Worried about sales amidst coronavirus outbreak? Here are some strategies to implement

The marketplace is changing. Competitors are getting tougher. In the face of these challenges, proactive sales leaders are transforming their companies and sales teams to be even stronger with these key strategies and tactics.

Strengthen Fire-In-The-Belly Sales Drive

We need salespeople on our teams with a fire-in-the-belly sales drive. These are the people who will succeed against all odds. Here are some characteristics that you will find in a salesperson with drive:

• Strong passion: self-motivated, goal-oriented, risk-taker, undying urge to be best at what they do
• Total Focus: persistence to do whatever to it takes to be successful, even if it’s hard, uncomfortable, or scary (As long as it’s legal, ethical, and no one gets hurt!)
• Ownership: knows they are the only ones who control their actions and their behavior. They accept challenges, learn from their mistakes, know that they have both the internal and external resources needed to accomplish their goals

So, do the salespeople on your team have the fire-in-the-belly drive to be successful?

Install Common Sales Processes

A common sales language improves the speed and effectiveness of your coaching, motivating and accountability strategies. Everyone on the sales teams needs to know what’s expected of them. If you haven’t mapped your selling model, a sales process, and selling milestones already, start now. These are core to all sales management performance communication. With improved pre-call planning, call execution and call debriefing, you will speed up capturing new markets, raising margins, and growing sales.

Improve Consultative and Value Selling Skills 

To gain more sales and higher margins, ramp up your salespeople’s consultative and value selling skills by coaching them how to ask more and better questions:

• Develop questions that uncover compelling reasons. Your salespeople need to develop questions that help them build “compelling reasons to buy”. In a consultative strategy, your salespeople are not only asking about what the client needs, but gaining a deeper understanding of “why” and “what”. Being able to ask questions like these helps your salespeople become valuable resources
• Craft business appropriate questions that get to the root business issue. Don’t skim the surface, dive deep. As your salespeople become more comfortable asking tougher, business-related, strategic questions, they go to establish themselves as a trusted advisor

Establish Predictable Communication Rhythms

Just because we are social distancing does not mean that we need to be emotionally distancing. In the past, leaders communicated with salespeople once a quarter, or once a month, or once a week. Those days are gone. Sales leadership need to communicate often and regularly. We recommend at least these four types of meetings be included in your meeting rhythm in order to increase engagement and encourage performance: relationship development, quick daily check-in, developmental coaching, goal setting. Develop your own daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly meeting schedule that are designed to support your salesperson in achieving their professional and personal goals.

About the author

Danita Bye is a renowned Executive Leadership Coach, Harvard MBA Sales Coach, Forbes – Sales Coach. She will be speaking at The Economic Times Sales Strategy Summit.