In this page you will find followings topics collected from various authors:

1. Making your sales team hate you

2. 8 Sales Objections That'll Stop a Deal in its Tracks

3. How to Heal Your Relationship With Your Sales Team

4. Why Your Sales Team Hates You

5. Sales Emails

5 Ways You're Making Your Sales Team Hate You (& 5 Ways to Win Them Back)

Written by Matt McDarby | @mmcdarby

A shared objective of sales managers all over the world is to develop teams of appropriately effective and efficient salespeople who are able to meet their performance goals.

Sales management is the most challenging job in a sales organization, and the manager plans a pivotal role in the success of any organization that seeks to grow.

Given just how important the sales manager’s role is to the success of an organization, one would think that we sales managers get a lot of love from our employers, from our customers, and from our salespeople.

We don’t. At times, our employers undervalue us, and they do not always give the credit we are due. Our customers don’t necessarily appreciate the role we play in ensuring our customer-facing salespeople do right by them. Worst of all, though, is the way that some of our very own salespeople look at us.

At times, it seems our salespeople flat-out hate us. The fact that some salespeople do not respect, listen to, take coaching from, or generally want to follow their sales leaders is a huge obstacle to achieving peak performance in a sales organization.

If you plan to be a successful sales manager for a long time, you have to get over the fact that you won’t be a fan favorite amongst your salespeople all of the time. There is no way around the fact that you will eventually get under some reps’ skins by asking them to do something they do not want to do.

But there is a way to alleviate the frustration that you and your salespeople feel from time to time. It starts with identifying the root causes and sales manager behaviors that cause salespeople to lose respect for, block out, humor, or… dare I say it, despise us.

Why Your Sales Team Hates You

The following are the most common five ways you're making your sales team hate you, straight from the mouths of salespeople themselves:

1) You waste my valuable time, boss.

We have too many unstructured and ineffective sales meetings. Just last month, we had four weekly meetings to review information that was plainly available to everyone on our CRM platform. We basically read reports back to one another for an hour each time we met. What conclusions did you want me to draw? What did you want me to gain from the conversation? What did you want me to do next? And please don’t complain that I’m not making enough calls. You stole four hours from me last month that I will never get back.

2) I don’t agree with the feedback you give me.

After the last client sales call we went on together, you gave me some feedback on my performance that I could not put into action. In fact, I have no idea what specific behavior I am supposed to change, and yet you seem intent on having me change something. What is it? What do I need to stop doing or change the next time I am in a situation like the one you observed last week? If you can’t tell me clearly and plainly, then leave me alone!

3) You swoop in at the last minute to “close the sale” that I was getting ready to close!

You took credit for the hard work that I did over several months to develop this opportunity. Did I handle things perfectly? No. Was the opportunity going to close without you? Possibly, but we’ll never know now because you came in, stepped on my toes, and claimed victory for us in the last lap of the race. Thanks a lot, boss.

4) You tell my colleagues and me what to do, forgetting that we’re adults who prefer to discover the best path on our own.

You treat us like children, and despite the fact that you may be right more often than you’re wrong, I hate when you tell me my job before I’ve had a chance to consider it for myself. Ask me some questions. Let me think about how to address problems or opportunities. I might just figure out the answers on my own once in a while.

5) You don’t appear as committed to your craft as a sales leader and coach as you expect me to be committed to mine as a professional salesperson.

Are you somehow above or too important to learn anymore? How arrogant!

And here’s one more that will cut to your core …

6) You seem to have forgotten how hard it is to be a salesperson.

I don’t have a magic wand to make great outcomes and sales appear from thin air, and I can’t manufacture more time for all of the secondary tasks that you load on me. You were once one of us, and now, you act like those senior managers who make totally unrealistic demands of us and expect us to take it. I hate that.

If we sales managers are to execute our pivotal role with excellence, then we need to do two important things. First, we must focus on the fundamentals of effective sales management -- for more content on this subject, visit my website, United Sales Resources. Second, we need to stop doing things that anger our salespeople.

How to Heal Your Relationship With Your Sales Team

Here are five strategies to be valuable to your salespeople (and as an added bonus, earn their respect):

1) Treat their time like gold.

Prepare to make meetings really useful, and have a clear set of conclusions you want them to draw and actions you want them to take.

2) Give them clear feedback based on real-world observations.

Be direct with them about what they’ve done well and what they haven’t done well. Give them one specific thing to work on, and review progress with them as they work on that one thing.

3) Let them do their jobs.

If they are paid to close deals, let them close deals. Your help is most valuable to them in the early stages of an opportunity’s development anyway, not the late stages.

4) Don’t forget that you were one of them not too long ago.

