Operating Communities Action Plan — Item #5, Evaluate the Skills of Your Sales Team
In our continuing series on action steps operational communities can take to address the down market, I want to speak to the quality of your sales staff. So exactly what skills are needed to be a successful senior living salesperson? They are not much different than other types of consultative selling. I am certain that sales techniques and methods are teachable to most who have a desire to learn. However, there are natural skills that are of great benefit to those wanting to be successful in sales. By evaluating your team with some thoughtful questions, you can identify where the strengths of your sales staff might be hidden.
- How energetic is your team? How easy will it be for them to consistently maintain the level of productive activity required to achieve their sales targets?
- How effective is your team at inspiring prospects by helping them discover how they can solve their problems? Along with enthusiastic communication regarding the benefits of your community, another natural skill inherent to good salespeople is persuasion and the ability to chip away at the prospect’s need.
- How sociable is your team? Do they enjoy interacting with others? Do they build rapport with strangers quickly?
- Does your team have the ability to listen? Along with having good product knowledge, being a good listener is a key natural talent that captures the need of the prospect and cements the relationship bond that says, “I care about you and have genuine interest in your needs.”
- How well-organized is the team? Not necessarily in their surroundings, but with their thoughts and planning methods. Good salespeople have a way of breaking things down into smaller steps and organizing the plan of action.
- How determined is the team at overcoming roadblocks that arise during the sales process? Do they come up with creative solutions and collaborate with management to explore all possibilities? Will they follow through on their commitments?
- How focused is the team? Are they able to stay on task with day-to-day activities such as phone calls, follow-up and data entry for effective lead management? Or do they let themselves get caught up in unnecessary details and non-essential duties along the way?
- Are they self-starters? Do they move forward on their own and have a persistent need to finish what they have started?
- Does the team know how to ask for incremental commitments? Senior living is not a quick sale; it takes relationship-building. However, successful salespeople ask for some type of commitment by securing a follow-up call, next appointment or invitation to an event to continue to build the relationship.
- Story-telling engages people and creates interest in listening. Does your team use stories to overcome fear by sharing how others were fearful and later learned they didn’t need to worry after all? Do they use features and benefits as a fascinating story and not a laundry list?
With the investment to generate qualified leads, consistently target the right audience, and capitalize on the power of your web site, it seems only natural that increased sales are where the payoff lies. By taking a look into the natural abilities of your sales team, you can provide meaningful feedback and enhance any educated skills they possess. This will lead to creating a planned and tailored approach that implements what is needed to fill the gaps to optimize sales.
