5 Ways To Improve Your Sales Pitch

A Sales Pitch is a personalised and well-constructed presentation.

Having access to a world of information at our fingertips means today’s buyers are more informed than ever.

So how can you improve your sales pitch and ensure you secure the sale?

 

Here are 5 tips to improve your sales pitch.

 

1. Do Your Research

Creating a great pitch requires you to understand your customer. Doing market research will help you get to know your customer’s needs.

 

You should look at your prospect’s website and utilise LinkedIn to gain knowledge of what they do and what their needs may be.

 

2. Know How To Overcome Objections 

Objection Handling Sales Skills - The Digital Sales Institute

Knowing how to handle objections will:

  • Help build relationships
  • Establishing yourself as being experienced
  • Helps the salesperson determine whether a real opportunity exists

 

3. Listen To Understand

Active listening will give your prospect confidence in your service.

Listening to understand saves time and frustration in the long-run as you will become aware of your prospect’s needs.

 

4. Think About The Value Your Product Or Service Brings

Professionals who can show the value of their product above price will stand out to their prospects.

People buy products or services for the value it will give them. So it’s best to educate your prospects about value rather than just focusing on features.

 

5. Connect With Your Prospect
Introduction to social media | Digital Ready

It is important to connect with your prospect personally and on social media.

Some benefits of connecting with your prospect include:

  • You are more likely to make the sale- people are more likely to conduct business with those they have positive rapport with
  • Shows your prospects a more personal side of you, not just business
  • Creates a better customer experience

 

Have you considered how your salespeople can improve their sales pitch?

 

Contact KONA to discuss tailored options to enhance the performance of your sales team!

 

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4 Reasons Why Sales Persistence Pays Off

When it comes to selling, the right amount of persistence is critical.

Statistics tell us – calling until you make the sale – works.

However! 90% of salespeople give up after just four calls.

This graph shows that 8% of the sales people are making 80% of the sales:

Here are 4 reasons why it is beneficial to be persistent as a salesperson.

1. It Makes You Stand Out From The Crowd

Most salespeople are not persistent.

Studies have found that almost 50% of salespeople give up after the first call.

Typically salespeople get caught up in active business, instead of following up prospective customers. Follow up your prospects with more calls than your competition, and you’re already ahead!

2. Increases Customer’s Confidence In You

Persistence will –

  • Increase the customer’s confidence in you.
  • Keep you at the top of their list when they are ready to buy.
  • Give your prospect an insight into your dedication and work ethic. However, you also need to be able to gauge when it is time to call it quits.

3. Demonstrates Dedication & Purpose

The right amount of persistence will show your prospects that you are dedicated, and truly passionate about the product or service you are offering.

Persistance assists with –

  • Building relationships, as prospective customers will see that you have purpose.
  • You can prevail through challenges.
  • It will give you a better understanding of what the customer needs.

4. Motivates You To Try Harder & Shows You The Value Of Success

Persistence helps you to discover that each failure is another learning experience. When you have a successful sale after being persistent, you quickly realise that the hard work does pay off.

The most difficult clients are the hardest to lose. Why? It takes discipline and persistence to gain their business. And 90% of salespeople don’t have it.

Sales persistence is not merely calling until you make a sale, it is knowing how to properly navigate the sales process from the beginning.

Persistence does not always come naturally, it’s a learned trait when mastered can be incredibly valuable.

Are your sales team persistent?

Contact KONA for customised Value Sales Training for your team and stay ahead of you competitors!

8 Tips To Improve Your Sales Performance

Regardless of the business you’re in, sales tactics that have previously worked well may not work so well today.

Sales is an industry that moves quickly. From new competitors arising to new products similar to yours being introduced; you need to be innovative to stay relevant.

  Here you will find 8 tips to enhance your sales performance.  

1. Know Your Objective

Understand your business’ role. Think about what you do best, and what type of people need your services. Consider your product or service; what are people willing to pay for it?    

