Sales development services in New Zealand

The vast majority of sales development has not kept up with the digital age. In the past few years, this has become even more apparent.

In many cases, customers can make informed decisions without ever speaking to the company. Before making a decision, they read blogs and reviews, watch video tutorials, or even use virtual configuration tools and, as a result, they are more informed about their purchase than ever before. 

This has changed the role many salespeople play in the process. Educated buyers are enquiring with wallet in hand (figuratively speaking) turning the sales professional into an order taker. But for businesses looking to increase conversions, and win more business, how has this landscape affected proactive sales? With a customer more averse to cold outreach, and a buyer that’s likely made up their mind about you before a salesperson can make contact, how do you flip the sales paradigm?

Fortunately, for organisations hoping to reclaim control of the sales process, there are ways to re-educate your team to address the digital revolution and tailor your sales process to this new buying journey. By equipping salespeople with effective techniques, industry knowledge, and digital strategies, the correct training course can boost bottom-line results dramatically.  

By taking your budget, location, team size, focus, and goals into account, this article will help you to find a training service that suits your team's needs so you can thrive while other businesses flounder in this changing environment. But first, we need to address a difference in definition.

Sales coaching vs sales training: What’s the difference?

If you play sports you are likely familiar with the difference between the two, but for those of you that aren’t, it’s worth explaining for clarity. While the two terms are often used interchangeably there’s actually a very important difference that could influence your investment decision as a business.

Sales coaching - coaches lead an individual on a path of self-realisation and discovery. Rather than telling them what to do a coach challenges and questions to help the individual uncover their own conclusions and developmental actions.

Sales training - the trainer will tell attendees what to do and how to do it. They will share knowledge and insights, stories and data to position a solution for those in attendance.

What is sales development?              

Sales development programmes consist of virtual or live courses, coaching, seminars, or workshops that empower sales professionals to achieve greater success. 

An effective sales course will:  

• Assess the skill levels of sales representatives.
• Provide a framework for learning new sales techniques.  
• Develop skills through coaching.
• Award a badge, certificate, or other certification upon completion.

Following each session, the salesperson will have relevant strategies to implement in their daily sales interactions as well as theoretical insights to inform them. By applying these newly acquired skills, their performance and the company’s revenue are sure to improve.   

Why is sales development important? 

The more the sales team sell, the higher the revenue will rise – it’s as simple as that. To ensure your business is benefiting from that growth, developing your sales team properly must be a priority. Studies show that when employers invest $1,500 per employee each year, their profit margins increase by 24%. This is a no-brainer, especially because most companies can recover their sales training costs within one to six months of course completion. 

Sales development empowers your team to: 

• Understand prospect needs. 
• Identify customer pain points. 
• Build lasting relationships. 
• Focus on qualified leads. 
• Increase conversion rates.  

Types of sales development 

Before committing to a particular sales development service, think about whether your team would benefit more from ongoing coaching or a one-off information session. To help you decide, let’s explore the advantages of each approach:

Online sales training

As the world becomes increasingly digital, sales training services are readily accessible online. Through screen sharing, video conferencing, and online tutorials, it has never been easier to learn remotely. As more and more companies choose to operate across multiple locations, sales teams can still learn and develop their skills. The flexibility of online training allows you to opt for one-off sessions, frequent lessons, or a combination of the two. 

Online sales coaching

In parallel with online sales training, online sales coaching is becoming more common. Additionally, online sales coaching means a sales team can be developed by international experts, or choose to have local specialists facilitate their team’s development. The choice is yours. Coaching is flexible in when it is undertaken and can even be conducted on a one-on-one basis.

Single-session workshops and seminars

If your sales team is short on time, scheduling regular training could be a difficult undertaking. Instead, dedicate time for a one-time training session to set goals, unpack findings, and explore new strategies. At these one-time sessions, be sure to set your sales team up with resources to take away with them. This will make the overload of information more digestible and useful as time goes on.

Why choose coaching?

For companies wanting to grow their sales exponentially, ongoing coaching will be advantageous. With regular coaching, you can dive deeper into long-term strategies and skill development than you would with a single session.   

One of the key benefits of ongoing coaching is that it doesn’t have to take hours at a time. By dedicating 1% of the work week – as little as 24 minutes – you can ensure your employees are kept up to date with best practices in your industry. 

