Achieving success in sales isn’t easy. Rejection, disappointment, and frustration are constant companions on the road to sales success. 

That said, there are ways to get sales agents to produce more sales. The key is having a sales manager who has a variety of skills to lead their team. One of the most important skills is sales coaching.

What Is Sales Coaching?

Sales coaching is a one-on-one process where a manager and their peer work together to improve performance. Coaching emphasizes asking questions and helping a person to identify ways to improve. Rather than handing down advice, sales coaching helps the salesperson identify solutions which results in their motivation to take control of their next actions.  

Here are 3 coaching strategies:

Strategy 1: Start with Activity

Inadequate sales activity is the root cause of many sales problems. For example, a salesperson becomes consumed with addressing a complex issue for a current customer for a week. As a result, the agent’s good prospecting habits may become inconsistent. Also, salespeople might get discouraged if they receive a harsh response to a cold call or proposal.

Use the following question to coach salespeople to improve their activity levels:

• How many sales calls (emails, messages, etc) did you send this week? 
• How does that compare to the week before?
• How many sales appointments did you have with prospects last week?
• What is your process for completing follow-up?
• What strategies do you use to recover from disappointments?

As the conversation evolves, the agent may realize that insufficient sales activity hurts their results. If this is the case, ask the salesperson to set an achievable short-term goal (e.g., “I will contact ten prospects in the next two days”) and report back. 

Strategy 2: Coaching for Sales Technique

In other situations, the volume of sales activity is not the problem. You might see reports from the daily High Payoff Activity Guide or CRM that show high levels of sales activity. If that activity level is not paying off in appointments, reservations, contracts, or closed deals, sales technique may be the challenge.

Reference these sales coaching questions in your next one-on-one to help your agent improve their technique.

• What are some of the most common questions or objections you hear from prospects? 
• Do you have notes or a script to help you?
• How do you prepare for a sales meeting?
• What aspect of the sales process do you find most challenging or frustrating?

As you work through these questions, it is vital to listen with empathy. Asking a salesperson to speak about areas where they are struggling may be stressful. 

Strategy 3: Coaching for Well-being

Even with the best technique and numbers in the world, health difficulties make it tough to win in sales. That’s why sales coaching with well-being in mind is worthwhile. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 21% of all adults experience mental illness each year. 

Coaching for well-being is a newer strategy. Not all managers are confident in having discussions about mental health, and not all salespeople want to talk about it. Given these realities, an indirect approach to focusing on wellbeing and healthy habits may help. 

Put these tips into action to encourage your sales team to improve their well-being.

• Self-reflect on the example you are setting as a sales leader. Your team is watching how you work and talk to guide their work. 

Share personal stories and strategies when appropriate. In a oen-on-one setting, consider opening up about how you manage stress. For example, you might share how you’ve developed healthy routines like limiting caffeine intake and exercising to keep yourself in good health.

• Take the time to listen during one-on-one meetings. Effective sales coaching requires a fairly high degree of emotional intelligence. If you see your direct report looks unusually tired, they might have been up late dealing with a family crisis or another difficulty. In that case, it’s not the right time to dive into a detailed discussion of sales metrics. Instead, taking the time to listen and offer encouragement can be extremely helpful.

Sales Coaching Isn’t the Answer to Every Problem

There’s no question that sales coaching is powerful. When sales professionals and managers receive constructive feedback, there is every chance that you can improve. While sales managers should do everything to support their staff, coaching is not a magic bullet. In some cases, a person might not be a good fit for the sales profession.

Before you replace an under-functioning salesperson, take some time to reflect on the situation. For example, ask yourself if the situation might have gone differently if you had asked better questions in the recruiting process or provided better feedback.

Gen Zers define themselves by their work, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. These individuals are digital natives who deeply value face-to-face contact.

So, what does this mean for your training programs?

