Role-playing with your sales team is an excellent tool to hone their skills and build more confidence. Yet this practice can easily go off the rails and become a waste of time if not executed effectively.
“You’re teaching your techs the proper way to handle different projects and using materials and fertilizers and weed control and how to deal with turf disease,” says Duane Cashin, owner of Cashin Sales. “Reps need to be trained, too. They need to be supported.”
Conducting Effective Sales Role-Playing
It is recommended to engage in sales role-playing at least once a week. Justin White, owner of K&D Landscaping, Inc., based in Watsonville, California, advises doing this more frequently during the first 90 days of a new sales hire.
It is also best to conduct role-playing in one-on-one settings between a sales manager and a sales rep. This can prevent them from being embarrassed in a group setting.
“You want to start out with the individual,” Cashin says. “The manager’s responsibility is to identify with each rep their strengths and their weaknesses, and when that manager is role-playing with the rep various scenarios they see where they’re weak and where they need help.”
One of the major keys to being successful in these sessions is making sure the sales rep feels safe and respected.
“It’s not about criticism,” Cashin says. “It’s about support.”
Cashin advises mastering one aspect at a time until the sales rep is confident with that type of situation. White says that one-on-one sessions can also be good practice for a specific project or presentation.
If a sales rep is not showing any improvement despite these sessions or is deeply uncomfortable with handling objections, you may need to discuss them moving to a department that is more suited to their abilities.
“If somebody is not wired for sales, you’re wasting your time to train them and try to make them be successful, but you have to go through the process to identify if this person truly does not have the mental and emotional acumen,” Cashin says. “You have to work with them for a number of months.”
White says in a group, role-playing provides continuous learning for the team.
Cashin suggests first asking sales reps if they are comfortable performing in a group setting and showing off their talent. It is best to set the ground rule that the feedback should be mostly positive in the a group setting.
White says you will have times when the role-playing becomes silly, which can build camaraderie on the sales team, but the person running the meeting is responsible for keeping control of the group and ensuring value comes out of the role-playing session.
“It happens, and sometimes it’s okay to have a little fun,” White says.
Scenarios to Practice
Sales role-playing needs structure to be useful, so plan out the types of scenarios your team should to practice.
“I think probably the most common situation that should be role-played is just simply the question, ‘Why your company?” White says. “Really giving what I would call the value proposition as to why should someone hire your company.”
It can seem like a simple question, but a salesperson may have a hard time communicating your value proposition and why you’re a good fit for the client. Other scenarios you should explore when role-playing include the usual objections.
“There’s typically four objections,” Cashin says. “Number one – ‘Your price is high.’ Number two – ‘I’m going to get some other proposals.’ Number three – ‘I need to think it over.’ Number four – ‘I need to discuss it with my spouse,’ or if it’s commercial, ‘I need to talk it over with the property manager or the regional manager. ’ All four of those we hear regularly, and the reps need to be able to handle them cold.”
Cashin recommends also practicing icebreakers so sales reps are comfortable going up to a prospect and engaging in a conversation that quickly establishes rapport. He suggests covering next steps conversations after delivering a proposal as well.
Other possible scenarios to run through include addressing requests for discounts, dealing with unrealistic client expectations, and asking for a customer’s budget. White suggests using AI to provide other challenging sales conversations your team might encounter.
Cashin says you can also get more specific and focus on specific personality types and how to handle them like those who want to be in control versus more expressive clients who don’t want a lot of details.
“Identify the personality profile of the buyer,” Cashin says. “Tell the rep that in advance of the role-play and do them one-on-one to start building that rep’s confidence.”
White notes that if you are trying to move from one customer base to a new one, you need to understand those differences in needs and expectations to practice varied sales tactics.
“Make sure that you’re really role-playing towards your ideal client and the clients that you want to land, which may not be the same clients that you’re currently selling to,” White says.
