Debbie Bender, MEd, MA, EDd

One of the best investments you can make is to work with a life coach or mentor! This has been invaluable for me and for my clients as I work with them through mindset issues!

No software will succeed if you have not established clear criteria for moving opportunities through the sales stages- and forecast categories! You must identify the key activities at each stage, and the exit verifiers for the buyer and seller at each stage of your sales process. This provides your team with verifiable criteria for how to forecast. And then the art of sales comes into play, that gut instinct that comes with experience of what to forecast where.

Missing from this list are analytics and reporting. Any tech you invest in should provide visibility into key metrics to measure key milestones and track performance, growth, participation and other key metrics.

I always work with clients to formulate a change management plan! Most sales trainings are intended to change behaviors, and that takes more than a one and done training. The plan should involve sales leadership. Something I have found helpful in formulating the communication and socialization of benefits is to involve 1-3 participants to be influencers. They help to evangelize the benefits of the training, and share their successes. This activates the limbic system of participant’s and helps them see they can also achieve success applying the training concepts. The change management plan also details ongoing reinforcement, acknowledgment of successes and long term measurement strategies, and more to ensure your team succeeds.

I find talking to other coaches and asking what they use, what else they considered and why they made that choice has been really helpful! There are also services that provide comparisons of software solutions.

I recently heard a great idea for smoothing out those lumpy income months. I have tried it and it works fantastic for my benefit and my clients. I offer a special monthly rate. So instead of saying “my fee is $25,000” I say the fee is $2,500 a month for 10 months, and the last two months of the year are complimentary. Or for a project, I’ll say “that project will take approximately 3 months to complete at $8,000 a month. I’d you want to pay upfront I’ll give you a 10% break. That way the client has some flexibility if there are spending approval limits.