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?
When recruiting new team members for your business, there are many considerable factors to ensure your offer is most appealing to your target recruit. Generally, companies will hire established salespeople with the assumption that they won’t need further training. In doing so, you could be missing out on the opportunity to grow and develop the next top salesperson.
Here are 4 reasons why you should implement an offer of sales training into your recruitment process:
1. You Are More Likely To Retain Staff When You Offer Ongoing Training
Offering ongoing training to employees will make them feel valued. It attracts the right type of person to the role, someone who is eager to enhance their skills and wants career progression. Going into a new job knowing you will have opportunities to learn and develop new skills naturally boosts enthusiasm. Not to mention your business’ recruitment costs will reduce when you have a high staff retention rate.
2. Be Proactive, Not Reactive
It is common for businesses to only consider training their sales team when there are problems emerging. A more effective strategy is to offer staff training regularly. This will prevent problems before they occur and ensures any issues are stamped out early on. Incorporating Sales Training into your recruitment process will ensure any new staff that come on board are trained in the same way as your current salespeople.
3. Attract A Quality Candidate To The Position
Proposing a training program in your employment offer is attractive to prospective employees as it eases tension related to taking on a new job. It opens the doors to people who may not have a lot of experience in the field, but they are eager to learn and with the right training, could be the next best salesperson on your team.
4. Promotes An Encouraging And Supportive Work Environment
Sales Training has a positive influence on staff enthusiasm, engagement, and fulfilment. Offering training opportunities at the recruitment stage promotes your business as being supportive. It shows you have intent for employee growth within the company. Offering sales training from the beginning of a salesperson’s career demonstrates that your company is willing to invest in their team.
You can achieve these benefits and more by offering effective training as part of your recruitment process.
Find out how you can incorporate Sales Training into your recruitment strategy by contacting KONA!
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 ProductsA 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.
For over 16 years, we have been helping sales people, managers and leaders to improve their performance. With a proven track record of delivering result oriented training programs, we are one of the most effective Sales Training company in Sydney and Melbourne.
Our coaches and practitioners have rich experience in delivering result oriented training programs.
With a combined experience of over 100 years, we can deliver outstanding results for your organisation. Our coaches are recognised specialists in their respective niches. Together, we are recognised as THE Sales Training company in Melbourne and Sydney – That Gets Results!
Training Companies Sydney – Our Approach
We do not believe in offering run of the mill training programs.
Each program is customised to suit your requirements. Whether you are looking to improve your sales, customer service or top level leadership, our coaches will work with you to create a customised training program for your organisation.
Training Companies Sydney and Melbourne – Our Results
We’ve helped our clients achieve some outstanding results. Here are some of our recent achievements.
Increased customer retention for a big credit card company by more than 12%
Trained a sales team to make more than 430 telephone appointments in 1 Power Hour
Coached another sales team to make over $1,200,000 in sales in 1 POWER HOUR
Improved annual revenue of a finance services company by more than 20%
So if you are looking to increase the effectiveness and results of your organisation, contact KONA today on 1300 611 288 or email info@kona.com.au to discuss how we can help you to improve your organisation’s results.
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 BEFORE
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 DURING
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
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.
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.
Like so many other industries, the world of sales has shifted on its axis over the last few years. This change has indeed left many businesses and sales professionals stranded. As well as leaving many feeling quite isolated. But there is one major change that has occurred in recent years that has completely changed the way we conduct our sales process.
The biggest change to our Sales Process to date is:
The balance of power has shifted from sellers to buyers.
Let us break this down further. Over a very short space of time, our sales process has turned on its head. And as such, we must change with it or be left behind. As we have revealed, the biggest change to our sales process to date is, that the balance of power has shifted from sellers to buyers. That means our sales process has shifted from:
Buyer Beware To Seller Beware
Tangible Products To Everything-As-A-Service
Complex And Cumbersome To Simple And Agile
Product Led To Outcome Led
Money Now/Value Later To Value Now/Money Later
Become A Disruptor Strategy to Don’t Get Disrupted Strategy
The tried and tested sales skills that served us well for many years are rapidly becoming obsolete. That is because of factors like customer self-service, artificial intelligence, and as-a-service offerings increasingly become the norm.
But what does this mean to our sales process today?
Firstly, do not see this shift in the way we perform as professional salespeople as the demise of our trade. Rather, focus on exchanging old behaviours for new ones. That means re-tooling ourselves for the next sales paradigm shift. How do we do that? Here are 4 Ways Power has shifted to the Buyer and what Sales Professionals can do to Adapt.
1. BETTER INFORMED BUYERS
Online reviews, social media, and the internet has seen buyers come to you with a wealth of information. Buyers now have access to a truckload of data about your product/service and that information simply strengthens their buying power. That means before they even connect with you, buyers already know about your company, competitors, industry, and – even you.
What to Do
Update your website! Keep it fresh and informative. It is the first place your buyers will be going to seek information about your organisation. If your site is hard to navigate, appears outdated, or os not mobile friendly, you stand to lose your buyer before they even reach you. A successful website will educate your buyer and make them want to contact you.
Additionally, provide your buyer with insider-only information about your industry. Don’t waste their time regurgitating information they can simply find on another site. Rather, share features of your product or service that are not available elsewhere. While your buyer may know a lot, they simply do not know everything that you have to offer. So, with this in mind, branch out your information offerings. Consider the value of ebooks, white papers, and case studies about your industry and your brand. This will provide insider information for your buyer, and also position you as a trusted advisor.
2. END OF THE FIRST STAGE OF THE SALES PROCESS
Buyers are now bypassing the first stage of the sales process. According to a recent study HubSpot study, 38% of salespeople report that it’s more difficult to get a response from prospects than it was as recently as two or three years ago.
But why? Well, because it seems buyers are trying to answer their own questions to save time. And also to minimize contact with salespeople. You see, everyone is busier than ever. Additionally, attention spans are growing shorter by the day. But, despite how busy we all are, we continue to increase our time on social media. The average person spends approximately 2 hours a day on social channels, 60% of it done on mobile devices.
What to Do
Hang out where your buyers are hanging out. Put simply, focus on improving the quality and frequency of what you publish online.
Fundamentally, find the platform your buyers prefer and become a voice for your brand and industry.
Additionally, you can share well-researched and valuable blog posts that speak to specific points in your buyers’ journey
3. BUYERS WANT IT PERSONAL
Buyers want personalised experiences. That is, they want the customised approach from you. Moreover, they want you to understand exactly where they are in their journey. Fundamentally, they want you to already know where they are experiencing pain. And then they want a personally styled solution that’s tailor-made to their issues.
Put simply, they want empathy, not a canned pitch.
Now, are you ready for a whacky fact? The good old email still works. Buyers are more and more nowadays preferring to communicate via email than the telephone. It is done on their terms and there is a record of the correspondence to refer to later. And want some more good news? Email is a perfect platform for personalisation! Easy to tailor and great to deliver at just the right time.
