburbs; posted updates on our website at KONA.com.au etc etc. We have had everything going on for a couple of months now as for me we can’t forget that the main goal is to raise funds for these severely disabled young Australians. JBC: What are you looking forward to? GD: I’m really looking forward to the challenge as 1,300 is not an easy distance. I’m looking forward to pushing myself physically, out in all of the weathers that Victoria will throw at us; I’m looking forward to being away from computers and all the’easy’  stuff we go through everyday. JBC: What are you dreading? GD: I’m dreading the hills. When we came down from Brisbane last year there were a few hills but nothing like this year. On day 5 we climb up into Jindabyne, and at 6 feet 1 and 88 kilos I’m not good going uphill. Some of the smaller younger riders can really climb but I fit into the too-old-too-slow basket! JBC: What is your goal? GD: My goal is twofold (outside of the finishing of course) – my first goal is to go over the $15,000 donation target and also to try and help some of the other guys achieve their donations targets. If we can all hit the $15, 000 each that will make a big difference to the lives of so many people. In addition, the final goal is that everyone comes home safe and we all come home with our donation target achieved, individually and as a group. So if you or your organisation would like to donate to this wonderful charity please go to https://tourdechance2016.raisely.com/glenndobson Alternatively contact Glenn directly on 0425 200883 or glenn@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help your organisation. Tour de Tour Chance

Trump vs. Clinton: Lessons for sales people

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Cartoonist, Joe Heller brilliantly summed up the two US political candidates in one cartoon. The major difference between Trump and Clinton according to that cartoon is, the former is pessimistic the latter is optimistic. Same issues. Different perspectives. How do you see or explain the world around you? Are you a “glass half- empty” or “glass half – full type of person?” The way you see or explain the world around you is really a matter of perception. Perception is what makes the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. Optimism is an essential ingredient for sales success. If you are a sales person who tends to see the world like Trump in the above cartoon, you may not last very long in the sales business. Imagine a scenario where you’re in a job in which you are able to determine your own remuneration package, plus you get to add value to customers on a daily basis. Your role is to help them know you have the solution to their problems. Sounds like an amazing opportunity, right? Until you pick up the first call and your receiver responds with a mean, resounding ‘No’! Or maybe ‘Not interested, thank you’! Would you pick up the phone and dial the next prospect? Optimism is what keeps you in the game. Benefits of optimism Optimism is the ability to overcome a setback. The result of a study carried out by an American psychologist, Martin Seligman proved optimism breeds success.  Applicants for a top sales role were required to pass an optimism test designed by the psychologist and a sales aptitude test designed by the company. Needless to say applicants who passed both tests went on to outperform those who only passed the aptitude test by 31% in sales. Apart from professional benefits, there are many benefits to being optimistic. Optimism improves your personal relationships, physical health, mental health, tendency to live longer, coping skills during stressful time, and more. Research have shown that positive attitude reduces the effect of a stressful or negative experience. A positive point of view is a significant indicator of resilience People are more likely to respond to a positive person than they would a pessimist. Even the ending to a Hollywood movie can have an impact on the way people would receive it. For example the 2016 romantic movie ‘Me before You’ was badly criticised and heavily protested in US and Australia because of its sad ending. Critics believed it portrayed disabled people as burdensome and having no hope. On the other hand, ‘Life of Pie’ and ‘Silver Linings’ had many positive ratings because the ending showed the major characters: Bradley Cooper (as Patrizio Solitano Jr) and Pi striving to maintain a positive attitude regardless of their circumstances. Anyone can learn to have a positive attitude A positive attitude is a habit anyone can learn. Our mindset is the starting point. You can choose to start your day with a positive outlook. A wise woman Joyce Meyer once said: “A negative mind and a mouth will produce negative moods, attitudes and in all probability, a miserable day. But the positive approach of setting your mind in an uplifting direction, will also have a good effect on you and your entire day.”

Could the new Microsoft Dynamic 365 hold the key to a more dynamic customer insight?

