Recently, I helped a couple of coaches stop taking sales calls.
During that time I was responsible for over $3.1M in enrollment revenue. I also removed myself from taking sales calls and transferred my skills to the team. This helped eliminate the *sole revenue generator* issue that gives most “successful” coaching businesses a wobbly foundation.
For coaches wanting to scale from being self-employed into operating like a real business, this is the HOLY GRAIL once they have a funnel that performs.
I wanted to reflect on last year and share the 4 crucial insights of building a system that runs without the owners (or me) being stuck on calls all day, every day.
1. Overcomplicating the sales process is the enemy of making it teachable.
It’s tempting to teach someone EVERYTHING you know about sales. All the nuances. The personality types. The tricks. The tools. After all… if you’re consistently closing – you probably know a lot about your audience, your offer, the marketplace, and human behavior.
Most of this will not help your salespeople get off the ground.
2. No amount of training will fix a bad hire.
Hiring the wrong person happens if you don't get help. This is painful because you’ll sink a lotta time into training someone then it all feels wasted when you gotta let them go.
If you hire the wrong person, the biggest mistake is to let your sunk-cost-bias trick you into hanging onto the HOPE that one day they might turn the corner. They probably won’t.
The longer you wait. The harder it is.
3. Optimize for ONE thing.
Running a sales team must be driven by the numbers.
That’s why I LOVE it. There is full accountability and nowhere to hide… except deeper in the numbers.
The metrics on the dashboard all relate. So it’s easy to think there might be a problem when there really is not. When you proactively try to solve a non-existent “problem” – you often end up creating one.
Know the number. Know the range. Keep your cool.
4. Don’t confuse ‘Obtainable’ with SUSTAINABLE.
You can hit certain performance objectives in the short term. The PUSH will be exhilarating.
Keep trying to do that every single month and see how that goes…
Salespeople are performers. They crave being pushed out of their comfort zone. But be careful of pushing till it breaks. The culture gets exhausting.
It’s akin to a powerlifter pushing for PRs everyday… Eventually, they tear something.
High turnover makes you constantly feel like you’re starting from scratch again. This leads to feeling trapped, frustrated, and eventually disengaged.
The high ticket sales game is for people who desire freedom, joy, and a good challenge.
It’s SIMPLE, but not easy…
-Mike