Karl Graf

There is no one-size-fits-all sales coaching model. There are only approaches that have been shown to be successful in particular situations. As the coach, you must identify each individual salesperson’s personal “success code” – and use that code to unlock the salesperson’s potential for success. Here are five tips that have been proven to help sales leaders unlock that code.

The salesperson who claims to “like” prospecting hasn’t ever done it. How can anyone “like” a process that produces such an arena for rejection? When salespeople say they like prospecting, what they might mean is this: “I don’t mind paying the price of prospecting to reach my objectives.”

• Have you ever noticed that some people jump to quick conclusions, don’t like to get bogged down with details, and like to take the 30,000-foot view of issues?
• Or that others prioritize making and keeping friends?
• Or that still others just don’t like change and conflict, and want to avoid making decisions?
• Have you ever noticed that there are some people who want all the details before they act? That they may even suffer from “paralysis of analysis”?

Have you ever granted a price concession – or made any other compromise to a buyer – because you didn’t want the buyer to think less of you or disapprove of you?

Here’s an interesting exercise: On a piece of paper (or in a word processing document) draw a vertical line down the center of the page. At the top left side, write your company’s name. Across the page, on the top right side, write the name of your most important competitor. Down the left side of the page, write the numbers 1, 2 and 3. Do the same thing on the right side of the page.

Have you ever sat in front of a prospect and thought you should say something – but didn't?

Many of us in sales use the presentation phase for educating the buyer about what we do and what we offer. Does that really make sense strategically?

Sometimes salespeople are a little surprised when we share a simple, time-tested selling principle: a prospect who is listening isn’t really a prospect. What on earth does this mean? Isn’t it a good thing when someone listens to what we have to say during a sales call?

The powerful learning model David Sandler called the Success Triangle is a proven formula for sales success – and a proven formula for every other kind of success. Sales leaders, and all leaders, can benefit from learning about it and implementing it with their teams. You have probably heard about the Success Triangle. So, what is it?

One big challenge we all face as sales leaders is that we may have people on our team who aren’t on the same page as we are.