As a manager, you want to ensure a consistent flow of revenue into the company you work for. To make that happen, you need to do a few things, and do them really well.
One of the ways you can keep the business moving is by building a sales team that knows its craft. You have to train your employees on customer service skills and how to close the deals. Let’s explore how you can go about that.
1. Make use of e-learning tools
Many forms of business education are available through the internet. Today, there are plenty of electronic tools that help you train your staff, and they are particularly useful when you’re not around to provide instruction.
Whether your sales people are out in the field or in a training room, there are e-learning products, courses and materials that you can tailor to their needs. And synergies exist from using digital training because sales increasingly happen through digital marketing, including social media.
2. Apply the buddy system
You most probably have a mix of veterans and newbies in your team. This means that what the newbie needs to learn has already been experienced by the veterans. It puts you in a zone where you could easily waste time on stuff that’s already been covered.
What you want to do is pair old hands with the new people so that the veterans can answer questions the newbies might have. This saves people plenty of time and gives new entrants real world answers to their questions.
3. Be generous with accolades
Once one of your sales people does something outstanding, do not just congratulate them in the moment and move right on. Maybe you could call a meeting and tell the whole team what happened and why you think that specific employee deserves credit.
If company resources allow, set up a reward system where an employee gets incentives for going above and beyond. By so doing, you are communicating the fact that your employees matter and at the same time stimulating healthy competition among your people. But just be careful to offer praise in the right way.
4. Know your team’s strengths and weaknesses
Before going into the training room, a manager needs to know his charges thoroughly. You have to be able to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of each of your sales people and marketing professionals.
When you know everyone’s strong points, you know the right gear to hit to get the best out of them. When you know their weaknesses, you know the right materials to use to make sure that they grow into themselves. Investing in training, such as general business studies, is a way to both boost skills and keep staff motivated.
5. Keep sessions short
There’s a lot to go through and lots of pressure to cover everything in sales and marketing. However, you still need to keep your lessons short and direct.
Human beings may have a long concentration span, but they remember things better when you keep it short and to the point. Make use of things like power point slides, videos and graphics.
In every session, keep things 10-18 minutes short. Be sure to allow room for brainstorming, random questions and structured tests.