It means a shift that incorporates the latest technologies, but also fulfills a desire for human contact. Your Gen Z training must acknowledge that while these new workers crave information, they also know how to find answers. They’ll be easily distracted if your training isn’t informative and engaging.  So, what do you do?

1. Engage through cross-training

To engage learners, Gen Z training has to do more than match a job description. They want to continue to accumulate a variety of skills, so offer training that extends their capabilities. For example, provide your sales trainees with marketing training, and your data people with sales skills.

Cross-training also fits perfectly into a future of work. The type of diverse training programs that Gen Z demands will prepare your entire workforce for what’s to come. They’ll be more flexible, adaptable, and better positioned for the future.

2. Use videos 

Gen Zers love Instagram and Snapchat, and Tiktok is one of their favorite apps.  They watch an average of 68 videos a day. That means Gen Z training has to be visual. Videos are especially useful for online training, particularly when it comes to how-to instructions.

3. Create immersive learning experiences

Gen Z is not a passive generation, so training can’t be passive either. They’re independent and adept at getting the answers for themselves, and they want hands-on training they can fully immerse themselves in. 

4. Leverage bite-sized learning

The real challenge of training Gen Z will be capturing and keeping their attention. Used to switching between devices (smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and tablet) and spending 6 to 9 hours consuming entertainment media, you’ll have to work hard for that attention.

Microlearning can help. Deliver learning in quick, tightly focused bites that can be consumed in minutes rather than hours. This type of training feeds both the Gen Z need for instant information and their wavering attention span.

5. Add a human touch to your training

Gen Z appreciates human connections, and they are masters at networking. Seventy-two percent of them actually prefer face-to-face communication at work.  

Gen Z sees virtual environments as a natural way to extend their relationship with others, and so should you. Mentorship programs, either in-person or virtual, could help connect younger generations with your more experienced workforce.

Conclusion

Training Gen Z is a challenge, but meeting that challenge can have tremendous payoffs for your entire workforce and the growth of your company. Adjusting your training to meet the needs of Gen Z won’t just engage your Gen Z employees, it will help your organization prepare to be a workplace of the future.

“Millennials” have been a frequent topic of discussion for many managers over the last few years.  It’s hard to believe that some millennials have been in the workforce for over ten years.   

If you’ve hired inexperienced employees recently, chances are you have a few twenty-somethings currently on your team. There’s a lot of bad press about this age group, so I’d like to talk about how you can successfully hire and manage these team members.

As a consultant, I often hear about how challenging it is to integrate young people into the work force. Armed with the right attitude and fresh knowledge, it doesn’t have to be difficult at all. Here are five tips to get moving in the right direction:

1. Don’t make assumptions or believe stereotypes. A big shift has taken place in the world of work. The Millennial generation—those born roughly between 1980 and 1998—is now the largest demographic in the workforce. This trend will continue, with immigration adding more numbers to this group. The Millennial population in the United States is projected to peak in 2036 at 81.1 million.

Take a minute for that to sink in. 

In addition to overtaking the Baby Boomers in population size, twenty-somethings are more racially and ethnically diverse than the other adult generations. Once you factor in the diversity of life experiences, along with personality variations that occur across all populations, it becomes clear that managing them as individuals is the best approach.

2. Know who you are and how you are wired to manage. Just as individuals bring their motivations and experiences to work, so do managers when interacting with and leading their team. The better awareness you have of your own management style, the more effective you will be working with your team members.

Instead of thinking, “I’m from Generation X/a Baby Boomer and am different from the younger generation,” think “I have my own set of motivations, strengths, and inhibitors, just like this person who is new to the workforce. How can we best work together and complement each other’s styles?”

3. Learn as much as possible about your applicants. A whole industry has been created around helping job seekers shape resumes and cover letters to conform to keyword searches, and they are seldom written by the applicants themselves, so you’re often looking at a product rather than at a document that gives insight into the person’s potential. The good news is that tools exist to balance things out in your favor.

Behavioral interview guides give you a preview of how applicants will look on the job, and pre-employment personality assessments uncover intrinsic motivators such as detail focus, customer service orientation, and self-direction.

