How Can Sales Managers Improve Their Sales Teams’ Creativity?

Creativity can be a major contributing factor towards the success of a sales team. The best way to boost sales is by ensuring that a product, service or brand stands out from the crowd, and that differentiation process requires creative thinkers. Indeed, it is for this reason that sales managers training should always include a creative element.

However, sales managers need a strong team beneath them and not every salesperson is blessed with natural creative instincts. As a result, sales managers need to think of ways to unlock their sales teams’ creative potential and encourage them to engage with customers in unique and interesting ways. So how exactly can this be done?

Encourage New Ideas and Use Them

Although it may seem like an obvious point, one of the biggest steps a sales manager can take is to actively encourage new and creative ways of thinking. Simply being open to new ideas is a huge step, as it allows the sales team to feel confident enough to express their thoughts and feelings freely.

Hosting brainstorming sessions during sales training can be a great strategy for encouraging 'outside of the box' thinking. Think of real problems and encourage creative solutions to them. At this stage, it is best not to become overly concerned with implementation; simply try to generate as many ideas as possible to build confidence.

Once a substantial number of ideas have been generated, it is crucial that some of them are analysed further and eventually put into action. In order to build a creative sales team, its individual members must feel that their ideas are appreciated and have a chance of being listened to.

Teach the Value of the Four W's

It is true that some people are more creative than others, but everyone can learn techniques to become better equipped to think creatively. One tip is to always think of the four W's: "What?", "Why?", "What if?" and "Why not?"

Asking "What?" encourages a salesperson to consider what their current predicament is. "Why?" gets them to explore why they are in that situation. "What if?" promotes creativity in terms of coming up with alternatives, or a solution, while "Why not?" ensures that they consider consequences and evaluate the arguments against their idea.

Customers respond to creative salespeople, who think on their feet and come up with unique proposals. If a sales manager can promote this strategy, they can ensure that their sales team is equipped to think on the spot and improve the overall quality of all of their creative ideas, both on the sales floor and in team meetings.

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From Sales Executives to Professional Account Manager

If you’re a sales executive and are keen to work your way up the corporate ladder and become a professional account manager, you should consider sales executive training to help you achieve your dream.

If you are knowledgeable in your chosen profession, you respond promptly to all enquiries and you’re ethical in all your dealings with customers, you have acted professionally and this is a good base for developing managerial skills.

Some of the skills you would revise during sales training include:

Consultative Selling

In consultative selling, all sales calls revolve around the customer and their needs, rather than the usual ‘product push’ cold call. During a consultative selling call, the salesperson would discover the needs of the customer through mutual conversation and then try to meet those needs by offering a product. The language used during the call should be more benefit-orientated than a standard sales call, to reflect this.

Offering Creative Solutions

Another aspect of this type of selling is that the salesperson should be able to choose products or services from a broad range and pick one or more that are most suited to the customer to provide them with a truly tailored service. This is called offering creative solutions or multi-selling.

Focusing on Value

Today’s consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Rather than being loyal to one company, customers are shopping around to get the best deal – possibly because of austerity measures and the economic downturn. Whatever the reason, they are looking for high quality products at competitive prices. Part of your sales call should therefore focus on the good value and affordability of your product.

This value product can be offered as a solution to the customer’s problem that will bring them a return on their investment.

Gain the Trust of Your Client Base

Gaining the trust of the customer, having in depth industry knowledge and advanced sales skills will give you a strong professional relationship with your clients. Those who provide advice can become a trusted advisor and give themselves the edge on their competition.

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How Successful Companies use Customer Service to save money?

The current difficulties businesses face to obtain credit may have you wondering how to balance your businesses budget. As a result, you may want to prioritise your spending to focus mainly on marketing your products or brand name.

However, the customer experience is just as important. The secret of a successful business is not just about marketing, it’s also good customer service. Effective and friendly customer services training should be viewed as an investment in client relations and in the company. There is no sense in reeling in a customer with your product only for him to have a disagreeable purchase experience and decide not to come back. A happy customer is a returning customer.

Make Sure You Have a Customer Service Telephone Line

The ability of your customer to reach you easily regarding orders, returns or any other issue will increase their satisfaction and your reputation as a company. This will increase your sales without huge set-up fees. Remember, your customer service line may be the only time a customer has any communication with your company so their first impression is vital. All staff should attend customer service courses.

Use Customer Service to Advertise Your Business

If you are a small business and you’re selling products that lots of other businesses sell too it can be difficult to cope with the competition. One of the things that could make you stand out is outstanding customer service. Many consumers yearn for the ‘old days’ where proprietors knew each of their customers personally and took the time to chat to them. If you can offer this personal touch you should advertise it.

