To generate as many sales as possible, reps must be rigorous: they must follow a clear list of steps in a formal and precise sales process.

When they lose too many sales, salespeople tend to justify their poor performance with excuses such as:

• The competition is too strong;
• I don't have time to sell;
• The economic context is unfavourable;
• Our prices are too high;
• We have delivery problems so I can't sell the products;
• Etc.

Two types of companies have a turnover issue with their sales force.

First, there are those whose turnover rate is too high. Each year, they need to replace 30% to 50% of their workforce.

Then there are those where there is absolutely no turnover. As strange as it may seem, this lack of turnover is just as problematic.

This is typical: sales leaders often think they have the expertise to recruit the best representatives, but they rarely do!

For all types of positions, poor recruitment choices cause huge losses of time and money, but this is even more the case in sales. The recruitment and integration process must be seen as an investment, quantifiable by the sales objective of the hired representative. Even if sales goals should be more conservative in the first few months, if they are not met, it still means leaving money on the table. This is why it is essential for business leaders to develop effective ways to improve the recruitment of their salespeople.

Recently on our blog we’ve been putting a huge emphasis on the value of asking open-ended questions. The ability to get right to the point is the difference between a long or short sales process.

To ask your client a lot of questions can sometimes be off-putting for both of you, and so it helps if you can figure out a way for them to grasp the importance of them.

Proposing too early. The scenario is easy to imagine, having surely gone through this yourself.

The hunt had finally paid off and you’d secured an appointment with a prospect. You were new to the game, and so you didn’t quite know how to control your emotions and you probably had a high need for approval. You found yourself in front of this person who had shown interest in hearing you out.

Price conversations are the Achilles heel of many salespeople. Not only are they uncomfortable broaching the subject, but many are also unable to change the subject once it comes up.

To help transition out of a pricing conversation, it’s important to understand why it came up in the first place.

Sales managers have huge responsibilities towards their sales team. One of them is coaching.

Just like your sales rep, your sales managers are in need of coaching. So, who’s responsible for coaching sales managers ? This is an important question.

Either the sales VP or the President will coach the sales managers. However, if in some case the VP is unavailable, or the owner finds themselves incapable of coaching, then the best option is hiring an external resource.

Coaching is one of the sales manager’s most important roles, making it an activity which they must spend a good amount of time doing.

The most common mistakes made by sales managers during their coaching sessions can effectively be summarized by this : confusing sales coaching with sales training.

While training remains vital to your team’s success, it’s important to understand that the process, as well as the techniques, are different than the ones used during effective coaching sessions.

MONTREAL, March 18, 2019 – Prima Resource inc., a Canadian leader in sales excellence, announced today that Baseline Selling, a Consultative Selling Program, has been accredited by the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA). Canadian sales professionals are now able to earn their Certified Sales Associate (CSA) designation in a fresh, memorable way.

The Baseline Selling program teaches essential sales skills necessary to close a sale in any situation, using what learners already know about the game of baseball. Modern salespeople can relate to and use the learning right away.

After reading the “ State of Inbound 2018 ” report, I was struck by the data it revealed concerning companies’ top sales priorities. The statistics have proven that there’s a global problem in defining sales priorities.

The report, which compiles the responses of over 6,200 leaders from around the world, states that the leading priority in all geographical areas is closing more deals ; followed by improving the efficiency of the sales funnel. On these two priorities, leaders from around the world are unanimous.