One of the very best ways to improve your selling skills and those of your sales team is to engage a coach or mentor.

In just the same way as the very best sports people have their own (or a team) coach, so too should sales professionals.

After all, if Tiger Woods – undeniably the world’s best golfer – has a coach or mentor, then there’s got to be a VERY GOOD reason for it, and that reason is simple:

Results!

A great coach or mentor can help speed up the process of attaining success in any endeavour, and selling is no different to golf or football in that respect.

HOWEVER, it’s vital that if you do decide to engage a coach or mentor, that you choose carefully.

You should look for 3 things in this situation:

1) Someone you have a good connection with… after all, if you dislike or disrespect each other, that’s going to kill any chance of success for all the obvious reasons.

2) Someone who has the real-world experience that you want to emulate. If you’re already a better sales person than them, there’s not much likelyhood they’ll be able to stretch your skills and attitude enough to get better.

and

3) Someone who practises tough love. A coach or mentor who lets you get away with failure all the time is doing no-one a favour. They have to be willing to push you hard, especially when you’re down & feeling negative.

A truly great sales coach will always expect the best from you, but also understands that everyone grows at a different pace. This ensures they identify your strengths and weaknesses, and modify their coaching to take these into account, all while INSISTING on excellence and commitment to achieving your goals.

When one looks at the number of books, CD’s, DVD’s, training organisations and sales programs currently available, one could be forgiven for not knowing where to start and more importantly, what will deliver the specific results you & your TEAM are looking for.

In addition there are many styles of training and support to choose from, sales coach, sales trainer, sales mentor, sales manager and sales adviser plus others.

Individuals and teams have specific requirements and it is important to make sure you spend the time and money on those areas of training you have identified that you need to see improvement in.

One of the reasons I wrote my book “4 Qualities of the Successful Sales Professional” was to help, through the exercises and the self audit process, assist individuals and organisations identify what areas of training need to be attended to first.

It is important with sales training to not attempt too many activities at once as I have seen on many occasions this will result in none of the tasks being started due to the lack of a planned approach.

The need to identify what is to be accomplished is essential when planning a sales training program and knowing what needs to be done will – to a large extent – guide you to the most effective sales program for your career.

There are many sales coaches available but one needs to be sure to understand what is required and not think that a comprehensive package will satisfy your needs. One size does not fit all.

The best advice is only as good as the use you make of it.

For more information on sales coaching or mentoring, take a look at my Dynamic Sales Mentoring programs & options.