So you think you already have it all figured out without sales coaching — you’ve studied your product, understand your target customers, and have your messaging nailed. You’ve hit your quota before, you’re on track to do it again, and it’s looking like the entire team is on pace to succeed. The new members of your team are integrating themselves well, and everyone seems to be in the right place. Understandably, you probably feel confident in your sales training and hiring abilities.
But is that confidence warranted? Have you ever considered that a sales consultant or coach can help bring out even more significant results from your already successful operation?
Not every one of our clients started their relationship with us as a failing organization needing drastic improvement. Some of our most successful collaborations have been those who wanted to take their already successful team and make something even better by taking a closer look at operational efficiency, time management, follow-up practices, virtual meeting skills, closing techniques, customizing outreach approaches, or any number of other necessary sales components.
Take a step back and look at the big picture — you may find some aspects of your sales process that could use extra help. Below are a few examples of areas where sales coaching can make a difference:
Identifying Blindspots
One of the biggest challenges facing any sales team is having blindspots. Despite overconfidence, no team can be perfect in identifying every hidden weakness and challenge they need to deal with. Sales coaching can help identify those blindspots and provide unique, outside-of-the-box strategies to overcome them. For example, your team may struggle to discuss money and budgets comfortably. Topaz sales coaching can help develop empowering money self-talk, help develop compelling questions to uncover the actual budget, and conduct role practices to reinforce the learning.
Without an outside, objective perspective, sales teams may struggle to identify gaps in their sales DNA. Sometimes, it’s hard to self-analyze. Targetted sales coaching can help you expedite the time it takes to learn how to sell better and recognize blindspots (several additional blindspots benefit from this same approach) throughout your sales team and sales process – no matter how experienced the team is.
Customized Sales Strategy using Sales Coaching
Sales training for traditional salespeople can often be offered as one-size-fits-all, but we recognize and are sensitive to the fact that every sales team has unique strengths and challenges. At Topaz, we believe sales tricks, tactics, and professed gurus come and go. The best long-term strategy for consistent sales success is to implement a time-tested sales philosophy and process followed by all. And, though your marketplace and sales challenges may be unique, your sales philosophy and process must be consistent yet versatile enough to adapt to any environment. Do not reinvent the wheel or fall for the latest buzzwords and tactics.
A good consultant will spend time learning about your business–the opportunities and challenges–and will meet your sales team where they are, come alongside them, and equip them for short and long-term selling success.
Instead of trying to squeeze new sales training and development initiatives into your internal calendar (that inevitably get deprioritized as other needs arise), bringing in a third-party consultancy enables you to receive training that fits into the team’s schedule and keeps it a priority, adapt to learning preferences, and incorporate your company culture — all with minimal disruption.
Sharpening the Saw
Let’s be honest — weekly check-ins, quarterly reviews, and annual analyses of sales performance metrics are simply not enough if your team is focused on achieving the best results possible. Suppose you’re a sales leader trying to scale your team’s size and revenue generation. In that case, you must consistently train new people and provide ongoing refresher training for your sales team to eliminate the risk of them falling back on old habits. However, it can become an overwhelming and unproductive task.
Sales consultants don’t just provide a one-time service; they offer ongoing support to ensure that your team continues to grow sustainably. Regular check-ins or additional training sessions with your sales consultant can make all the difference in keeping your training up-to-date and tailored to your current obstacles. You don’t have to do the training and sales coaching. Your role is to ensure people commit, participate in training, and hold them accountable to the application.
In addition, these consultants can train new hires, develop management to become better sales leaders, and ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the company’s overall objectives.
Client Successes
At Topaz Sales Consulting, we have seen firsthand the impact sales consulting can have on a sales team. It motivates us daily to keep helping businesses exceed their goals and build revenue-generating machines. Even when some of our clients initially believed they already had all the right answers, many will say to us now, “We wish we knew this 20 years ago”.
It’s all about changing how you approach sales, shifting your mindset, and ensuring any strategies are built on solid foundations.
See below for a couple of snapshots of our client case studies
One-on-One Leadership and Sales Coaching Drives 125% Growth in Sales for Water Tank Maintenance Company
Southern Corrosion contacted Topaz Sales Consulting for assistance with their sales process, and our customized training program for their sales team helped refine their sales process and increase close rates. We conducted a thorough process review, provided individualized sales training sessions and coaching, and held sales team and sales leadership meetings to ensure their continued success. From year-end 2018 to year-end 2021, Southern Corrosion’s close rates climbed from 55.5% to over 82.5%, a 48.65% increase in just three years. Read the full case study here.
Training Increases Sales Revenue by 157% for Contractor Services Client
ProLift Rigging faced three challenges that negatively impacted their business: they lacked an effective sales strategy, needed sales leadership to build buy-in across the entire organization, and spent too much time on prospects without potential. We provided sales evaluations for their team to determine sales potential and coached them through their trainability.
The entire company, not just their sales team and branch managers, was provided with Buyer Facilitator training, enabling them to have high-impact conversations with customers and prospects while wasting less time on unfruitful options. They learned to quickly uncover their prospect’s pain points and buffering needs using our Pre-Call Planning Guide, among other tools. In the first year of training, ProLift’s sales revenue and profit grew by 157% and 231% in the first year of training, respectively. Check out the whole story here.
Where Do You Go From Here?
Sales Consultants can save time and money by helping your team become more productive, find the right clients, and maximize results. Bringing in the right sales consultants can make all the difference for exponential growth potential. Think about these questions:
- What is your team’s most pressing sales skill to improve ASAP?
- Are there members of your sales team you believe are not trainable and/or coachable?
- Do you believe your top-performing salespeople would leave your company?
To determine if you’re ready for professional sales help, answer additional questions by taking our Sales Performance Quiz. If you’re ready, contact us to see how we can help you grow sales and revenue today.