Offer Self-Service Options

Some customers prefer to embrace modern technology and would like to manage their transactions themselves for the speed and ease of use. You could provide additional self-service options. Make sure your staff are prompt if a customer has a problem or query.

Have in-store Educational Videos

Showing educational videos on how to use your products may increase sales.

Seek Customer Feedback

If you seek customer feedback you will know what products the customer wants and can tailor your service to their individual needs.

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How Can a Sales Team Handle The "Lack Of Budget" Objection?

"I'd love to, but it's just not in the budget for this quarter," says a potential buyer, and most salespeople will take this as a firm "no" and move on to the next on their list. It's surprising how many salespeople do exactly that, and even more surprising that your average sales force training programme doesn't cover what to do in these situations. The truth is, there's a much bigger potential for a sale than most people realise.

Why? Because when a buyer says it's not in the budget, most of the time what they're really saying is, there's no room in the budget for something that doesn't wow me. But does that mean you should give up? Absolutely not: it means you need to figure out what will wow that buyer. They may not be interested in this product, but they might be interested in something else.

When it comes to budgets, most have some built-in wiggle room. And that “wiggle money” is more likely to be spent on a want item rather than a need item. The question is, what does the buyer want?

A fundamental part of sales training is about learning how to determine what a buyer wants, and also about figuring out how to make a buyer want what you're selling. These best-practice strategies still apply here; as always it's just a matter of asking the right questions. Remember, it's all about asking open-ended questions that get the buyer talking; for example:

• If cost weren't an issue, what would you be looking for in a [product]?

• Apart from the cost, what's stopping you from considering [product]?

• What [product] features are most important to you?

This isn't necessarily about trying to sell the product the buyer already turned down; the more important aspect is the fact that you're getting the buyer talking. That helps you figure out what it is they want, and it may be that you have another product that fits neatly into that category. Not only that: it's also a way of ramping up the buyer's enthusiasm for the original product, and sometimes, that's all it takes to override any budgetary concerns and make the sale.

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How Can You Find the Hidden Leaders in Your Organisation?

Leadership skills training is an important part of preparing future company leaders for the role, but how do you identify who those leaders are? Sometimes an employee's leadership qualities are obvious, but that's not always the case.

Defining the Hidden Leader

According to Scott Edinger and Laurie Sain, authors of The Hidden Leader: Discover and Develop Greatness within your Company, hidden leaders are people who believe that their actions contribute to the company's success. A simple definition that speaks volumes, because people who believe in the importance of what they do tend to be highly motivated. By this definition, the leaders in your organisation aren't always who you think they are: it might be the customer service representative who goes above and beyond to solve problems, or the personal assistant with a talent for preventing problems even before they arise.

In most organisations, selecting candidates for the leadership track tends to result in promoting those candidates who are the most outspoken or the most adept at self-promotion, but aren't necessarily the best leadership candidates. Hidden leaders, however, are often less inclined to promote themselves and their talents.

Identifying your Hidden Leaders

So how can you identify these people? According to The Hidden Leader, there are four key traits to look out for. Hidden leaders are people who:

• Demonstrate personal integrity by consistently speaking and behaving according to a strong code of ethical conduct regardless of with whom they are interacting. Their inclination towards consistently ethical behaviour makes them reliable and trustworthy.
• Lead through their relationships with others, because they consistently act in ways that inspire respect and trust, rather than using their position to influence people.
• Are results-oriented, independent workers who can take initiative and work outside the box to complete a task.
• Are also customer-oriented, with an awareness of how an organisation's actions and promises influence customers’ buying decisions.

Hidden leaders are highly effective employees, and given the chance, can make significant positive impact within an organisation. Being able to identify the hidden leaders, to develop and nurture their talents, can help them and the company flourish.

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The Pitfalls of Promoting Good Salespeople To Sales Management Roles

When a company promotes a top-selling sales rep to a managerial role, it's often done on the principle of “disciple selling,” or the hope that the new manager will pass on their sales skills to their new team. Unfortunately, what often happens is the complete opposite of what the company is expecting. On paper it sounds like a great idea, but there are definitely a few potential pitfalls to watch out for.

Sales Figures May Take a Hit

A good salesperson is hard to replace, but to replace an exceptional one is all but impossible. If you promote your top seller, are you going to find that your sales figures take a significant hit? And what happens if your figures drop month after month? Whatever you're hoping to gain by promoting your top seller might be entirely negated if their replacement isn't up to scratch.

