If you’re part of the sales team, this shouldn’t be hard for you to imagine: you’re working in the field, and a potential client asks you a query you’ve never been asked before and for which you have no answer. You end up emailing your team because you are unsure of the solution yourself. Who knows how long it will be before they return to you with the right answer?
At this point, the sale could be made or lost based only on the current knowledge that you have. On the other hand, the client is impatient for their query to be answered. Well, if the answer goes right, congratulations; but if it goes left, you can tell you’ve lost the sale by the look in their eyes.
Feeling terrible, right? You know your close rate would soar if there were a quicker, simpler method to communicate with your team.
If this situation rings a bell, then you’re at the right place for answers.
Ineffective or delayed communication can have a toll on not just your company’s success but also your personal growth. Whether it’s in the office discussing important business initiatives or out in the field answering questions from prospects, quick access to the appropriate information at the appropriate moment is crucial for salespeople who are out in the field.
The truth is that email is no longer sufficient unless you have a killer email. A huge sum of money, efficiency, and openness are at stake. So, we’ve listed some of the best communication tips and tools to assist you in facilitating faster information flow between your sales teams and across different departments.
5 Tips to Skyrocket Communication
Every company desires to have successful salespeople who close more deals. However, if you speak with sales reps, they will tell you that their company frequently makes it challenging for them to meet their goals by requiring them to perform a lot of administrative work (such as entering data into a CRM system) or by not giving them access to reliable tools and resources.
So what can organizations do to better assist and free up their salespeople so they can close more deals? Here are some of our top tips on how to maximize your communication and in return, close more deals within your sales department.
- Hold Routine Training Sessions on Soft Communication Skills
According to the Association for Talent Development, regular training can increase net sales success by 50%. This figure should motivate you to start holding regular training sessions for your sales team, if you haven’t already.
Team leaders should designate particular times each day, week, or month to gather salespeople together to communicate or provide updates on critical company information, depending on your sales cadence. This is an excellent opportunity to emphasize the value of openness to your team and inspire them to prioritize communication.
Don’t worry, though; not every gathering needs to be in person. Field sales team members can join remotely for the routine weekly meetings. Even though it’s crucial to have everyone in the office for the quarterly company-wide meetings, we can always make things remote now. This can be done simply through live conference calls or collaboration and communication software programs.
- Communicate Regularly
Without efficient communication, you cannot effectively manage your sales teams.
Communication and relationships are the lifeblood of sales teams. Your sales staff must interact with clients throughout the sales process, from the opening pitch to closing a deal. But what about their team’s ability to communicate with you?
The procedures and messages that keep sales teams informed, involved, and productive while promoting feedback are referred to as sales communication.
As you and your staff are aware, communication is crucial when it comes to prospects and clients. You understand that good communication is essential to closing a transaction.
Communication within your team, however, may be more difficult. Here are some suggestions for improving communication with your salespeople:
- Try not to dominate the conversation
- Sales managers may fall in the trap of speaking too much in meetings. A sales leader may speak excessively, but it’s also equally important for them to listen excessively.
- Match Verbal and Nonverbal
- Make sure the signals you send through your words and body language are consistent. Simple gestures like bowing and making eye contact can convey a lot.
- Ask Questions
- Asking questions verifies that your team has heard you and demonstrates that you have been listening.
- Provide Feedback
- Positive feedback is a great method to enhance positive workplace behaviours, culture, and communication. Additionally, it improves your reputation and fosters confidence and open communication.
- Build a Platform for All Content That Supports Sales
Returning to our initial example, the salesperson wishes to establish trustworthiness and seal the deal. Our prospective client expects a prompt answer. However, a remote salesperson is alone in the field and unable to ask a colleague for the information they require by returning to the office.
The secret to successful sales is having access to the right information at the right moment. Fortunately, a comprehensive communication tool makes this feasible.