What to Do
Make sure all your emails to your buyers are personalised. That means you will need to understand your buyer’s journey and create customised communication based on their buying behaviour. This will ensure your messaging is connecting directly to the buyer. That is, answering the exact questions they have in that stage of their journey. It’s a powerful tool to be able to deliver the right message at the right time – and you have the power to do that.
4. BUYERS WANT TO BE ROMANCED
Your buyer will always expect the red carpet treatment long after you have closed the deal. They want to continue to feel valued. And why not? Keep the relationship hot. This will ensure their return. And furthermore, it also means they are more likely to recommend you. That is, stay connected to your buyers post-closing the deal, and they will remember you next time they talk to their friends, family, and wider network about your industry offering.
What to Do
When you close a deal with a buyer, do everything in your power keep them wanting more. Additionally, keep the relationship alive in the downtime. That means, checking in on them from time to time with next-level email correspondence. Realise the lifetime value of your buyer. Plus, a buyer who also will be quick to provide you with positive online reviews and testimonials, which is great for repeat business!
Remember, you may not hold all the power, but you hold tremendous value as a trusted advisor and strategic partner. The power may have shifted, but there are plenty of opportunities to make a sale if you’re willing to adapt and jump onboard your buyer’s journey.
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.
Being a salesperson is a stressful job. And let’s face it, many people aren’t cut out for it.
However, if you are in a sales career, you may be considering ways to reduce the stress associated with your job, as stress can negatively impact results and can prevent you from achieving success. Here are the Top 5 Sales Stressors and How to Reduce Them to help you relax and smash KPIs all in one.
1. STRESSOR: QUOTA
It’s not easy to choose the perfect sales quota that will make both management and sales reps happy. Sales targets can come to define your success or failure as a sales professional, but what can you really do to reduce the stress of these all important numbers?
STRATEGY
Remember a sales quota doesn’t exist in isolation. The size of your target market, the mix of customers, prospects, the industry, and the product you are selling, all have an impact on your success. That said, realistic quotas need to be set to each individual. And most importantly, each salesperson must have a say in their sales target when it is being set with – not by – your sales manager.
2. STRESSOR: LACK OF CONTROL
There are so many things outside our control as sales professionals, it can sometimes seem overwhelming. That often includes factors like the sales territory you’re assigned to, or how much access you get to internal resources, or perhaps the flow of new leads.
STRATEGY
When it comes to relinquishing the reins, it’s easier said than done. When it comes to thriving in sales, you need to be more flexible and adapt. You must welcome change and embrace the unknown. As much as we may want to control all aspects of our lives, there are plenty of things that are completely out of our control. This also applies to your sales pipeline. Recognizing what you can and can’t control helps combat stress and provides a sense of purpose.
If something is in your control, you can work at maintaining, fixing, or improving that aspect of the sales process. If it’s out of your control, work hard to move past it. Knowing what’s in your control also improves your decisiveness. That is, you can make decisions quickly and effectively because you’re better able to prioritise the things you can actually do something about.
3. STRESSOR: JOB INSECURITY
The days of the “job for life” are pretty much over. Not many people currently aged under 50 will go through their working lives with only one employer, or even just two or three. Continuous, secure employment with one organisation is increasingly difficult to find, particularly if you’re new to the job market. There are many factors that threaten job security. They include globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, recession, new technology, and most recently, a pandemic.
STRATEGY
First and foremost, you need to invest your own brand. Having a personal brand allows your prospects to build a stronger connection with you. It gives them something to connect with and also trust. Creating a personal brand is incredible way of creating positive impact on the people you meet, and a lasting one. It also gives you the opportunity of reaching your customers’ needs on a deeper, more meaningful level.
4. STRESSOR: BALANCING THE SHORT AND LONG TERM
Sales is all about, well, sales! But when the majority of your ‘worth’ at work is calculated based on last quarter’s revenue-to-quota performance, it can feel like you’re on a treadmill to constantly perform. Every quarter is important, and every quarter the quota increases. But here’s the clencher – you still have the same amount of time in a day to do the job. Balancing the short term goal with the long term goal is very hard. But done right, it is the difference between an average salesperson, and a sales superstar.
STRATEGY
To continue being successful, month after month, as a strong salesperson you need to be consistently developing new leads for the next period. That is, while still closing sales opportunities that are happening right now. It’s a fine balancing act between short term and long term goals. That said, having a plan in place for how you will develop new opportunities and manage existing deals is critical. And it starts with having a strong pipeline management process in place.
5. STRESSOR: COMPLIANCE, ADMIN, INTERNAL POLITICS
When you first move into a sales position, you think that that the selling part is where most of the stress is. How quickly we learn otherwise! Hardened sales pros know that the real stress is the internal selling. The backend data entry. The politics and toing and froing behind the scenes.
STRATEGY
Build strong internal relationships and over-communicate with key stakeholders. Additionally, forecast as accurately as you possibly can. And where possible, stay well away from office politics. That is, in favour of time connecting with your customers.
Book your sales team on their Team Building 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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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 virtualor face to face, we customise all the learnings to your team’s needs and challenges.
We all get them, the “annoying” telephone calls from someone trying to sell you something you absolutely don’t need. That is not what you want as your strategy right? Thankfully,there are other ways.
Sales Outreach has come a long way and has evolved to something quite different from pure cold calling. And as the field continues developing, you need to keep up with it. With the help of research and new techniques, you can improve your Sales Outreach Strategy and make it more effective in today’s current climate.
Consequently, a rise in engagement, conversion rates, and profits is likely to follow. So don’t hesitate, because as we teach in our workshops, Activity Drives Results, and therefore, with a better Sales Outreach you will get better results.
WHAT IS SALES OUTREACH?
Sales Outreach is the process of engaging with prospects who meet your customer profile. That is, with the goal of bringing them into the Sales pipeline and converting them into paying customers.
Moreover, the rise of inbound marketing has greatly increased the number of channels for the modern marketer. But it has also increased the noise that we need to learn to cut through if we are to reach the modern B2B buyer.
Consequently, and partly as a response to the noise, outbound marketing has been modernised. Prospecting has become a key part of the marketing mix. Crucially, it allows highly targeted Sales Outreach to deliver personalised messages to key decision-makers.
SALES OUTREACH STATISTICS
Cold Sales Outreach is a vital part of starting conversations with potential customers. The merits of this, and which methods of Outreach are most effective, are revealed in some surprising statistics.
The average Salesperson only spends a third of their day actually selling
40% of Salespeople say prospecting is the hardest part of their job (HubSpot)
60% of B2B buyers say no four times before saying yes
48% of Salespeople never even make a single follow up attempt (Invespcro)
It takes between eight and 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer (Brevet & TopoHQ)
Salespeople spend the equivalent of an entire day each week writing emails (HubSpot)
70% of unanswered Sales emails aren’t followed up (Yesware)
Follow up emails generate 77% of prospecting campaign responses (Sopro)
80% of prospects prefer Sales discussion over email compared to any other medium(HubSpot)
Email marketing is almost 40 times more effective than social media marketing for new customer acquisition (Brevet)
89% of marketers say that email is their primary channel for lead generation (Copper)
WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SALES OUTREACH STRATEGY?