2. Break Down Your Objective Into Smaller Goals

Note down your activity targets within your control. These can be things like, calls per day or proposals per month. To then measure your progress, set results targets. For example, appointments set per call or sales made per month. Increase your activity and measure the results. Setting goals or targets allows you to focus your attention.    

3. Sell To Your Client’s Needs

Work under the assumption that your prospective buyers will purchase only what they need. It is your job to convince them of that need. Put an emphasis on the features of your product or service that will benefit the customer. Be creative in your marketing.    

4. Build And Retain Positive Attention

Efficient advertising, referrals, tactical questions, and sales skills are key to generating positive attention. Thorough follow-through partnered with great customer service are the keys to retaining it.    

5. Sell On Purpose

Think about what you do and why you do it. Who is your target customer and what questions will you ask them? Consider what your proposal will look like and why. If you feel unsure of yourself at any point during the sales process, it could be time to get some coaching or advice.    

6. Ask, Listen, Act

When asking questions during the sale process, ensure they are prepared, direct and relevant. You need to have effective listening skills and show the customer you listened to them by responding and taking action.    

7. Take Responsibility, Not Credit

You want to build a strong support team that is willing to go out of their way to help you when you need it. To do this, give your team credit when things go right, and take the blame when things go wrong.    

8. Don’t Compromise On Your Integrity

When it comes to sales and marketing, operating ethically is of the utmost importance. Due to negative stereotypes presented in the media, most people assume that all salespeople are the same. This can be a challenge for many companies. Operating with integrity and ethics will show your customer that you are trustworthy and will strengthen your reputation.    
Does your sales team need a modern approach to enhance their performance?
 

Contact KONA by emailing info@kona.com.au or call 1300 611 288

9 Important Tips For Setting Appointments

How to start a sales call the right way - CrankWheel

Business owners and salespeople often use phone calls to book appointments with clients and prospective customers.

To do this successfully you need confidence in the relationship-building aspect of telemarketing.

You have the responsibility of displaying your product or service in an honest and professional way and you are aware of the value of what it means to exceed the expectations of your customer.

What steps can you take to guarantee your best chance of securing an appointment?

1. Have A Plan

Preparation is vital. When you go into a conversation prepared with what you want to say, you can be confident that you are covering all important matters. You will be able to keep control of the conversation and bring it back if it drifts off-topic.

2. Make Your Offer Early

It is important to spark interest early on and to combat objections promptly with an offer that is full of benefits. You need to be quick to ensure negativity does not affect the customer’s decision.

3. Conversation Is Key

Ask short, open questions to gage as much information as possible from the customer. Your questions should be relevant to ensure you keep their attention and you should repeat their answers back to them when suitable. Talking for too long and confusing the client with your questions can lead to them tuning out of the conversation.

4. Handle Objections

Show the customer that you understand their situation by recognising their objections. Use phrases like ‘I understand how you feel.’ Let them know that you have had other customers that had similar objections when they first came onboard. This will demonstrate that you are experienced. Clarify that the purpose of the appointment is to understand their position and then suggest an appointment time.

Competitive Objection Handling 101: Your Guide to Knocking Competitors out of Deals and Earning the Trust of Your Buyers - Klue

5. Don’t Give In The First Time

Objections are inevitable and when they happen, it is important not to repeat the objection back to the customer or go too much into it. Don’t take any objections personally and ask the right questions to better understand their answer. It is common for it to take a number of conversations with the prospective customer before they accept your offer of an appointment, so don’t get disheartened if they do not accept the first time around.

6. Don’t Be Afraid Of Uncertainty

Admitting when you don’t know the answer to something or needing to check with someone else is not a bad thing. Building a foundation of trust with your customer is so important and if you bluff your way around their questions, it is likely they will find out and that relationship will be damaged. If you have uncertainty around an objection or question, tell them that, and get back to them with the right information.