You can build a cross-functional, central knowledge repository where teams can update their documents, check to see the most recent business news, and read FAQs when they arise by sourcing content from engineering, product marketing, and other departments.
Better context, speed, and accuracy are guaranteed with mobile access to this repository—crucial elements that might have prevented our salesperson from losing that sale.
- Master Remote Communication
Some people only work remotely a few days a week or month, while others, whose employers are located thousands of kilometres away, do so on a full-time basis. So it’s crucial to get the hang of remote conversations and different remote teams have different specifications.
Understanding when and how to use communication tools is essential for improving a remote conversation. Determine the appropriate times for your team to use messenger applications or chat groups. What particular details do you email? How soon do they answer the phone?
A call is excellent for clarity, and a chat group is great for reminding people of duties or small changes. Without efficient communication, you cannot effectively handle your local or online sales representatives.
- Accountability for Your Sales Team
Having excellent talent on your sales staff is insufficient. Even if your salespeople possess excellent selling abilities, true success only occurs when everyone is motivated and held accountable while also aligned with the goals and expectations established by the sales leader.
Being held accountable for completing the tasks that are required of you is the definition of accountability.
“Being held accountable” carries a lot of unfavourable associations, particularly when things go awry. Accountability, however, can also be advantageous. To make sure that your salespeople understand that they are being held accountable for their accomplishments as well as for their shortcomings, you should use the term “accountability” openly and frequently.
Why would your team be driven to perform better if they do not feel accountable for their actions and do not receive praise for them?
Giving your staff praise for their efforts can encourage responsibility and good behaviour. Rewards programs for sales accomplishments don’t always have to take the shape of money. A team’s accountability and activity can be significantly impacted by a shout-out about a particular action or victory. It can be very helpful to receive a personal acknowledgement from the CEO or sales representative. Merely understanding that the executive team is looking at your success can be a huge motivator.
Your salespeople will probably be more fruitful and open with you when they are aware that their actions are being acknowledged and held accountable.
5 TOOLS TO SKYROCKET COMMUNICATION IN SALES TEAMS
You need communication tools, whether your business is a three-person operation or a big corporation, to assist in the sale of goods and services. Communication tools for sales representatives can keep customer data readily accessible so that your business can base decisions on facts rather than hopes or educated guesses.
A successful sales section is one that is well-informed. It can be challenging to determine which communication tools are best for your business, though, because there are so many of them available. Here are some of our top picks.
- Chanty
Chanty is an excellent team chat app if you’re searching for a low-cost means of team communication. Teams that want to improve collaboration can benefit from it owing to its capabilities and features, which increase productivity by 55%.
Main Features
- One-on-one voice and video calls
- Integrated task management
- Kanban board
- Multi-conversation guests
- Unlimited private and public conversations
Pricing
- Free plan: for up to 10 users
- Paid plan: starts with $3/user/month (paid annually) and $4/user/month (paid monthly)
- Brosix
Brosix is a professional communication tool that allows sales teams to chat and collaborate with ease. This is a tool designed for teams of all sizes and complexity. Brosix is highly capable, secure, and customizable and provides appropriate solutions for all team members. It allows for conversations to be organized more efficiently.
Whether your company is just starting out or you’re using the latest and greatest technology, you’ll appreciate the versatility, functionalities, and adaptability of the Brosix platform.
It has all the features that you need in order to create a secure and highly efficient communication platform for your team.
Main Features
- Private team network
- Network connections
- Audio and Video calls
- Text chat
- Broadcast message
- File transfer
Pricing
- Free plan: For small teams getting started. Up to 3 users.
- Business plan: $4 per user/per month
- Premium plan: $6 per user/per month
- Venngage
Venngage is an infographic maker for everyone that can help your sales staff visualize sales trends, customer segments, competitor studies, and other types of data that they require to produce outcomes.
A polished presentation is essential for everything from product demonstrations to closing sales. For presentation designs that sell, use expert stock photos, eye-catching icons, cutting-edge illustrations, and customizable charts and graphs. Help your sales teams look their best, and feel their most confident, with branded presentation decks that are engaging and memorable.
