Only 10% of salespeople report being coached multiple times per week or more. Yet the benefits of implementing coaching habits are clear. Coaching salespeople several times per week or daily show a +34% gain in responsibility versus those who do not receive coaching at all and close to 20% gain in motivation.
A continuous sales coaching is one of the many recurring behaviour that are delivering huge results to a sales organisation. In the movie “International Man of Mystery”, Austin Powers has this classic incantation: “Oh behave!”. In life and more specifically in the world of sales and sales management, the way we act, or to use Austin Power words, how we behave is essential to our success.
I will steer clearly away from what Austin Powers typically refers to. Yet it’s very easy for sales professionals to lose their infamous “Mojo”, as Austin Powers would say, their motivation and drive as sales professionals would say.
Sales teams are facing unique dynamics
Why? Well, quite simply, how many people in your organisation have to deal with constant rejection, have to hear multiple “nos” then be motivated to pick up the phone again and again, how many need to talk about money day in, day out or are facing competition that puts at risk achieving their goals? My guess? Aside from your sales team, nobody.
So for a sales rep, losing one’s “mojo” is easy. Self-limiting beliefs might start to creep in (here a downloadable list of head trash salespeople suffer from and here those affecting sales manager) . Motivation might start to wane. Results ultimately will be impacted.
So, what’s the solution?
Focus on systems and habits, results will come
Too often sales people tend to focus on the output of their interactions with prospects: a signed contract. Their organisation does the same by putting a strong focus on the revenue they generate, the so-called “lagging KPIs”. Yet, the more efficient approach is to focus, as well, on “leading KPIs” such as the activity generated by the sales people – the “what they do” – and making sure they do sell properly – the “How they do it” – .
Salespeople only control two things: What they do and how they do it. Focus on these two helps them succeed.
So, here is a list of 6 habits that I noticed salespeople are not rigorous enough about. And which sales management people struggle to maintain.
Note: Prospecting is a key habits but I’ve left this one out to focus on less often talked about topics.
6 habits to implements to help your sales organisation succeed
Conducting Call Debriefs
Sports and dating analogies are two classics in the world of sales. So I would unashamedly use the sport one and ask what do top sports teams do post-match ? Do they rush into the next game, or do they meticulously review the match recording, analyse what worked and what didn’t? As we know, regardless of whether they won or not, they consistently seek improvement by critically analysing their previous performance.
The same applies in the world of sales: systematically listening and debriefing prospects calls is a key for ongoing improvement. Sadly, many sales professionals conclude a call and swiftly move on to the next one…
If you are working in sales, consider this: How many of your own calls have you reviewed in the past two weeks? How many valuable insights have you documented as areas for improvement? As a bonus, have you revisited these notes before the subsequent calls to avoid repeating the same mistakes? If you’ve consistently followed this practice, congratulations—you are truly dedicated to your success.
For those who haven’t, what impact would such a routine have had on reaching the success you genuinely deserve? (same applies to sales managers, how many times have you listened to a call with your reports and coached them on it?). You can also download the 7 keys for a successful sales coaching here.
Repeating various stages in the process
Many organisations face the challenge of lacking a well-defined sales process, often simplifying it to generic phases like “Prospect | Discovery | Present | Close.” But for the purpose of this article, I’ll pretend that your sales process is more detailed, that you have also established a methodology and clear milestones that need to be achieved in each stage or go beyond the “wet finger strategy” to make sure forecast are delivered (if that’s not the case and feel this is a possible root cause of below-par results, do get in touch so we can see where the possible gaps are).
So, with a clear process and methodology, salespeople need to systematically allocate time in their schedules for deliberate practice the various stages, through role-playing scenarios. A targeted effort to refine areas where they are less comfortable adhering to is a behavioural approach proven to elevate their success rates. For example, when rolling out transformation projects, I often implement some “springs” on how best to prospect on the phone, generate leads in conferences (teams can make *3 by changing their approach), how to sell on value or reach the decision maker.