Knowing this information not only helps you make informed hiring decisions, it enables you to develop targeted and productive coaching and development plans. 

4. Evaluate your job descriptions and be detailed about entry-level responsibilities. When was the last time you updated the language in your job postings?

Business is in a constant state of flux thanks to rapidly-changing technologies and consumer demands. It follows that jobs themselves evolve and requirements change. Younger applicants may not have the experience you’re looking for, but they might be just who you need in terms of skill sets. However, no one will know if the job requirements haven’t been updated in 12 years.

Also, thinking back to intrinsic motivation, be sure to spell out exactly what is expected, task-wise. You’ll attract more appropriate applicants with accurate breakdowns of job duties than with arbitrary demands of experience.

5. Share your company’s culture and work environment. We hear a lot of chatter about “what young people want,” which can be viewed as a false narrative. No group of people so vast and diverse can possibly be put in one box. People of all generations are different from each other, twenty-somethings included. There’s no need to wonder, “How can I reorganize things so this company looks more appealing to the new generation of workers?” and go chasing after an elusive, all-purpose explanation of what such people want.

A better approach is to take a serious look at your company culture and your work environment and highlight it when you promote the company. Is it a supportive setting that emphasizes teamwork? Or a competitive one where self-reliance and independent thinking is valued? 

Instead of sifting through thousands of applicants trying to figure out which ones are viable candidates, take an honest look at your culture and share your insights. This is the most effective way of hiring people who will fit your environment. Embrace the fact that your work force will be made up of twenty-somethings, and adjust accordingly.  

Meghan works in janitorial services at a major hospital, and she takes great pride in her work.

One day, she pairs up with a new team member to show him the correct way to clean rooms. However, he seems ambivalent about his new job, and about the importance of following strict cleaning procedures.

So, Meghan explains why their team's job is one of the most important in the hospital. When they do thorough work, there are fewer germs in the operating and patient rooms. Their diligence reduces the number of secondary infections, which, in turn, helps to keep patients healthier. Potentially, their work could save lives.

Meghan's story is an inspiring example of how people can find purpose in their work; that is, they can see the full impact of the work that they do. In this article, we'll look at how you can help your people to find purpose in their jobs, and why this matters.

Why Is Purpose Important?

No matter what you do, your job exists for a reason. When you know that reason—and when you fully understand how your efforts make the world a better place for someone else—you've found your job's purpose.

In their 2010 book, The Why of Work, Dave and Wendy Ulrich explain that there are many advantages of helping people to find purpose in a job. 

On an individual level, people who understand their job's wider purpose are happier, more engaged, and more creative. And, from an organizational perspective, when employees see how their roles fit with the company's goals, staff turnover goes down and productivity rises. People work harder, use their initiative, and make sensible decisions about their work. In turn, the company can operate more efficiently. Everyone, from the CEO to customers, feels the positive effects.

Helping Your Team Find Purpose

If you work for a nonprofit or service organization, it may be easy to help people find the deeper meaning in their work. But what if you work in a bank, a call center, or a software company?

It's essential to realize that every job provides a service to someone else – if it didn't, it wouldn't exist. Keep this in mind as you work with your team members to help them find meaning in their work.

Step 1: Write a Meaningful Mission Statement

Your organization's mission statement is a good place to start. It should help you identify customers' needs, the ways in which the organization will meet them, and how success will be measured.

You may not be in a position to change your organization's mission statement, but you can write a mission and vision statement for your team or department. This statement should define the deeper purpose behind your work.

Use the 5 Whys Technique to kick-start this process. Ask the simple question "Why does this team or department exist?" and keep following up with "why" questions until you've uncovered your team's deeper purpose. Think about organizational objectives as you move through the process: what needs are being met?

Next, use this insight to write your team's mission and vision statement. Display this where everyone can see it.

