They might feel awkward and you might be reluctant to try them, but they WILL help you grow your business. Isn’t your business worth giving it a shot?
Hey everyone, this is the transcription of our latest YouTube video where we dive into a few sales training exercises that I like to use on a daily basis to help improve my sales and to grow my business. Be sure to check out our YouTube channel and give this video a like and hit that subscribe button. And, while you’re at it, ring the bell to be notified whenever we post a new video.
I’m Ian Campbell, CEO of Mission Suite. I’ve been in business for myself for the past twenty years and I’ve had to learn a few things about training myself to sell better.
I had to learn them all myself through my own trial and error….it was a challenge to say the least and I ended up wasting a lot of time and money in doing so.
Here are a few of the main training exercises that I started doing on a regular basis that helped me to really improve my sales.
First, write everything down.
And I mean EVERYTHING.
Write down your 30 second introduction.
Write down all of the things that make up your ideal client.
Write down the things that you listen for.
Write down the industries that make for great referral partners for you.
Write down objections.
See where I’m going with this?
If you write everything down, it’s not only going to help you practice it and ultimately remember it but it’s also going to help you refine it.
Everything from your introduction to the way you respond to objections. These things should be refined regularly as you find different things that work as you go through your life in business.
Having it written down will give you something to reference and continually update as you find out what works and what doesn’t.
Second, record yourself.
This is the awkward part. Very few people really like to see themselves on camera but believe me when I tell you that this can make a HUGE impact on your performance.
Record yourself in a mock sales conversation with a friend, a spouse, an associate, whatever.
Then play it back for yourself a couple times to see how you look when you’re having your conversation.
Do you have a deadpan face? Need to smile more? Are your eyes darting around or locked into one place for an uncomfortably long time?
I remember the first time I did this, I realized that I never actually smiled or looked at the person in the eye because I was too preoccupied trying to remember what I wanted to say.
It’s amazing what a smile and steady gaze can do!
Watch the recording, find something to work on and then record yourself again. Then watch it again to figure out what you want to work on next.
And here’s a pro tip: Don’t try to work on too much all at the same time. More often than not, you’ll end up not improving anything. Stick to one thing at a time. Want to smile more? Focus on that before moving on to trying to fix anything else.
Next, track your activity
This goes back to my first point. Write everything down.
Tracking your activities is going to help you figure out what you really need to be doing to get sales meetings and new sales.
If you’re cold calling, write down how many cold calls you make every day and how many qualified appointments you get from those efforts.
If you’re networking, track how many of what events you go to and how many qualified appointments you get out of that.
Make sure you’re specific here. This is what’s going to really help you manage your time more effectively and make sure you’re spending your time focusing on where your sales are coming from.
Finally, find someone to hold you accountable.
I can’t stress this enough. Find someone to go through this with.
Selling is a tough game and it’s really easy to avoid some of this stuff. But doing these things regularly is what’s going to help you really grow.
Find someone you can meet with regularly to report back on your activities, their results and brainstorm how to get better.
Sales people who work for a company typically have this kind of accountability built in to their management structure but as a business owner, you won’t have that. And it can be REALLY easy to let it fall by the wayside.
Don’t let it.
Find a business coach, a sales trainer, a mentor, another friend in business doing the same thing you are. Just find SOMEBODY that can hold you accountable.
Your Turn
So there you have it folks, if I had someone tell me to regularly focus on those four exercises, I would have seen a lot more effective growth in my business a lot sooner than I did.
If you got something out of this and want to see the video, check it out here and do me a favor and give it a like and a share so that other people can see it too. And, of course, subscribe to our channel and ring the bell so that you’re notified whenever we post new videos.