Sales Training Role play research to enhance sales conversations
Have you ever attended a CPR training course? I owned a childcare center and obtained my first aid certification when my children were infants. Two days of reading, lectures, and role-playing activities with dummies for sales training… When one of the kids started choking on a piece of fruit one day, I thought it was stupid and uninteresting at the time, but I remained calm and took the necessary action.
When I spoke with a young man yesterday who was switching from a firefighter to an inside salesperson for a Silicon Valley software business, I was reminded of this.
As we were conversing, it occurred to me that salespeople should be educated to manage their emotions in crisis situations in the same way that firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency professionals are.
WHY IS EMOTIONAL CONTROL IN SALES SUCH A KEY POINT?
“Experiencing emotions linked with uncertainty enhances the dependence on one’s own egocentric perspective when reasoning about the mental condition of others,” according to 2015 research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.
This means that if you can’t manage your emotions, you’re more likely to project your own opinions onto your customers and misinterpret their reactions and behavior.
How do salespeople engage their emotions? Salespeople experience intense emotions for a variety of causes, including:
- Below quota
- big deal
- commission confusion (financial stress)
- new role, Job, market
- surprises, objections
When your emotions are running high, you can’t assist a buyer since you’re too preoccupied with managing them within your own head. You become blind and deafened from tension. You are better able to relate with and comprehend your customers if you can control your emotions and the anxiety that follows.
CAN YOU LEARN TO REGULATE YOUR EMOTIONS?
You are aware in sports that you cannot participate in the main game if you miss practice and training. Coaches take the approach seriously because they are aware that without it, tension and emotions can build up, leading to game-winning errors.
Sales training role playing is practice for salespeople, but most businesses neglect it or don’t take it seriously, therefore they are still put in the game. Additionally, nearly 50% of salespeople fail to meet their quota. Wow, talk about missing the mark!
HOW DOES Sales training role playing HELP?
I spoke to a sales manager who had a difficult conversation with her boss about gaining equal pay after learning that her male rivals made more money than her despite the fact that she performed better. She wasn’t used to having these kinds of chats, so she felt apprehensive and uneasy. She was also angry because she believed she was receiving unjust treatment. She was a formidable saleswoman, but she was also feeling vulnerable.
She then acted out the interaction with her husband in sales training. It was intended to disturb her and make her cry. Every conceivable twist and turn of the conversation was practiced. In an effort to get her to cry. She was more composed and in control when she joined the actual dialogue.
Sales training role play gives salespeople the opportunity to experience real-life circumstances, especially if they are new to the position or firm. It also:
- Gives a suitable location to receive unbiased advice on how to develop and what
- They do well.
- It gives salesmen the chance to practice posing queries and removing obstacles.
- develops a sense of cooperation and independent problem-solving.
- Aids in helping salesmen gain better communication and listening abilities.
However, not all Sales training role-playing is created equal; it must be planned out and carried out with purpose and attention. Here are some ideas for a role-playing sales training format:
Prepare:
- Leaders are responsible for fostering a secure atmosphere. Create a zone that is judgment-free, like Planet Fitness.
- Set the scene by describing the buyer, the conversation’s origin, and the parties’ respective goals.
Practice:
- Instead of hypothetical or theoretical dialogues, use real-world ones.
- Play that part with top-performing, seasoned salespeople who are familiar with the buyer, and have newer salespeople act as themselves.
- In the manners in which buyers and sellers usually interact, try to trip each other up.
Perspective:
- Comment honestly on the salesperson’s delivery and messaging.
- Examine the psychological drivers of a customer’s reaction to specific messaging.
Is there a gap in your company’s training and coaching program for sales training? Having to “learn on the fly” in the field, are you or your salesmen being sent?
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