Start with the premise: Sales Solve all Problems! Not enough sales means many problems. Sales make problems go away.
So, you might ask: Can anything be done about that? The answer is YES!
Here are three problems facing the sales landscape today.
The first, is technology. Gone are the days when traditional sales people could rely on their innate people skills, and their high energy – two integral components to sales success. As a psychotherapist I can tell you, the social skills of a traditional seller, walk in lockstep with the necessary components of professional selling. In short, they are born with natural selling skills. Their weakness? Technology.
However, regardless of the product or industry, there is a higher demand today for frontline sellers to be skilled in the ever-changing world of technology. And therein lies the problem. It can’t be understated; technology is not in the traditional sellers comfort zone.
Nevertheless, the competitive frontlines demand that salespeople today must come equipped with unquestioned technological skill and expertise. How is this currently being addressed? Traditional IT specialists are being moved from their comfort zone behind a computer screen back at the office to the front lines – Not Their Comfort Zone!
Metaphorically speaking, it would be like sending your army engineers from behind the line, to the front line to engage in combat. That’s not their comfort zone or what they were trained for. To be fair to them, it would be the same to take frontline special ops from the frontline and make them engineers. In both cases, they could learn the skills necessary to be successful, but not without strategic and timely training. In the business world we have moved our engineers to the frontline where necessary and adequate ‘strategic’ sales training is not being given to them.
The second problem facing the sales landscape today is tenure. In the past, up-and-coming sales reps were often taken under the wing of successful sales journeyman who mentored and coached the inexperienced. Technology has dismantled the traditional sales bullpen. In some companies there is no more sales bullpen – and many of these corporations are suffering. Satellite or home offices as a result, has eliminated the important mentoring process… leaving the inexperienced to flounder unsuccessfully on their own.
What does this lead to? Rampant turnover, which is our third problem.
Data today states that the average tenure, especially in the selling industry is only 2 to 3 years – that’s it! In struggling companies it’s even worse than that. Companies bring on new hires, provide them with some training, and set them free on their own to succeed or more often than not Fail! We are failing them.
So, what’s the solution? Companies must buy-in to the reality that frontline sellers today need specialised coaching, mentoring and proven sales success-training.
And that’s what I do! All my professional life I have been a student of professional sales. I have taken and taught many of the best sales courses offered. My success in tandem with my psychological training can change the sales strategies of your frontline sellers to embolden their technological expertise with proven sales success-stratagems that ultimately improves corporate tenure by reducing turnover.
Sales Solve All Problems.
If your current strategy is working for you, keep doing it. If not, ask yourself what it would be like – throughout the company – if you brought in a proven sales coach/mentor, sales dramatically increased, employees were happier, problems and turnover diminish.
I have done that for individuals and other companies. And I’d like to do it for you!
If you have any of these problems, send me an email, and we can set up a meeting.
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Paul Shearstone MACP, NLP/CCP, is a recognized expert on Sales and Persuasion. He is an International Speaker, Certified Coaching & NLP Practitioner, Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and Author of several books including, “Up Your Income! Solution Selling for Profitability”. www.success150.com paul@success150.com