Step 2: Link Personal Drivers With Team or Organizational Goals

Your next step is to connect your team members' personal goals to organizational ones.

To start, meet one-on-one with each of your team members, and use McClelland's Human Motivation Theory to help them understand what really drives them.

Next, encourage each team member to reflect on how they can connect their motivations with the goals of the organization. Remember that your role in this process should be that of a facilitator; try not to influence others too much with your own values or beliefs.

Finally, use the Management by Objectives approach to link your team members' personal goals to those of your organization.

Step 3: Uncover Strengths

When you do work that uses your strengths, you slip into a state of flow. You're so engaged with your work that time seems to slip away. You often do your best work in this state.

The same is true for members of your team. If you can help them to discover their strengths, and the tasks that lead them to slip into a state of flow, you'll help them find greater personal satisfaction in their work.

Encourage team members to explore their strengths using the StrengthsFinder assessment, which will help them to uncover their top five strengths.

You can also use the MPS Process with them to uncover the tasks and responsibilities that bring them the greatest happiness and meaning.

Once you've understood each person's strengths, use job-crafting strategies to incorporate more of the tasks that use these into your team members' work.

Step 4: Build a Positive Work Environment

A healthy, positive working environment brings out the best in everyone. So, make sure that you're giving your team the chance to be the best that they can be.

For instance, to help people build good work relationships, encourage them to socialize before meetings, or outside work. Give people more autonomy over their work, and provide learning and career-development opportunities. Promote values such as integrity, honesty and humility by praising employees who demonstrate them.

When you create a work environment that's uplifting and supportive, it will be easier for your team members to stay connected to the deeper meaning in their work.

Step 5: Use Feedback to Boost Positivity

Positive feedback is a highly effective motivator. It reminds us that our work is noticed, and that it’s making a difference.

Provide regular feedback, and share stories from customers or clients that show how your team is making a positive difference. This can be a powerful way to inspire your team members, and to keep them connected with the people that they’re helping.

Key Points

Most people want to know that their work has meaning – that it helps someone else or makes the world a better place. When people understand the deeper purpose behind their work, they're likely to be more satisfied and more productive.

Take the following steps to help your people find purpose in their work:

• Write a meaningful mission statement.
• Link personal drivers with team or organizational goals.
• Uncover strengths.
• Build a positive work environment.
• Use feedback to boost positivity.

As a leader, it's important that you provide regular feedback, both from your own viewpoint and from that of customers or clients. This will help your people to see that their work really does make a difference.

It’s been a tough couple of years, and many employees have felt an impact on their mental health and wellbeing as they deal with both internal and external stressors. Managers are stressed too, as they try to support employees emotionally while answering to executives on issues like low morale, poor employee performance, and increased turnover.

When our batteries are drained at work, we start to slow down. And if they never get recharged, we’ll eventually turn off altogether. Sometimes, a simple gesture of gratitude or a sincere thank you for our efforts can give us the boost we need.

Benefits of gratitude in the workplace

Showing appreciation and gratitude in the workplace is a valued practice in high-performing organizations. According to the Harvard Business Review, gratitude improves wellbeing, reduces stress, and builds resilience. People are also more willing to help others who have shown them gratitude in the past. 

In one study, researchers had participants edit a student’s cover letter. Half of the participants then received a neutral message from the student acknowledging they’d received their feedback. The other half received a grateful note, where the student expressed their sincere thanks and appreciation. 

What do you think happened when the students asked the same participants for help a second time? The ones who got the note of gratitude were twice as likely to agree to help them again.

Why is gratitude important?

Data continues to show some other great benefits of gratitude in the workplace, including: 

• Increased engagement: Organizations that recognize their people inspire real connection.
  
• Higher productivity: When employees feel celebrated and valued, they’re more excited to work.
  
• Better retention: A positive recognition strategy boosts morale and breeds loyalty.
  
• Greater motivation: Regular appreciation gives people fresh purpose and momentum.
  
