Securing & Coaching Staff Buy-In to Sell

If staff feel that by using the sales skills taught in training they are somehow doing something wrong, it doesn’t matter how frequently or consistently you coach them they won’t try anything new and you will not see the desired results. Before coaching sales skills it is critical to meet one on one with these people to work through those feelings and lead them to a place where they understand that when they are order taking they are under serving their clients and when they are just randomly pitching product  they are running a risk of alienating their clients (therefore bad service). Going to the client, being proactive, and asking good questions to help them clarify in their own minds the challenges they are potentially experiencing will be perceived by them as exceptional service. It will also yield an increase in sales.

Here are a few suggestions on different coaching activities you can engage in to help bring people onside.

1.     Establish that good sales is the same as good service. If someone will agree that good selling is the same as good service, it will be difficult for them to say they have no interest in getting better at providing a higher level of service to their clients.

2.    Walk the talk - lead by example. Talk about how a client was potentially under served because someone wasn’t being proactive. Keep the focus on the client and less on the lack of sales. Be aware of the little things like saying “pitch”, “spiel”, or “did you get em?” This language can imply that you are only concerned about the numbers and will send a mixed message to the service focused selling that you are aiming for.

3.    Share success stories to resell the vision. Typically a story that tells of a client who bought something more than they came in for and was grateful for the “service”.  Something that demonstrates a sales person going beyond order taking. Staff may not believe you that selling is service, but they will believe the client.

4.    Share negative stories to resell the vision. Typically a story that tells of a client just getting what they asked for and being disappointed in the company after they found out they needed something else or the product didn’t really suit them. i.e. the complaint can be traced back to a lack of sales skills. Again, staff may not believe you that selling is service, but they will believe the client.

5.    Consistency of purpose. Regular sales meetings and coaching.  Avoid turning it on and off or just talking about it.  After a while people think you’re crying wolf. If you really believe that the staff should get good at these sales skills because it is good for the client, why would you discontinue your focus or get distracted?