Have you struggled to reach your sales targets? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, a study by World at Work , reported that 75% of sales representatives did not achieve their sales quotas in 2020, and predict similar results in 2021.
We know that COVID-19 impacted sales performance in many ways. Enterprise corporations and small businesses cut budgets and spending across the board. Employee layoffs fractured long-term customer relationships and impacted KPI’s.
However, we’ve also become aware of the emotional impact COVID-19 had on sales productivity. Many sales professionals struggled to book sales calls during the lockdown and lost confidence in their ability close sales during a lockdown. Many people also experienced a fear for their job security. An uncertain future left some sales professionals unsure where to focus their time and resulted in decreased productivity.
How Do You Increase Your Sales Productivity?
History has shown that economies have thrived after global pandemics and world wars. Many experts are predicting an economic boom coming our way post-pandemic, with “signs of economic life picking up, and mounds of cash waiting to be spent.” As we enter the post-pandemic era, now is the time for you to take advantage of the new sales growth opportunities that will be coming your way.
If you are curious, enjoy learning, and want to maximize your full potential in your sales career, consider partnering with an ICF trained coach with experience in sales leadership. Instead of telling you what to do, a sales coach will empower you to set attainable goals with a strategy that you can commit to. A sales coach is heavily invested in helping your reach your goals. They will measure your progress, hold you accountable and even challenge you. A great sales coach can help you achieve more than you thought you ever could on your own.
Here Are Five Ways A Sales Coach Can Help You Increase Your Sales Productivity
1. Become Inspired
Have you ever wondered where high achievers get their motivation from? Michael Jordan was famously cut from his high school basketball team. He used this experience as fuel to drive him to win six NBA Championships in eight years.
Tom Brady was the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Despite being a sixth round pick that year, he famously told his New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, “Hi, I’m Tom Brady and I’m the best decision this organization ever made.”
An experienced sales coach uses high logical level questioning to help you create a strong vision of what you want to achieve. Questions that reveal your identity, values, and capabilities help create a stronger vision which can significantly increase your commitment to achieving your goals.
2. Increase Your Confidence
Self-confidence is essential to succeed in a sales career. However, there will be times in your career when your confidence is low. Perhaps you experienced a difficult sales quarter or lost a big sale. It can result in unwanted fears that affect your confidence. A sales coach can help you understand why your fear is there and learn what positive intention the fear has for you. The objective is to lessen the strength of the fear and increase the focus on your confidence.
3. Increase Focus
Did you know, average sales professional spends one third of their day selling. The rest of their day is spent on tasks like:
· Planning and preparing for client meetings, presentations, and team meetings
· Managing sales opportunities through CRM tools
· Handling customer inquiries and complaints
· Managing estimates and sales proposals
In the bestselling book, “The One Thing,” author Gary Keller suggests, “Don’t focus on being busy; Focus on being productive. Allow what matters most to drive your day.”
An experienced sales coach can help you focus and prioritize on the tasks that best support your vision or goal. Your coach may use some coaching exercises to balance your schedule around your goal. They may help you develop your skill set in the top two or three responsibilities
4. Create A Schedule Around Your Strengths
We know that managing our daily schedule plays a huge role in creating efficiency and focus for our day. But everyone is different. Some people prefer to work hard during their day, with limited breaks and leave work early. Others prefer to incorporate more breaks throughout the day into their schedule. A sales coach can help you customize a schedule that is aligned with your identity and values, to increase your ability to reach your goals.
Tip: Consider incorporating a reward for yourself to help you celebrate your achievement at the end of each day or week. Make it something special that you can think about during your work day. When you create a reward system, you’re more willing to put forth the effort to achieve your goals.
5. Create Better Sales Habits
One of the perks of being a sales professional is that you can manage your own workday. It can be empowering, but it also makes you susceptible to some bad habits that can negatively impact your ability to increase sales revenue. Some common bad habits that affect sales performance include:
· Saying yes to every customer or co-worker request
· Procrastinating over your next sales call
· Responding to every email or text when they come in
· Surfing the web
· Holding onto lost sales opportunities
· Letting other people control your schedule.
If you spend just 15 minutes a day on each of these six bad habits, that equates to 7.5 hours per week or 375 hours over a 50-week year. How much more sales revenue can you bring in with an additional 375 working hours?
A sales coach may use a strategy of acknowledging the presence and intention of the bad habits, and then focus on adding good sales habits that eventually become more favourable over the bad habits. Your coach will recognize that this will take time and effort and help you set short and long-term goals to make them sustainable.
As a veteran sales leader, and certified solution-focused coach, I enjoy sharing my successes and failures, and learning from other’s experiences. I’m honoured to offer a free 20 minute consultation to experience the power of solution-focused coaching.
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