• More satisfied customers: Employees who are openly praised earn higher loyalty and satisfaction scores.
  
• Stronger connections: Remote teams feel more connected when positive feedback rolls in.
  

Now that you know why gratitude in the workplace is important, join me next time for ways to show your appreciation to colleagues and direct reports.

...But you can't make him drink

This old saying dates to 1175, so this isn’t a new problem! But I use the “horse/water” metaphor because only 20% of your salespeople will drink the water you lead them to.

We’ve all racked our brains about why our salespeople don’t learn, take helpful suggestions, or try harder. You’ll discover the answer to that mystery by embracing the 80/20 Rule.

For example: If your team is 20 people, - 4 of them will "get it." If your team is 10, only 2 will get it. By “getting it,” I’m implying that only 20 percent of your salespeople are thoughtful, intentional, and committed to making 2023 a successful year. 

Why is this important? Because the 80/20 Rule could save you 15 to 20 hours a week that you can invest in High Payoff Activities. That’s the amount of time you could save by focusing on those few salespeople, the 20%, who are hungry for success! 

What could you do with an extra three months in 2023?

The bonus: Some of the followers, the other 80%, will catch on when they see their teammates achieving more. 

Your job is to provide all your salespeople with the path to success, but only focus on the 20% who want more in life. 

Real Estate is a cyclical business. Most salespeople don’t think they need to learn anything in a strong market. But in a down market, as expected in 2023, some of your salespeople will fail out of the business. Unfortunately, they will miss the pent-up sales in the 2024 market cycle. Fortunes will be earned by those salespeople who have prepared to do better. 

This post is the second in a four-part series. If you'd like all for parts now, email me at marie@HPA8020.com

As a sales team leader, do you find yourself wondering if some of your sale people may just be born to sell while others seem to struggle?  It might feel like the ability to sell is something you’re born with, but according to some researchers, everyone is technically “in sales.” The sales skills that are needed when you actually work in sales require more targeted effort. While we all have our own natural aptitudes, anyone can learn to become better at influencing others, which is what selling is really all about.

Here are the top 6 science-backed techniques for creating the best sales skills habits for your sales team:

1. Contact Leads Within 5 Minutes

How long do you wait to contact your leads? Science shows us that buyers are more likely to make a purchase the closer in time to when they made the initial inquiry. However, every minute you wait before you contact the buyer results in a dramatic drop in their interest level.  

Some salespeople will wait until they have a free moment to respond. If you do this, then you’re making a big sales mistake! 

2. Smile and be Positive

What are the first words out of your mouth when you start speaking to your buyer? Is it small talk or chit-chat?  You might think that making a comment about how terrible the weather is makes no difference, but it can actually have a knock-on negative effect on your likelihood to make a sale.

If you had a bad morning, keep it to yourself because scientific research shows that starting with a positive comment will be more profitable for you. One study found that waiters who simply said “good morning” to hotel guests and gave a positive weather forecast were able to boost their tips by 27%!

3. Say Yes to Optimism

When you look at a glass, is it half empty or half full? You might be wondering what the answer to this question can have on sales, but the science is clear.  Psychologist Martin Seligman was the first to study optimism in salespeople. Over 30 years of research involving more than a million salespeople confirms that optimism is a valuable attribute.

Their most notable research was in 1986 when Martin Seligman and Peter Schulman tested 14,000 applicants at Metropolitan Life for optimism. The results showed that optimists consistently outsold pessimists.

This wasn’t a one-off; they were able to repeat the results in an 1995 study involving salespeople across several industries, including office products, real estate, banking, and car sales. They found conclusively that optimists outsold pessimists by between 20 to 40 percent.

4. Introvert? Extrovert? Be an Ambivert

If you're an introvert, you may have heard that extroverts make the best sales people. Well, it’s not entirely accurate. The best sales people are neither introverted nor extroverted. They are in fact ambiverts.

What is an ambivert?