Changing the Team Dynamic

Strong sales teams aren't strong solely because they're made up of high-performing individuals. Team dynamics, or the way team members interact with one another, also plays an important role. Changing up the dynamics by promoting one team member can be a positive thing, but it's not guaranteed. Promoting a great salesperson who isn't well integrated within the team, for example, may result in a great deal of disruption. Team leadership training can help address these types of problems, but in the short-term the team's sales figures are likely to suffer.

A Good Salesperson isn't Necessarily a Good Manager

When you promote a good salesperson you don't just risk losing sales; you also risk the possibility that your excellent salesperson just isn't a good manager. The fact is, some of the qualities that make someone great in sales don't necessarily translate into good managerial skills.

In short, don't promote a salesperson purely on the basis of their sales figures. Make sure they also have the qualities you'd be looking for in a manager you would be hiring from outside the company. It is also key that the salesperson fully understands the difference between managerial skills and sales skills to be decide whether the position is for them, which is something that is often overlooked by companies in a rush to fill the position.

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How You Can Improve Your Sales Team’s Motivation

Increasing employee productivity is something that's always of interest to team leaders, especially in sales, where productivity and effectiveness translate directly into customers, orders, and profit. Successful sales reps tend to be people who are naturally highly motivated and productive, but there's almost always room for improvement. If you're looking for new ways to improve the productivity of your sales team, investigating the self-determination theory may be highly beneficial.

Self-Determination Theory and Motivation

Self-determination theory is a model of motivation, which states that people are more productive when their motivation comes from within, rather than when they are pressured by external forces.

In terms of sales it might, for example, be the difference between a sales rep being pressured to perform by their supervisor, and a rep being intrinsically motivated to perform because they genuinely enjoy the job and want to succeed. The latter situation is obviously more effective, and in terms of sales performance, tapping into this kind of motivation can be a game-changer.

Applying Self-Determination Concepts to Sales Coaching

There are three psychological needs that must be met for an employee to have strong internal motivation.

• Autonomy: the employee must feel that their work and work performance is something they choose for themselves.

• Competence: the employee must feel competent and valued in their working environment.

• Relatedness: the employee must feel that they have supportive and meaningful relationships with colleagues.

Sales training can't teach or inspire internal motivation, but a supervisor or coach can support an employee's drive to develop and maintain it. For example, a sales leader can facilitate relatedness by building supportive relationships with each member of the team, and by creating an environment that encourages team members to form supportive relationships with one another.

The needs for autonomy and competence are partially met when an employee chooses, enjoys, and is suited to a career in sales. It's also something that the working environment must support, particularly in terms of feedback given by coaches and supervisors. For example, it's important for team leaders to provide reps with opportunities to make choices, and to give them all the information they need to make choices that allow them to perform to a high level of competency.

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Secrets Of High-Performing Sales Coaches

Coaching in general is a hot topic, but when it comes to sales, it's important to realise that the coaching that sales reps need is very different from the kind of general coaching that's appropriate in other areas of business. Learning how to effectively coach sales reps is an integral part of sales management training, and while some general coaching skills are good to have, there are specific skills that are much more important for effective sales coaching.

Defining and Achieving Goals

Good coaches help their sales people define their own goals; great coaches help their reps create and execute action plans that will allow them to achieve those goals. That includes helping trainees develop habits and behaviours that contribute to and increase their sales success.

Know When to Give Advice, and When to Back Off

In some training circles, the prevailing school of thought is that coaches should avoid giving direct advice, because it's more important that the “coachee” receives general advice and coaching that will enable them to figure things out on their own. But in sales, situations often arise where giving direct advice enables a trainee to make a sale they would have lost otherwise, and in the sales industry there's no room for lost opportunities. A good coach has to know when direct advice is needed and warranted, and when it's better to step back and let their trainee use their own judgement to solve a problem.

Essentially, this is about understanding that sales coaches have two different jobs: one is to provide general support and advice that helps a trainee improve over time, and the second is to provide specific, direct advice when it's needed to help a trainee take advantage of an opportunity. So, sales coaches need to be able to give both immediate and long-term advice, and know when each kind of advice is appropriate.

Inspiration and Motivation

Good sales coaches understand that motivation isn't the same for everyone; people are motivated in different ways by different things, and a great coach is someone who can help each and every rep tap into their own personal source of internal motivation.

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3 Ways To Develop Your Team's Customer Service Skills

In any industry, a business must work continually to improve their service team’s skills with customer service courses and training. Some of the most important assets are really personality traits, which aren't necessarily easy to teach, but even so they're skills that can be developed and improved upon.

Empathy and Patience

When a customer contacts a service representative, it's typically because they have a complaint or query. Some customers are angry and some are impatient; regardless of the situation, a rep needs to handle each with a high level of diplomacy.

