A few weeks ago a young Sales Manager called me and
asked if we could get together for an hour to discuss some Sales Management
issues. I agreed as I'm always happy to discuss such issues with a
person whom I knew would actually take any solutions we came up, and
put them into action immediately.
Here is one of the questions he asked;
"When I'm out on a sales call with one of
my people, and I see them losing control and about to lose the deal,
I feel compelled to jump in and save the deal because I want the business.
Should I or shouldn't I do this?"
This is a good question, and I'll start by acknowledging
this young Sales Manager for his commitment to regularly go out on
sales calls with his people. This is where some of the most valuable
training you can provide your sales people with, can and should be
done.
Here are my thoughts on how you can handle this in-field coaching
situation.
1. Decide before going into
the call who will conduct the interview. You or the sales person? If
you and they are not clear on this, then the interview may be difficult
to control, and may be confusing to the client.
2. Once you agree who will conduct the interview,
both agree to stick to the agreement. There is nothing more embarrassing
and self-esteem destroying for a sales person, than having the boss
take over when it's their call.
3. Get clear on the objective and desired outcome
for the interview before you both go in. (eg. A fact finding interview?
to arrange a presentation? to sign the deal? etc.) This teaches your
sales person to get into this habit and prepare properly before they
go into every call. You may be surprised as to how vague some of the
answers you'll get are. Many sales people have no objective or clear
outcome for their calls. They are simply seeing the prospect, and that's
not good enough.
4. If you are conducting this next interview,
tell the sales person what your desired outcome is and outline how
you intend to take it there. Tell them what you'd like them to notice
about how you do it. Remember, what you are about to provide them with,
is a "model" on how this type of call should be conducted.
You may need to modify your normal style of presentation so you don't
take any short cuts etc. Remember they will copy you and may not be
experienced enough to do it like you. Keep it simple and easily duplicated
by them.
5. After the call, conduct an immediate and thorough
"kerbside debriefing". Ask them how they thought it went.
What did they notice? What did they learn? What suggestions would they
have to improve it? What questions do they have? etc.
6. After they see how you do it, now it's time
for you to sit quietly and be the observer. However here are a few
helpful tips. Tell them that you will not speak unless they invite
you to. Tell them that if they feel they need your help, that they
will need to specifically ask for your opinion. After you give your
opinion be sure to hand the interview back over to the sales person.
eg. "So that's my thoughts Mary, what do you think?"
So what if the client now directs questions to you?
Simply pass them back over to the sales person. eg. "I think
Mary has some ideas on that for you, don't you Mary?" If
the client starts looking at you instead of the sales person, get into
the habit of "throwing" the client's eyes back to your sales
person, by simply looking at the sales person's eyes. Your client's
eyes will look where you are looking, at the sales person's eyes.
7. After the call, conduct an immediate and thorough
"kerbside debriefing". Ask them the following questions.
"What did you feel went well?" (This will have them
focus on the good aspects of the call. Never ask, "So what do
you think went wrong?!!") Then ask "So what do you feel
you could have done better?" In both cases listen carefully
to what they have to say. Even take notes. "So what do you feel
you'd do differently in the next call?" After you've listened,
give some immediate feedback praising the good things and making suggestions
for improvements. Be supportive and encouraging.
8. So what it you just can't
sit quietly and watch a $50,000 deal go out the window? Only use this,
once the sales person is confident and doing a reasonable job. Before
you go in, establish a discrete signal system, so you can communicate
with your sales person that you'd like them to ask you a question that
will involve you. This must be much more subtle than a kick under the
table! Maybe you'll place your pen on the table or something just as
subtle. Once your intervention has finished, pass the interview back
to the sales person. Remember you are there to support.
Give them control back and let them have the glory of a successful
outcome.
In-field coaching is vital and important, so get out of the
office and go see the people, as often as you can.
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Wayne Berry is Australia's TOP GUN® Sales Coach and most in-demand
speaker on Sales, Sales Management and Negotiating.
To find out more information about this topic you can contact him
on:
4th
Quarter OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2004
