You can recognize them from a mile away.
They don't know where to park or where they'll be eating lunch. They walk with a little too much confidence, exhibit just a tad too much enthusiasm, and always have an uncertain look in their eyes.
They are new sales people, and the future of your company just might depend on their contributions.
New sales people might have excellent experiences and ethics, long track records of success, or the ability to hit the ground running. In fact, if you've done your job correctly, your new sales people probably have all of these attributes. But what they don't have is an understanding of your company's culture – and that's where leadership coaching comes in.
Leadership coaching is all about creating an environment in which your new employees can overcome limitations, exceed expectations, impose their influence, and succeed sooner rather than later.
Here are four fantastic leadership coaching tips to help you support new sales people and get them off on the right foot:
- Teach them to focus on the customer first.
All too often, sales professionals focus too much on selling their products or services and not enough on solving the customers' actual problems. This is especially true for sales people who are new to the profession.
And why wouldn't it be? Talking about bells and whistles is a lot easier than trying to figure out how those bells and whistles apply specifically to an individual customer. But in the end, your sales people will experience faster and more sustained success if they focus on the customer first. - Coach them on the questions.
Understanding your customers' problems and figuring out how to solve them isn't always easy, but the process can be simplified if your sales people know what questions to ask. Teach your team to be inquisitive. Direct them to delve into issues that truly impact your customers.
If your sales team is thoughtful and sincere in their communication, they'll get the information needed to demonstrate how your product or service best addresses the customers' concerns. - Expand their horizons.
Everybody loves an expert – especially when they can help solve problems. Sure, your sales team needs to be knowledgeable about your products and services, but they also need to know a lot about your overall industry.
Expecting your sales team members to expand their horizons beyond your business is a best practice. It will make them more nimble when they're making presentations, prepare them to differentiate your products or services from those offered by the competition, and help them build trust with your customers. - Encourage (non-creepy) stalking.
Speaking of building trust, leadership coaching needs to include tools that help your sales team stalk its customers – but not in a creepy way.
Train your team to read customer and client social media sites. Search for media coverage on customers and the issues they're facing. Then take it a step further and encourage your sales professionals to get to know their customers' personal and professional interests. Check them out on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. A sales team that truly knows their customers will be better prepared to build rapport, ask smart questions, and make more sales.
Bonus tip: Tailor your leadership coaching to your individual team members.
Of course, all of these leadership coaching ideas are only as good as the way the information is presented. To truly maximize the power of leadership coaching, you're going to need to tailor the information for each member of your staff. Doing so makes the message more likely to be used effectively.
