How to Run a Sales Refresher That Delivers Results

There's never a wrong time to run a sales refresher.

The worst thing that can happen to a salesperson is that they get stale. They begin reciting their pitch without thinking about it and miss verbal cues. Some might even default to their favourite products and push them instead of personalising the offering to the customer.

As a manager, you should know when to run a sales refresher. Once a quarter is always a safe bet. But it should be once a year at a minimum.

But what should a sales refresher consist of? You want to ensure it's worthy of everyone's time and that it will deliver the results you need for the next period. 

So, plan your session with this guide before you call a meeting.

Highlight the Goals of the Sales Refresher

Before discussing the nitty gritty of sales, you should establish the session's goals. It could be lifting conversion or reducing the number of acquisitions that drop off within cooling-off periods. You may have a peak period coming up and want to prepare your team for the increase in enquiries.

Whatever the goal is, it should act as your guiding light for all the activities in the sales refresher. Each one should contribute to the objective and improve the team somehow. Throughout your planning, cut out anything that doesn't help and save it for a session where the goals are different.

Discuss What is Working

A sales refresher doesn't mean throwing out everything the team is doing and starting from scratch. It's good to identify and share with your people what is working well in conversations. It could be certain phrases or a specific approach. Not everyone might be aware of the tactics of their colleagues, so it's an opportunity to share this knowledge with the group.

You might have also noticed aspects of sales conversations that your team members haven't. Once they’re aware of it, they can incorporate it into their spiel. They might even be encouraged to get creative and develop new approaches to test and learn.

Explain What Isn't Working

It's also a good idea to share with your sales team what needs to be fixed. You might have noticed some elements of the conversation that aren't landing as they should. It might need a tweak here or there. It may need to get dropped altogether.

The conversation's outcome is an excellent way to explain why certain parts aren't working. Generally, it results in a lost sale or confusion from the prospect. It's something that's taking the discussion down the wrong path to the point it can't be recovered. Sharing it with the group helps everyone avoid the same pitfalls.

Collaborate on a Strategy

Once you've established what is and isn't working, you can move on to creating a strategy. This should be a collaborative effort. Your team members will know best what the customer wants. You can combine your knowledge via the data and what you see or hear from prospect conversations.

Together, you should establish how you will achieve the sales refresher's objective. What elements need adjusting to lift conversion, or what needs to be done differently to reduce the number of people cancelling within a cooling-off period? By bringing everyone in on the strategy, your direct reports will buy into it and are more likely to embed the behaviours.

Get Agreements From Your Team Members

With a strategy created by the group, you now want to get agreement from your direct reports on what they will do differently during the next sales period. You should aim to get one from each individual in the room.

This becomes an agenda item in your next one-on-one with direct reports. Find out how they embed new behaviours or tactics into their sales conversations. Ask where they need help or provide advice on how they can continue to improve.

Prepare for the Next Sales Refresher

After running a sales refresher, you should monitor the results and plan for the next one. It's a good idea to lock in a date and to let the team know. It will act as a deadline for them to embed the new strategy. The last thing you want to do is repeat yourself in the next session because the same issues are occurring.

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