So when did you last watch your sales people in action?

On a recent programme, at least 15% of the sales community we assessed did not behave like sales people, instead they saw themselves as "relationship managers" (business speak for order talkers). Of the remaining team members we assessed, 20% just got it and the remaining 65% needed help from their managers to keep them focussed and showing the right habits.

This did not surprise us, but of greater concern it did surprise their Sales Managers. So we did some additional digging around and kept hearing the same thing:

• “this is the first time anyone has looked at how I sell and given me coaching”
• “the only time my manager joins me at a meeting is to either be there when we sign the deal or to sort out a problem”
• “I really want help but my manager is not interested in helping me”.

So what are the Sales Managers doing? In truth they are either acting as "the super salesman" who rescues the deal, or they are too busy manipulating the pipeline and forecast to keep their managers off their backs. They have forgotten that a key part of their role is to manage their sales people and more important act as a coach.

So our challenge to all our customers is set your managers the objective of observing a minimum of one call per sales person per month, and coach their people based on the behaviours observed in the call

It's not difficult and the best sales teams are doing this now!

Selling is about positive and negative emotions

How many times have you been sold to and been impressed with the product but not with the way the sales person "engaged" with you? Quite often in my experience

At Accredit we assess sales people from large and small businesses. They are always eager to sell their solution and believe that if they understand our needs or business problems then they can match their proposition to those needs and therefore make the sale. True, up to a point

How about the emotional side of selling though? What if the sales person does not pick up on your body language if you are not sure, what if they do not listen when you say "I can see what you mean but it's not for us". What if they really understood that buying is about emotions - the emotions of wanting to do something because it brings you some personal benefit (such as helping you to achieve your personal objective of reducing your budget spend on a service by x% or helping you to look good with your boss because it solves a long running problem your company has had)

Next time you sell listen out for the emotional signs, look for the body language and verbal signals. If your customer likes what you have to offer find out what is particularly driving that emotion. Equally if they do not like your offer, ensure you get underneath why by asking some simple, open questions and really understand what is driving their dislike or fear.

Selling should not be complex. It should be a process of finding out what somebody wants, matching your product or service with that want and showing some value in return. We are human beings, we are driven constantly by our emotions. Tap into those emotions and you will be more successful in driving more sales