The reality is that most sales managers do not spend enough time with their staff in a coaching capacity. Providing constant feedback and being a role model who demonstrates the right skills.

Many managers today are still focusing too heavily on short term efficiency and not long term effectiveness. Development of staff through on-the-job coaching is a critical function of modern day managers but can take second place to some of the more urgent, but less important priorities.

On-the-job coaching is something that managers recognise they need to do with junior members of the team. When it comes to salesperson with several years experience, the sales manager would prefer not to do it. The rationale goes along the lines that the senior people do not need it. They have been selling for years and they would resent the sales manager going out on a coaching day with them.

It is true that it is not much use you going out to coach people if you cannot add anything to the call. However you are the sales manager and you should be able to add something even to the most accomplished salesperson.

Added to which is the fact that those sales people who have been selling for years are not automatically good salespeople and as we have already discussed, the job of selling is constantly changing.

The 12 step approach for on-the-job sales coaching involves the 3 phases:

• before the call,
• during the call,
• after the call.

Before the call

1 Check the customer records etc.
2 Question the objectives of the call. “Anything else? Can we aim higher?”
3 Review the call/sales plan/presentation plan:

• Key sales techniques
• Likely objections and solutions
• Any problem areas and recommendations
• Role play important points if necessary

4 Agree on your role. Usually shut up and observe the call.
5 Summarise and encourage

During the call

6 Watch and listen

• How the call goes versus the plan
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Improvements from last time

After the call

7 Decide on the key learning points

• 2/3 no more
• Identify some good points

8 Overview the call

• What happened versus the plan
• Let the salesperson lead: “How did you go against your plan?”
• “What did you achieve compared to what your objectives were?”
• Don’t get into the detail of the call at this stage

9 Analysis of strengths

• What did you do well
• Let the salesperson take the lead. Add your own comments

10 Analysis of weaknesses

• “What would you have done differently?”
• Use non directive questioning techniques to let the salesperson solve his own problems. Avoid telling. Focus the questions to the areas where the key learning points are.
• Why did it go wrong?
• What should you have done? Why?
• Role play if necessary

11 Agree on action plan to address the learning points
12 Agree on the next action with the customer

Giving away the margin and undercutting your prices because you can’t say ‘NO’ is no good for anyone. It devalues you, your product, and your market. If done on mass then customers expect ‘cheap’ all the time, not fully appreciating the real value of the products or services they buy. All you do is risk devaluing you and your business.

Just look at the ‘perpetual sales’ going in retail all the time. No one ends up making any money and people go out of business. If you are in retail check Debra Templar’s website www.retailservices.com.au and read what she has to say about this. She is appalled at the state of many Australian Retail businesses and their inability to hold their prices and run successful businesses.

Let’s face it; there will always be someone offering their products or services cheaper than you. But are they offering exactly the same as you? Make sure you know how you compare to the competition. It’s worth it – are you comparing apples with apples?

If your customer is saying “I can get the same thing much cheaper down the road” don’t just accept this as truth. Too many sales people accept these statements at face value not bothering to check if it is true or not. And some customers try this tactic to see if you will cave in or not so they can get something at your expense.

A particular example springs to mind for me:- I recall, in the early days of starting my business, meeting with a recruitment consultant with the express need of helping me find an admin person. I needed an admin person and I didn’t have the time to find one myself so I was ready to buy. The meeting went well and I thought she would do a good job for me. Having been a recruitment consultant myself I knew what was good value in this field. So I asked her how much her fees were. Her immediate response, with no prompting or bargaining from me was this “Oh it’s 12% but you can have it for 10%!’ I was quite shocked. Not only hadn’t I haggled, I didn’t even say anything to indicate I wanted a discount. I would have paid 12 % but instead, took advantage of the discount. Why not was I going to say ‘oh no I’ll have it for 12%’? She was clearly at fault here and had assumed that I would try and beat her down on price so she got in first.