If you notice that you’re not reaching your Sales goals, it might be time to work on your Sales Outreach approach. Does your team have an effective Sales Outreach Strategy in place? Below are 6 Ways to Improve Your Sales Outreach Strategy to get you started.
1. BE PROACTIVE
Remember? We will say it again and never stop drilling it in. Activity Drives Results!
As a business with something to sell, you are the one that should make the first move. This is particularly obvious with outbound Sales Outreach. That is, where the entire concept is that you contact potential clients to close the deal. But even if you’re focusing on inbound Sales Outreach, there are things you can do to improve your chances of conversion.
For example, collecting data about your leads, prospects, and existing clients will give you a better idea of who they are and what they respond to. This is addressed in a 90 Minute Virtual Workshop, called The Importance of Information Gatheringand Your Sales Outreach Strategy.
Once you have gathered the correct and valuable data from your prospect, you can use the knowledge to improve your approach. That means, from your marketing and branding all the way to your customer services. This process will significantly increase your opportunities of being contacted by interested customers.
2. UNDERSTAND, NOT JUST KNOW, WHO YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS ARE
Having a comprehensive understanding of your customers is key to achieving core business goals.
Whether you’re trying to build the customer experience, create more engaging content, or increase Sales. Knowing your customers betterthan they do is key. That means developing ideal customer profiles and mapping your audience. This is addressed in a 90 Minute Virtual Workshop, called Customer DNA and Your Sales Outreach Strategy.
3. PICK THE PROPER PLATFORM
Who you approach is also going to affect how you approach them.
You want to meet potential clients where they are, that is – using the communication channels they prefer. Virtually everyone uses e-mail these days, so that’s a safe bet for Sales Outreach. Phones have been successfully used in Sales for decades, so they will probably work for you too.
What’s new in recent years is social media. If you can harness the power of different social media platforms, you can significantly improve your strategy. Just remember to choose the right social media.
90% of top-performing Salespeople now use social media as part of their sales strategy. (LinkedIn)
Have a think about which channels will work best for your target audience. Cold calling will be the way to go for some.
An approach on social media can work really well for others. Of course, LinkedIn is the go-to network for most B2B buyers. However, if your audience is, say, wedding photographers, then Instagram might be a place they are more active.
64% of sales reps who invest in social media hit their team quota – compared to only 49% of reps that don’t use social media. (LinkedIn)
Cold email outreach is a proven tactic that delivers the highest lead rates and marketing ROI. And as the above figures show, four out of five B2B buyers prefer to be contacted by email over any other medium.
4. PERSONALISE EVERY APPROACH
Personalisation is where it is at these days. It is in fact, one of the most effective tactics for both marketing and client retention that you can possibly invest in. It makes your efforts more relevant for the individual client. But also, it makes them feel important and special rather than just another number.
Every person you contact should believe that you typed out an email just for them. Cold email copywriting is an art form in itself, but it’s the personalisation that really takes a message to the next level.
By personalising 20% of email content, open rates increased over 40% on average and reply rates increased 112%. This is compared to emails with no personalisation at all. (SalesLoft)
But how do you personalise a Sales Outreach approach?
The first step is collecting as much information as you can. Remember, The Importance of Information Gathering and Your Sales Outreach Strategy?
Equally as important, invest in a good CRM system! This is crucial. A solid CRM will help you collect, organise, and measure data about ALL your team’s leads. Then, when your Salespeople contact those leads, they can use information about them to adjust and tailor their Sales pitch to each one. They should use the customer’s interests and previous experiences with the business as a starting point to rebuild that all-important rapport. Crucially, they will refer back to emails and conversations and know how to connect with a particular customer and pick up from where they last left off. Finally, your Salespeople can use the data to guide your marketing strategies too. This will consequently increase the number of inbound contacts you get and have a significant growth effect on their pipeline.
Businesses that leverage CRM software sees sales increase by 29%, sales productivity increase by 34%, and sales forecast accuracy increase by 42%. (Salesforce)
5. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
You have to get into the right state of mind.
You can no longer focus on selling your product, service, or solution. You must focus on communicating as a trusted advisor and industry thought leader. That means focusing on the value and ROI your solution delivers versus the simple features and benefits of the actual product or service.
But how do you change your mindset?
Keep yourself open to new ideas by continuing to learn. Crucially, invest in your team’s education with continuous learning and training.
Tailored training involves the use of Sales-based activities designed to spark creativity and help your Salespeople reframe their thinking to value-based selling, rather than basic brand flogger.
The mindset of every Salesperson has the power to drive or destroy their sales. It is up to you as their Leader, to shape a positive, results-orientated mindset.
6. REMEMBER TO FOLLOW UP
Most of the time,a single contact is not going to be enough for conversion. And when your customers are other businesses as well, you need to remember they too are busy people whose first priority is probably not your business.
So don’t let them forget about you! Contact them again after a while. If you can, work on building actual relationships. A more personal approach will help you make the Sale. However, know when to hold back as well. Aim for a balanced approach where you follow up without being too pushy.
How do you know when your team needs to improve its Sales Outreach Strategy?
There’s never a bad time to improve your Sales Outreach strategy. After all, a better approach leads to better results.
As Leaders, if you’re working on your quarterly plans or reorganising things in your business, reconsidering how you do your Sales Outreach techniques should be on the list every time.
But it becomes critical when you notice too many deals are lost and leads are not moving through the Sales pipeline. This will affect your ROI and overall profits, so trying a new approach as soon as possible is a must.
Call us to organise your team of professionals to be part of your bespoke training and build a customised Sales Outreach Strategy. Each focus learning area will be tailored to your team’s needs and challenges.
They can be part of 4 x 90 minutes Sales Outreach Strategy EssentialsVirtual Workshops. Cherry-pick one or all of the topics below and customise your Team’s Learning.
To book Your Team’s tailored ↑Sales Outreach Strategy Building VirtualWorkshops, contact KONA on 1300 611 288 for a confidential conversation, or email info@kona.com.au anytime.
Hi Garret, I just wanted to say thank you again for today the feedback I was given this afternoon was that it far surpassed what they expected and that it was completely different to expectations but it covered everything in such an immersive and engaging way. I hope you had a safe trip home. And I will be in touch for some more future training opportunities!
Erica Wilkinson
Pathways Business Manager
Thank you Garret Norris. Your dissemination of knowledge was inspiring, insightful, thought provoking and lot of Fun! Your ability to create a safe, relaxed & energetic environment in which to deliver & demonstrate your ideas and knowledge is remarkable! Made for lots of learning and had a positive impact on us all! Thank you
Melissa Peace
Strategic Partnership Expert
A fantastic 3 days, you had us engaged, interacting, learning and threw us out of our comfort zones in the best possible way. I echo what my colleagues have said below, all of which is 100% true. Implementing these three days into what we do is now the focus and I look forward to connecting again soon, and look forward to more sessions where we can continue to learn, develop and and thrive in what we do, whilst living and breathing our WHY. Still buzzing, thank you!
