Jeffrey Gitomer says “If you can’t ask good questions, you will never be successful in sales!” Salespeople need not be just good talkers, but good communicators. This means their ability to ask good insightful, relevant questions to listen to the customer is crucial. Most companies train salespeople in product knowledge and basic selling skills but brush over their ability to ask questions/ probes in a structured way to fully understand customer problems, and needs that link to your solutions.

My years as a Global Sales Manager/Coach Trainer at Xerox Learning Systems and AchieveGlobal have also enriched me with the process to conduct a discussion and development plan for each of your salespersons. This “Development Checklist” gives a robust structure to have a discussion with your salespeople to support their success in 2024 by improving their knowledge, skills, and process when selling.

Most sales organizations fail to train up sales managers to effectively interview potential sales talent. This can result in hiring salespeople that can't sell, don't align with your sales culture, or worse, your sales managers mis-read talent and don't hire top performers. I just read a excellent list of 125+ sales hiring questions from Rain Group. It is thorough. You can download these sales interview questions at the end of this blog.

Your sales managers are either the strongest or weakest link in your sales revenue-producing process. How effective they are directly impacts the revenue growth of your organization and it’s long term competitiveness. There are three major components of a sales manager to produce sales revenue through his/her team. Recently, I discovered that the Rain Group has produced an insightful research report on what makes a Top Performing Sales Manager.

Research by Chally Assessments and other sales productivity consultants identify a top competency of successful sales managers is to regularly participate in joint sales meetings with salespeople. Attending joint sales meetings with your salespeople offers excellent opportunities to observe and coach your salespeople to be more skillful and knowledgeable when meeting customers. .

I regularly scour the internet for well researched reports on the current views and advice on world class B2B sales productivity management, processes, methods and skills. As I do not have the resources to carry out such global sales research, I look for reputable organizations that do have the deep pockets to do this.

Prospecting B2B customers involves the systematic research, identification, preparation, and engagement of potential clients who could benefit from your products or services. It's a critical step and sometimes the most stressful in the B2B sales process. It is an unavoidable part of selling but crucial for growing our sales pipeline.

This blog gives you a “checklist” for selecting the right Sales Training Provider. It was originally developed by Brooks Group. I edited the key criteria and have added my key insights for each item to provide you with why each of these 16 criteria is important. There is one question you can ask each sales training provider for each of the criteria as well.

ELAvate note: This is a blog from sales guru Nick Kane and we have edited it for clarity. B2B salespeople present a lot – to end users, buying committees, and at solution seminars. Today with so much uncertainty, tight budgets, diverse decision-makers, and stiff competition, salespeople must be confident and consultative in their presentations.

I have coached and managed salespeople for over 30 years across a variety of cultures and countries. This experience has taught me what Zig Ziglar has said for years, “ Your attitude determines your altitude” and I will add especially in sales! I have learned to hire salespeople more for attitude and potential, and when hired, train them in skill and process

Using “Anchors,” when negotiating, refers to the psychological bias of how negotiators rely heavily on the first piece of information presented to them (the anchor) when making decisions or judgments. This first anchor in any negotiation has a powerful influence on subsequent negotiation discussions and can significantly impact the final deal.

75% of Buyers Surveyed Prefer a Rep Free Experience. This is the fundamental challenge facing all sellers in every industry. Buyers want to scratch their own itch. Digital access to information creates a false sense of confidence in a self-service sales process. However, a rep-free experience also creates the highest purchase regret. (Gartner and Janek) This research confirms what Korn Ferry has learned: B2B buyers are acting more and more like B2C customers and do not want to interact with salespeople unless necessary.

I dedicate this sales blog to my ex-wife Joyce Leong, a super saleswoman all her life, whether she was in B2B, B2C or charity sales. She always exceeded her target because of her attitude to achieve win-win decisions and her excellent EQ that gave her the ability to persuade and influence her customers to buy. She has terminal brain cancer and is now in hospice care.

When a salesperson adapts their communication style to the customer, they are better able to understand the customer's needs and preferences and can tailor their approach accordingly. For example, some customers may prefer a more direct and assertive communication style, while others may prefer a more collaborative and consultative approach.

Experimenting with ChatGPT has led me to compile what are the skills, attitudes, and traits of successful salespeople. Here are the 4 world-class leaders in sales productivity that I respect and have learned from during my global career as a global salesperson: Zig Ziglar, Jeffrey Gitomer, AchieveGlobal, and Harvard Business Review. Each sales expert lists out 5-6 key attributes that lead to sales success.

Some sales and service research are timeless. Other research is new and we must take heed to change. For example, communicating well to build customer trust that leads to healthy relationships is always a winner in sales. We see in 2023 that AI, technology and now ChatGPT are new areas we need to explore to gauge how we employ them to drive sales productivity.

What makes a salesperson a good listener? First, he/she suspends his own assumptions in order to give the customer’s ideas priority. When he/she asks questions, it is to build trust and rapport with the customer. Open questions work best like "Tell me more about that." Second, the good listener suspends judgment and debate. As Stephen Covey said, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Give the customer the benefit of the doubt.

If I could jettison all my responsibilities and just “sell” I would be very happy as I enjoy being a salesperson and have no reservations as being labeled as one! In my decades in Asia, I have found the word “salesperson, salesman, saleswoman” can carry a low image. Some companies are even calling salespeople as “marketing executives” or other fancy misnomers to make up for this perceived low-image job.

Up Your Service guru, Ron Kaufman has created “The 12 Building Blocks of Service Culture” that shape the environment, experience, and enthusiasm of a world-class service team. Service and sales teams are linked and have many synergies in common to inspire customer loyalty and increase sales revenue.