Whether they’re on the road all the time or in inside sales, selling is physically and mentally draining, and not feeling supported by one’s manager can cause even the best of salespeople to check out.

5) Set the bar high for your own personal development.

If you preach a message of development and growth to your people, then be the ultimate exemplar of personal development. Take your craft as a sales leader more seriously than your people take their own craft. Be the most credible voice for development, preparedness, and discipline that your salespeople know. The positive impact you make on your own career will only be rivaled by the impact you make on the development and careers of each member of your team.

Matt McDarby is the founder and President of United Sales Resources (“USR”). USR provides training, coaching, actionable intelligence and practical advice to sales leaders, so they can drive better sales results.

8 Sales Objections That'll Stop a Deal in its Tracks

Written by Leslie Ye | @lesliezye

As a salesperson, your natural instinct is to treat objections as requests for information. This is for good reason -- many objections are raised because your prospect hasn’t fully bought into your product’s value, and a little education can bridge that gap.

But not all objections are created equal. Just as you shouldn’t let an objection like “I’m not the decision maker” stop your sales process, it’s important to recognize when an objection needs to be taken seriously. There’s no quicker way to ruin your own credibility and tank a relationship than refusing to take “No” for an answer when it’s a legitimate blocker. It’s just not worth it -- especially when a prospect who’s not ready today might be ready in six months to a year if you’re just patient enough to wait.

It’s also important to be able to tell the difference between true objections and requests for information when it comes to forecasting purposes, too. If you can’t, your pipeline will be filled with junk deals that will never close, and you’ll always be taken by surprise when you don’t hit quota.

So which objections are real and which aren’t? The eight objections below are ones that you should take at face value.

8 Sales Objections That Can't Be Overcome

1) “There’s no money.”

Many, many, many prospects will tell you they can’t afford a product as a negotiation strategy or in an attempt to get you to go away. (Here’s how to respond when this happens.)

But sometimes, your prospects simply won’t be able to afford your product unless you gave a discount that is too steep to bear. Even if you’ve used indicators like company size to help you guess a prospect’s financial situation (which you should be), sometimes these things will just take you by surprise.

To find out whether there really isn’t any money, ask whether liquidity is a cashflow or budget issue (which can be resolved through payment plans or helping your prospect sell the project internally to secure budget, internally). If not, there’s really nothing you can do -- even if the prospect has your business pain, they won’t become a good fit until they can afford to buy.

2) “I don’t understand how this works.”

Tread with caution when disqualifying based on this objection. If it’s the first time your prospect is confused, it’s not time to move the deal out of your pipeline. And if your point of contact isn’t the end user, that’s okay too -- figure out who that end user is and speak with them to gauge their aptitude with your product.

But if you find yourself explaining the basic principles behind your product or its simpler features over and over and over again, your product is more complicated than the end user can bear and you should walk away. Selling a product to a customer who has no idea how to use it isn’t just morally questionable, it’s setting up your business for churn -- and you’ll get dinged hard by clawback rules.

3) “We don’t have the capacity to implement this.”

This objection is a subsidiary of #1, and mostly applies to companies who sell products that require hard work or a change in behavior to implement successfully.

If you fall into this category, you need to make sure your buyers have the capacity to implement your product. Whether they’re going to hire a new staff member (or one on hold) dedicated to projects related to your product or there’s an end user in place with time set aside for it doesn’t matter -- without these resources, implementation will fail and your buyer will churn.

4) “We need [X feature your product doesn’t have].”

If you run into this objection, first find out why your prospect needs the feature. If your product can do something similar through a different path or can work with a separate point solution that achieves what they’re trying to accomplish, all isn’t lost. But if they need exactly one feature your product doesn’t have for a purpose you can’t solve, there’s not much you can do here.

Note: If you hear this objection again and again and again, it’s time to alert the people who design and build your product. It’s important that frontline reps keep the rest of the company informed about significant market demands.

5) “I’m convinced, but [economic buyer] isn’t.”

This is one of the most frustrating objections you can get. If, after internally selling to the economic buyer and bringing them into calls, they’re just not budging, you don’t have many options.

If you get this objection in the early stages of a sales process, though, there’s hope. Ask to be introduced to the economic buyer and have a group or individual call to address their specific concerns.

6) “Wait, who are you again?”

This isn’t exactly an objection, but is sometimes an indicator you should walk away. If you’ve spoken with your prospect multiple times and they aren’t making you a priority, completing the tasks you set them (if any), and don’t even know who you are, you clearly aren’t a priority. Maybe the business pain isn’t there. Maybe they’re dealing with a million other things. Whatever it is, a prospect who is actively disinterested in participating in a sales process won’t make a good customer.