Hessa Robinson
Education Sales Manager
The team loved the day and were raving about it to our marketing colleagues and managers who were unable to make the session. Garret, you were an amazing and engaging presenter.”
Dominic Taafe
Oncology Portfolio Manager
Hi Garret, I would like to say thank you for your time and effort last week at the Martec sales conference. The session from you went beyond my expectations in both your delivery and the involvement from my team. Thank you once again!
Ken Dick
General Manager
Hi John,
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the sessions and contribution in our journey towards service excellence. The sessions were very well planned and relevant to our modus operandi. The team is very appreciative of your guiding principles and quick lessons from the sessions. The immediate display of the lessons learnt will be witnessed during our current peak time. I’m definitely a better listener now Thank you.
Aakanksh Nyayapati
Senior Analyst, IT Service Delivery
Again I found the training session really engaging, you can tell that Garret is very passionate about what he does. It may sound cheesy, but I left feeling inspired and refreshed.
Kimberly Britts
As always I thought Garret was amazing and motivational, great refresher and gave me some new ideas to try and apply to what I do. Always great to participate in these sessions.
Stuart Gill
Honestly I don’t think it matters his cost as always has something insightful and thought-provoking to leave you with no matter how many times you’ve seen him or your position or length of tenure.
I would love to see what he could offer the wider company (not just sales) from a psychology point of view because I feel that the provocation he provides is beneficial to all he comes in contact with. I really enjoy it because we just get each other.
Daniel Jura
Being relatively new to this industry I was a little apprehensive going into my company training day, I thought it may have been scientific and technical and it's an area where I feel a teeny bit inadequate. The relief I felt when Garret started "warming up" the room was ridiculous. He made everyone feel comfortable, relaxed and engaged. At times I feel we over complicate things to make ourselves feel more important or special. In the end, Garret reinforced the need to slow down, fully engage, leave the ego at the door and listen. This training is a must have for all teams, no matter the level. It will make you stop, think and love sales again. Can't wait until the next one.
Stacey Taylor
Account Executive
Garret Norris is a rock star coach. He has transformed our Inside Sales team.
Love his work!
David Piggott
Managing Director
Having just competed a national customised training program where we engaged Garret and KONA all I can say is thank you Garret does his homework and prepares.
The impact we were able to achieve with our teams in rolling out a game changer was fantastic. Thanks Garret appreciate the effort and the results to date.
Iain Whyley
National Sales Manager
It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to participate in a number of Garret's training and skill enhancing workshops and I cannot recommend him highly enough. Even as an experienced sales professional I always learn new things from him, think harder about what I do, and become more effective in my role. Garret's presentation style is both unique and genuine, honest to the core, while his role play and coaching principles are easy to understand and extremely worthwhile.
For anyone who needs to hone or develop sales and negotiation skills Kona, and particularly Garret, are certainly the RIGHT choice.
Craig Alderson
Business Manager
As a sales and negotiation professional, I have been involved in a few courses. I am very impressed by the way Garrett gets to the point directly and I know he speaks from experience. He has lived it.
I would like to work with Garrett more in the future as I believe we speak the same language in business. I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks Garret.
Shane Campbell
Senior Key Account Manager
Garret and Healthy Business Builder has been a huge influence on our business and its staff, The results have drastically increased thanks to his techniques and on going support. Very impressed with the overall service and I look forward to continuing our partnership in the future. Highly Recommended.
Johnny Justic
Founder and Managing Director
If we have the opportunity to have more sessions, I think it would be very beneficial. I have found that the concepts presented and the skills we are working on are quickly delivering results and are relevant to us, not simply adapted from their usual clientele. He is much more engaging than other speakers we have had in the past, and from the way other members of the team have been speaking about him it’s a feeling and opinion shared by many others. Also : if he can turn skeptics like Palagy around, I feel that says something!
Rebecca Landers
Tax Depreciation Specialist
Thank you again for spending time with our team over past 2 days.
Some valuable tips learnt and looking forward to seeing the impact it has on our team moving forward.
Jeremy Sinclair
Team Leader, Business Development
Definitely the best training session I have attended (including my own ha ), I could relate to the methods conveyed to us very easily. Well done Garrett and look forward to another head bashing
Gary Tozer
Tax Depreciation Specialist
We certainly appreciate the time and effort and will be making sure we include some of the hints and tips into our processes moving forward.
Matt Jenkin
Team Leader, Business Development
I really thought Garret was brilliant, its not just about selling, its about getting the conversation started. I felt it was really good. I have started using some of the techniques already and adapting to my style.
1 – First call Thursday, did a different approach, lady called in, started the chat by tell me about the property, then went onto telling me the info on the house, I went over everything, she was sounding relaxed, got her remaining details and said “lets get this started today for you” response Great lets do it.
2 – next call was a guy, same style all went well, then the Cost question, Ï can get this for $660.00 from another company” My response, that’s great, Do you want to save $100 today or save $thousands more in deductions with us in the long term, slight silence, then said good point, went ahead!
Stewart Gill
Tax Depreciation Specialist
I enjoy his take on what to say to clients who have been given the wrong free from their accountant. He said not to apologise and don’t get stuck on it and simply say that the fee is $770 and that you’ll call the accountant afterwards to make sure they know the fee’s, but then move on straight away. It was refreshing to have an outsider’s perspective on that. I tried it yesterday and didn’t apologise to a client when the accountant gave them the wrong fee. Not sure if it was just luck, or if Garrett is a genius or if it made me sound more confident or what but she converted.
Sarah Jackson
Tax Depreciation Specialist
I was so impressed with your training programmes, I felt compelled to write to you in appreciation. Although it was blatantly obvious you were a professional outfit right from our first meeting, your services have far surpassed my expectations.
I have been in sales and sales management for 15 years with 5 different companies and have attended many quality-training programs. During this time I have never experienced a program that adapted its philosophies and methodology so succinctly with a companies industry, market, products and value proposition.
Ultimately! The test of any training program is the results it delivers. Since KONA has worked with James Hardie the sales effectiveness of the team has increased dramatically. But an even more noticeable improvement is the quality of leadership displayed by the sales management team.
Glen Doherty
General Manager Sales
Glenn Dobson is the most charismatic and inspirational sales training and business development coach I have ever had the pleasure of working with.
At times confronting, Glenn breaks down your current sales process and delivers honest direct feedback! With a thorough understanding of your customers, product and industry, Glenn provides you with the necessary tools and roadmap to be more effective in professional sales.
Glenn's material is all his own and is presented in an easy to understand format, tailored for your business. I look forward to working with Glenn in the future. Ps, all the best for the IronMan world champs Glenn!
Graham Winder
BDM
Not only has our partnership with KONA proven to be highly beneficial for our management team… it has also proven to be an enormous return on investment with sales improving by over 23%.
Mark Lucas
Director XEROX UK
I have enjoyed working with KONA several times.