7. Research Before You Call

The more you know before picking up the phone, the better. If you have just a name and a phone number, you can still make an effective sales appointment. If all else fails, you can always turn to Google. Or, if you’d rather, you can reach out to your connections on LinkedIn. You can even check with your network contacts to see if you know anyone who knows the prospect. You may be able to get a referral from a mutual contact.

The 18 Best Places for Sales Reps to Research Prospects [Expert Tips]

8. Create A Good Opener

Once you get the prospect on the phone, you have about 10-20 seconds before they’re ready to hang up on you. Most people automatically reject you as soon as you start trying to sell them. If you want to get past a potential customer’s rejection filter, you’ll need an opener that surprises or intrigues them. Something that will make them sit up and take notice. Once you have their attention, you can set up an appointment or at least get them to listen to what you have to say.

9. Pick A Benefit That Most Interests Your Prospect

When you have done your research and know more about your prospect, you can better customise your pitch to fit their needs or pain points. This way, you are more likely to get their business. Pick a benefit of your product or service that you think will most appeal to your prospective customer. Explain how that product or service provides this benefit to them. Our billing system helps give you peace of mind.

7 Essential Tips to Set Sales Appointments Geared for Success • Bookafy

Timeless Advice Is The Best Advice. Sell the benefits and value, not features. Come prepared, find out what the customer’s concerns are and present them with solutions. When you offer them the chance to find out more about something that they may have a hard time saying no to, offer an appointment.

Is your team following these appointment setting tips?

Contact KONA today for customised training for your business!

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

6 Signs Your Sales Manager Is Failing As A Sales Coach

Sales Coaching versus Sales Training - Adroit Insights

When you notice your sales team are struggling, it can be hard to pinpoint the source of the problem. Could it be that your sales manager is failing as a sales coach? If this is the case, it can lead to many problems in the business. How will you know if it is the sales manager or another factor affecting performance?

Here, we will tell you 6 signs that your sales manager could be failing as a sales coach.

6. They Are Not Motivational
Salespeople need inspiration and motivation to deliver exceptional results. There are countless ways a sales manager can motivate their team, they can offer incentives, create competitions or even verbal encouragement. If a sales manager is not motivating the team and getting them excited to sell, the team will quickly lose their drive and may even feel frustrated. 5. They Are Not Teaching Their Team About New Products A good sales manager will ensure they are setting aside time to teach their team about new products and services. If the team are not educated about a product, how will they sell it? Salespeople need to know not only what the product is, but also the benefits and features, in order to be able to sell it.
4. They Are Focusing On The Wrong Salespeople
Typically, sales managers will focus their attention on their highest and lowest performing team members, when in fact it is those in between that need the most time. Your best salespeople are already doing well and if your underperforming salespeople are consistently underperforming, this may not be the role for them. The salespeople in the middle of the spectrum can go either way. If the middle salespeople are not given the right tools and training, they will drop to the bottom. With the right coaching however, they will likely rise to the top.
3. They Are Results-Focused, Not People-Focused
If your sales manager’s only concern is successful sales and not helping the sales team, this is a problem. Sales coaching encompasses observations, uncovering strengths and weaknesses within the team and helping the team through them. A successful sales coach will focus on improving each salesperson’s performance, rather than just their mistakes.
2. They Are Not Coaching Regularly
Studies show that 65% of employees say the training and learning opportunities provided to them positively impacts their engagement in the workplace. When team members are engaged, they are more likely to take on more and ultimately become better at what they do. In order to improve skills and learn new techniques sales coaching needs to be used consistently, not just when a new salesperson joins the team.
1. Your Salespeople Do The Following:
  • Miss their KPI’s often
  • Business only comes from existing “friendly” customers or clients
  • Don’t prospect or generate enough fresh leads
  • They don’t do enough Quality Sales Activity
  • Are uncomfortable speaking with decision makers in Leadership or Senior Management positions
  • Are only comfortable talking about problems, price, and product specs
  • Miss opportunities in their Pipeline due to not chasing or revisiting leads consistently
  • Have a low Lead to Sale Conversion Ratio
  • Don’t generate enough repeat business from clients
  • Blame the market, products or services, customers, accounts, their managers, or the price of petrol when they miss target, as “It’s not my fault.”

