6 habitudes à mettre en œuvre pour aider votre organisation commerciale à réussir

Coaching habits. What the data says.

Only 10% of salespeople say they are coached several times a week or more. Yet the benefits of implementing coaching habits are obvious. Salespeople who are coached several times a week or daily show a +34% gain in terms of responsibility compared with those who receive no coaching, and a motivation gain of almost 20%.

Ongoing sales coaching is one of the many recurring behaviours that bring excellent results to a sales organisation. In the film "International Man of Mystery", Austin Powers utters this classic incantation: "Oh behave! In life, and particularly in the world of sales and sales management, how we act, or in Austin Powers' words, how we behave, is critical to our success.

We're talking business, so I'm going to steer clear of what Austin Powers generally refers to. Yet it's very easy for sales professionals to lose their famous 'Mojo', as Austin Powers would say, their motivation and drive as sales professionals would say.

Sales teams face a unique dynamic

Why is this so? The reason is simple. How many people in your organisation have to deal with constant rejection, have to hear several "no's" and then be motivated to pick up the phone again and again, how many have to talk about money day after day or are faced with competition that jeopardises the achievement of their objectives? My guess? Apart from your sales team, nobody.

So it's easy for salespeople to lose their "mojo". Limiting beliefs can start to take hold (here's a downloadable list of limiting thoughts that plague salespeople and sales managers). Motivation can start to wane. Results will suffer.

So what's the solution?

Focus on systems and habits, results will come

Too often, salespeople tend to focus on the result of their interactions with prospects: a signed contract. Their organisation does the same by focusing on the turnover they generate, the so-called "lagging KPIs". However, the most effective approach is to also focus on the leading KPIs, such as the activity generated by salespeople - the "what they do" - and ensuring that they sell correctly - the "how they do it".

Salespeople only control two things: what they do and how they do it. Focusing on these two elements helps them to succeed.

So here's a list of 6 habits that are often not followed rigorously enough by salespeople. And that sales managers find hard to maintain.

Note: prospecting is a key habit, but I've left it aside to focus on less frequently discussed subjects.

6 habits to implement to help your sales organisation succeed

Listen to and debrief calls:

Sports and love analogies are two classics in the world of sales. So I won't hesitate to use the sports analogy and ask what top sports teams do after a match? Do they rush on to the next match or do they meticulously examine the match recording, analysing what worked and what didn't? As we know, whether they've won or lost, they're constantly looking to improve by critically analysing their past performances.

The same is true in the world of sales: systematically listening to and debriefing prospect calls is essential to continuous improvement. Unfortunately, many sales professionals close one call and quickly move on to the next...

If you work in sales, consider this: How many of your own calls have you reviewed in the last two weeks? How much valuable information did you note down in order to improve? As a bonus, did you review these notes before subsequent calls to avoid repeating the same mistakes? If you followed this practice rigorously, well done - you're truly dedicated to your success.

For those who haven't, what impact would such a routine have had on the success you truly deserve? (The same goes for sales managers: how many times have you listened in on a call with your subordinates and coached them through it?) You can also download the 7 keys to successful sales coaching here.

Repeat the different stages of the process:

Many companies suffer from the lack of a well-defined sales process, which they often simplify with generic phases such as "Prospect | Discover | Present | Close". But for the purposes of this article, I'm going to assume that your sales process is more detailed, that you've also established a methodology and clear milestones that need to be achieved at each stage, or that you go beyond the 'wet-finger strategy' to ensure that forecasts are met (if this isn't the case and you think it's a possible cause of poor results, contact me to see where any gaps are).

So, with a clear process and methodology, salespeople should systematically allocate time in their schedule to deliberately practise the different stages, through role-play scenarios. A targeted effort to refine the areas in which they are less comfortable is a behavioural approach that is proven to increase their success rate. For example, when rolling out transformation projects, I often set up 'sprints' on the best way to prospect over the phone, generate leads at conferences (teams can do *3 by changing their approach), sell on value or reach the decision-maker.