Celebrating
Life isn’t easy. And selling, with its continuous “Nos”, even less so. To compensate for these many “Nos”, how many times are sales people celebrated for something other than getting a new customer? How many times are they celebrated simply for having done what they committed they would do, regardless of the results? Or for demonstrating they’ve did overcome a struggle they had to follow their sales process. My experience? Rarely.
Yes, hitting the gong when people sign a deal is fun – a habit I see from time to time – but it’s also reinforcing the message that the only thing we celebrate is the ultimate result, not the effort to get there. So it’s imperative for sales management to cultivate a nuanced sales culture that systematically recognises these mini-incremental wins. And ultimately leads to greater success overtime (and still hit the gong).
Develop a strong referrals habit
One powerful strategy to deploy – whether prospecting is ingrained in salespeople habit or not – is the one of generating referral. It is a habit that, typically, is not consistently enough implemented or sadly badly done.
The data speaks for itself: salespeople who actively seek and leverage referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don’t, according to a study by Texas Tech University. And Linkedin research found out B2B buyers are five times more likely to engage with a salesperson who has been recommended by someone they know.
So is seeking referrals a constant habit of your sales team? If not, have you done a quick calculation of how much more could they generate if they were? If not, get in touch so we can do this simple exercise – and identify how much revenue your team is possibly leaving on the table -.
Implement a proactive “Always Be Recruiting” strategy
Recruitment is a pivotal element in the success of any sales organisation. A robust sales recruitment system, aimed at identifying and hiring top-tier individuals – often referred to as A-Players – is crucial. Unfortunately, many organisations find themselves adopting a reactive approach rather than implement sustained systems, only thinking about hiring when faced with a vacancy due to a departing team member. This reactive stance too often leads to hastily made decisions and poor hiring.
I advocate for the adoption of a proactive “Always Be Recruiting” (ABR) strategy, a term inspired by Glengarry Glen Ross and his famous ABC (you heard it here first 😀 ). An ABR strategy involves a structured hiring process with robust scorecards fronted by robust, sales specific assessments tailored for the very nature of the role (i.e. an account manager wouldn’t be assessed in the same way an SDR would). Fronting it with assessments prevents wasting time on candidates that don’t match the role requirement while also uncovering potential “diamonds in the rough” which would be missed if the initial evaluation would be human due to the impact of biases in recruitment (details here, in French). This way, it’s possible to hire, with a 90% predictability, robust salespeople.
Below is a screenshot of the summary of such an evaluation for an SDR. If you want to calculate how much recruiting mistakes have cost you so far, click here or if you a free trial of an existing sales candidate, click here (available in French).
Evaluation of a candidate for outbound role
Addressing Self-Limiting Beliefs
When we implement recruitment processes or initiate a sales transformation program, a crucial aspect that I emphasise to sales managers is to identify and work of the self-limiting beliefs within their sales team. This prove to be more important than simply teaching sales techniques.
Why? Because these beliefs constitute a fundamental barrier to success. For instance, if a sales professional believes showcasing his product is essential to persuade prospects, making him implement a consultative sales approach will be contrary to what he believes in. So work needs to address this belief. Similarly, if a salesperson perceives €/$/£ 10k as a “chunky” sum of money, convincing them to sell €/$/£ 100k solutions becomes challenging due to their ingrained belief that “Oh my god, this is a lot of money.”
Examples of self-limiting beliefs
To overcome such limiting beliefs, I recommend two habits. Firstly, daily journaling as it’s a simple yet powerful tool for self-reflection and mindset transformation.
I also recommend the regular coaching sessions as they are instrumental in challenging and reshaping these limiting beliefs. Sounds obvious? Well, remember, only 10% of salespeople report being coached multiple times per week or more. For a comprehensive exploration of the impact of coaching on sales performance, you can access a detailed report here.
The take away ?
Bottom line: in sales, if “activities lead to results” and being efficient rather than hyper active is key, maintaining activities and efficiency over time is key to success. Developing a sales culture with rigorous systems helps sales people, sales leadership – and the organisation they work for – secure the success they truly deserve.
So if you find yourself wondering whether your sales team has the optimal habits or if you feel the sales systems in place do not guarantee the success they truly deserve, get in touch.
