Situation: A company is staffed by a team that is not made up of salespeople, per se, but individuals who have grown with the business and who understand the customer. The staff is divided into teams who serve the company’s customers but with differences in effectiveness. The CEO seeks advice as to how they can best increase their selling level. How do you improve sales skills?

Advice from the CEOs:

• Comparing the teams, what are the differences in effectiveness in sales?
  • The individual with the most classic “sales” personality struggles with sales.
  • An individual with an HR background who knows the customer well is more comfortable with sales and is the highest producer.
  • There are instances of hoarding of information which could improve sales, but this is more frequent within teams than between the teams.
• Dale Carnegie Sales Courses are a wonderful resource that can improve the skills of individuals both with and without a formal background in sales.
• Engage in customer research to understand and know the customer.
  • Ask the sales leads in each team head up this research.
  • Their task will be to share their observations about customers and develop new strategies for approaching and meeting the needs of different customers.
  • This sharing should be both within the teams and between the teams.
• Consider a sales coach.
  • Ask colleagues and search the Internet for a local resource.
  • Look for a consultant who specializes in working with individuals to overcome sales blocks, as well as to develop individualized sales styles that are effective for each person.

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