Celebrate:

Life isn't easy. And selling, with its constant "Nos", even less so. To make up for these many 'Nos', how often are salespeople congratulated for anything other than getting a new customer? How often are they celebrated simply for doing what they set out to do, regardless of the results? Or for demonstrating that they have overcome a difficulty in following their sales process. My experience? Rarely

Sure, it's nice to hit the gong when people sign a contract - a habit I see from time to time - but it also reinforces the message that the only thing we're celebrating is the end result, not the effort that went into getting there.

So it's imperative that sales leadership cultivates a nuanced sales culture that consistently recognises these small victories. And which, put together, leads to greater success over time (while still banging the gong).

Develop a habit of seeking out referrals :

A powerful strategy to deploy - whether prospecting is ingrained in salespeople's habits or not - is that of generating referrals. It's a habit that's generally not implemented enough or is done badly.

The data speaks for itself: according to a study by Texas Tech University, salespeople who actively seek referrals earn 4 to 5 times more than those who don't. What's more, a Linkedin study revealed that B2B buyers are five times more likely to engage with a seller who has been recommended by someone they know.

Is your sales team constantly looking for referrals? If not, have you done a quick calculation of how much more it could generate if it was? If not, contact me so that we can carry out this simple exercise - and identify the revenue that your team is forgetting to seek out.

Implement a proactive 'Always Be Recruiting' strategy:

Sales recruitment is critical to the success of any sales organisation. A robust recruitment system, aimed at identifying and hiring high performing sales people - often referred to as 'A-Players' - is crucial. Unfortunately, many organisations take a reactive approach rather than implementing sustainable systems, only thinking about recruiting when faced with a vacancy due to the departure of a team member. This reactive attitude all too often leads to hasty decisions and poor recruitment.

I advocate adopting a proactive "Always Be Recruiting" (ABR) strategy, a term inspired by Glengarry Glen Ross and his famous "ABC" (you heard it here first :D ). An ABR strategy involves a structured recruitment process with scorecards, preceded by robust, sales-specific assessments tailored to the very nature of the role (for example, an account manager will not be assessed in the same way as an SDR). The use of assessments avoids wasting time on candidates who don't fit the job requirements, while uncovering possible 'diamonds in the rough' who would have been overlooked if the initial assessment was done by a human due to the impact of bias in recruitment (see details here). In this way, robust salespeople can be hired with 90% predictability.

Here is a screenshot of the summary of such an evaluation. If you want to calculate how much recruitment mistakes have cost you so far, click here or if you want a free trial of an existing sales candidate, click here.

[caption id="attachment_87231" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Result of a candidate recommendation[/caption]

Tackling self-limiting beliefs:

When we implement sales recruitment processes or initiate a sales transformation programme, a crucial aspect I stress to sales managers is identifying and working on the limiting beliefs within their sales teams. This is more important than simply teaching sales techniques. Why? Because these beliefs are a fundamental obstacle to success. Because these beliefs are a fundamental obstacle to success. For example, if a sales professional believes that it is essential to present their product in order to persuade potential customers, getting them to adopt a consultative sales approach will be contrary to their beliefs. The work must therefore focus on this belief. Similarly, if a salesperson considers €/$/£10,000 to be a lot of money, convincing them to sell €/$/£100,000 solutions will be difficult because of their deeply held belief that "Oh my God, that's a lot of money". 

[caption id="attachment_87232" align="aligncenter" width="840"] Examples of a candidate's limiting beliefs[/caption]

To overcome these limiting beliefs, I recommend two habits. Firstly, keeping a daily diary, as this is a simple but powerful tool for introspection and transforming your state of mind. I also recommend regular coaching sessions, because they allow you to question and reshape those limiting beliefs. Sound obvious? As a reminder, only 10% of salespeople say they are coached several times a week or more. For a full understanding of the impact of coaching on sales performance, you can download a detailed report here.

What should we remember?

In a nutshell: in sales, "activity leads to result", but maintaining it over time is the key to success. Developing a sales culture with rigorous systems helps salespeople, sales managers and the organisation they work for to achieve the success they truly deserve. And it's not just about prospecting. A myriad of activities contribute to the success of a sales organisation.

If you're wondering whether your sales team has the right habits in place, or if you feel that sales systems aren't delivering the success they truly deserve, contact us .