Sales Training is my passion.
My mother is quick to tell the story that I knew I was going to be a teacher as soon as I could speak.
Being one of four kids and the #2 of the 4, I had a classroom set up in the basement – chairs, desks and a blackboard. When my siblings didn’t want to play, my dolls and stuffed animals were glad to oblige.
After teaching in the public school system and realizing it wasn’t enough money to buy, live and save I went in search of an alternative profession.
American Greetings took a calculated risk by hiring me as a sales representative.
My territory had 75 Eckerd stores (now CVS) and the responsibility of 26 part time merchandisers.
I had the lowest turnover and highest retention of part time merchandisers and exceeded quota easily. When asked what my secret sauce was it was simple to me. I trained my team of 26. I wrote a training manual and they were able to reference where to put the blue bows without having to call me.
Within 2 years I was promoted to field sales manager and I spent 2 years riding 4 days a week coaching the sales team in the field.
Two years later I joined Harte Hanks Communications, The Flyer in Miami, in it’s start up phase and was tasked with taking a 7 person outside sales team to 33 and an inside team of 2 to 22 within 3 years.
Implementing the 3 key teaching and leadership actions I learned, I was able to meet the challenge.
The 3 Key Leadership Actions are:
- Ride, Ride, Ride or Listen, Listen, Listen
- One-on-One Coaching
- Monday Morning Sales Meetings
Once again this combination of actions lead to my team out performing the others.
Most sales managers don’t come from teaching backgrounds where designing and leading developmental sales training meetings come natural.
The managers that I know who have great Monday Morning Sales Meetings spend a few hours of their weekends combing the Internet for ideas, activities, or videos to help them put a great sales meeting together.
Where as other managers do very little to prepare if they do even have a Monday Sales Meeting and they tend to be boring with a lot of talking from the sales manager.
After being asked over and over again for my sales meetings, I have finally listened.
The Perfect Months as Sales Manager Carole Bowen says, “… are a gift of time and content.” Carole no longer spends 3-5 hours a weekend to energize and equip her sales team. She uses any one of the 10 minute sales huddle energizers or an amazing You Tube© movie clip or one of the 30 minute or less skill boosters on a variety of topics – preparation, prospecting, sales strategies, problem solving, creativity and personal development. She picks the topic depending on what skill ]she feels will be most valuable for her team that week. She says she’s delivering sales meetings that her reps actually want to go to.
My goal as a ‘professional teacher’ is to give sales managers worldwide easy to use, done-for-you sales training meetings so they too can build a team of top performers.
Everyone wins, the sellers, the customers, and the company.
The next 2 blogs in this series will continue with tips and how to’s for Field Rides and One-On-One Coaching.
If you’re still reading this, then I know you want your team to out-sell, out-think, and out-perform the competition. Look for the next blog and series with tips and tools for the other 2 Actions (Ride, Ride, Ride and One-on-One Coaching) and you too will have a top producing sales team soon.
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Top performing and top producing sales managers whose sellers meet sales quotas consistently conduct Field Ride Alongs, One-on-One Coaching and Sales Meetings to build skill and will. Own the latest done-for-you sales training with these special offers only available here.