Skill development: empathy means stepping into someone else's shoes, and understanding why they feel the way they do. A great rep is naturally empathetic, a skill that can be learned to some degree. One way to develop empathy is by getting to know people from different backgrounds and understand what is important or less important to them.

Empathy naturally helps to improve patience, too, but just as important for a service rep is understanding what can make them lose their patience. Knowing what those cues are can help them stay calm under pressure.

Communication Skills

Service reps must be able to communicate with customers clearly and concisely so that customers understand what's being said. They also need to be able to use positive language and remain calm and cheerful in any situation, no matter how irate a customer becomes. Listening is also an essential skill: each customer is different, and each customer interaction will vary; a great rep can quickly sense a customer's mood, and adapt their service strategy accordingly.

Skill development: dealing with customers involves active listening, which means listening to what a customer says, and clarifying and rephrasing what has been said by repeating that back to the customer. This confirms that each party understands what's happening, and ensures that the customer feels heard.

Knowledge

Customers rely on service reps to help them solve their problems, so reps need to have good working knowledge of the business's products or services. A rep should be able to solve most problems, and know what to do in cases where solving a problem requires special knowledge or skills. This skill is one that customer service training should cover in depth and on an ongoing basis.

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5 Steps To Successful Leadership

Good leadership is an essential element of a successful organisation, and managing leaders effectively can result in a more efficient, profitable, and valuable business.

Determine on Preferred Leadership Style

One thing that makes a leader effective is how well they fit with company culture, and how well their leadership style meshes with the requirements of their job. Leadership isn't conducive to a one-size-fits all approach, and the specific requirements of a leader depends a great deal on the organisation for which they work, and the level at which they work within it.

Identify Potential Company Leaders and Shortfalls

Your organisation may currently have all the leaders it needs, but it's always important to identify up-and-coming employees who may be suitable for leadership training in the future. It's similarly crucial to consider how your leadership needs may change as the organization evolves and grows, and be open to the idea of creating new leadership roles as needed.

Create Leadership Planning Goals

Companies that help their employees plan their careers—and offer opportunities for advancement—are rewarded with higher levels of employee retention and engagement. For people with leadership potential, it's doubly useful, because it allows the organisation and the employee to work together to ensure that they develop the competencies they will need as leaders.

Develop Leadership Skills Requirements

Along the same lines, it's also important to develop a roadmap for potential leaders to follow, to help them gain the requisite skills and experience. Both formal and non-traditional learning activities should be part of such a roadmap, including activities such as job shadowing, mentoring, coaching, rotational assignments, and project leadership.

Implement Leader Retention Programmes

One key element of leadership development that's often overlooked is that of retention. There's always the risk of losing top leaders to other organisations, so it's crucial to develop strategies that encourage leaders to stay with a company and continue performing at a high level. And these days, it's not enough to simply offer a high salary and additional financial rewards; people also value flexibility in the hours they work, the ability to work out of the office, and other perks that help them maintain a desirable work-life balance.

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How to Become a Successful Sales Representative

The nature of sales is such that personal qualities like attitude and personality are hugely important determinants of success, and all the sales rep training in the world can't make up the lack. But for reps who just need a nudge or two in the right direction, it can be useful to understand just what those essential qualities are.

Develop a Keen Sense of Empathy

Empathy is the quality of identifying with people and understanding what they're feeling; it's an enormously useful trait for salespeople because it enables them to understand a customer's motivations and concerns, and tailor their sales pitch accordingly. A rep with a strong sense of empathy finds it easy to establish trust and help others feel at ease, and is good at reading body language and other non-verbal cues.

Stay Focused, Stay Optimistic

People who are focused are driven from within; they don't require external motivation to want to succeed. They're self-motivated, self-starters, and they're willing to do what it takes to achieve their goals.

A related trait is optimism: the ability to persist and stay focused in the face of failure. It's a crucial trait, because in sales, failure is inevitable—so it's not a lack of failure that's important, it's the ability to stay focused and confident when failure happens.

Accept Responsibility

People who are prepared to accept responsibility for their own actions don't shift the blame onto others when problems arise. Instead, they accept whatever responsibility is theirs, they work to find out what went wrong, and they make the effort to make improvements where they're needed.

Feed the Desire for Success

Sales training can help new reps understand how to succeed, but it can't make them want to succeed. That desire to succeed just for the sake of being successful is something that can't be taught. Someone who genuinely enjoys competing and being the best they can, who enjoys the profession for the opportunities it provides in terms of winning, and who gains personal gratification from a successful sale, has the makings of a great rep.

It's important, however, that the desire for success is tempered by those other essential qualities—like empathy and a willingness to accept personal responsibility—to ensure that success doesn't come at another's expense, whether its a customer or a colleague.

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