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson
Could the new Microsoft Dynamic 365 hold the key to a more dynamic customer insight? A Harvard Business review once debunked our complete reliance on the traditional customer surveys and research (such as those that help with tracking customer satisfaction and brand image) in helping to keep track of customer insights. The review showed that this technique has a “fundamental flaw”: the reliance on customers’ memories, which quite frankly, deteriorates quickly. For instance, it’s not unusual for a customer to claim they saw a company ad on TV at a time when the company was not advertising. Clearly, time is of essence in capturing true customer insights – which we tend to overlook so very often. The past few years have seen a number of top companies such as Schweppes, InterContinental Hotels, Unilever, HP, including Microsoft using Real-time Experience Tracking (RET) to make informed marketing decisions. So, could the new Microsoft Dynamic 365 hold the key to a more dynamic customer insight? Recently Microsoft announced the unveiling of its Dynamic 365 app for customer insights — the much anticipated product since July this year. It is designed to use intelligent analytics to help you better understand your customers. It breaks down the silos between the traditional CRM and ERP capabilities into one cloud surface and integrates the familiar tools you use everyday such as outlook and excel and other applications that work with sales, customer service, operations, finance, marketing, project service automation, and more. This tool is said to help you turn data (intelligent insights you get from your customers) into action to help you  increase your productivity. Clearly, the Microsoft Dynamic 365(every-day-of-the-year)is a dynamic tool good for helping your company re-imagine business processes. You’ll be able to:
  • Better empower employees
  • Engage your customers
  • Optimise operations
  • Reinvent products and business models
The AppSource contains more than 200 business SaaS apps, add-ins and content packs which you can keep adding as your business grows. Adrian Bridgewater from Forbes called it the ‘one software suite’ because of how it works integrated with other apps. However, Microsoft would have to be really good to stay abreast with its major market competitors Oracle, SAP and RET. If this app delivers everything it promises, then every business that is customer focused should definitely go onboard with it. Popular reviews about the app include: “Microsoft gives Salesforce a shove with the new Dynamics 365 integrated cloud platform” – Ron Miller, TechCrunch ” Microsoft Ups Salesforce, Oracle Rivalry with New Cloud Product” – Dina Bass, Bloomberg “Microsoft’s business apps in the cloud are getting the Satya Nadella treatment” – Alex Konrad, Forbes For first look of the app visit: aka.ms/firstlook

Sales coaching – a win-win for everyone

Posted on | by Sienna Anderson

Managers often ask the question: “what if we invest in [coaching] employees and they leave?” The question to ask is “what if we don’t and they stay?”

The benefits of employee training cannot be over-emphasised.

Because quite frankly, it’s a win-win situation for everyone — company, customers and all.

A well trained employee could potentially mean more revenue for the company. The same ideology applies for sales training.

The 2016 Sales Enablement Practitioner Survey by Highspot demonstrate that ‘sales enablement’ is currently a trending topic for business processes.

An astounding 79% of organisations are engaging in some form of organised sales enablement activities and 64% of those indicated ‘sales training must be improved’.

Mostly, the viewpoint is integrating training into every sales enablement process not just a one-off activity to be carried out once a month or once a quarter.

Some of the enablement processes listed include: giving sales people easy access to content, taking advantage of new technology, and more.

Effective sales training requires great investment of resources which includes time. Some have suggested training programs of between 6-3 months for maximum result. Others have suggested one hour of one-on-one daily sales training sessions run by a manager or a coach.

There are many cited methods of sales training out there. However, whatever method used should be both efficient and effective and may depend on business structure.

Sales training should be geared towards improving a salespersons self-esteem, goal setting skill, negotiation and objection handling, accounts development, sales management, including qualifying leads, overcoming missed sales goals, and lost opportunities, and more.

Successful sales training is like creating a ripple effect

Sales training, if done right will create a ripple effect on not just your company but on your customers as well.

Sales training equals self-confident sales people

Most sales people have admitted their level of confidence depends on their level of  knowledge about a product. A truly confident sales person is confident in his/herself regardless of the product they are selling.  

It’s been proven several times that a self confident sales person is more likely to thrive regardless of situations. Sales training that is geared towards boosting employee self confidence will equip them to overcome the challenges of closing sales, promoting benefits of a product rather than features, and prospecting and qualifying.

Confidence – An Important Vibe

Confidence is a very important vibe in the sales business as it makes the difference between winning or losing a prospect.

It’s the starting point of being able to connect with people and building trust. And we all know sales trust is significant in sales success.

A survey done on customers revealed that over 90% will only buy from a sales person they trust.

So, you know you have a great product but how do you guide your customers to go from the unknown to the known of making them realise they actually do need your product? Trust is key!

Sales training boosts motivation/enthusiasm

In addition to confidence, sales training also has the capacity to boost motivation/enthusiasm to close more sales. In order to succeed in sales a lot of enthusiasm is required…The more sales closed the more motivated you are to close even more sales. That also means more sales training to sustain that vibe. A wise man, Zig Ziglar once said: ” for every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you’ll miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” Therefore the importance of motivation/enthusiasm in sales should not be underestimated.

Sales training builds efficiency

You will find your sales team will close sales faster. If it took 5 days to close a sale, sales training gets it down to 2 days. This  means more productivity which means more days to close more sales, and subsequently, more revenue for the company.

Call or email KONA to learn more about our Sales Coaching and Training

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