you only have six – you don’t need to wait for your boss to tell you to find prospects. You’re going to get on LinkedIn and ask for referrals.”
3. ROLE PLAY OFTEN
Role play – which Sandler calls “practice” or “rehearsal” because reps tend to balk at the term “role play” – is a pillar at Sandler. Sales trainers do it often and advocate that all sales leaders find at least two opportunities a day to rehearse with their reps. It doesn’t need to be formal; in fact, it’s better if it isn’t. Make it conversational. And never make the rep play himself, as the pressure to perform well can undermine his ability to learn. Instead, leaders should play the role of the rep and, in the process, let the rep make changes to the manager’s suggested wording until the phrasing sounds natural.
Sandler by the Numbers 3 49 years in business 3 250+ training centers worldwide 3 Offices in 27 countries 3 23 languages spoken 3 600+ trainers around the globe 3 19,000+ people trained each year 3 475,000+ training hours delivered per year
3 Rated by Training Industry as a Top 20 train- ing organization six consecutive times from 2010 to 2015.
3 Recognized by Selling Power magazine as one of the Top 20 training companies in the United States.
3 Twelve percent higher quota attainment by sales reps and by sales team than any other training company (Aberdeen Group).
3 Fourteen percent higher customer renewal than any other training company (Aberdeen Group).
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Here’s what it looks like. Say you’re a sales leader who just listened in on a call between a rep and a prospect. Afterwards, you might stop by the rep’s desk and say something like, “Hey, Bob, I just heard that call with Acme. You did a great job with it, but I noticed you didn’t set an agenda for the meeting you scheduled with them. Let’s figure out how to do that. You play the prospect and I’ll be you.” Go through the conversation and – when you are done – ask: “Does that sound like it would work for you? What would you change?” Let the rep edit and then practice again.
By keeping things informal – letting reps take the role of
the prospect and allowing reps to construct and hear vari- ous phrasing options – they will be more comfortable with the role-play process, and, thus, more likely to implement what comes out of it.
4. BUILD A STRONG HIRING TOOLKIT
One of the biggest challenges sales leaders face is finding great new talent. How can you be sure the person who looks good on paper and sounds right in an interview will be productive on the job? While there’s no guarantee a hire will be your next superstar, you can greatly increase your odds of success with a solid pre-interview planning process, says Mattson. By taking a calculated, scientific approach to interviewing, you’ll minimize the chances of being emotionally swayed by a likeable personality. Start by creating a job profile that goes beyond a simple job description. Detail everything the person is actually going to do and what it takes to succeed at the job. Next, create a search model that lays out the skills candidates need to be successful, the experience they need to bring, the attitude or mindset necessary to succeed, results they attained at their previous job that would predict success in the new position, the cognitive skills they need, and their ideal work habits. Once this is captured on paper, you’ll have a clear
picture of your hiring requirements. Your interview ques- tions should then be designed to uncover only whether a candidate has the right attributes. Those who don’t are likely not a good fit – no matter how engaging they are in the interview.
5. CREATE AN EFFECTIVE ONBOARDING PROGRAM
Most organizations’ onboarding programs consist of giving new-hire reps a manual and/or sending them into the field with a top seller for a couple weeks, says Mattson. With these as the most common approaches to indoctrinating new reps, it’s no wonder so many sales
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