Can you recognise any of these traits in your sales manager? If so, it may be time to consider investing in a sales coaching for your team to help them reach their full potential.

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

3 Crucial Steps to Sales Training ROI

One of the many questions we get asked a lot, and often from sales leaders and learning and development experts, is:

How do we make sure the skills gained in the sales training are applied to drive long term results?

According to Gartner research, B2B salespeople forget 70% of the information they learn within a week of training.

And moreover, 87% will forget it within a month.

SO, HOW CAN SKILLS BE RETAINED?

The answer is not to avoid sales training altogether.

No, that would be most ridiculous and detrimental to the performance of your team.

Because in doing so you risk underskilled salespeople staying on in your organisation.

But even more damaging, is you also risk losing valuable people because they are not being developed to their full potential.

So what is the answer? How do we make sure skills gained in the sales training are applied?

Well, it’s DB-DD-MA. Define Before, Development During, Measurement After.

1. DEFINE BEFORETeams and Team Discovery - The Predictive Index

Before you embark on sales training for your team, begin by actively involving each person in their learning development.

That means defining exactly where their challenges are and how the training will benefit the growth of both them professionally and the organisation.

This is an important step because if you have not defined the expectations of your training program then how do you expect to hold your people accountable? Tell everyone who is going on the training. Clearly define outcomes.

Complete an Analysis of the Skills of Your Existing Sales Team

Next, complete an analysis of the skills of your existing sales team. Good training organisations will offer this as part of their discovery sessions.

Involve your Sales Leaders! These valuable team players are so important in making this work.

It is your sales leaders and managers who will play the biggest part in embedding the learnings from the training and making it last the long term.

2. DEVELOPMENT DURINGStages of Team Development | Introduction to Business

There are plenty of sales training techniques and sales methodologies to learn to sharpen the skills of your sales team, all the way to managers and executives.

But here are a few additional thoughts to consider during training sessions.

  • Teach your people how to give and receive feedback on the training and their learning ability
  • Get everyone to commit to the next steps, that is what they will do next with the information they have learned
  • Instill a value of note taking and instant knowledge application
  • And the biggest win! As a Sales Leader – be at the training as well. From our feedback of salespeople, nothing says ‘this isn’t that important’ to your team more than if their Leader is ‘too busy to attend. It’s also a massively missed opportunity on your behalf to see first-hand the team in a different setting to the day-to-day grind.

3. MEASUREMENT AFTER

How to Make Sense of Your Team Performance

Once training is over, have your sales managers track the follow-up commitments made by their team. Here is how.

Coaching, Coaching, and More Coaching

At the start, you defined the skills and behaviours the training was designed to impact.

Stay true to this effort and see the process through. Now is the time to double down on coaching activities around those competencies.

This is where you get the value from the training.  Set out coaching objectives based on the training for the sales leaders and their teams and make sure they adhere to it. This must be treated as a priority discussion point in your weekly meetings.

Follow-Up

Plan a follow-up internal communication campaign.

That includes highlighting areas of best practice and who’s doing well implementing their new skills.

Also, note the stories of achievement using the new learnings.

Visualise the Learnings

Part of keeping your training alive, we encourage sales managers and their teams to do a video replay of what they’ve learned.

This has proven so successful and is much more beneficial that than a ‘test’ to ensure the knowledge is embedded.

Record their learning takeaways and have their managers take note on areas they need to focus on in follow up coaching.

Additionally, make sure you maintain their active involvement in the learning process.

That means have each salesperson also include their plan in how they are implementing the new knowledge.

This embeds the learnings and is crucial for accountability.

Peer Support

Continuing from the point on active involvement, give your sales teams an opportunity to be heard.

Peer support learning is a strong way to embed and reinforce new ideas.

