Do any of these questions sound familiar?

• "I'm having regular meetings with my team, providing goals, training and motivation.
  Why aren't we hitting our team goals?"
• "When do I give up on a sales person that is a great guy but doesn't hit his individual goals?"
• "Is business networking expensive and ineffective or worthwhile?"

Here are some simple how-to coaching tips that have been very successful for my clients and me.
Question #1 "I'm having regular meetings with my team, providing goals, training and motivation.
Why aren't we hitting our team goals?" Your sales team may not be supportive of what you're doing or how you're doing it.
People support what they create, but this isn't always possible.
Try setting a goal for your team and decide on how to achieve the goal together It's simple:

1. You're the coach - you have the power to call the shots.
   
2. Coach your team's success by getting them to review their own performance.
   Let them get a feel for what's working and what's not.
   Improvements don't happen until there is focus on improving.
   
3. Develop a plan to overcome deficiencies.
   Where there is clarity and action there are results.
   Clarity alone does not create results.
   
4. Make the plan specific, easy-to-follow and fun.
   
5. People need motivation in order to take action.
   The consequence of not achieving their goal needs to be so uncomfortable that they're committed to doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
   
6. Finish off by getting an email summary of the plan.
   It's a good idea to make sure you're all thinking the same thing, plus it builds a feeling of ownership.
   

You may find these questions helpful:

1. "If you asked your client to prepare X prior to your meeting, what effect would that have on the outcome?"
2. "What will happen if you're not successful?"
3. "Can you afford to not get the pay cheque attached to these deals if you don't hit your goals?"

Question #2 "When do I give up on a sales person that is a great guy but doesn't hit his individual goals?" The coaching tip from question #1 will be helpful here, but there are a couple of steps you can take to help decide how to best handle the situation:

1. Identify what the top 5 traits of your highest performing sales people are (if you don't have 5 look at other sales people you admire).
   
2. Now, look at those traits and see what can and what can't be taught.
   For example, time management and product knowledge can be taught, while attitude or dependability can't.
   
3. Once you see his training needs, create a plan for improvement.
   Again, keep in mind that some things just can't be taught - be honest with yourself.
   
4. You're the best judge, so, if possible, do it yourself - go out and do joint sales calls to observe what's going on.
   Debrief each meeting by asking what he thinks was good and what he'd do differently next time.
   
5. At the end of the assessment, make your decision and take action.
   Either establish an improvement program with a set schedule or decide that it's not working out.
   Don't let yourself listen to excuses - you're responsible to make it work.
   Letting it go and hoping things will improve are the biggest mistakes people make.
   

By investing time in this plan, you'll know exactly what to do next.
Question #3 "Is business networking expensive and ineffective or worthwhile?" This is often a hot topic.
Frankly, I've been involved in both - some expensive and ineffective and others worthwhile.
The price doesn't seem to dictate the quality of it.
It's really been trial and error.
But once you find a good avenue for networking, here's how to make the most of it and get some return for your time and resources.

1. Be clear - who is your customer? You're not selling to everyone so narrow down your search.
   Know these things:
   • What's important to your customers
   • What concerns / problems they have
   • How can you help
   • What will make them pay attention and want to keep talking to you?
   • Being different is HUGE - you don't want to be just another...
     
2. Develop your elevator pitch - people spend endless hours on the name for their business, the look of the business card, only to blow away all credibility when they open their mouth.
   Spend time planning your short intro about who you are, why people work with you, what value you bring and what emotional value you bring.
   For example,
   • My name is Jane Smith, a portfolio manager with ABC Wealth Management.
     People work with me to gain a clear understanding on their financial investments and establish an simple, highly effective investment plan that provides them security and a sense of confidence.
     We provide our clients a safe, low risk investment with high returns.
     Our clients often tell me they feel safe, secure and thankful that they've invested with us.
     

Simple, isn't it?

1. Find a group that gives you access to the right customers.
   Once you find the right group - go to the meetings! If you regularly attend the meetings, you become familiar and trusted.
   The group knows you and instantly thinks of you when anyone is looking for someone with your expertise.
   
2. Be a good listener.
   People do business with people they like.
   That does not mean you have to talk nonstop about your business.
   Make good connections by asking questions about the person, let them speak, if possible share a valuable tip.
   Very important - Ask if you can contact them to stay in touch.
   
3. The people you made a connection with are going to be happy and expect to hear from you.
   Why not? You made a good connection and you told them you'd be in contact.
   Send them information reminding them of the meeting and include helpful information on your company.
   Mark your calendar to follow-up at a later occasion.
   Less than one out of twenty sales business people follow-up from business networking meetings.
   Make sure you're the one!