why salespeople don’t listen (to their manager)

Lately I’ve observed an interesting sales manager phenomenon.

In the gray cubes of love, a sales manager walks up to an inside salesperson and starts talking.

Then becomes frustrated or angry when the inside salesperson isn’t with them in the conversation.

Observation One
Just like with a sales call – that salesperson was DOING SOMETHING ELSE when the manager walked up.

> don’t begin talking, give the other person a moment to shift their attention away from where it was to you.

Observation Two
The sales manager had been thinking about the topic for at least the time it took to walk over (probably longer) vs. the salesperson who just heard it.

> Make sure you give them the back story to make sure they catch up to your thought process.

Observation Three
For whatever reason, many times a salesperson is rolling their eyes because they don’t know why they need to listen. Almost defaulting to “this is going to be a waste of my time” from the begining.

> Share why the topic is important to the salesperson RIGHT THEN.

Challenge
This week I challenge you to make every conversation with salespeople on your team as well thought out as a sales conversation with a prospect or customer…

WAIT I challenge you to have successful inside sales conversations by treating the salespeople on your team like a prospect!

Let me know how that changes their ability to listen.