This got me thinking about what is the real price for things and why do so many sales people drop their prices time and time again. If sales people continually do this it can leave the customer doubting the people they are buying from and questioning the real value of what they are getting.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “The Little Red Book of Selling” points out that more than 74 percent of all people are willing to pay the recommended price. He suggests that your prices need to be fair and your need to be firm. You need to be able to stand your ground and know how to prove your value. He then recommends that you ditch the other 26 percent and let them hammer your competition into no profit and bankruptcy, and concentrate on the customers who are willing to pay.

I recall my days working as recruitment consultant for Morgan & Banks. We were not the cheapest in town, in fact we were in the upper quartile for fees and service. When I met with potential new customers to see if we could work with them we would also discuss the fees we charged. We charged 15% and upwards for recruitment assignments as compared to the industry average at the time of 10% or 12%. Many prospective customers assumed that we recruitment consultants were all alike and baulked at the idea of 15%+. Now I could have crumpled and said ‘ok you can have it for 12%” but I didn’t. Instead I asked them what they were getting for their 10-12% so I was able to understand what was on offer and what they saw as value. Once I had that information I was then able to compare our service offering to what they were getting. What they found was there was more on offer for our 15%+ than what they were getting for 12%. And they were able to compare and contrast the various offerings using evidence not just hearsay and make an informed decision. And so was I.

More often than not they went with me and paid the 15%+.

Don’t forget The price is just an arbitrary figure until it is ascribed a value. It means nothing in of itself. Sure the pricing of your product or service needs to be pitched in the right market level, however, make sure you can articulate the value of your product or service offering using real evidence. If you do your homework you might find that you are selling yourself, your products anfd services too cheaply. Here are some hints:

• Make sure you know how your products and services compare and contrast with that of your competition.
• Make sure you fully understand what the customer needs and what they value so you can build a sound business case for using you and make sure you have an economic case to justify your price point. Know what your Return on Investment (ROI) offering is.
• Stand up for your business. Do not fear confrontation or conflict. Be proud of what you do and tell your customers that you do not discount unless it is based on volume. Make sure you can always make money.
• If your strategy is to buy market share then be very careful as lifting prices from a lower base is much harder. And you don’t want to end up like Visy or Amcor.
• Do not give things away to keep the customer ‘sweet’ either, they will not respect you and will keep trying to take advantage of you at your expense.

Learn to sell to the ‘right’ customers:

It helps to identify a ‘Viable’ customer – someone who can buy from you right now for the right reasons. Do they have the following three conditions operating simultaneously?

• MONEY – the willingness & ability to pay for it?
• AUTHORITY to make a decision, and
• A real NEED for your product or services?

If so then sell to them, if not move to the next customer but always leave the door open so they know to come back to you when they are viable.

Clients don’t expect to be coerced, bullied, tricked or intimidated into buying. They don’t expect to be treated like an idiot by sales people who just talk at them and flash brochures or product sheets. Relationships do not work effectively if they are forced!

Clients are now after ‘Business people’who can sell.

Most clients know what they are after even if they don’t know how to articulate it sometimes.

The ‘market challenger’ or ‘early adopter’ clients are open to new ideas and innovations and whilst they don’t know what they don’t know they are often happy to see competent sales people to learn and keep up to date with the latest ideas and innovations. They want to stay ahead of the pack. A key part of our job, as sales people, is to help clients articulate what they need in language they can relate to and understand so they can get what they need.

Today, clients expect to deal with a real professional who knows their own business and how that business is able to serve the client’s business well.

As sales people, we need to listen beyond the obvious product need and get to know how our offering fits in with our clients’ overall business or personal plans. Here are some suggestions on how you can do this:

• Determine the expressed client needs by asking questions, which get you understanding their situation for their point of view. An initial question I often use is ‘What are your key priorities and issues you need to address in the next … months in relation to your company’s sales performance (insert your own area of expertise)?’
• Press for more information to identify the business issues underlying the client’s needs
• Creatively draw on the full resources of your business to see what possible solutions you can offer

Clients expect to be ‘helped’ these days. They expect the sales person to have a reasonable degree of business acumen & commercial awareness. You need to be aware of the bigger picture and your place in it. As you well know the world does not only revolve around your product or service.

