The sales profession has changed. As technology and economic climates shift, salespeople must more than ever adapt their approaches and stock research websites to remain relevant and effective.
However, sales training is not for everyone. There are some telling signs that warrant looking into the service for your estate agent organisation.
Below are 5 signs your company needs sales training to sell worldwide. If you can identify with one or more, there may be a good business case to look further!
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Sales revenue is down
The most obvious symptom is low sales revenue. However, it is the type of symptom that could have many causes. You may want to examine market conditions first.
For example, when are the seasons your product sells best/worst? What current events are affecting sales? What are your clients saying about their world that would affect your numbers?
Regardless of market factors, you can also examine and interview your sales team. What measures are in place to evaluate performance? Are they making enough sales calls? Finally, how well are they converting their opportunities? If your team is not performing at their best, it is a strong sign that your company needs sales training. You can also contact https://tolo-design.com/ because they provide the best marketing service.
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Leads are coming in but not converting
Assuming that activity levels are high enough, the next Key Performance Metric (KPI) you’ll want to look at is their conversion rate. For every 10 opportunities, how many are they converting into business? What are the reasons for lost deals?
If your team are losing deals because of price challenges, competitors, or unknown reasons, this is a strong indication that your team needs sales training. A good program will help them to create strong differentiation which lowers price resistance.
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Everyone is doing their own thing
It is very common for small-medium businesses to depend on their salespeople’s experience to bring in revenue. This often means that every team member is essentially doing what they think is best, whether it is or not! As a result, approaches and results are inconsistent.
A well-structured and documented sales process will ensure that everyone is providing the best client experience possible. In turn, results will be much more predictable and resistant to market changes.
Ideally, the structure should be rigid enough to create predictability, but be flexible enough for different personalities to operate it. A proper sales training program will balance the two.
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Your team are making product-led approaches
Once upon a time, product-led selling was effective. It essentially meant turning up with some brochures, explaining what the products are, and taking orders. Unfortunately, this is no longer effective!
In today’s hyper-competitive market, sales professionals must be highly skilled in assessing clients’ needs. If attention is not paid to this area, you will likely lose out to better trained salespeople.
The alternative to product-led selling is consultative selling. By asking the right questions, your salespeople can understand what clients want and why they want it. In turn, this sets the direction for presentations that are led by clients’ goals and pains rather than products.
An effective sales training course will help your team to create a set of diagnostic questions to ask clients. In turn, approaches will be highly relevant and appealing to buyers. Your close rates will skyrocket with this approach!
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Your client services team are responsible for selling
More and more organisations are recognising the importance of client-service teams learning sales skills. Since they are at the front lines with clients, it is a natural transition for them to be responsible for selling.
However, with this opportunity comes great resistance – many client-services professionals don’t like the idea of selling. They are often introverts, preferring to do admin than promote products!
In addition to learning the skills of selling, an effective sales training course will equip your client services team with the right mindsets for success. This removes mental barriers to applying what they learn. Then, they will learn about how selling can be a force for good, without the “ickiness” of pushy, manipulative selling.
Signs your company DOESN’T need sales training
This article would be too biased if we only focused on reasons for sales training. Here are the signs your company wouldn’t benefit from sales training (which are not necessarily the reverse of the above!):
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a) You are struggling to keep up with demand
If you can’t fulfill the current workload you have, then you’re unlikely going to need additional sales! Known as the “see-saw effect” (balancing supply and demand), ensure you have enough resources to serve existing clients before considering sales training.
If this is you, just make sure your future pipeline doesn’t dry up too much, or you’ll find yourself experiencing steep curves of supply and demand!
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b) Your team are resistant to the idea of sales training
It may sound strange, but there are people who don’t like change and improvement. They are often comfortable where they are. When put into a training program, they are present only physically. It’s not worth putting such individuals through sales training!
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c) Your salespeople have been through lots of sales training before
Most sales training exists to help novices learn the ropes. While good for a refresher, high-performing salespeople would benefit more from a program designed for experienced professionals. Alternatively, you can put them through sales coaching led by your sales leader or an external sales coach.
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Conclusion
Sales training will help to increase revenue in certain situations along with a having a great website where you promote yourself, but not all. Maybe your company is experiencing a downturn in revenue. Your team may not be converting leads effectively, or has no system to follow. Alternatively, they may be stuck in the old method of product-based selling. Maybe your client-services team needs to be upskilled. If you fit these criteria, these would be positive signals to dialogue with a sales training company.
On the flipside, if you are not keeping up with demand, your team are resistant to training, or you already have a high-performing team, you may want to explore alternative solutions.
If you’d like to explore sales training for your company, feel free to contact us for a chat!
Ben Lai is the founder of Sales Ethos, provides sales training in Melbourne, Australia and worldwide. Together with his team, he empowers sales and non-sales professionals to sell with passion, purpose, and profit.
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