How You Can Build a Powerhouse Sales Team in 15 Minutes
Sales managers constantly fight the battle of the urgent versus the important, particularly in an environment like an auto dealership where the urgent tends to dominate the day. The good news is that developing a powerhouse sales team is about quality time more than quantity time.
Even fifteen focused minutes can make a world of difference. This 15-minute coaching plan was broken up into three 5-minute blocks of time during various parts of the day.
Morning Block: Motivation-Focus
The five-minute morning block is dedicated to the Daily Huddle. This motivation-centered, all-hands-on-deck meeting serves as a grounding focal point for the day.
Five minutes long – period.
No administrative issues, no barking about sales quotas, no complaining. The meeting is 100 percent pure motivation. To be clear, the huddle does not require you to do your best Richard Simmons impersonation.
You don’t need to be Ziglar-esque to pull this off. You just need to make sure that everything on your mini-agenda passes the positivity test.
Here are some suggested elements for your huddle meetings:
– Kudos to sales reps for their success
– Positive customer comments or letters
– Success quotes with a very brief discussion on application
– Restating the company vision or mission
– Quick tip of the day
– The Daily Star award (from previous day)
Be creative in defining your own Daily Huddle. Just make sure it passes two tests: 1) It is no longer than five minutes. 2) The agenda is 100 percent positive, leaving the sales professionals fired up to start their day.
Midday Block: Technique-Focus
Technique plateaus are dangerous to both the salesperson and the company. The five-minute midday block comes in the form of a technique-centered e-mail.
Pick a topic from your own experience, or from the myriad of training books. Narrow it down to a bite-sized e-mail, ensuring that there is a very specific call to action.
The sales professional must know exactly how to implement the technique (in practice or in an actual presentation). For example, you can send an e-mail requesting that in the very next prospect conversation the salesperson should ask about the prospect’s buying motivation in the first two minutes of the conversation.
Ask your salespeople to reply to the e-mail indicating that they have read it, they understand it, and they are committed to using it. This will be key to the afternoon session.
Afternoon Block: Accountability Focus
Finally, the afternoon block consists of five, one-minute accountability conversations with randomly-selected salespeople as you determine how they have utilized the daily technique either in a practice session or in working with a customer. Keep in mind that this will be a very brief coaching session – no more than one minute in length – so stay focused on the topic.
Simply ask the salesperson, “Today’s focus is to determine the prospect’s motivation in the first two minutes of the conversation. Tell me exactly what you asked to determine that, when you asked it, and how the prospect responded.”
It’s All About Impact
Think about this concept from the perspective of a sales professional. A good healthy dose of motivation in the morning.
A midday technique pick-me-up with a strong focus to get me through the day. And an afternoon one-on-one coaching session to help me improve all the more. The potential impact is amazing, and all for a 15-minute daily investment.