You can build your credibility and value as a trusted business partner if you:

• Look to further the interests of your client’s business as well as your own
• Keep current on developments that affect clients’ business strategies including emerging trends and clients’ competitors
• Have a long-term perspective on the way you do business with clients
• Expand the client’s understanding of what a business relationship can be
• And do not forget your ‘Economic Argument’, your ROI (return on investment). Look for ways you can contribute to your clients’ profitability.

As a sales person make sure you always have a valid business reason (VBR) to position you in context of your client or prospect’s business. Think in terms of how the client will perceive you and your value to their business.

An excellent barometer for how your clients feel when you are interacting with them is to imagine you are one of your clients and you are being served by you. Really put yourself in your clients’ shoes and describe your sales and service approach in as much details as possible. What did they say about you and your value to them?

‘Success’ is but an artistic term

And after proper investigation, we as sales people should be able to define what ‘Success’ will looks like in partnership with the client and have a planned approach for change. Remember ‘Success’ is but an artistic term until you give it substance. You need to make sure you can link your client’s goals and desires to work with you to tangible actions and outcomes. We are living in an increasingly evidenced based society and you need to be able to link your business offerings to real outcomes.

No fluff and spin!

You need to be able to communicate achievable objectives for the relationship while challenging the creativity of both the client and your organisation.

In short, in at least Business to Business sales, clients are now after ‘Business people’ who can sell.

How well did your last sales call go? Did you achieve what you set out to achieve? Do you know what your next course of action will be with that customer/prospect? Do you have evidence that a real sales opportunity exists?

Using a pre-call and post-call checklist is a very useful process when assessing the effectiveness of your sales calls.

Too many sales people, however, invest too little time thinking about and planning their approach to developing prospective sales opportunities. Many sales opportunities involve a range of variables that need to be accounted for and acted upon if they are to achieve a successful sales outcome.

Most of us do not work in businesses where you can get an immediate sales result from one contact only. There are often several steps to achieving a successful sale, and like a good chess player you need to think several steps ahead.

So why leave your sales opportunities to chance?

Showing up with little or no plan leaves you looking unprofessional in the eyes of the customer. And you can’t afford that in today’s tough and competitive market place.

You may like to use the following checklist to maximise your sales efforts.

Pre-call checklist:

Questions to consider before calling on a new prospect or an existing customer:

• What is my call objective?
• Who do I need to speak to in this business/division/partnership/family?
• Who is the key decision maker(s)?
• Who is a main influence(s)?
• What potential obstacles exist that will threaten the sale?
• What stage am I at in the sales cycle?
• How will I open the call?
• What information do I have?
• What information do I need to find out?
• What sort of objections emerge out and how will I handle them?
• What’s my fall back position?

Post-call checklist:

Questions to consider when reviewing your customer sales interaction:

• Did I achieve my objective?
• What went right?
• What went wrong?
• What information did I gather?
• What evidence do I have that this is still a viable sales opportunity?
• Did I advance the sale to the next stage?
• What will be my next move?
• Who else needs to be involved in the process?
• What else do I need to do to progress the sale to the next stage?
• When am I next going to see or speak to this customer?
• What will be my next call objective?

It is important that you review each of your calls to determine how you went and how you could improve. This tracking process is important for two reasons:

1. It allows you to determine where you are at in the sales process with that particular customer, paving the way for key action items.
2. It results in a process of continuous improvement, allowing you to continuously improve upon your prospecting skills as you review what worked well and what did not work well.

How many of us have been in business for a while and things have been going along smoothly, sales coming in, customers are happy. Then you notice that you are not winning the business you used to win.

In fact, you notice some of your customers are using new players in the market place when they once used you, or they are not doing anything at all. You follow up and find out that your clients are keen to work with the new players because they bring something different, new or unusual. Or they are distracted by other things.