KONA have worked with my sales team strategically to raise the bar on their performance and belief in their ability to deliver results.
As personal coaches the HBB Group have guided me through my career by reminding me to clear away the clutter and keep it simple Sam. Keep on running Glenn.
Frank Courtney-Jay
Sales and Marketing Manager HP Singapore
Next Business Solutions used the team at KONA to take us through their Hearts and Minds training. Great team at KONA of people who are not only very experienced their product but they also bring their people skills that have been developed through their extensive global activities.
Rob Clydesdale
Microsoft Next Business Solutions Franchisee
Garret is a true professional and constantly challenges the norm which creates the high performing teams we have at MLA.
Garret has lead and coached our team to deliver outcomes that make a difference.
The approach from Healthy Business Builder was unique to our business and it has proven to be successful for MLA.
I would highly recommend Garret for any other business wanting positive, successful outcomes for your business.
Lisa Sharp
Chief Marketing Officer
The KONA Group has provided excellent customised training and coaching for our managers and staff at Nova Employment. First of all the KONA team gave a vast amount of knowledge to our managers on how to manage their staff. They then educated the employment consultants on how to handle difficult employers when telemarketing for jobs, before also giving them the skills on how to hold a face to face sales meeting. KONA have increased our jobs by 50% ever since they have been providing Nova managers and staff training and coaching.
They are always willing to provide assistance when needed and are always available to call if we need any further help.
Their training has been very successful for our organization and has been able to put Nova Employment in an extremely strong position. I highly recommend the KONA training and coaching as they are very good mentors in providing the best outcomes.
Peter Delimitrou
Employment Service Manager
The development programmes have had an outstanding effect on our business and results, and on the way our sales people treat our customers.
Frank Morberger
State Manager
As a consequence of KONA’s efforts and commitment very quickly we have seen some explosive changes with the team through the introduction of various client focussed and sales strategies, measurements and skills. Their motivation, direction and activity have all increased… and we expect our profits to escalate accordingly.
Ian Crowther
General Manager
Glenn Dobson and Garret Norris are coaches that really stands out to me as they take pride in what they do and deliver. I first utilised KONA around 7 years ago when he evaluated our business which ended up delivering some hard hitting facts , as a result changes needed to be made BUT as a consequence of those initial chats KONA helped set up a sales pipeline where we could track our activity and results which led to a 300% increase in sales within the first 6 months of implementing his sales tools.I HIGHLY recommend KONA but don't want the world to know what they can provide a business as this will give other companies an unfair advantage like we have !Glenn is now a mentor, a friend and above all someone that inspires you to always achieve your best.
Keiran Hathorn
Managing Director
Glenn is high highly talented leader who has assisted us in defining industry leading strategy. I would recommend KONA to anyone requiring an honest, intelligent, strategic, motivating and hard working business leader.
Troy Dawson
Chief Information Officer
Dear Glenn
As we complete stage one of the Campbell’s and John Lewis learning and development programs, I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thankyou to you and the KONA team for all of your time, commitment and energy to the project.
The response from our managers and sales team has been absolutely outstanding and everyone has benefited immensely from your involvement.
I agreed with both Brian and Geoff at the time when they stressed the importance of developing a program tailored to our business and you more than achieved our expectations.
I know you invested a lot of time in preparation and the time you spent with our people out on the road, visiting customers, was obviously well worth it. Included in the feedback from participants from around the country are, amongst many others, the following quotes: “Already I am putting some of the new techniques we learnt into practise and getting results from them”
“ I now feel as if I have greater control and structure over my sales approach and customers”
“I am communicating with my customers like never before and they are telling me things about their businesses that prior to the course I didn’t have a clue about” “I am managing my people in a far more effective and productive way and I feel that I can now start to see the light at the end of the tunnel” Once again Glenn, thankyou very much for all of your efforts and I personally can’t wait for the next stage!
Kurt Wilson
National Training Manager
Since NOVA and KONA started working together we have almost doubled our results in less than 9 months!
I had identified a need for developing our sales skills, but KONA delivered so much more than sales training to our business. Glenn encouraged us to take a step back, analyse our methods and develop a performance culture. As a manager responsible for performance, I appreciated that he clearly and fearless articulated our performance gaps from an outsider’s perspective to our management team, helped us to reverse engineer our results so that we could clearly identify what was needed to achieve performance KPI’s, and delivered practical, real world and customised training based on our business.
I look forward to a continuation of our partnership with KONA and learning more to help NOVA move forward and be even more successful.
Anne Goyer
Training & Development Manager
KONA professional sales and sales management training has been an excellent educational journey on how to enter the Hearts and Minds of our customers and Shareholders. To become business resources and strategic advisors. To build a relationship that understands our customer’s hopes, fears, dreams and vision to create opportunities for future growth that we can be a part of. The course has been taught in detail that can easily be implemented and has brought the entire sales and management team at Plumbing World into focus looking to achieve a common goal. I highly recommend any time spent with the KONA Group.
Russell Thomas
Branch Manager
KONA Group’s services were used by Brickworks Ltd in the form of Sales Management training. Glenn is unlike any other in his ability to connect with the audience. Glenn motivated me so much during a session. I decided at that point I would change my life forever. There was a group of us, that very moment who decided it was a time for change. Glenn explained the model for change and by using this model, it was possible to increase your chances of success 10 fold in anything you wished to achieve. The change we wanted to make was a healthier lifestyle. We decided to embark on a weight loss challenge. Using the attributes of the model, many achieved their ideal weight within months. My personal journey has seen me continue with the challenge and have now lost 29kgs, with 10 kgs until I am at my ideal weight. My lifestyle is now very different, being very careful with what I eat, walking approximately 50kms per week and doing Crossfit 3 times a week. I am on the way to fantastic health. my dad said to me yesterday, son you are looking the best you have in 30 years. They were great words to hear considering I am only 44 years old. I am healthier, I am stronger than I have ever been, I am more motivated, I am more focused and feel like a real winner. I don't believe I could have achieved this without using Glenn's model for change. Thanks Glenn, I would not have been able to do this without you, you have changed my life.
Trevor Marshall
Sales Manager
I have been lucky enough to attend B2B sales training run by the KONA Group. I have found Glenn to bring the same drive and passion that he applies to Iron Man training across in his training sessions. His training is not something you could read straight out of a text book - there is no "turn to page three". Glenn delivers real world pointers that are applicable in the changing workforce of today. The tools that he gives you, help you go through the door to be become a true business/strategic partner for your customers. Without these tools you would be standing on the curb, looking in, being a 3 P flogger! I would highly recommend attending a training session if you get the opportunity.
Keith Geenty
Sales Representative
Glenn is one of those fearless "can-do" high achievers that every business needs. His team at KONA make a valuable blend of skills and experience that deliver Sales results fast and ongoing. The hands on approach makes the KONA business a Sales consultancy suited to SMB up to large corporate, because it is all about people and their activity. Highly recommended regardless how good you think you are!
Paul Scanlan
General Manager
I would like to recommend The Kona Group for sales training that is succinct and professional and works.
