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The Great Resignation has implications beyond the risk of top salespeople leaving for greener pastures — or in some instances, just a break from the grind. It also requires cleaning distributors to assess other options, such as giving employees with minimal or no previous experience as chance to make a splash in the industry. Growing pains are inevitable, but there are applicable tips to keep in mind to get the ball rolling for new employees. In an article from Jill Konrath, several strategies come to to the forefront. 

It’s Not What You Are Selling, It’s How It Can Help

Many salespeople fail to get to the second minute of a call, and it’s not because what they have to offer is in-theory not appealing or useful for the customer. It’s how they are presenting it. Everyone can say they do sales training, Konrath says as an example, but they fail to articulate exactly how sales training can help. Framing it in a way that’s relatable to a customer’s struggles — such as the length of their sales cycle — can make a prospect go from hanging up to all-ears. 

Slow It Down

It’s common for inexperienced salespeople to get carried away with the idea of closing a sale, not realizing they are missing key steps in the process that can prevent it from ever happening. Having great energy on a call and knowing product knowledge inside-and-out is a good start, but salespeople still need to prepare for potential hurdles. Examples include common objections that a customer may ask about. If the salesperson is unprepared with a solution to problems proposed, it doesn’t matter how well they know about features. 

Self-Scouting

If responses or engagement from prospects is underwhelming on the front end, many mistakes can be discovered through self-evaluation practices. For example, Konrath recorded a sales pitch on her own voicemail prior to reaching out to a prospect. She found the message would be uninteresting from the perspective of the customer. This prompted her to go back to the drawing board and map out what parts of a sales pitch would actually be interesting from the customer’s vantage point. Additionally, the tone and delivery of a pitch are just as important as the words.

For the entire article, click here.