Integrity Solutions Podcast

Mistakes so often made by salespeople today are based on simple mistakes grounded in false assumptions and beliefs about people, selling and buying.

Technology alone can’t solve what ails the selling process in so many sales organizations. Mistakes so often made by salespeople today are based on simple mistakes grounded in false assumptions and beliefs about people, selling and buying. Our podcast interview with George Bronten, founder and CEO of Membrain and author of the book ‘Stop Killing Deals’. Our conversation with George explores his thinking around sales training, motivation drive, the role of sales managers and the importance of sales coaching.

Key Sales Assumptions Podcast Takeaways:

  • Three false assumptions about sales: One, ‘salespeople are born.’ Two, salespeople should ‘just do what they know how to do’ and achieve their targets. Three, the technology salespeople use or have used is designed to make them become better salespeople.
  • (The CRM) is more of a digital rolodex, a repository of information. The idea behind a CRM was to capture a lot of information about customers, and that would somehow lead us to sell more. ‘Information’ doesn’t make people buy… It doesn’t guide salespeople on what to do. It doesn’t help sales managers coach.
  • (Sales) Strategy, process, methodology and coaching all need to be aligned.
  • Organizations should give much greater priority and focus to (developing) the sales managers.
  • Assuming that someone who has done and was good at the job (sales) should be able to help others do the job ignores the all-important mindset aspect of sales leadership and coaching.
  • Coaching is not a quick-fix or short-term. It’s a long-term mindset and commitment about helping salespeople grow.

Quotes from George Bronten

“Often times we talk about selling as if (it’s always) the same. ‘Selling is selling is selling’- which of course is not true. Selling can be very different. It can be very complex or very transactional.”

“The type of skills you need to be successful in one type of selling environment does not equal another. This notion of salespeople being born is a scary one. If you believe that, then why do you need to train them?…”

“It comes down to the (sales) leaders and managers to really understand that individual, what drives that (sales)person and what makes him or her want to do what you really want them to do. And prepare them and provide them with all the resources they need to succeed.”

“Will power is something everybody needs to work on; that’s not something somebody ‘has or does not have’…”

“Sales managers are given too little resources, too little focus. Too often the simple mistake being made is making your best salesperson into a sales manager, without really understanding if that person is well-suited to become a manager and perform through others, which is a big mindset shift. And also once they are promoted not giving them all the training and coaching they need to really become good at that new job.”

“You have to be be good at coaching today to be a good sales manager… I think coaching is the #1 task that the modern sales manager should be focusing on.”

“We think that selling causes buying. It doesn’t. Buying is a process that happens when someone needs to go from where they are today to some other future. As sellers we need to be there to help people and companies get to where they want to be. Too much in selling is focused just on telling people what we have (to sell) and what we can do.”

Related Links:

Read Stop Killing Deals by George Bronten

Follow George on Twitter.

Find all episodes of Mental Selling: The Sales Performance Podcast here. Subscribe on Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.