I would have to say that after the training that we had received we have noticed a huge difference to our KPI's and have made for the great results that we are now seeing.
Belinda Hamburger
Branch Manager
KONA has provided a unique sales program to the Sales Team at Plumbing World, with an in depth knowledge of the subject and passion for sales that has ensured that the key tools required to be a successful sale person and build business to business relationships has already started to occur in the company in only a short period of time.
Casey Stuart
Regional Manager New Zealand
KONA has a unique approach to sales training, which has allowed Plumbing World to make a significant step change with its sales team. The training is fully customised for Plumbing World, which is important, as the it has developed far more engagement and buy-in from the sales team. The results have been immediate, giving Plumbing World a better understanding of and relationship with, our customers. Leading to new accounts being opened and an increase in sales from existing customers. For example as a direct result of the KONA training, a customer who's spend had dropped away for the previous 12 months, has increased their spend 16 fold.
Mike Dyer
Sales & Operations Manager
I was so fortunate to be able to attend the KONA training workshop at the 4life office in Sydney in February. I cannot begin to tell you how motivating and inspiring I found it to be. You gave me tools that I can use for both my personal and business growth. You demonstrated in a very simple manner how to set short and long range goals that are attainable. As you said hope is not a business strategy.
The day spent training with you was so worthwhile I have been implementing some of the strategies and am passing it to my downline. I would recommend this workshop to anyone who is serious about business building.
Jyoti Sidhu
KONA has a passion for seeing both people and business's improve through the process of training and educating staff. They will encourage and coach the business and your people to become better at what they do and to improve your "bottom line.
I have known Glenn both professionally and as a friend for 13 years now, and I have no hesitation in recommending KONA as a Business professional and also as person who commits fully to whatever challenge, be it business or physical such, as Ironman triathlon or running across the Sahara desert.
Robert George
Team Leader Inventory Control
Following the reorganisation of the field sales force, the KONA Group provided a number of workshops and coaching sessions in order to improve the understanding of how the company was changing the way that it operated. KONA supported us with the change by building trust and gaining buy-in from the team. KONA did an excellent job of emphasising the role of the field force in developing new business and building the sales and performance culture.
Jonathan Shinn
Operations Manager
Glenn is one person who knows how cut through to the real issues facing sales organizations of today, unearth the real potentials of a market of opportunity and help managers develop their companies unique "point of difference" to increase sales beyond what they ever thought possible.
Glenn is a master coach for both business and life's goals.
Paul Winter
QLD State Manager
I had the pleasure of meeting Glenn Dobson through our participation in one of the toughest footraces on the planet, The Marathon De Sables. In the time we spent together leading up to the race I became quickly aware that Glenn was an extraordinary human being.
His athleticism and endurance not only humbled me but inspired me to push myself to peg new boundaries. Whilst Glenn's achievements in Ironman and other endurance events puts him in a very small minority group his drive, motivation, energy and business knowledge puts him amongst an even smaller elite group of people. I have been fortunate to have been a professional in the financial markets for close to 20 years and this has exposed me to a vast array of individuals, their ethics and work practices.
During this period I don't think I have meet a person with the focus and drive to consistently deliver quality outcomes to his clients and business associates. Having an opportunity to interact with Glenn on any level whether it be business or social is something that will ultimately make you a better person. I have been fortunate to have shared an extraordinary challenge with Glenn but have been as equally enriched by the relationship we now share as a result of the race.
Justin Gallagher
Head of Equities Sales Trading and Execution
During my tenure in the building and construction industry the KONA Group was engaged to help align the sales function with the business and marketing strategy - a major shift in how we presented to market. KONA’s Hearts and Minds program challenged past paradigms and equipped our sales resource with a robust sales strategy, along with sustainable sales management and tactical skills which continued to deliver year on year growth.
Linda Ginger
Marketing and Branding Director
Glenn Dobson is a rare individual worthy of being on anybody's list of potential mentors. Glenn is an entrepreneur, successful business-operator, world-class Ironman Triathlete, terrific father and rumour has it, a pretty good husband! We have worked together on various projects over the last decade and I continue to marvel at his pragmatic ability. Glenn is a master at taking any 'theory' in the field of sales and translating them into immediately applicable methods for any client. He truly understands that "Results Count" and has consistently been able to cut through the bullshit in our project work, for his clients and in his own businesses. If you ever wanted to see a living breathing example of a 'balanced' individual who exemplifies Covey's "Important vs. Urgent" Glenn is your man. Add to that Collins' "Disciplined (person), applying disciplined thought and taking disciplined action." and you've found yourself a winner! Good on you Glenn. You really are a role model.
James Michael
Founder and CEO
We have been very impressed with your capabilities and see you as a key player in rolling out our customer service programmes.
Andrea Westwood
Capability Development
Throughout my career with Commonwealth Bank I met several business coaches, but 'Glenn Dobson' is the only name that I don't need to challenge my memory to remember. Glenn is an amazing coach with unique techniques; structured and interactive. He is one of the most positive people I have ever met, his amazing achievements are certainly as a result of his dedication, his commitment and his 'can do' attitude.
Odette Shahnazari
Manager
I was introduced to the KONA Group some five years ago through a mutual and respected business contact. My first impression was that Glenn has a unique sense of purpose, he is driven, motivated and passionate about achieving results personally but also in supporting others to achieve beyond their own expectations.
Over the past five years I have witnessed KONA in many business scenarios including business consulting, change management projects, sales management projects and executive level leadership programs.
Glenn is a natural leader and a manager in these environments. People respond well to him and his down to earth style.
Personally Glenn has an engaging communication style, an unstoppable enthusiasm to exceed expectations and first class networking skills.
I am proud to call him a friend, colleague and business partner and would recommend you consider his services when required.
Susie Lomas
Director
I have been in Glenn's training groups for the past 10 months, 4 to 5 sessions. I have found him to be a very enthusiastic speaker with a wealth of knowledge for us to take on board and work with. His presentation is hands on and easy to work with.
Working with KONA has had a huge impact on the Nova's business as we have increased results in some areas by between 50 -100%. I would highly recommend him and his business.
N/A
Glenn is one of those clients that truly partners with you and adds value back to you as a service provider. He's not a slave to his own views, nor is he a passenger in the process. He's very outcome focused and understands the core drivers of personality and individual values in achieving goals. That said, this is a man that no doubts lives by the virtue that profit, without honour, is loss. There's nothing manufactured or contrived about his work, quite simply he is inherently like this by nature. His background and experience speaks volumes. Over and above that he is a quality person.
Craig White
Director
Glenn is an effective business owner and trainer, he is clearly passionate about his company and the services Kona provides. Glenn has an energy and enthusiasm that is both infectious and motivating, which leads to confidence in his delivery and professionalism.
Nick James
National Sales Manager
KONA Group facilitated several workshops at the Advanced Group of companies for both the sales and operations teams. They are highly motivational and provided the teams with tools and techniques to improve their ability to connect with customers in both business development and service delivery roles. KONA is very business focused and pragmatic and focuses on what gets results.