7) “I can’t disclose [piece of information crucial to making the sale].”

You shouldn’t expect a customer to show your their P&L statement on the first call, but if they refuse to tell you things like their business goals for the next quarter or challenges (as relate to your product), they don’t trust you. And you can’t help a prospect who refuses to be helped. If you explain why you need the information (so you can make a tailored recommendation and explore whether there's a product-prospect fit) and the buyer still isn't moved? Walk away.

8) “Our company is being downsized / bought out / going bankrupt.”

Most of the objections listed here are ambivalent, and can only be really accepted as objections once you do some more digging. But this one? This is the Big Kahuna of sales objections -- without a business to sell to, there is actually no more deal. Pack it up and go home.

What sales objections have you encountered that were truly deal-enders? Let us know in the comments below.

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5 Ways You're Making Your Sales Team Hate You (& 5 Ways to Win Them Back)

Written by Matt McDarby | @mmcdarby

A shared objective of sales managers all over the world is to develop teams of appropriately effective and efficient salespeople who are able to meet their performance goals.

Sales management is the most challenging job in a sales organization, and the manager plans a pivotal role in the success of any organization that seeks to grow.

Given just how important the sales manager’s role is to the success of an organization, one would think that we sales managers get a lot of love from our employers, from our customers, and from our salespeople.

We don’t. At times, our employers undervalue us, and they do not always give the credit we are due. Our customers don’t necessarily appreciate the role we play in ensuring our customer-facing salespeople do right by them. Worst of all, though, is the way that some of our very own salespeople look at us.

At times, it seems our salespeople flat-out hate us. The fact that some salespeople do not respect, listen to, take coaching from, or generally want to follow their sales leaders is a huge obstacle to achieving peak performance in a sales organization.

If you plan to be a successful sales manager for a long time, you have to get over the fact that you won’t be a fan favorite amongst your salespeople all of the time. There is no way around the fact that you will eventually get under some reps’ skins by asking them to do something they do not want to do.

But there is a way to alleviate the frustration that you and your salespeople feel from time to time. It starts with identifying the root causes and sales manager behaviors that cause salespeople to lose respect for, block out, humor, or… dare I say it, despise us.

Why Your Sales Team Hates You

The following are the most common five ways you're making your sales team hate you, straight from the mouths of salespeople themselves:

1) You waste my valuable time, boss.

We have too many unstructured and ineffective sales meetings. Just last month, we had four weekly meetings to review information that was plainly available to everyone on our CRM platform. We basically read reports back to one another for an hour each time we met. What conclusions did you want me to draw? What did you want me to gain from the conversation? What did you want me to do next? And please don’t complain that I’m not making enough calls. You stole four hours from me last month that I will never get back.

2) I don’t agree with the feedback you give me.

After the last client sales call we went on together, you gave me some feedback on my performance that I could not put into action. In fact, I have no idea what specific behavior I am supposed to change, and yet you seem intent on having me change something. What is it? What do I need to stop doing or change the next time I am in a situation like the one you observed last week? If you can’t tell me clearly and plainly, then leave me alone!

3) You swoop in at the last minute to “close the sale” that I was getting ready to close!

You took credit for the hard work that I did over several months to develop this opportunity. Did I handle things perfectly? No. Was the opportunity going to close without you? Possibly, but we’ll never know now because you came in, stepped on my toes, and claimed victory for us in the last lap of the race. Thanks a lot, boss.

4) You tell my colleagues and me what to do, forgetting that we’re adults who prefer to discover the best path on our own.

You treat us like children, and despite the fact that you may be right more often than you’re wrong, I hate when you tell me my job before I’ve had a chance to consider it for myself. Ask me some questions. Let me think about how to address problems or opportunities. I might just figure out the answers on my own once in a while.

5) You don’t appear as committed to your craft as a sales leader and coach as you expect me to be committed to mine as a professional salesperson.

Are you somehow above or too important to learn anymore? How arrogant!

And here’s one more that will cut to your core …

6) You seem to have forgotten how hard it is to be a salesperson.

I don’t have a magic wand to make great outcomes and sales appear from thin air, and I can’t manufacture more time for all of the secondary tasks that you load on me. You were once one of us, and now, you act like those senior managers who make totally unrealistic demands of us and expect us to take it. I hate that.

If we sales managers are to execute our pivotal role with excellence, then we need to do two important things. First, we must focus on the fundamentals of effective sales management -- for more content on this subject, visit my website, United Sales Resources. Second, we need to stop doing things that anger our salespeople.

How to Heal Your Relationship With Your Sales Team

Here are five strategies to be valuable to your salespeople (and as an added bonus, earn their respect):

1) Treat their time like gold.

