The ABCs Of Sales Leadership...Always Be Coaching

Sales leadership requires a unique set of skills! In fact, the ABCs of Sales Leadership, Always, Be, Coaching, requires sales leaders to understand the keys to sales success that

top salespeople posses and average salespeople need to learn. Then, they can coach, teach and manage them daily. 

The key for any sales coach is how they instill, inspire and develop their salespeople's Emotional Sales Intelligence (ESI). ESI is the combination of a salesperson's mindsets, beliefs and intentions. ESI reveals a salesperson's self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. It's the driver of a salesperson's performance. It is the key to their continued development and actions. It's what separates mediocre salespeople from top performers.

If you want each year to be your best year yet, Then get ready to think, act and be different? It's time to be odd (Optimistically, Determined to be Different), or accept the alternative, being average!

So let's look at the 7 most important things a Sales Leader needs to understand so they can spend their time coaching, teaching and managing them to instill a winning sales culture and produce extraordinary results. 

1. Mindsets, beliefs and intentions drive behavior...

People cannot behave outside their mindsets and intentions. Some they're aware of, others are deeply rooted in their psyche, subconscious or human nature but they must be aligned or overcome to become their best.

The most important thing you can do is become self-aware of your mindsets, beliefs and intentions and learn to control them to create the results you desire!

2. Human nature and what people seek...

Are you good enough? Your answer sets you up to grow or shuts you down to be less than your best. You see, it's not that you need to be better, you're probably good enough to be comfortable or you'd be working hard to improve, just like you did until you reached your comfort level.

Instill the desire in your salespeople to learn, grow and improve, instead of seeking comfort. Help them create a habits of doing the difficult uncomfortable things first to become their best.

3. The power of intentions...

What are your salespeople's intentions when they go to work, and every time they meet with a prospective buyer?

The intention to make a sale must be shifted to helping, serving and doing what's best for the buyer. This is the secret sauce of top salespeople, that allows them to make customers and produces the best sales results.

4. Remembering the positive, overcoming the negative...

When salespeople think of buyer's, which one's do they remember? The compliant easy going buyers or the difficult, challenging, non-compliant buyers? Which ones' do they talk about the most and use as their excuses to keep from doing what extraordinary salespeople do? Since we're all wired to remember the negative the non-compliant buyers manage most salespeople's attitudes about buyers by default.

Top salespeople overcome their nature to remember the negative and stay focused on the positives. You must help them manage their attitude towards buyers and not let the difficult buyer manage their attitudes.

5. Respect and trust the buyers ability to make good decisions...

Only the top 4% of salespeople said they respected and trusted the buyers ability to make good decisions. Most salespeople don't respect the buyer and struggle to earn the buyers respect in return.

Hold your salespeople accountable to trust and respect the buyer's ability to make good decisions and watch their sales soar! Help them switch their mindset to respect and trust people's ability to make good decisions. Keep them focused on explaining the consequences of the buyers decisions, both good and bad, rather than just sharing information with the buyer.

6. Focus on the buyers ownership experience, not the buying experience...

Most salespeople are focused on the buying experience. Top salespeople focus on the buyer's ownership experience and this mindset transforms the sales conversation and the buyer and salesperson's relationship.

It's your job to shift your salespeople's focus from the short term reward of transactions, to the long term benefit of the buyer's ownership experience.  Help your salespeople overcome their nature to seek instant gratification and they'll improve, be at their best for the buyer and their sales will soar.

7. Conversations, not presentations...

Top salespeople are present, engaged and have real conversations with buyers. Most salespeople talking heads making sales presentation that buyers don't like, believe or trust.

Make sure your salespeople turn selling into an individual personal experience for each buyer. This will help them reach their peak performance! Teach them that selling isn't executing a sales process, it's being trusted enough that the buyer will invite them to be their guide in their buying process.

As you coach, teach and manage your salespeople always keep in mind, selling is the most difficult performing art in the world. Salespeople, like all performing artist, athletes or musicians, need a leader and leadership is personal, it's not professional! It requires a strong mind and a positive attitude to overcome the obstacles and adversity that comes with connecting, communicating and serving people everyday. In fact, I'd go so far as to say sales makes a great career but a lousy job. So, make sure your salespeople are all in, fully engaged and committed to a career in sales, and not just working at a job. Then, they'll be the difference in their buyer's ownership experience, make customers and enjoy the ups and downs of a sales career. 

By Mike Moore