Summary
- New sales leaders benefit from establishing a common sales process so the whole team follows the same structure and terminology.
- Managers should develop self-sufficient reps by helping them analyze problems rather than always providing the solution.
- Focusing on behaviors and controllable sales activities helps managers coach teams more effectively than focusing only on final results.
If you've recently accepted a new role as a sales manager or have been in this position for a while, you may need to use this guide with Sandler Sales training techniques as a stepping stone to establishing new skills or to hone some existing ones. In this article, we have decided to focus on a company that has made an impressive mark in this field and trained countless reps and managers to get to the positions they’re in.It’s safe to say that anyone in sales pretty much knows about Sandler Training. But, just in case you don’t, here’s a quick pitch. Sandler Training is one of the leaders in innovative sales, leadership and management training. With their effective training methodology and selling system, they helped sales reps and managers alike to excel in their field. In other words, whether starting out or you've been in this profession for long, Sandler Training’s resources is the place to learn or sharpen your skills and techniques.
Our Top Picks of Sandler’s Rules
Ensuring you build and manage a team of sales reps can be daunting. There are several elements to consider and develop with your team. So, we’ve decided to pick our favorite rules to shed some light on
- Common Process
This rule is all about having a unified process to ensure everyone’s on the same page. That means setting up a clear and defined sales process from the get-go. This not only removes ambiguity surrounding the language you and your team use for sales and performance reporting, but it also provides structure that you can refine and improve for more success.
- Create Self-Sufficiency
“Don’t fix, but explore” says Sandler Training’s CEO, David Mattson. This rule advocates for sales leaders to encourage their reps to find solutions to challenges instead of feeding it to them. You train your reps to analyze and think strategically when in meetings and calls instead of facing blocks when you’re not there to save them.
- Manage Behavior, Not Results
This rule takes on the example of setting quotas for your sales reps. Instead of trying to manage things that are out of your reps’ control, focus on building a “recipe for success” that’s comprised of a set of activities allowing them to reach the end result.
- Create a Culture of Accountability
Driving accountability in your team can be tricky, but it’s vital. Ensure that your salespeople know that they are responsible for their sales pipeline by introducing meetings that track commitments made to reach sales goals. This doesn’t mean that you just want to track their activities, but to also consistently encourage them by celebrating success.
- Roleplay Creates Muscle Memory
Make sales training fun and effective. Don’t just draw up a sales process document or have your sales reps shadow your star employees. Take it a step further and start role playing with your team and watch their performance skyrocket. By following these guidelines, you should soon be able to improve your sales team management and their performance.To learn more about Sandler's Rules for Sales Leaders, check out their full playlist here.