An ambivert is someone who has both introvert and extrovert qualities, and bounces between the two without committing to one or the other. For example, an ambivert enjoys being around others, but they also enjoy their alone time.

Sound familiar? If so, then you're in luck.

A recent study of 300 sales professionals published in Psychological Science shared researcher Adam Grant’s findings that qualities of both introverted and extroverted personalities have their place in sales. But the key take away from the study is that on average, ambiverted sales people generated 32% more revenue than highly extroverted sales people!

5. Offer More Than One Option

How many options do you give your buyers?

In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Daniel Mochon found that the number of product options had a big influence.

One of Daniel's most famous experiments was based on consumers who were asked to purchase a DVD player.  When a single DVD player was shown, only 10 percent of the people purchased it. However, when Daniel introduced a second DVD player, the number of sales increased by 66%!

Your buyers are more likely to make a purchase if they feel confident about their decision.

6. Act Like Your Buyers

Do you notice how your buyers behave and respond to you?

The science shows that mirroring the gestures, expressions, and posture of someone you are speaking to can significantly increase their perception of you.

This technique, known as mirroring, is mostly seen in couples, but it happens in the workplace too—at meetings, conversations with colleagues, and networking events.

One study in 2009 involved 60 people who were tasked with negotiating with each other. By mirroring their partner’s speech and posture, they were able to reach an agreement 67% of the time, while those that did not mirror their partner were only able to reach an agreement 12.5% of the time.

Another study in 2011 involved over 100 customers and discovered that they bought more products and had a more positive impression of the company when the retail salespeople were told to mirror the behavior of their customers.

Mirroring the verbal and nonverbal behavior of your buyers will significantly boost their willingness to agree with you.

Remember it’s a lot easier to create new habits than change old ones, so try adding one of these science-backed techniques. 

Yes, I have a better vocabulary, and using the word sucks is a way of getting your attention. Please forgive me!

My point: Your salespeople focus on what gets their attention, and studies prove that the average person has an 8.2-second attention span (goldfish have 9 seconds). As you know, most of your salespeople are distracted 90 percent of their day.

Accepting the fact that salespeople don’t focus, they won’t learn needed sales skills. Without the needed skills, they won’t make many sales. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that the real estate industry has a 90% “turnover rate.”

You decide who’s to blame 

• The salesperson?
• Or their Sales Team Leader? 

Our business, HPA Academy,  is coaching Sales Leaders who know their success is based on the sales their team produces. These great sales team leaders are dedicated to increasing the sales skill habits of their salespeople. Enhanced sales skills double closing percentages.

The 5 Things These Leaders do: 

1. Unite a group with a sales team goal 
2. Create a learning environment where salespeople are exposed to the four “sales-skills habits” that produce the most sales
3. Track salespeoples' progress with an accountability system
4. Agree on weekly projection commitments
5. Simplify the selling process with a few sales skill habits 
   

Your salespeople's lives are a reflection of their HABITS

• If they’re successful, it is because of their habits
• If they’re mediocre, it is because of their habits
• If they struggle and are in debt, it may be because of bad habits

You can make the difference because most salespeople have uphill hopes but downhill habits. They have good intentions, but hope, luck, and dreams, aren’t habits. Habits are formed and honed by repeated daily behaviors.

Without your help your salespeople will not win their battle over their subconscious minds. They’ll try, but be pulled back into their comfort zone. Iron-willed grit and determination fail 98% of the time, and you know that! You only have to look at diet, exercise, and the “self-help" industry to realize the power of the subconscious mind. Millions of videos and self-help books are purchased, but only a few people read the books and heed its message. 

This isn’t because of a lack of willpower; instead, it is an example of the power of the subconscious mind. 

Since our subconscious mind controls all our habits, how do we change our habits? Well, we don’t. Changing a habit is almost impossible. And forming a new habit is far easier.

You can change the habits of your salespeople a little bit at a time, day by day. The changes must be insignificant and easy to do. Generally, the missing ingredients are the environment, patience, and time.