If a new win was influenced by what was taught in training, have the salesperson write up an internal brief using the terminology.

Share the knowledge and the rewards.

Hearts and Minds Sales Methodology Outline

Book your Sales Team on their Value Sales Training Workshop. Gather the team and we will take care of the rest.

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

 

Manifest success

“That Which You Manifest Is Before You.”

This is one of the most profound statements I have ever heard.

It is in one of my favourite books – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

Such a simple concept, yet so true: “That which we manifest is before us”; we are the creators of our own destiny.

Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.

I think this is wonderful … and yet scary at the same time.

So all my successes I created?  Fabulous!  But wait a minute – if I’m not as successful as I want to be, then I created that too?  Horrors!  And my absolute failures, I created those too?  That’s a worry.

But let’s look at the positive.  We can create our own future.  It’s like The Secret. “What you think about and thank about, you bring about.” And other smart sayings: “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” And the classic Michael Jackson line “I’m starting with the man in the mirror…take a look at yourself, and then make a change.”

We all have that potential to be M.A.D. (to make a Difference).  It starts with deciding what you want, what will make you happy, what’s important to you – and then writing it down.

So that’s Step 1: Write it down, record it, post it, tell someone about your plans.  Commit your dreams to paper (or the world-wide web) and it will become reality.

Step 2: Create stepping stones to get you over the troubled waters and to the other side – break it down into bite-sized pieces, so that you can achieve (and celebrate) small goals along the way.  Measure the steps that you are taking.  I love To-Do lists where I can tick off the things that I have accomplished each day.

Step 3: Ensure that you make your dreams ARE achievable.  After all, you DO want to be able to applaud your effort and not finding that you are depressed by every little obstacle in the river of life that may come your way.

Step 4: Is it possible to be CEO of a company that you just started with within a year?  Probably not! (Although for some Gen Y and Gen Xs that’s exactly what they want … and expect.  But that’s another conversation altogether!) Be realistic about your wants and needs.

Step 5: Put a date on your dreams.  Goals are dreams with a timeline.

Hmmm, seems like I’ve just written down S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting.  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

Well then, let’s start to manifest our destiny!


HOW TO RESET YOUR BUSINESS AND PEOPLE POST-COVID

We cannot ignore the fact that COVID-19 has had a serious impact on the Australian economy. This has resulted in many business leaders enduring sleepless nights and scratching their heads over the current and future impact of this pandemic on their business. But it is important to remember that the situation is entirely out of our control – everyone’s in the same boat. What is in your control however, as a Leader, is:
  • How your business recovers
  • What actions you take
  • How you get your team back on target
  • What outlook you hold
  • What strategic plans you have in place
  • What you are going to do to increase momentum

HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF HITTING THE RESET BUTTON ON YOUR BUSINESS?

For many of us, we may have issues about “coming back to the office”, or getting back on target, or concerns about our people being out of the physical hunt for results for too long, or simply – achieving ROI. Soon the pace of pre-COVID days will return, do you have actions in place for when we all can come together again? Have you considered:
  • How you are going to build a culture of performance?
  • How you will instil a mindset of positive thinking?
  • How to get results from your team?
  • How to re-frame your team’s conversations around the future?
  • How to React, Restore, Reset your business and people?

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

Have you considered a positive movement of encouragement and support for your team on their return – recognition of coming together when we can come together? But how? How, as a forward-thinking Leader, do I encourage and support the return of my staff? The strongest way to support your staff and show them self-worth with a definite ROI, is through instilling a positive mindset – that is the gift that keeps on giving. At the KONA Group we know the value and the power of Motivational Speaking. We can assist you in any capacity to harness positive thinking, spread its powers and skyrocket productivity as a direct result. All our exceptional Motivational Speakers have great stories behind them, their teachings come from walking the pavement of life, the words come from experiences not textbooks. Come on a journey with one of our team. Here is a snippet of one of our Senior team and the founder of the KONA Group. 10 years ago this week the 60-year-old inspiration climbed into the boxing ring with ex-Heavyweight Boxing Champion of Australia John Hopoate all in the name of raising funds for very worthy Breast Cancer patients. Glenn also ran across the Sahara Dessert for the same cause, AND – completed the Hawaiian Ironman in KONA. Oh, and did we mention earlier this year he became the world’s oldest CAGE FIGHTER?! His physical stamina is nothing compared to his mental strength – Glenn has built an outstanding reputation as a Personal Mentor, helping individuals of all ages to achieve goals they never thought possible. He is a specialist Business, Health and Sport Mentor.