Coaching has the added benefit of being mostly self-driven but also applicable to real-world scenarios. A coach may review sales calls and sales emails to focus on during sessions but most of the learning and development is done during the day-to-day activities of the sales team.

Good coaching will also empower team members to develop each other and hold colleagues to account. This means it’s ‘always on’ without distracting team members from their roles.

How to choose a business development approach

When choosing a course for your employees, there are several core principles that you need to consider. To determine if a particular avenue is a good fit, answer the following questions:  

• Is online or site-based development a better fit?
• Does it suit your team’s schedule? 
• Is there a challenge or goal you want to focus on? 
• Does it work with your budget? 
• Are the training professionals familiar with your sector? 

Sales development programmes in New Zealand

The sales development programme you pursue will be largely dependent on the outcomes you’re looking to achieve.

Do I need sales training or sales coaching?

Sales training

This is suited to organisations that want their team to be told how to sell in a one-off event. These sessions typically have no follow-up and it’s up to the organisation to take the lessons learned and ensure they’re applied.

Sales Coaching

Coaching is better suited to a business looking for ongoing accountability and change. Coaching focuses on forming habits, rather than specific techniques, and creates a culture of learning and growth among the team.

Sales training options in New Zealand

If you’re looking for sales training workshops or one-off sessions then there are a number of providers across the country that can help.

David Forman

This provider has several different options for focused training and development in key areas. Because David Forman training programmes don’t ‘do the doing’ for you they are available under the NZTE CDV scheme. Many of these sessions are available as one-day training courses.

Dale Carnegie

Based on the principles from the bestselling book ‘How to win friends and influence people’ sales training from this operator is offered across the country. The Dale Carnegie training programmes vary in subject matter and are available online if the in-person events are not suitable.

They Ask, You Answer sales workshop

This training workshop discusses varying principles you can adopt and the changing buyers your teams will be facing. This is conducted at your place of business, or a venue of your choice, and is a 4-hour session with a Q&A.

As the name suggests it follows the increasingly popular school of thought around answering customer questions during the buying process to become a trusted advisor. Contact Vanguard 86 for more information as we’re currently the only registered They Ask, You Answer workshop provider in New Zealand.

Sales coaching options in New Zealand

Vanguard 86 Sales & Marketing Coaching

Our coaching programmes last 6, 12, or 18 months and include bi-weekly (every other week) sessions, helpful analysis, and useful sales tips.

The programme follows 4 core stages: 

1. Developing high-level goals and practical strategies. 
2. Establishing a culture of success and addressing key concerns. 
3. Implementing tools and techniques suited to your industry, audience, and strategy. 
4. Evaluating the results over time.  

If this sounds like a good fit for your sales team, book a meeting with our specialist. 

They Ask, You Answer Mastery programme with IMPACT 

At Vanguard 86, we are joining forces with IMPACT to offer an exciting training programme for businesses of all industries. This programme aims to give companies the tools they need to grow their business internally, without the need for an external agency. 

Called the ‘They Ask, You Answer Mastery programme’, the coaching helps sales and marketing teams to take control of their company goals over the course of 12-18 months. 

The programme includes:

• An annual planning session of 2-4 hours.
• Leadership sessions for 45-90 minutes twice a month.
• Regular sessions with subject matter experts for 30-45 minutes, as needed. 
• Quarterly planning sessions for 1.5-2 hours.   

Strategy sessions

By collaborating with your leadership team and sales team, your coach, account manager and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will help you to devise a strategy that is tailored to your industry and objectives. This includes setting goals and priorities, developing a one-page strategic plan (OPSP), and discussing company decisions. 

Skill development

Once your strategy is in place, your coach will lead customised coaching sessions, track your progress, and set the team up with tools for skill development. This is an opportunity to build practical, real-world tactics that are relevant to your target audience. 

The Mastery programme focuses on total-business alignment with the new, educated buyer while the sales coaching and They Ask, You Answer workshop focuses on sales-specific issues that most businesses do not address.

At the centre of each of these offerings is the idea that businesses haven’t fully embraced the level of transparency needed to win new business from the competition. For any business looking to grow, a new approach is needed and whether you choose training or coaching to facilitate this growth the same thing needs to be the focal point of your new strategy; the customer.

Contact the team at Vanguard 86 to discuss how ongoing sales and marketing alignment through coaching can transform your business.