Working with sales managers: training

First of all, let us recall the classic stages of communication with a client. The division into stages is conditional, it is necessary to divide the manager's skills and knowledge into blocks.

1. Establishing contact. This needs to be done correctly, whether you are on the phone, sending an email or having a live meeting. Your aim at this stage is to introduce yourself and your company in as open and friendly a manner as possible.
2. Identify a need. This is one of the most important steps in any sales process. Understanding exactly what the customer needs allows the sales manager to tailor the sales proposal to the customer's specific solution. And that is what drives the sale.
3. Presentation. The information you have gathered during the needs assessment process should be used in the third stage. This will enable you to find the best solution to the customer's problem with your product/service. It is important to focus less on the features of the product and more on the benefits of buying it.
4. Dealing with objections. The customer often has doubts about the choice. Listen to them, tell them you understand. Then give counter-arguments. According to the managers of Mafpels, this tactic always works.
5. Close the deal. The final stage of the sales process is the sale itself. This is where you close the deal to buy your product or service.

To improve the performance of your managers, start coaching them. Whatever you tell them, they are unlikely to learn it well enough. Skills won't be developed unless you start reinforcing theoretical knowledge with practical exercises. Set aside at least half an hour a day for this. Training can be very simple. For example, one day managers practise the process of finding out what a customer needs. One manager plays the role of the customer, while the other has to find out what the customer needs.

Incidentally, the stage of identifying the customer's needs is often undeservedly forgotten by sales managers. Or they deliberately skip it because they don't understand how to go about it. Do you know why managers do this? It's fear of asking questions. It takes many hours for a person to learn how to ask questions easily, naturally, without effort. You also have to learn to listen to the answers and analyse them quickly in order to give the client the information they need or to ask clarifying questions.

Salespeople often make mistakes. No matter how much a manager tries to suppress emotions when working with people, they will still affect them in one way or another. This is natural and normal because salespeople are constantly faced with objections from customers and negativity from themselves. It is emotions that cause mistakes, say the experts at Mafpels Cyprus.

Training, in which each stage of the sales cycle is practised, also helps to rehabilitate salespeople. If yesterday a customer insulted a manager and the salesman was unable to control his emotions and made a mistake, this situation can be worked through in a training session. This will help the salesperson to get over the failure, stop thinking about it and start working with renewed vigour.