How should we be training sales people in the new era of sales, Sales 2.0? What are the initiatives and topics we should focus on? That was the topic of discussion for Christian Maurer, the Ultimate Sales Executive Resource.
Christian is an independent consultant, trainer and coach with a proven track record of helping to increase the productivity of large, global B2B sales organizations. For the last ten years, Christian has consulted and coached hundreds of sales executives and managers on how to plan and execute customer centric sales strategies by focusing on process management rather than trying to manage results.
Prior to becoming a consultant, Christian held management positions on subsidiary and corporate level with a global telecommunications equipment provider. On the corporate level, he was responsible for the global strategic planning process and the global market, competitive and economic analysis. In this role, he was also a member of mixed faculties together with professors from well known European business schools for company specific advanced management trainings. He was also involved in a major initiative to change the corporate culture.
Christian was a fascinating guest (and not only because he has a cool accent!) with a vast knowledge of the sales process and good coaching and training practices. His advice for sales managers and executives: make sure you are focusing on the right topics with your people, then make sure you follow the training up with great coaching!
Christian encourages a common sense approach to sales training, helping organizations get “back to basics” by stressing a focus on sales processes over sales results. Taking this approach allows managers to direct their groups more effectively and to forecast more accurately. This kind of initiative, in Christian’s view, must start at the very top of the organization and trickle down from there.
The areas we should be focused on training, according to Christian, are prospecting, qualifying, rapport-building and effective presentations. Trainers should also be helping salespeople and managers remove the guesswork from their forecasts through an accurate appraissal of where prospects are at in the sales process.
Will taking this action, as many sales executives fear, slow down sales? Not necessarily. In fact, Christian belkieves it will have the effect of streamlining a company’s process by identifying those prospects that are truly engaged as opposed to “just looking”. Doing this will allow managers and salespeople alike to better strategize their efforts and prioritize their time and will identify areas for improvement. He also recommends spending limited training budgets on the executives and managers in an effort to implement new initiatives from the top down, as opposed the “bottom up” strategy many companies currently employ.
Be sure to check out Christian’s Ultimate Sales Executive Resource blog and to leave your feedback in the Comments section. As always, if you enjoyed the post, please share it with a friend!
Thanks for listening,
Brad & Jerry
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