I would recommend KONA to any other business that is looking to improve their sales capability or turn their project managers and operations managers into customer champions.
Jonathan Shinn
National Operations Manager
You'll only meet one Glenn Dobson of this caliber. Glenn is an International Ironman, Businessman and Sales Guru. With an extensive career in sales across UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Glenn is a consummate professional who has 'been there and done it all' when it comes to competitive sales environments. Commercially aggressive, his ability to identify growth opportunities and drive activity to deliver results for his clients is astounding.
The energy and discipline required to compete as an athlete at the elite level is evident in everything he does. As a Speaker, Glenn is inspiring, direct and highly motivating. All his business engagements are conducted with the highest level of integrity and results are always the number one priority.
Sue Thompson
Business Manager
Glenn is a master at focusing the attention of any sales team, business owner or sales manager on the importance of having a strong sales pipeline to the future prosperity of any business. He lives and breathes what he teaches and is able to succinctly and very effectively impart his extensive knowledge of how to establish and then manage a sales pipeline that will continually deliver new and profitable business. If your business needs a significant improvement in its sales performance Glenn should be the first person that you contact.
I recommend him highly for any size business or corporate enterprise.
Daniel Watson
Managing Director
Glenn is one of those rare individuals that makes you feel positive about life, just by being in the same room with him. I have known Glenn for a couple of years now and I am constantly amazed at the total energy output this man has. A true strategic thinker who has the ability to spot a great idea and turn his skills into a passion that is so infectious. If you are considering getting alongside this true gentleman, then I would say that this is one of the best things you will do today, if not the week, month or even year.
Greg Gillespie
Owner
I have worked with the KONA Group for over 6 years and have found them to be some of the most consistent and driven people ever!
A dynamic trainers with a strong emphasis on activity and results, KONA has brought invaluable experience to my own, and my staff's training.
If you are involved in any Sales capacity, or are managing a team involved in Sales, then KONA Group is a "must call" individual.
Aaron Williams
Founder and Managing Director
Garrett and Sienna at KONA group, were absolutely fantastic from appointment right through to the follow up of initiatives post workshop. Both had communicated effectively prior to the workshop and made sure the day was a phenomenal success for our Leaders at Openmarkets Group. Most importantly, Garrett is very engaging and all our leaders were switched on throughout the session with some key insights. I highly recommend Garrett, Sienna and the KONA Group.
Heidi Mehl
Executive Assistant to CEO
Engaged Kona Group to deliver account training workshop for Etex - Siniat. Great collaborative approach to course preparation and workshop execution very effective and extremely engaging for all participants. Great job Garret!!
Joe Mori
National Business Development Manager
Right from my first call to the actual day of DiSC profiling session, the KONA group were fantastic and provided excellent service. Garret facilitated the session, and his delivery technique was impactful and valuable to all attendees.
Umesh Datwani
Operations Manager | Investment Services
Garrett is a great coach/mentor, it was an honour having him here, and the progress was WAYYY more than I had anticipated, so I am very thankful.Hope you guys have an awesome day, just like you! ☺
Hana Hellou
Customer Support Manager
I have recommended Garret and the team at Healthy Business Builder to many organisations I have worked with. Their methods constantly challenge the norm, creating and supporting high performing teams. Garret has lead and coached our team to deliver positive and sustainable outcomes that make a difference to our teams and stakeholders. The approach from Healthy Business Builder is unique to each business or organisation and it has proven to be successful time and time again. I have witnessed many dysfunctional teams make changes to the way they operate after sessions with Garret and it is such a delight to see our teams work collaboratively and cohesively. They begin to communicate in new ways due to the deeper understanding of how individuals operate, communicate and learn. I would highly recommend Garret and the team at Healthy Business Builder if you are wanting positive, sustainable and successful outcomes for your business.
Kathryn Emmett
Executive Assistant to Head of Asset Projects | Olympic DamExecutive Assistant to Head of Technical Portfolio
My team and I had the pleasure of hosting Garret for Sales Training and it was absolutely fantastic. A thoroughly enjoyable day as we tackled key concepts, engaged in role play and absorbed the benefit of Garret's extensive experience. We look forward to working with Garret and his team again in the future.
Melanie Pritchard
Group Manager - Digital Revenue
Truly the most insightful and relatable training/professional course I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. Absolutely will leave a review - 5 stars
Narissa Chan
Senior Digital Account Manager
Garret took our team of 10 (experienced) sales consultants for the day looking at profiling and strategic sales techniques. It was motivating, insightful and fun. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending Garrett and Kona - we will be back.
Stephen Richards
Director Sales Marketing
Thank you for the most insightful and relatable professional workshop session. It was gratifying, and I feel empowered and more confident.
Thank you so much for delivering such a valuable and engaging session. It was certainly in the spirit we intended. I have had positive feedback, and the team mentioned how valuable they found your session specifically.
Ekta Manwal
HR Advisor
Thanks Garret Norris & the KONA Group for an awesome day yesterday! We learned a lot, but also has so much fun along the way. We look forward to working with you again.
Peg Vaghaye
Executive Manager, Broker Relationships
Thanks Garret Norris for a fun filled 2 days with not only lots of laughs but lots of valuable lessons on how to improve our skills when communicating with our customers and fellow work mates. I know all of us are excited about putting all we’ve learnt into practice.
Heather Priest
Head of Sales APAC at Altura Learning
Garret has a gift which enables him to connect and engage with everybody in the room. Although he is very accomplished, he is very down to earth and uses his Irish charm and humour to put everyone at ease. His delivery of the training was excellent and kept our groups attention for the whole 2 days which is no easy feat! The tools learned in the workshop re-ignited my passion for the sales environment - which is exactly what I was hoping for. All feedback from our team was positive and I would not hesitate to recommend Garret and his team.
Jaime Reid
Senior Business Development & Training Manager
Excellent session with you both Garret and John. Really appreciate the insights into delivering a better experience for all parties involved in a negotiation. Couldn't recommend KONA enough for anyone looking to enhance their Sales and Negotiation capability.
Luke Day
Business Development Lead
Thanks so much Garret Norris and John Wright. It was great training and the team have been talking about it all week. Just what we needed! We will definitely be getting KONA back again!
Judy Cole
Managing Director
Garret delivered some sales training for our team in Brisbane. We are a specialist recruitment agency with people of various experience levels. He was able to tailor an engaging session that everyone was able to benefit from. Thanks Garret!
Forrest Briggs
Principal Consultant & Director
The training that was provided by KONA and delivered by Garret was second to none. I believe my team and I have learned a lot over the training and have had a lot of positive feedback from them.
Benjamin Helmore
Branch Manager
This was a fantastic few days, thank you Garret.
Donavan Derman
CFO
Garret's Sales Communication Training delivered a strategic advantage to our team, who are now equipped with the practical tools needed to drive customer success.
Robert Guerin
Chief Executive Officer
Very interesting/enlightening experience. Quite surprising to receive and witness such accurate profiling of each individual's DISC Profile.
