Sellers know the importance of asking questions to find needs, wants and challenges of prospects. Yet today’s buyers prefer salespeople who can engage in business discussions, not just product discussions. Asking the right questions in the right way positions your sellers to make your company a buyer’s first choice. Funnel questions help sellers stay on track and gain the most relevant information to assist in advancing the sale.

Download PDF: Funnel Questions

Connect the dots to what activities I am doing and my outcomes. Then close the gaps.

Conversations between sales managers and sales staff frequently focus only on numbers: Did you make them? Will you fall short? How much do you think you can sell in the next quarter? While revenue per-rep is ultimately the most important sales performance metric, there are other areas to track which focus on key areas within your control to bring about an improvement in sales performance and grow revenues.

Sales Huddle

Ask each rep to track* of these metrics for one week:

1. The number of prospecting calls made for a week (track by day).
2. The number of prospecting calls where actually connected live.
3. The number of prospecting calls led to the next steps.
4. The number of prospecting calls ended in dead end.
5. The number of new appointments set.

At the end of the week meet again.

Post each reps numbers on a chart.

Lead a discussion where the sales representatives share their observations of the outcomes of these numbers.

Allow the reps to give ideas to close the gaps and suggest the topics of sales training to help improve the outcomes.

*replace the items to track with metrics most important to your sales situation

Download PDF: Let’s Track What I Can Control

Success can seem like a great mystery. Why are some people destined for success while others aren’t? Hear seven highly successful people share what it takes to be successful.

Success can seem like a great mystery. Why are some people destined for success while others aren’t? Does luck and genetics play a role? Are there certain learnable behaviors which make success more likely?

Magic Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Idris Elda, Serena Williams, Conor McGregor, Usain Bolt and Roger Federer share how they think and the role their thoughts played in their success.

Movie Link (04:32) https://youtu.be/zCyB2DQFdA0

Motivational Discussion Questions (Select One)

• What are your key takeaways from how these successful people think?
• In what ways are do you think like these successful people think? What else can you do to think like they do?

Download PDF: How Successful People Think

We have a choice we can either push or pull our prospects along the sales cycle. Which are you doing?

It’s human nature to instinctively resist if we are forced to do something without understanding the reason behind it. Why would it be any different when we’re selling to our prospects? All the more reason to eliminate the feeling of being pushed and instead infuse the feeling of being pulled along together.

Sales Huddle

Ask half the reps to exit the room for 2 minutes.

Give these instructions to the reps in the room:

1. When the other reps come back – go and get yourself a partner.
2. When everyone is partnered, the leader will instruct everyone to raise their arms in front of them so that the palms are facing their partner.
3. The reps who remained in the room will start pushing their partners to try and get them to go to the opposite side of the room.
4. Also instruct these reps there will be a Round 2 where they are to explain to their partner why they want to get them to the other side of the room – and the answer ISN’T because the leader told me. They are to be creative in their explanation.

Bring the reps back into the room and begin the exercise.

Instinctively the partner who did not receive the instructions will start resisting.

Allow a few minutes for the rep to try to get them to the opposite side of the room. Stop the exercise.

Round 2: Instruct the rep with the exercise to explain why he wants his partner to accompany them to the other side of the room. After they have explained, say “Go.”

Debrief with What’s The Point? There are two ways to influence people PUSH and PULL as we have seen from this simple activity. If we push others into what we want them to do, they will instinctively resist. How are we guilty of this with our
customers and what can we do instead?

Download PDF: Push and Pull