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You’re standing in your kitchen, staring at the cookbook with determination. Tonight, you’re going to make a fancy dinner. You’ve chosen a complicated recipe: chicken alfredo. The picture in the book looks amazing, and you can already imagine your family’s impressed faces.

You gather all the ingredients: chicken, pasta, cream, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. You start by boiling water for the pasta and heating a pan for the chicken. The instructions say to cook the chicken until it’s golden brown. Easy enough, you think.

But as you’re slicing the chicken, the phone rings. It’s your best friend, and she wants to tell you all about her day. You chat for a few minutes, forgetting about the chicken on the stove. Suddenly, you smell something burning.

“Oh no!” you shout, dropping the phone and rushing to the stove. The chicken is blackened, smoke is rising, and it looks nothing like the picture in the book. You open the windows and turn on the fan, but the damage is done. The chicken is ruined.

You glance at the clock. Your family will be home in fifteen minutes, expecting a delicious dinner. Panic sets in. What can you do with burnt chicken and a pot of boiling pasta water?

Then it hits you: chicken salad. You quickly scrape the burnt bits off the chicken and chop it into small pieces. It’s not pretty, but it’s still edible. You find some lettuce, tomatoes, and a can of corn in the fridge. You mix everything in a big bowl, add some ranch dressing, and hope for the best

That's the thing,

as the leader, you are expected to equip your team for success. And, sometimes like an alchemist, you will be called to turn lead into gold. So, let's see how you can turn your team into a regiment of rad sales closers.
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​Jumping through hoops

You know that buddy who swears by the latest diet craze or workout fad—the one who insists it’s a magical cure-all? Well, traditional sales coaching often suffers from that same misguided one-size-fits-all mentality. Cookie-cutter programs and techniques shoved down every rep’s throat like force-feeding geese for foie gras.

But here’s the harsh reality: we’re all unique snowflakes with distinct strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. What propels one rep to stardom could very well send another into a soul-sucking tailspin. Those generic, cattle-prod approaches fail to nurture that oh-so-critical individualization—resulting in disengaged reps zoning out like they’re watching beige paint dry.

But that’s just the start of the conventional coaching shortcomings. Sure, most initiatives kick off with an enthusiastic bang—a flurry of intensive boot camps and grand proclamations of “THIS quarter, everything’s gonna change!” Ah, if only delusions of grandeur could manifest results.

Once that initial high fades, though, the support fizzles out quicker than a damp sparkler. Sporadic, infrequent touch-points become the norm—leaving reps to fend for themselves in the wilderness, skills atrophying with every unchecked bad habit. You’ve seen the sorry cycle: flashes of short-term inspiration crashing into long-term apathy as old tendencies inevitably creep back in.

To top it all off, far too many coaching regimens are stubbornly anchored in the cozy confines of academia rather than the real-world trenches. Teams get bludgeoned with endless hypotheticals, dense textbooks, and hopelessly abstract concepts—leaving them struggling to translate it all into tangible application when the rubber hits the road.

It’s as if we’re training pilots by strapping them into a simulator programmed entirely on theoretical aerodynamics and wind patterns. Yeah, they’ll sound brilliant at a cocktail mixer…but good luck landing the actual plane.

Having a knack for something

Let’s take a step back for a second. What actually separates the elite closers—those savants effortlessly crushing quotas—from the mediocre pack? It starts with mindset and the suite of emotional mastery skills rivaling the most enlightened zen masters.

We’re talking resilience—that borderline-delusional refusal to be fazed by rejection. A core of steely self-confidence, immune to the harshest bouts of self-doubt. Finely-tuned empathy to vibe on the deepest customer wavelengths. And enough emotional control to soothe sabotaging hot-headedness and keep composure amidst white-knuckle turbulence.

That’s just the foundation, though. On top of that rock-solid high-EQ base, closers need product and industry expertise rivaling a subject-matter thesis. From the nitty-gritty offering specs to the macro trends and disruptive forces reshaping the landscape, this is the contextualized bedrock informing every recommendation and instilling buyers’ trust.