Prepare to make meetings really useful, and have a clear set of conclusions you want them to draw and actions you want them to take.

2) Give them clear feedback based on real-world observations.

Be direct with them about what they’ve done well and what they haven’t done well. Give them one specific thing to work on, and review progress with them as they work on that one thing.

3) Let them do their jobs.

If they are paid to close deals, let them close deals. Your help is most valuable to them in the early stages of an opportunity’s development anyway, not the late stages.

4) Don’t forget that you were one of them not too long ago.

Whether they’re on the road all the time or in inside sales, selling is physically and mentally draining, and not feeling supported by one’s manager can cause even the best of salespeople to check out.

5) Set the bar high for your own personal development.

If you preach a message of development and growth to your people, then be the ultimate exemplar of personal development. Take your craft as a sales leader more seriously than your people take their own craft. Be the most credible voice for development, preparedness, and discipline that your salespeople know. The positive impact you make on your own career will only be rivaled by the impact you make on the development and careers of each member of your team.

Matt McDarby is the founder and President of United Sales Resources (“USR”). USR provides training, coaching, actionable intelligence and practical advice to sales leaders, so they can drive better sales results.

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SALES EMAILS:

4 Phrases That Signal a Totally Worthless Sales Email

By Mike Renahan

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

I’m going to bet he wasn’t talking about sales when he said that famous line, but the sentiment is still applicable to the field. If you’re writing an email that a prospect isn’t going to get any value from, why put the few minutes into writing it?

However, it can be difficult to assess whether or not your email provides prospects something of worth. A good test is to look out for a few problematic phrases in your emails that signal a relatively worthless message. In basketball, they call this type of assessment a heat check. When a player realizes that he has gone cold, instead of shooting 20 more times (and ultimately missing), he adjusts his strategy.

When you catch yourself writing these meaningless phrases in your emails to your prospects, it might be time to reevaluate and adjust your message.

1) “Just checking in”

On average, it takes more than five touches to convert a prospect into a customer,according to The Marketing Donut, which makes for a lot of “checking in.” However, the phrase “just checking in” can be translated, in my opinion, to, “hey -- do you still want to buy?” This term most often comes up after a prospect has shown initial interest but is not moving through the funnel at the rate the rep would like them to go.

As John Sherer points out, the “just checking in” email is mostly about the rep, not the prospect. “Our selfish desire to ultimately get that call booked doesn't add value to the prospect,” he writes. “It doesn't speak to the prospect's needs. It just focuses on what we want as sales reps.”

In order to avoid this dreaded phase, take the conversation beyond just the sale. For example, if your company published a new case study that would be interesting to the buyer, send it along. If you share the same favorite sports team, comment on the last game. By always providing new topics, you’ll never have to “check in” on the prospect.

At a loss for what to write your email about? Here are 23 alternatives to the "just checking in" follow-up email.

2) “It’s been a while”

When a sales rep reaches out with this phrase, it reads like a last-ditch effort to close a deal. It also brings to the prospect’s attention the fact that they haven’t gotten back to you in a while. And do you really want to do that?

Relying on the right CRM is key in this situation. Instead of having to send the “it’s been a while” email along, a CRM system can help you track the last time you spoke and set reminders to follow up before it’s been too long. A good prospect should never fall through the cracks.

3) “If you get a second”

The most valuable asset a businessperson has is their time. But while your intentions might be noble, writing that you only need a few seconds of time in your email implies that the meeting you’re offering isn’t valuable. In light of this, why would a customer take a meeting with you? This can also lead to the prospect assuming future interactions won’t be worth their time either.

Instead of asking for a few minutes of time up front, send content or strategy tips early on to establish value. Then, when you do ask for a full half hour- or hour-long meeting, you’ll have something to discuss with the prospect in depth.

4) “Following up”

By “just following up” you’ve indicated that you haven’t heard back from this prospect, and you’re becoming impatient with them. And this type of approach doesn’t accomplish anything -- you’re just filling up an inbox in hopes of advancing your own ends.

Instead of “just following up,” aim to add value to all your emails and move the conversation forward. If you provide something of value in each touch -- for example, a referral, piece of content, industry insight, or strategy recommendation -- you’ll never have to use this tired phrase.

Today’s prospects are moving through the buyer’s journey at their own pace. While it can be tempting to send an email just to keep the conversation alive, this tactic probably won’t work out in your favor.

If you find yourself sending an email just to send an email, rethink your strategy and find a way to provide value. These four phrases can help you spot an email that might deter a prospect instead of converting them.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and accuracy.

4 Secrets to Emailing Important, Powerful People and Actually Hearing Back

Written by Aja Frost | @ajavuu

Adding Personality Increased My Email Response Rate 50%

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