Selling with Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud

Chapter 21

The Most Critical 10 Minutes

Precall and Postcall Sales Coaching

I’m a coach, so I take the issue of control personally.

—Pat Summit All time winningest coach in NCAA basketball

A manager’s words echo in salespeople’s heads when they’re with customers. Too often managers send salespeople off with “Go get ’em, tiger” or “Let’s close this deal.”

You can do better. A little Noble Sales Purpose (NSP) coaching from you will have a big impact on your reps’ performance.

Here are some field coaching techniques you can use with your reps to improve their performance with customers.

Before the Sales Call

Ideally you want to coach your reps well in advance of their critical sales calls. But the reality of the field is that you’re often on the phone at 10 pm the night before a big call, or trying to squeeze in some coaching as you walk in the door. Here’s how to handle the most common scenarios:

If You Have 10 Hours before the Sales Call:

• Ask the rep about the five critical categories of information.
• Share an NSP story from a similar customer.
• Ask the rep to put into writing, “How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?”

If You Have 10 Minutes before the Sales Call:

• Ask the NSP question, “How will this customer be different as a result of doing business with us?”
• If the rep doesn’t know, provide one or two suggestions.

If You Have 10 Seconds before the Sales Call:

• Do the 10-second game changer activity with the rep.
• Breathe.
• Think.
  • This about ...