Tips for Developing Sales Skills with Your Team

Guest blog by Andrew Lisa

Are your sales meetings getting stale? Are more and more members of the team coming up with reasons why they "can't make it to this one" every week? When your meetings plateau, your team's numbers tend to, too. The best salespeople are creative – always coming up with fresh ideas for their sales techniques. Managers have to be creative with their meetings, as well as with their sales and marketing training.

Spice up your sales meetings with guest speakers.

Spread it Out

Fresh ideas come from fresh perspectives. As discussed in the article "Ideas for Sales Meetings – Sales Skills Development," putting a new person in charge at every meeting can definitely keep things interesting. Assign responsibility to a different salesperson at every meeting. Even if the manager provides the surrogate with the general layout, having a new conductor will keep things exciting.

New Faces Make Things Interesting

Bring in an outside expert every few meetings. They'll bring with them an outside perspective. You can swap by speaking at their meetings every once in a while. A new face with new ideas can shake up stagnant water and put some spice into the same old, same old that is plaguing your team.

Customer Role Playing

When one team member plays the customer – especially an objectionable customer – the others can practice their sales techniques in front of the group. The group can then learn new tricks and tactics while providing valuable feedback from their own experience.

Customer/salesperson role-play gives the whole team a chance to learn new techniques.

Sales and marketing training is most effective when it is unique, fast paced and, yes, fun. Bring in new faces, speed things up, reward punctuality, get creative with role-playing exercises and switch the format by letting a team member take charge.

On a side note for job-seekers:  Ask permission to meet members on the team prior to accepting.  Take them out for coffee and ask what the team atmosphere is truly like.  Honest answers will be forthcoming and you will have an improved basis for making a decision.

Andrew Lisa is a freelance sales writer. He covers sales and marketing training. 

Following Lisa's advice will lead you to the Smooth Sale!

Read Additional Sales Strategies:

Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results, Sourcebooks

HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews, Career Press

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