MENTORS - Enjoys sharing own stories and tools to help others succeed​

MENTORS - Enjoys sharing own stories and tools to help others succeed

Patrick juggled the TV remote as he set the bowl of popcorn on the tray table. Patrick loved Saturday evenings. Some time to unwind with a streamed movie after a week of non stop video calls, telephone discussions and emails to prospect new Customers and move the needle on potential deals. Patrick’s phone buzzed. Sushil? On a Saturday night?

“Hey Patrick, wait till you hear this. Got some big news break to share” said Sushil . “ What’s up news reporter? Netted some big fish?” asked Patrick. Sushil was Patrick’s batchmate in B School. Bubbly and cheerful, everything was a break news for Sushil. Inspired by Patrick, Sushil too opted to join sales. He signed up for a Sales Manager role in an MNC to manage large distributorships “Ok Sushil. What’s it today?” laughed Patrick.

“Know what, I am close to quitting” said Sushil. “Come on, that’s ridiculous. We are not even 6 months into our new jobs.. And you were the one who said, I’m going to love sales”

“Well, nothing is working. My distributors are getting after the same set of Customers, and give me the same set of reasons in every review. I do joint calls with their salespeople, only to find they are right. No one is buying. And they don’t know when things will change. My boss is a task master.. Only talks targets. And we have a mentor for our batch, who meets us once a month…”

“Wow! So you have a mentoring process? That’s nice to hear. That should make things easier, right?” interrupted Patrick.

“Oh, No! All I get to hear are stories of another time and age. I’m bored. Why blame others? I think I’m not cut out for sales” The frustration in Sushil’s voice was palpable.

“I see the problem. We too have a mentorship program for sales managers in our company. My mentor is also a senior sales professional with years of experience. When I went to my mentor with a similar problem, she gave me a choice. She asked me if I wanted to listen to a story about how she handled a challenge of this nature, or I would like to learn about the tool she used to solve the problem. I jumped at the tool. She took 15 minutes to explain the tool and that did it” said Patrick, pausing for Sushil to react

“Tool?” asked Sushil. “Mentors sharing tools they used? And you found that useful? What’s that tool?”

“Here it is” said Patrick, sharing his screen on the mobile. “If your people are going around in circles, it is your fault” said my mentor. And she said “This tool will help you break the jinx, and direct your team’s efforts”.. Let me explain”

“It’s called the Sales Platform™”. She assured me it’s a cool tool that worked for her all her career”. “Did she tell you how?” quipped Sushil. “She did. That’s why I respect her Sushil” Then Patrick said “Hey! I have movie coming up in another 5 minutes Sushil. So, I will quickly share the tool with you, and a link which explains how this tool works. It is simple, yet powerful.. Take a look. Let me give you just a 2 minute dope on the tool”.

“The smart Sales Manager” said Patrick “recognizes that quantity of efforts alone cannot get breakthroughs unless purposefully directed. Week on week, time and effort are invested on activities like sales visits, proposal making, follow up and reference management. These efforts need to be optimized for maximizing results. Mercuri’s Sales Platform™ that you see here, can help you with this. The tool, in principle, divides the pipeline of prospects and Customers into six blocks of how interested they are in us. You should manage four of these blocks proactively. Now that I’m tracking my teams efforts in each of these buckets, am better equipped to proactively direct them, before they run out of steam”.

“This looks so powerful even at first glance” said Sushil “Let me dive into that link as well. I need it”. “By the way, before you hang up, two questions.. “How many more such tools do you have from your Mentor? And, by any chance are you guys hiring?” Both of them laughed. “Enjoy your movie Patrick” said Sushil frustration quickly turning into hopeful cheer.

PAUSE TO REFLECT: The best mentors share their own life experiences, and most importantly the tools and frameworks they used to overcome their own challenges, to help their mentees succeed

ACTION QUESTION: Identify the top 2 challenges faced by members of your sales team. How can you mentor them to overcome those challenges? What sales effectiveness tools and frameworks can you share to help them take direction and meaningful action?

Extraordinary sales leaders are driven by a deep desire to mentor young sales hopefuls. Going beyond pep talk, they establish deep relationships to uncover the exact challenges their mentees face. The best mentors then, share their own life experiences, and most importantly the tools and frameworks they used to overcome their own challenges, that can help their mentees succeed, like Patrick’s mentor did in our story.

Average sales managers instruct. But the ones that get extraordinary results, mentor with tools and frameworks that help the mentee take direction and practice the learning.