Sales Training Archives - Braveheart Sales Performance

Beliefs Are More Powerful than Skills

I heard author and motivational speaker, Gabby Bernstein, doing a radio interview recently. In it, she made the statement, “Beliefs are just thoughts you keep thinking.” It resonated with me. She was specifically talking about fear and how it becomes not only a habit but an addiction. I, of course, thought about it from the perspective of sales.

Beliefs Limit Success

We know that an overwhelming number of salespeople are sabotaged by their own beliefs. Regardless of an individual’s current success in sales, they can limit that success just based on thoughts they repetitively think. Of the last 100 salespeople we analyzed, […]

Too Dependent on the Sales Manager to Close Business? Time to Sharpen the Saw

As I work from my home office, I hear the buzzing of saws cutting down tree limbs on behalf of the electric utility. I guess it is considered essential…but that is another topic. The noise does make me think about sharpening the saw. And, especially what a great time it is to help salespeople improve their skills to become independently successful.

Don’t Repeat History

Taking a lesson from the last recession, there are many salespeople out there who are successful in strong economic times but suffer in downturns. Frequently they lack the selling competencies that will support their sales efforts, but more […]

Lessons from the Last Economic Crisis for COVID-19

Braveheart Sales Performance turns eleven years old on March 25. So, if you do the math you will realize that we started the company in 2009. Smack dab in the economic aftermath of the Great Recession. Sure, it was risky. But it seemed less risky at the time than placing my future in the hands of executives of large companies. And, I knew there was a need for our services. Boy was I right. More than I ever expected.

During the recession, it became painfully obvious that many salespeople were not skilled sellers at all. They were merely product pushers and […]

More Coaching, Even Poor Coaching, is Better than None

I cannot impress enough the importance of sales manager coaching and doing it a bunch. I have stats to back me up. Check out this data curated by Objective Management Group on about 5,500 managers and their teams.

Ineffective coaching still yields significant improvement.

You can see, even if the manager isn’t effective at coaching their team, just spending 50% of their time doing it will increase seller effectiveness. And this increase is greater than what effective coaches can produce with their ability alone (without coaching at least 50% of the time). Crazy, huh?

So exactly what do I mean by coaching?

Think of […]

Some Gloomy, But Fixable, Selling Stats

We have known for years that the percentage of salespeople who hit quota is pathetically low. Regardless of what statistics you check, all entities that track and report on it show the quota achievement around or below 50%.

In 2018, CSO Insights reported that 54% of all sales reps met their quota. And for the same year, Forbes stated that 57% missed their quota.

Regardless of which information you believe, the fact remains that quota attainment is low. If given a letter grade, it would equate to an “F.”

What’s causing it to happen?

Are leaders setting quotas too high? Or are […]

Four Reasons Your Sales Training Fails

Have you spent money on sales training without seeing rewards? Are its promises of increased revenue and the vision of stress-free management evaporating? Well, you are not alone. And here are four reasons why:

1. Methodology Only

Many sales training organizations focus on tactics and strategies only. They teach a repeatable process which in and of itself is fine. In fact, getting everyone to use a repeatable process is essential and it absolutely will increase revenue some. Mapping out who the stakeholders are is also important. And establishing a sequential flow to any sales conversation is critical. These all make complete sense […]

The Harder the Questions; The Easier the Sale

Have you ever left a sales appointment and wished you had said something else? Or have you ever debriefed a sales rep’s call and find they didn’t ask the next logical question, and now critical information is missing?

Unfortunately, it’s a common problem. Most salespeople don’t ask enough questions.

Let’s examine some statistics. Only 11%* of salespeople ask the next, most important question when necessary. Further, the typical questions most salespeople ask are garden-variety ones; surface questions that are easily answered. Salespeople tend to accept too much at face value.

When the prospect says something like “This sounds great. Send me a proposal […]

Sales Effectiveness: Nature or Nurture?

There are no perfect salespeople born into this world. At least I haven’t met any.

Sure, there are numerous “natural born” salespeople. You know the type. They had a paper route growing up and by age thirteen had numerous other kids doing the route for them while they slept in and counted their profits. Or they were the cub scout or girl scout that sold the most popcorn or the most cookies (unaided by their parents).

The Benefits of Getting Help

I tend to believe that one’s natural behavior type or personality is not an indicator of success in sales. Sure, nature has […]

When to Set the Sales Hot Seat Heater to Burn?

Football season is here again and with it comes the inevitable placement of some coaches on the proverbial hot seat. Expectations are high for certain colleges, as usual, and a couple of those schools’ seasons have not started well. But just how much time should these teams’ coaches be given to turn a program around?

I heard a sports talk show debating this topic the other day and it got me thinking about the same situation in sales. How long should a seller be given to hit their goals? How long should a manager be given to turn their team around? […]

Technicians as Sellers????

I just moderated a panel where the topic of hiring industry experienced technical people for sales positions came up. I also recently had the same discussion with several clients.

Why are many sales organizations interested in moving technicians into sales jobs? I suspect it is because the job market is so tight that it is difficult to find and attract quality salespeople.

Key Question: Do you think it is easier to hire a great salesperson and teach them your products and services? Or is it easier to hire a great technician and teach them to sell?

I am always going to come down […]

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