Overturning Objections - Keith Rosen 'Sales Leadership' Chapters 7, 8 & 9

We're on Chapters 7, 8 & 9 this week! The first few chapters we
thought were solid 10/10s. I think these 3 chapters are probably
9/10. BUT they're still good and very worth reading. Chapter 7:
'Creating Unity, Trust and the Art of Enrolment' I think the reason
I didn't enjoy these chapters as much is because i only like to be
told things once and he repeats things - but this works for some
people! But do I think Keith is correct in what he says? He's 100%
right. He goes into greater detail in these chapters on what he
began to discuss in the earlier chapters. We definitely would buy
training from Keith but we could also pick up the book and use it
as a manual rather than a surface level text that's aimed at
getting you to buy training. Keith reminds sales leaders that they
must always think about what's in it for their team. He always
points out that good salespeople don't necessarily make good sales
leaders. I think there is a noticeable cultural difference between
Rosen who is American and our view of Sales leaders and
salespeople. Maybe this needs a rewrite for a UK audience, I felt
like some of the language needed localising. I thought 'you'll not
get away with that language in the UK' - It's like software that
needs localising - it needs updating. As a methodology, it's
fantastic and it works, it just needs altering slightly to be more
compatible to the UK mindset. Rosen gives some cracking advice on
how to overcome difficult conversations and reveals how a lot of
the difficulty you're facing as a salesperson or a sales leader is
in your mind and he shows you how to navigate away from this. Keith
Rosen's structure centres around being quite nice and I'm not sure
how this will work in the real world - sometimes you've got to be
explicitly clear that you are the boss. You need to deliver a
message with absolute clarity. We really enjoyed Keith's framework.
Chapter 8: 'Seven Essential Enrolment Conversations that Create
Company Wide Alignment' I think the easiest way to persuade your
sales team that a coaching course or a new method of coaching is
going to work for them is to TTT - Tell the truth! Say 'hey guys,
I've been on this coaching course, I learned a lot and I want to
try it, I think it might work, I think we might all sell a bit more
and grow as sales people - anybody up for it? ' We had a
disagreement on how effective Keith's incentive system was and we
took longer than normal reviewing these chapters which is obviously
a good sign! If we went out tomorrow and hired a new business
salesperson - I'd use this as a guide and even though we're
experienced, I would still use this myself. We have hired
salespeople that are really grateful for being taught, being
trained and being developed. Understanding the identity of the
salesperson is something that i think gets missed a lot of the
time. What are your top priorities and values? What's important to
you is one of my favourite questions. Our advice: don't interview a
candidate based on what they've sold and who they sold it to-
interview them on their identity and how it matches with the
company's culture Chapter 9: 'Coach Tracks: turn difficult
situations into coaching wins' This was a really good section! If a
manager incorporated these ideas and this advice, he or she would
enrol the team straight off the bat! We think that one of the
issues that Keith and ourselves don't seem to be seeing eye to eye
to is appearing weak - we're starting to question whether we should
or shouldn't. Have we got too much machismo that it's not helping -
we've never wanted to appear weak but maybe we should appear more
humble and if eating some humble pie would make us more successful
then we'll have some! Maybe we should read 'Coaching Salespeople
into Champions' - his content makes me want to read more! These
chapters were a 9/10 - we just think that Keith should include more
detailed structures!