Mitchell Jeggo
Operations Manager
Hey Garret. Just a quick word of thanks. My time on the road with my team has become so much more intentional and productive. One thing I hear when I ask about what they want from the meeting is they say things they want to share. I am getting them to ask what do they hope to learn and discover from the meeting. Anyway just saying again, you have helped me.
Marco de Geus
General Manager - Sales
Really enjoyed our group training day. Learned some interesting insights about myself & colleagues.
Betty James
Senior Marketing Specialist
I couldn't speak any higher of Garret and his team! To gain the trust in our team and instil such empowerment so quickly, is incredible! The ongoing support and encouragement following the training has been wonderful and invaluable. To anyone looking for sales or leadership training for yourself or your business, this team is the best I've ever come across!
Samantha Sullivan
Sales & Marketing Manager
Very down to earth and very easy going.. extremely informative and made the day fun. Thank you greatly.
Adam Carr
Supagas Australia
I've had the good fortune of being trained by Garret on two separate occasions - firstly as a sales agent & later as a leader. His highly engaging delivery, backed by his extensive knowledge is inspiring & insightful. I will always be grateful to Garret at the Kona Group for re-igniting my passion for sales & mentorship.
Gary Lawson
Senior Sales Development Manager
We had the pleasure of John at KONA facilitating some DISC training at our workplace. The group was cohort of different leadership levels at a federal government department. John's expertise and engaging teaching style made the half day thoroughly enjoyable. His real-world examples and interactive approach kept everyone involved and provided valuable insights into team dynamics and personal communication styles. Highly recommend John and KONA for professional development needs!
Jahn Giolitto
Assistant Director
My favourite session at mid-cycle was the guest speaker Garret Norris. It boosted my motivation & made me rethink the way I have conversations in scoping calls with potential customers. I came out of that session with new skills in communication & questioning and found it really valuable as someone new to the sales world.
Natalia Henderson
Pharmacy Business Consultant
Fantastic hands-on coaching by Garret. Really appreciated the wealth of insights and strategies from Garret’s breadth of experience working with other businesses that we can reference. Highly recommended to anyone who would like to improve their external engagement or sales skills!
Lily Che
Senior UX/UI Designer
Thanks Garret, the team really appreciate everything that you did, it was extremely informative, you made the role play interesting and comments from our team that have been on sales courses before, "The best sales course they have ever done.” Our focus now is to put some of these techniques into play!
David Arndell
General Manager
It is really easy to improve our teams communications and ability to work as a team..... when you have a competent, engaging and professional facilitator delivering a message like "Communication and response". Garret Norris certainly gave our team at Rural Financial Counselling Service NSW - Northern Region access to the tools that they need to go forward in meeting our vision with enthusiasm! On behalf of the team.... Thank you Garret!!!
Gary Goldberg
CEO RFCS NSW - Northern Region
One does seldom come across a presenter that builds value, brings real world examples and enables you to be pushed in an environment that is not only safe but also fun. Garret's style is fitting and relevant to the world of today's customers and practices. In my career, I have been to a number of these sessions and left with a textbook approach. However, after spending time with Garret I have a new toolbox of solutions that enable me to best serve my customer and provide true value for all parties. If you're wanting a change approach and down to earth sense of fun with serious outcomes you cannot go past his sessions, real world examples and genuine impromptu approach.
Wade Bailey
Sales & Operations Management
An excellent few days of genuine, modern sales training and workshops. Garret has just the right demeanour to engage the room, providing new tools and sharpening existing ones, all whilst having a bit of fun.
Gareth Spencer
National Sales Manager
✨️"The quality of communication, can only be measured by the response you receive" - G. Norris.
Today, I had the privilege of participating in an incredible Account Management and Sales Training session delivered by Garret Norris. The experience was both insightful and inspiring, with practical strategies and techniques tailored to drive impactful client relationships and sustainable business growth.
What truly stood out was the focus on understanding personality profiles using hashtag #DISC, tailoring our conversations to suit, fostering trust, and aligning solutions to create value. The interactive approach and actionable takeaways made it not just a training session but a transformational experience. A huge thank you to Garret Norris and team for delivering such a well-structured and engaging program. I’m excited to implement these strategies in my work and continue refining the skills shared today. To those seeking to elevate their account management or sales expertise, I highly recommend The KONA Group. Let’s keep growing and delivering value together!
Michelle Koch
Strategic Relationship Manager
This is the first time we've worked with Garret, but it won't be the last. Garret's engaging style is totally relevant to today's market conditions. Our team left energized with many insights on how to grow and create business opportunities. Would highly recommend working with Garret and his team.
Lisa Collie
General Manager
Garret has become an integral part of uplifting the capability in our sales team. He is an engaging facilitator, very seasoned sales trainer and has become an integral part of our team. Thank you Garret!!
Cherie Habashi
Head of People & Culture
Great days training on questioning and value, highly recommend!
Daniel France
Business Development Lead
Thank you Garret for your fabulous words of wisdom to our Melbourne Jim's Antennas & Security Franchisees at our recent Mini Regional Conference. Everyone came away with something to implement into their small business. Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday with the Sydney group.
Heidi Schieren
General Manager
Garret was a brilliant speaker. Emptying his knowledge on a group of technicians. I always get a lot out of sales trading even if it’s just to restore previous knowledge or learn new tactics about how I treat customers.
David McDonald
Antenna Engineer
We had a great session with the KONA Group today on sales prospecting. Garret did an excellent job shifting the team’s perspective on both selling and prospecting. The session was engaging, practical, and thought-provoking. I’ll definitely be a returning customer for more sessions!
Mouaz Alnouri
Founder
Garret from The KONA Group delivered fantastic training at our Melbourne and Sydney Jim’s Antennas & Security conferences. His energy, insight, and practical approach really connected with our team - the feedback was overwhelmingly positive!
Alex Legge
CEO - Jim's Digital
Thank you again for the fantastic session yesterday. The feedback from the team has been overwhelmingly positive - many shared that it was the most insightful and inspiring training they’ve had since joining Envu.
A number of people even described it as the best training they’ve ever received here. I’m looking forward to working with you again soon.
Thanks, Julii
Julii Liu
Commercial Excellence Manager - ANZ
Hi Garret, I’ll definitely leave a Google review, but I wanted to thank you here first for such a fantastic training session. I’ve heard nothing but enthusiastic, glowing feedback from the team. Everyone truly valued the experience. My only regret is that I couldn’t be there in person!
I especially appreciate your collaboration and flexibility in adjusting the agenda so we could incorporate the real sales planning work into the session. It made a big difference and was greatly appreciated by all.
Thanks again for an outstanding training!
Marilyn Hui
Strategy & Planning | Driving Strategic Initiatives, Commercial and Operational Excellence Director
Our team of expert coaches and trainers are dedicated to crafting personalised strategies that align with your unique goals and aspirations. We have the tools and expertise to guide you towards greatness.
By contacting us, you are taking the first step towards transforming your team and achieving the extraordinary.
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