Initially, you may take it as a personal rejection – “they don’t like me”. Then you stop the self-wallowing and realise that:

• a. You missed out on a new trend or a new idea that was gaining momentum in your market, so your approach is not up-to-date or relevant any more.
• b. You have not kept pace with changes in your market. Your business is at risk of becoming obsolete. You are losing your competitive edge.

With the commoditisation of many products and processes, the business landscape can change over night and you can lose your edge. What was once a high value, premium or customised product or service can be reduce to a “me2” very quickly, or become obsolete.

I have been reading a great book called A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, which talks about what can and can’t be replicated easily. He focuses on, among other things:

Abundance, Asia & Automation

He talks about how we now live in a world turned upside down by rising affluence, the outsourcing of “good jobs” overseas and the computerisation of our lives. He focuses on a world fast shifting from the information age to the conceptual age.

This got me thinking about how we now need to regularly look at our markets and especially our competition and what they are up to. Often the old SWOT is done (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) where the original business plan is put together and then repeated once a year if you’re lucky.

Given the rate of change, new innovations and ideas in the market, how often do we need to assess our competitors and our competitive edge? I am not sure, but all I know is that once a year is not enough these days. There is so much competition out there competing for people’s time, attention and money, it’s hard to keep up. As a sales person we need to know our competitive edge – why we are better than the competition.

And if we have been around long enough we know that competition isn’t just our direct competitors either; it can be anyone. Your competitors can include:

• Current competition.
• Peripheral competition.
• Emerging competition.

In the type of business I am in (consulting, assessment and training) my competition can vary and can also include internal company HR or Learning & Development departments.

However, it can also be the economy, an election, wars, droughts, etc. While I would love to be, and perhaps should be, an essential service provider for any business (we all need to be effective at sales and service), in reality my business is not perceived that way by companies. If things get tough or people get distracted, customers can lose sight of what may be important to them and not invest their money and time in your offering, even though they should.

Being market aware, community aware and world aware is part of our competitor analysis these days. Rather than sit back and think it is all too hard, I have found that regularly reviewing where you are at in relation to everyone else in your space and checking the broader market is a good idea.

This doesn’t mean you have to resort to investing in major market research campaigns. In reality, if you are mindful, you are really researching every day – the information is often right in front of you.

Internet: The internet is a powerful tool for finding information on a variety of topics.

Personal visits:If possible, visit your competitors’ locations. Observe how employees interact with customers. What do their premises look like? How are their products displayed and priced?

Talk to customers:Take careful note of what your customers and prospects are saying about your competitors.

Competitors’ ads / websites/ etc.:Analyse competitors’ ads, websites, marketing material, etc. to learn about their target audience, market position, product features, benefits, prices, etc.

Speeches/ presentations:Attend speeches or presentations made by representatives of your competitors.

Trade show displays: View your competitor’s display from a potential customer’s point of view. What does their display say about the company? Observing which specific trade shows or industry events competitors attend provides information on their marketing strategy and target market.

Written sources:

• General business publications
• Marketing and advertising publications
• Local newspapers and business journals
• Industry and trade association publications
• Industry research and surveys

Understanding your competitors is an integral part of your sales planning process. By investing the time in researching your competitors you will be able to:

1. Understand your competitor’s advantages and disadvantages relative to your own position.
2. Highlight key areas of focus based on your position within the market compared to competitors.
3. Provide an informed basis to develop strategies to achieve competitive advantage in the future.
4. Be prepared to handle questions or challenges posed by potential customers in relation to competitors.

Ask yourself regularly:

• Who are the key competitors in your market place?
• What is a profile of each of your key competitors (market position, size, distribution, reputation)?
• What are your competitors’ primary objectives (to be number one in market, rapid increase market share, to specialise in a particular segment of the market)?
• What do they do well?
• What don’t they do well?
• What threats do your competitors pose?
• What is your primary competitive advantage over them?

An important note: By reading outside your area of specialisation you can learn a lot about other markets and ways of doing business that might just translate into a competitive edge for you. Remember the old saying: “A mind is like a parachute – it only works when it is open”. So be open to new ideas and change. It’s an essential life skill.