5 sales training tips to improve results

Introduction

As specialists in Sales Training Courses, we have seen it all over the years. From techniques we have tried personally, to the thousands of different ideas we have seen come through our clients. Therefore the methods we have decided to incorporate into our sales training courses are the ones that have proven to work.

The majority of these are focused on the motivation and mindset of the sales person themselves. We often get asked for our favourite tips and techniques, so we have compiled a list of our top 5 tactics that work in all situations and contexts.

1. Learn to motivate yourself in the bad times

Coming in at number 1, unwavering motivation is without a doubt, the very best skill a sales person can develop. Every job, product and industry has its ups and downs. Sales is not easy.

If it were, there would be a quarter of the amount of sales reps that there are today. Sales people are constantly facing objections and rejections. Resilience and a thick skin are often needed to within stand the rejections, but it’s motivation that’s going to carry you through success.

But we’re not just talking about motivation during the good times! Anybody can feel motivated in the good times. It’s finding the positivity to motivate yourself in the bad times that is the real challenge and the real reward. The most successful sales people have developed this skill.

2. Being able to think on your feet

While you can plan your sales pitch, we’re often not able to plan how an entire conversation is going to go. Clients can throw out-of-the-box questions and objections at you at any time. This is where the ability to think on your feet is vital. This ability doesn’t come naturally for everyone, so here are a few things that can help:

• Practice reading your client and a situation at the same time.
• Have some go-to, time buying phrases you can default to while thinking of the best objection handling response
• Use your intuition.

3. A negative person is an ideal client

While it might seem counter-intuitive at first, this statement is meant to change the way you view negative clients. Most people see negative clients as difficult to win over and unappealing, but good sales people can use this to their advantage.

If you give the client the time of day, and actually listen to their complaints and grievances, you may actually be one of the only people who does! And clients who feel like they have been heard are usually much more inclined to trust the sales person. You then have the opportunity to turn them around and create quite an impact on them.

4. To get great answers, you need to ask great questions

No one likes to feel like they are under interrogation or at a job interview. Questions are a vital part of getting to know your client, but you can’t just fire away rapidly trying to get the answers as quickly as possible. Questioning is the perfect way to get to know your client and build their trust.

That’s why we prefer open neutral questions. They can get someone to open up without them even realising it, and it feels like part of a normal conversation.

5. It’s the tone not the words

The authority on verbal and nonverbal messages – Doctor Albert Mehrabian – states that the words we use have an impact of 7%, while tone accounts for 38% and body language actually contributes 55% to the overall interpretation of the message. The most powerful speakers and sales people ensure consistency throughout each of these elements so they can deliver an exceptionally strong message.

At Dynamo Selling, we always instruct clients to focus on your tone every single minute of the day. All these elements are inter-related, and tone is often forgotten. When practicing things like your pitch or objection handling, focus on your tone and body language of the delivery, more than the words themselves.

Client that have been able to execute our top 5 sales training tips successfully have seen dramatic improvements in their results. If you’re interested in finding out more about the concepts in our sales training workshops, or if you are interested in getting Raimond to speak at an upcoming sales conference, please get in touch.