Why More Businesses Need To Invest in Sales Coaching

After months of trying to find a second-hand car for my daughter, I gave up on car garages. Every salesman didn’t listen and was trying to sell me the cars they wanted off their lot, instead of the car my daughter needed. At one car garage, the sales people were selling so badly, I asked to speak to the manager to offer free coaching to help his team ask questions and engage. He hid like a coward in his office.  So what's the solution?

Friends of mine are looking to buy a new property and didn’t like dealing with estate agents, so they asked me to visit with them. We gave the estate agents a clear agenda. Three-bedroom house in west Milton Keynes. Most of them offered four-bedroom properties or gave a completely different part of town. Nobody listened. They cared about their agenda, not our current needs.

An exclusive private members club is opening in our county. I was honoured to be contacted for a tour. When I ask why they called, they said “I was on a list” and couldn’t specify which one. In an effort to make small talk, they asked “where I was based?”

Surely you must have researched me on LinkedIn before you called?” I asked the sales person.

“Na, mate, didn’t think of that?”

￡1,200 a year membership to a private club and they hired someone without any proper training.

This is becoming a serious problem since it’s happening every day no matter what part of the country I work in.

Companies all over the UK want to hit their targets. I get that and support it. The problem is that most of them don’t invest in proper sales coaching.

So many businesses aren’t hitting their desired targets. They invite me into their offices to help them get results. After a few hours of coaching, they start to make progress and it’s one of the things that makes coaching so wonderful – seeing your customers increase revenue as a result of your advice.

Sales people regularly reach out to me because their company won’t invest in coaching and they can’t hit their targets. I advise them to start reading one book a week from the masters, Anthony Iannarino, Mark Hunter, Jeffrey Gitomer and Lee Bartlett. Follow the fantastic Steve Burton, Daniel Disney and Tom Mallens on LinkedIn.Watch inspiring videos from value providers like Jim Keenan and Chris Murray. Attend seminars from all of the above when they're on.

As Mark Hunter, author of High-Profit Selling says “sales is the foundation of business and the economy.”

CEOs need to understand that according to research on Inc, Fast Company, Forbes, Entrepreneur and most business websites, the fastest way to grow your business is to increase sales – and the best way to make more sales is to hire an expert sales coach.

Saying you don’t have money for sales coaching is no longer valid in this competitive world. Using a carrot and stick approach and threatening to fire staff who no longer perform isn’t effective strategy. Investing in your staff will always reap rewards for everyone. 

Niraj Kapur is an expert sales coach and author of the Amazon bestseller, Everybody Works in Sales, which is available on Kindle and paperback. To read about the 27 sales strategies you need to improve your business, click here https://goo.gl/5PM9ej