Your sales team will exhibit competence, gain trust, and create lasting partnerships with the appropriate chart widgets, diagramming features, and infographic designs available with just a click.
Main Features
- User-friendly editor
- 10,000+ professional templates
- Real-time collaboration
- Onboarding and team training sessions
- Branded sales enablement assets
Pricing
- Free plan: For beginners to start with their first few designs
- Premium: $10 per month per user (For those that want to improve their professional designs)
- Business: $24 per month per user (For experts who wish to collaborate on designing)
- Enterprise: starting at $499 per month for 10+ seats (For larger teams that require more protection, controls, and support)
- Dialpad
Dialpad is a cloud-based communication platform that offers a variety of features, such as voice and video calling, messaging, and conferencing. It is a popular communication tool for sales teams because it provides them with an efficient and effective way to communicate with customers and prospects.
With Dialpad, the sales team can make and receive voice and video calls directly from their desktop or mobile device. This allows them to connect with customers and prospects in real-time, which can help build stronger relationships.
Dialpad also offers a messaging feature that allows members of the sales team to communicate with customers and prospects via text messages. This can be a useful tool for following up on leads and answering customer questions.
Overall, Dialpad provides sales teams with a flexible and scalable communication solution that can help them improve their sales performance and build better relationships with their customers.
Main Features
- Call routing
- Virtual phone numbers
- Integrations with other tools
- Analytics and reporting
- Real time collaboration
Pricing
- Free plan: a free 14-day trial, which allows businesses to test out the platform before committing to a paid plan. Premium: $10 per month per user (For those that want to improve their professional designs)
- Standard Plan: This plan starts at $20 per user per month (or $15 per user per month when billed annually) and includes unlimited calling, messaging, and video conferencing, as well as integrations with popular business tools like G Suite and Office 365.
- Pro Plan: This plan starts at $30 per user per month (or $25 per user per month when billed annually) and includes all the features of the Standard Plan, plus additional features like analytics and reporting, voicemail transcription, and local number support in more than 50 countries.
- Enterprise Plan: This plan is designed for larger businesses and includes all the features of the Pro Plan, plus additional security and compliance features, dedicated account management, and priority support. Pricing for the Enterprise Plan is available on request.
- nTask
nTask is a project management tool that can be used by sales teams to manage their tasks and projects more effectively. While nTask is not specifically designed for sales teams, it can be customized to meet the needs of any team or department.
nTask provides a simple and intuitive task management interface that allows users to create, assign, and track tasks. Users can also set due dates, add notes and attachments, and set task dependencies.
It also provides a variety of project management features, such as Gantt charts, task calendars, and project timelines. These features allow users to visualize project timelines and dependencies and track progress more effectively.
Overall, nTask can be a useful tool for sales teams that need to manage their tasks and projects more effectively.
Main Features
- Time tracking
- Team collaboration
- Risk management capabilities
- Meeting management
- Budget management
Pricing
- Free Plan: The Free plan includes basic task and project management features, as well as limited storage and integration options.
- Premium Plan: The Premium plan starts at $2.99 per user per month and includes all the features of the Free plan, as well as unlimited storage, time tracking, and advanced project management features.
- Business Plan: The Business plan starts at $7.99 per user per month and includes all the features of the Premium plan, as well as advanced security and customization options.
Final Thoughts
It’s not impossible to successfully lead your sales team. However, things will go much more smoothly if you heed the strategies above. Set clear expectations and speak frequently after selecting the ideal salesperson for the job and the organization’s culture. Then consistently hold your team accountable, follow up, and keep your weekly one-on-one meetings.
Ammara Tariq is a Marketing Manager at Chanty , a collaborative team chat, with a plan to take her team to new heights. With an everlasting love for marketing tactics, she’s also very fond of research writing and hopes to spread delight and knowledge to her readers.