Naturally, that tribal knowledge has to be paired with a deft consultative touch—otherwise, you’re just another tone-deaf pitch robot. We’re talking the finesse to ask exploratory questions that unearth the juiciest pain points. Disciplined listening agility to connect the dots into bespoke solutions. And the creativity to custom-tailor those proposed remedies to each prospect’s unique desired outcomes.

Of course, none of those insights matter if you can’t communicate them with the flair of a silver-tongued poet. Closers are masters of crafting compelling value narratives that speak to both rational needs and gut-level motivators. They dissolve objections through deft reframing, not combative bludgeoning. And they artfully navigate conversions through a repertoire of time-tested closing tactics.

Last but definitely not least? A hunger for continuous reinvention, perpetually ahead of the curve. Closers don’t just absorb coaching feedback like thirsty sponges; they incorporate it through constant iteration and hypothesis testing. They’re voracious students of the latest buyer behavior trends—ruthlessly evolving their approaches before becoming dinosaurs.

Hitting the ground running

So by now, you’re buying into this whole “closer” philosophy—that’s awesome. But how the heck do you replicate it across your whole team? Well, it all starts with taking an individualized snapshot of exactly where each rep currently stands.

I’m talking skills inventories, personality tests, pragmatic evaluations—combine quantitative and qualitative data points to map that trajectory. Then, collaboratively plot out personalized growth plans and objectives calibrated for their unique starting point.

With those baselines established, the path forward incorporates a blended learning tapestry optimized for each rep’s modality and style. Sure, strategic classroom sessions and dense curricula still have their place for imparting foundational concepts. But they have to be interwoven with on-demand e-learning modules, hands-on workshops, and—most crucially—practical field reinforcement through real-world application.

Speaking of real-world application, you better believe reps need to log extensive hours sharpening those skills in simulated pressure-cooker scenarios. I’m talking brutally realistic role-plays and branching simulations putting them through the full gamut of deal situations. Then, supplement that with live deal shadowing—having them fly side-by-side with top-gun mentors, absorbing tips, and getting in-the-moment feedback.

But practice makes permanent, not perfect—which is where continuous reinforcement comes into play. Consistent progress check-ins, heat maps visualizing improvement areas, nimble adjustments to coaching plans based on results. Build in that relentless accountability loop to cement those new habits before backsliding kicks in.

Finally, coaching can’t exist in a vacuum. It requires embedding a growth-obsessed, collaborative culture where knowledge flows freely from every direction. Formalized mentorship circles, shoutouts for customer wow moments, reps shadowing each other’s calls for group dissection. This cradles each individual’s development within a self-sustaining engine of collective wisdom and united commitment towards mastery.

Going the extra mile

With this air-tight system institutionalized, the floodgates open for an entire host of game-changing impacts. Freshly-minted hires get up to speed and quota-crushing in record time. No more sluggish, meandering ramp periods letting prime opportunities bleed away—they hit the ground running with clearly-defined playbooks and coaching guardrails.

Those rapid time-to-productivity gains spark an exponential rise in closed deals and revenue lined. When tenured reps snap into closer mode through the system’s sharpening effect, it’s a perfect closed-loop feeding back into itself. More effective selling begets more revenue begets more budget for more effective coaching and enablement resources.

But the benefits radiate far beyond just top-line hyper-growth. With closers oozing emotional intelligence and adaptability, customers can’t help but be blown away by the tailored, white-glove treatment they receive. No more tone-deaf pitches or impersonal transactions—it’s consultative nirvana breeding fierce loyalty.

That infectious obsession with craft mastery galvanizes enviable team morale and engagement, too. Reps feel constantly challenged and stimulated—not stagnating in complacency. The culture congeals around a shared sense of purpose, constantly cheering each other towards that aspirational closer summit.

Ultimately, the cycle culminates in an unstoppable unfair advantage: a world-class sales force massively outclassing the competition. While rivals scramble with flavor-of-the-month tactics, you’ve constructed a heat-seeking dynamic learning engine forever optimizing itself.

Your closers aren't just robotically slinging products—they're multidimensional consultants deftly guiding buyers towards mutual success. Their emotional intelligence allows them to forge unbreakable bonds of trust. Their situational fluidity lets them seamlessly adapt to any curveball. And their unrelenting growth mindset ensures they're always one step ahead of the pack.

That's all for today, and from us in the studio 😁

see you again next week!