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

And there are many more like Glenn for you to meet: kona.com.au/meet-the-team/ Everyone has a story and every story can be transformed to lead to positive outcomes. Hit the reset button on your business, engage one of our modern Motivational Speakers and bring out the best in your team and business. We did. To learn how to RESET YOUR BUSINESS or book in your team’s MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, contact KONA: 1300 611 288 | info@kona.com.au for a confidential conversation today.

SIX TIPS FOR SMASHING A VIRTUAL SALES MEETINGS

PROSPECTING IN A PANDEMIC

man at laptop in background, foreground image mask and keys in a table
A third of the Australian economy is generated from New South Wales, so what happens when that state goes into lockdown? Add to that Victoria in lockdown, and that is a sizeable portion of the nation’s economy taking a hard hit. We are once again in a situation where we need to be creative about how we are going to function and keep producing results. Virtual Sales Meetings are indeed back and look to be settling in quite comfortably for at least a month. So, do we stop selling and wait or do we power through and get busy smashing Sales remotely?
Imagine if at the start of 2020 you were told you can double the number of leads you see a day? Virtual sales meetings looks to be settling in quite comfortably as the preferred procedure moving forward. And used correctly this new modus operandi can work wonders for you, enabling you to see up to 10 times more prospects during a day than if you had to commute.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WIN OR LOSE
Acquiring and retaining strong professional sales relationships remotely is not as daunting as it seems in this new – online only world we are living in. As a Leader, is your sales team virtually afloat and motivated or really sinking? Are you as a manager making the right leadership decisions during this time of change?

MS Teams ZOOM meetings sales training with Brickworks

The simple truth is effective virtual communication skills could be the difference between winning and losing a sales deal. Just like in-person meetings, there are protocols to a sales meeting to bring about results. DOES YOUR TEAM KNOW HOW TO SELL EFFECTIVELY VIRTUALLY?

Here is both the why – and the how – of effective virtual sales to skyrocket sales results remotely.

 
1. PREPARE FOR THE VIRTUAL SALES MEETING FIRST
  • Make an Appointment: make sure you email an invite to all the participants to accept it – include a link to the web-conference into the invite and make sure you point out that it is a video meeting, so it is no surprise for the client.
  • Inform your prospect about your agenda, the questions you are bringing to the table and the goal you are both pursuing.
  • Provide your prospect with leeway to decide on the time that is convenient for them.
2. CONTROL THE MEETING
  • Encourage everyone to identify themselves before each contribution, “This is Fred from…”
  • As host, repeat questions that are asked of you before answering. Some participants may not have heard the question.
  • Remind participants before and during the meeting to keep their microphones on mute when they are not speaking.
  • If you are bringing in additional material via screen sharing, such as PowerPoint presentations or product demos to make the conversation even more productive, send the documents to participants in advance.

3. MASTER THE ART OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Do your remote salespeople know how to listen to yield results?  Listening is key to selling. There, the secret is out. Active listening requires both ears and eyes. Ever watched a show on mute (no subtitles)? You get the idea of what is going on yes, but you miss key facts. Selling without listening is akin to watching tv with the volume down to zero.
Reading Non-verbal Behaviour
Most interpersonal communication (> 55%) is non-verbal. It may be a revealing facial expression, a particular style of body language, or the subtle yet telling flicker of an eye – these non-verbal communications are key to understanding the person in front of you and how to, in turn, effectively communicate with them. If more than half of what we communicate is non-verbal then more than half of what we are trying to say/sell is being missed if we cannot master our non-verbal styles.

4. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Just because you are not in a person-to-person scenario does not mean you can be lax in your line of questioning. In fact, it is even more vital in video conferencing to ask the right questions in order to engage and hold attention in a remote set up.

The difference between you and your competitor lies in the questions you ask clients.

Do you and your salespeople possess Advanced Questioning skills?

Or does your competition question better than you?

5. OBJECTION HANDLING ONLINE
Humans are humans, their environment will change much faster than their mindset and behaviour, therefore being objectionable is a trait even the strongest virus won’t diminish. But to protect your sales armour against the inevitable objections that come in sales, even remotely – preparation is key. Do you know how to handle an objection on the spot during a video conference? Can your team handle the heat on their own when selling remotely?

6. BE EXCITING!
Video conferencing is the prime platform to show off your presentation skills. Everyone is video conferencing now, so you need to stand out – add some spark to your next sales meeting.

How will you build rapport?

How will you break the ice?

What presentation skills does your team have?

These remote SALES SKILLS are just the tip of the learning pyramid and make up part of your bespoke  REAL | Remote Education Active Learning Program* developed around your sales team and delivered remotely by the KONA Group. *The recent changes in work from home situations globally has seen access to our REAL Learning Program skyrocket, so we will continue to fill the learning spots on a first in first scheduled basis. Call 1300 611 288 or email info@kona.com.au to secure a spot.

CONTACT US: 1300 611 288

or

email info@kona.com.au

SALES EXCUSE 2: THERE’S NOT ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY

Let’s start by saying that busy doesn’t necessarily mean effective.

One of the most common complaints from sales teams doing poorly is that there’s not enough hours in the day to make phone calls, follow up leads, source new leads, or create effective pitches.

In our experience, more often than not, this is just an excuse masking laziness and poor time management.

The difference between success and failure can be influenced by how effectively time is used. We all get the same 24 hours, so if your sales people are telling you that there’s not enough time then it’s time to identify the real issues and sift through the drainers within the team.

Time management

In contrast, people with poor time management skills waste time on the unimportant things that ultimately will not contribute to converting a lead. These same people are prone to procrastination – a killer of performance. Charles Dickens and David Copperfield summed it up by saying  “Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him”.

So, if a member of your sales team complains that they don’t have enough time to convert their leads into sales, “collar them” – look at how they are utilising their time and if the business is actually benefiting, or is simply being drained by a dead resource. Chances are that there are bigger underlying issues that need to be addressed.

Sharpen the focus

There are so many distractions floating around that it can be hard to sit down and focus, and importantly keep your team focused. However, this is not an excuse for deflated sales results. The great sales performers and leaders focus on the target and concentrate on how best to achieve it.

How long does it take your team to perform their daily admin tasks? Are they focused on the end goal or distracted by surrounding interferences?

Ongoing evaluation and reinforcement of daily targets should be established to keep the team on track.

Priorities and delegation

Are your sales people typing reports, filing, responding to unnecessary emails and taking long meetings rather than being on the phone following up leads? The number one priority for the sales team is to generate leads and convert them to sales.

Other tasks can be delegated to the administration or management team so the sales team can focus on what they are there to do – sell!

Sales management training and coaching

At the end of the day, when sales teams blame poor sales on not having enough time in the day, it is usually a case of lacking focus, poor sales management or poor time management, or perhaps they are just not the right person for the role.

Focused, driven and passionate salespeople achieve goals. Time is money so don’t let it be drained by underperforming team members.

KONA Group specialises in a wide range of services that address sales performance and sales management, executive and leadership coaching, and performance and time management. These customised training and coaching programs drill down to the core of the issue and drive solutions through proven methodologies.

For more information, please email info@kona.com.au or call 1300 611 288.