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[L317]Life Insurance Sales Training

by Buki Mosaku, Buk

The vast majority of sales training solutions are action oriented. They tend to focus PURELY on sales strategy, consultative selling, sales management, effective selling skills, closing skills, cold calling, account management, negotiation skills, and so on. On the surface, this may seem to make complete sense however sales training that is purely action oriented will never improve performance in any significant way over the long term.

The top 1% of sales people and sales driven organisations operate completely differently from all the rest! Their ability and approach to successfully selling higher margin solutions, products and services than their counterparts with less stress, sets them apart.

The M.O.S.T model recognises this approach and provides quantum shifts in sales performance: M.O. S.T stands for Mindset, Objectives, Strategy and Tactics. If you want to get the MOST out of your sales training and sales development efforts read on:

M Mindset is crucial to sales success. Attempting to improve performance in any significant way without creating the appropriate mindset is a waste of time. Since most sales training is focused PURELY on sales strategy and tactics, this would make it a waste of time. The key is to worrk with individuals and organisations to develop a mindset and environment conducive to quantum shifts in sales performance.

O Organisational and individual goals and objectives tend to be too small. There is a crisis in business where most managers and sales people refuse to set "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" for 3 main reasons. Fear of Failure, Absence of Evidence that the goals can be achieved and the need to Manage Expectations. Yet most CEOs, MDs and Sales Directors want them to think bigger and commit to setting and achieving bigger goals. What's the answer? Before you can think bigger and achieve bigger. YOU HAVE TO THINK BETTER. Sales managers and sales people can and will set bigger goals, which they will achieve, when they have the RIGHT mindset.

S Strategy is determined by objectives therefore it is limited by the size and quality of objectives. The bigger and more exciting the objectives the more creative and effective the strategy will be. The degree to which a sales strategy gets buy-in and support will be determined by the mindset of those involved in supporting that strategy. Without that support the strategy will flounder.

T Tactics are seen by most organisations and sales training companies as the key to improved sales performance. Ultimately the way people act will influence their sales results, so selling skills are important and I teach them as-well. That said; the fact of the matter is that very few sales training methodologies and programmes effect quantum shifts in performance unless there is a permanent shift in the paradigm of sales people and their management conducive with the desired shift in performance. For this reason the best programmes provide sales professionals and teams with a shift in mindsets that ensure they maximise traditional sales skills training and generate pragmatic solutions that compound results.

Copyright (c) 2007 Inquire Management

As we approached the end of the interview he turned to me and told me that he was very impressed with me ...so far. He then paused dramatically and said,

"Show me that you know how to sell....SELL ME THIS PENCIL."

The next ten seconds seemed like an eternity to me. I had been selling for many years. However, this really put me on the spot.

"SELL YOU A PENCIL?" I thought. "I don't know a thing about PENCILS!"

It became evident that the entire interview was a mere formality to this exercise.

If I passed this test I would get the job. If I flubbed this, I wouldn't.

However in my panic there was a still small voice which relaxed me entirely and told me that I could easily do this.

Do you want to take a guess as to what I did?

Before I tell you what I did, let me tell you what I did not do.
The majority of salespeople are talkers. The public wrongfully believes that to be a great salesperson you need to talk, talk, talk. We have all been in situations where a sales person would go on and on ad naseum about something.

I can very quickly tell how experienced a sales person is by how much they talk.

Many sales trainers even emphasize this method of selling The number one complaint among customers is that salespeople "talk way too much!" The flip side of talking too much is that the salesperson is not listening to the customer.

On the other hand, great salespeople are great listeners.
What makes a great salesperson great is that they have learned to ask the questions that allow you to find out more about the customers wants and needs and then get the sale.

This is the CENTER of salesmanship.

If you look at the greatest salespeople of all time they are the ones who ASK the best questions.

I have learned in my many years of selling that I can sell anything, with very limited product knowledge, if I learn to ask the right questions.

A great example of this is Socrates, the Greek Philosopher.
If you study Philosophy you will notice that all of Socrates work is called "the Dialogues."

Socrates asked his pupils questions about life. He was not only seeking truth he was engaging the listener.

Isn't it true that your favorite teachers in school were the ones that engaged you in the educational process.

Chances are the reason they were so good and stand out in your mind is that they understood the power of questions.

The only way you can really engage the customer is if you ask questions.

Good selling is all about exercising good control on the customer and prove to them that you are genuinely interested in them. The only way you can accomplish these objectives is to ask the customer question that demonstrate that you really care about them.

You might imagine that with this type of insight, you too could sell anything to anybody.

I smiled brightly.

Looked the CEO square in the eye.

Paused.
Held the pencil up in the air and asked,
"So tell me about the type of pencils that you normally use here in your company?"

The CEO smiled back.

He knew that that by asking the question that I demonstrated that I was a professional salesperson.

Lesson Learned. God built you with two ears and only one mouth.

Then listen.

Demonstrate to the customer that you genuinely care.

What does this have to do with marketing on the web?
Everything!

People want solutions, genuine relationships and feelings of goodwill.

Genuinely create that and you will have a business.
Ignore it and you will be chasing income.

Article Source : Pg. 2

About Author

Both Buki Mosaku & Harald Anderson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Buki Mosaku has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sales Training. Buki Mosaku ? Results Oriented Sales Coach, Author, Speaker, is the founder of Inquire Management an international corporate development and sales training consultancy. His clients include Royal Dutch Shell, Motorola, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, HSBC, BT. Buki Mosaku's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.

Harald Anderson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Leadership, Alternative Medicine and Customer Service. Harald Anderson is the cofounder of www.artinspires.com a leading online gallery. His goal in life is to become the kind of person his dod alr. Harald Anderson's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.