Learning
from Superstar Sales Reps
Earlier in my
career, I spent some time working at a company that sold software
products to most of the companies
on the Global 1000. This company had hundreds of sales reps located
across the world. Many of them were truly great at what they did.
I remember one sales
rep in particular who had been with the company since the very
early years when product sets were limited and just a few reps were
pounding the pavement. This rep handled some of the biggest named
accounts for the company and consistently blew out his numbers.
He had received so many president’s and vice president’s awards
that eventually, in lieu of another crystal bowl or a Rolex, the
company gave him a bronze Remington statue. He was terrific!
Every company
has superstar sales reps
– the type of people who make selling look easy. They have an effortless
way of taking clients through the sales process and always hitting
their numbers. Sure… they may not hit every deal but, more often
than not, they get the contract signed.
At the same
time, companies have their fair share of sales
reps whose habits should be avoided like the plague. One rep
at a different company I worked with was known to sleep under his
desk before George Costanza made it “fashionable”. He would sneak
out of his office, take the side stairs down eight flights and have
a friend pick him up to play tennis. Rather than making calls to
service
his accounts, he was serving on the court. As you can imagine,
that person didn’t last long.
Every
day, you have a choice to emulate the superstar sales reps or the
sad sack sales reps.
Who you learn from and associate with will have a direct impact
on your sales. The impact may not be immediately evident but it
will show up in the long run. It can also mark your sales habits
and stick with you for months or even years.
Having this
knowledge,
you need to realize that one of the easiest techniques you can use
to improve your selling
skills is to learn from the best. Learn what techniques
and habits are used by the most successful sales professionals to
influence customers, close business, increase their sphere of influence
and consistently reach their sales numbers. This can be done by
shadowing a sales rep during sales calls, learning about the processes
they use or simply asking
questions. It’s easy. If you know of a conference call that
will take place with an important client, sit in and find out what
you can learn. Astute observation can lead you to breakthroughs
in your personal selling style.
As you sit on a sales call or just chat
for a learning session, ask yourself some of the following questions:
- How
does this person treat his/her customers?
- What process
does the sales person go through during a sales
call?
- How
does this person spend their day?
- What skills
and techniques elicit positive reactions from customers?
- What does
this person do in the morning before he/she gets to work?
- How
does this person wrap up the day?
- How
does this person handle
objections?
- What techniques
does this person use to close
sales?
- How
do they handle adversity?
- What
sales tools does this person use to help them sell?
- What
do they do to stay on top of product/service updates?
As you go through
this process, come up with your own set of questions. Take down
notes during sales calls and meetings. If you have a target
account that is similar to the accounts this person calls on,
ask them how they would handle a situation. Pick their brain.
Most people will be more than happy to help and, in some cases,
may be willing to act as a mentor.
Learn from the
best sales
professionals. They will often be happy to lend a hand and may
have done the same when they were starting out.
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