Donna
Siegel

Sales Coaching: Do You And Your Sales Reps Hear The Same Things?

Before you can begin coaching a sales rep, both you and the rep must establish a common understanding of the customer's needs. And that means reading between the lines to really hear the customer's hidden needs. So the question for sales managers is: Do You And Your Sales Reps Hear The Same Things?

In preparation for our first meeting with the managers on sales coaching, our consulting team had recorded a set of rep/customer interactions, about 20 in all. These calls were random, capturing whatever happened during the time of the recording. We then listened to each one, and wrote a set of notes on what we heard - where the rep did a good job with selling techniques, where an opportunity escaped, and where the rep and customer totally failed to communicate.

At the managers' meeting, we handed out copies of our notes and played the sales conversations, one at a time. At each point where something interesting took place in the conversation, we stopped the tape and talked about what we, the consultants, were hearing in the interaction. When we got to the third conversation, one of the newer managers meekly put up her hand and said "I'm sorry, but I just don't hear what you're hearing in these conversations." We stopped and polled the group. None of the others did as well. They heard the words, but they missed the more subtle interpretations that had caught our attention.

What our consulting team recognized at this point is of course they didn't get it. We were trained listeners, knowing exactly which points were relevant and which ones were not. We automatically tuned into certain types of details. And then it dawned on us. Without this antenna tuning, our managers couldn't pick out the key points in each rep conversation, and thus were doomed to fail as coaches.

That insight changed the course of our manager coaching process. So we turned the tables on our group. We asked our group of managers to make notes on what they heard as we played each of our conversations. As soon as each conversation was over, we asked them to describe what was in their notes. And we found there was great consistency.

Hearing Was Tuned To The Company's Agenda

In reviewing the rep-customer conversation, the managers consistently paid attention to details about their own company, products and services.

Customer qualifications
They picked up on clues as to whether or not this was a qualified prospect, worthy of the rep's time and attention.

Features presentations
Most of their notes were around the features the rep presented and those that should have been presented.

Buying procedures
They picked up on any procedural information the reps gave customers on how to buy, such as arranging for credit.

Company no-no's
All of the managers were quite skillful at detecting violations of corporate policy, such as using the wrong name for a product, failing to give the customer a confirmation number, or giving out information on future products.

Every one of these points our managers were listening for was something that our company wanted to accomplish. We could refer to this as the company's agenda - everything about the company that should be presented to customers.

Operation Listening: Tuning The Manager's Hearing To The Customer's Agenda

So now we knew our problem. The managers were listening very carefully to their reps' behavior but hearing much less of what the customer was saying. Thus, they were evaluating rep performance in terms of the company's goals, not in terms of whether the reps were really addressing the customers' needs. Before we could make them into coaches, we had to change the perspective from the company's agenda to the customer's agenda. We started a training program for these managers to fine-tune their hearing, and we focused their hearing at the customer's part of the conversation.

These are the directions we gave the managers before playing a tape:

1. We're about to play a rep/customer conversation for you.
2. During the conversation, you'll need to take notes on the key points.
3. As I play the conversation, ignore the rep.
4. Instead, focus all of your attention on the words of the customer.
5. Take notes on what the customer says and what you think it means about their goals and needs.

Conversation Payoffs

When the managers focused on listening to the customers instead of their reps, they were surprised by how much valuable information they had been missing, and by how much their reps were missing. Together we concluded that there were two payoff points which predicted the likely outcome of the rep and customer conversation. The most powerful clues customers gave to what they were really thinking were in these two areas:

1. Key words and phrases
How the customers stated their points gave lots of clues to what they were really thinking. Is there urgency to make this purchase? How much have they already thought through this purchase? Is this a buying conversation or a fishing expedition? The words customers use tell more than they think about what they are really thinking and feeling.

2. Customer questions
The second payoff area was the questions customers asked of the rep. These questions identify how much they already know about making this type of purchase, which products and features are most likely to appeal, the issues that are on their minds, and what additional barriers exist before the purchase can be made.

Listening And Coaching

We worked with the managers for about a month until their hearing was fine-tuned. Then we had them start using the information they were now hearing about the customers to coach their reps. Specifically, they would observe a customer/rep interaction and make notes on what the customer said, what it suggested about the customer's needs, and how well the rep's responses addressed the customer's needs. After the conversation, the managers would debrief the conversation with the rep. In this coaching situation they would:

1. Ask the rep to verbalize the major points the customer had mentioned during the conversation.
2. Review their notes with the reps, providing positive feedback on those points the rep heard accurately, and pointing out additional information about the customer that the rep missed.

So What Happened?

There were two major outcomes of this coaching strategy. First, reps started taking detailed notes on customer comments and questions. Knowing that they would have to discuss a specific conversation with their managers periodically, they wanted to be prepared. Second, sales went up. Customer comments that previously flew over the heads of the reps were now being picked up and responded to. Issues that previously blocked sales seemed to disappear. And more importantly, customers really began to feel very good about the company.

The Bottom Line

If you want to make your sales reps more effective, start by improving your own ability to hear the details in a conversation - particularly the subtle clues about what the customers is really trying to accomplish. As your own hearing becomes fine-tuned, you'll have a major impact in improving the quality of your reps.

SeaBird Associates Inc
3011 NE 7th Drive
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: 561-750-9233
E-mail: Donna Siegel

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