Too few managers spend enough time travelling with their sales representatives but even those who spend three to four days each week in the field can be wasting their and their rep’s time.  Worse yet, they can do damage to sales rep effectiveness.

Set an objective for the ride along

How can your reps set up a productive day if they don’t know your objective?

  • Focus on certain type of product or customer
  • Customer care – You want to meet top customers (problem or top billing)
  • Help close big deals
  • Coaching rep on skills and sales strategies
  • Exception – If you suspect a rep isn’t working hard ask him/her to just do what they normally do – make this ride along 2-3 consecutive days.

 

 

“The ride along isn’t about you telling the rep everything you know.
It’s about guiding them to discover and commit to what they can do better when you’re not around.”

  

Coach – Don’t sell

  • Unless you both agree before the call – a customer who has requested to speak to someone at a management level
  • Let the rep stumble
  • Reps learn more from failing than from being rescued
  • If you let them tread water for a while, they just might recover and move the sale forward – a great confidence builder
  • You destroy confidence when you jump in and take over – they won’t have you with them tomorrow
  • Rarely does a stumble lose the sale forever

 Slow Down

  • Don’t schedule a packed day – let the rep know this in advance or they will pack the day to impress you
  • Leave time between calls to debrief and plan for the next call (model the way)
  • Take time at lunch and the end of the day to discuss important matters on either of your minds
  • Don’t just talk business – use drive time to get to know each other better –limit your time on the phone. Be present for the rep.

Limit what you coach

  • Sales reps can’t work on more than one, maybe two skills and still actually sell in a call
  • Even though you could find 10 things that went wrong in the call stick to the one or two that will have the most impact
  • Stick with those one or two skills for the entire ride-along and probably for the next several

 

“Reps learn more from failing than from being rescued.”

 

Ask great questions

The ride along isn’t about you telling the rep everything you know.  It’s about guiding them to discover and commit to what they can do better when you’re not around.

Before you get out of the car to go into the call

  • How will you open the call?
  • What is the most important information you need to uncover?
  • How will you handle it if the customer objects to the price?
  • In the last call the customer didn’t say much. What will you do differently in this call to get the customer to open up and share?

Following the call, before you put the car in Drive

  • What went well?
  • What didn’t go so well?
  • What is the next step with this customer?
  • Do you think he is the final decision maker? Why/why not?
  • How do you feel you did on the skill we have been focusing on – listening, closing, etc.?