Wesleyne Greer With Transformed Sales

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Coach the Coach radio brought to you by the Business RadioX Ambassador Program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to Brxambassador.com To learn more. Now here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today on the show, we have Wesleyne Greer with transformed sales. Welcome.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:00:44] Thank you so much for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:46] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about transform sales. How are you serving, folks?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:00:53] We are a sales leadership coaching firm. And so what we do is we focus on the sales manager sales leader as the nucleus of the sales organization. We work with them and we teach them how to manage up as well as manage down. What we found is middle management is where initiatives go to die. As I love saying, so what we do is we work with those sales leaders. We train them, we coach them, we help them build sales processes as well as how to hire better people. And we know that everybody eventually wants to be promoted or to move up in the ranks. So we also teach them how to speak with upper management, how to ensure that what they’re doing is getting her throughout the organization.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:36] So how did you get into this line of work? Have you always been in sales?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:01:40] No, I am actually a recovering chemist, and so I started my career working with plastics and I said, Hey, you know what? I want to do something where I’m actually talking to people. So I got into sales and I tell people when I got into sales, I finally figured out what I wanted to be when I grow up grew up and I loved everything about it as a new salesperson. There were so many tools out there for me to really grasp and learn how to be really excellent. But as I transitioned to becoming an international sales manager, I was like a dropped in the middle of the ocean and told to figure it out. So that’s when I really realized that, hey, I really understand how I can get everybody on my team to hit quota and also retain those sales people. So that’s why I started transform sales.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:28] So now you were thrown into it with, I’m guessing, not a robust training system that you had to figure out things on your own.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:02:37] Absolutely, no one gave me a roadmap, they said, Hey, Wesley, make everybody is excellent, as you were as a salesperson. And I was like, How do I do that? And they said, Well, you’ll figure it out. And so I really had to figure it out. I fell flat on my face a couple of times and then I was like, OK, everyone is not a mini Westerling. That’s really the first key in leading a team. Everybody’s not you and everybody’s not going to sell like you. So once I got that, it was like off to the races. I know what I need to do.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:07] So now when you’re are you finding people are kind of born salespeople or you think anybody could be a salesperson if they’re trained properly?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:03:17] Ooh, that’s a good one. You know, I really think that there’s a dynamic to sales. A lot of people think that you have to be born a salesperson. You have to have the right personality for sales. But really, sales is something that is coachable. It is something that is teachable. And so typically, when I work with an organization, we evaluate everybody who’s customer facing customer service outside salespeople. Anyone who talks to a customer. And what I say is, Hey, this is the spectrum of your salespeople. This is the spectrum of your customer service, people. Do you want to invest the time necessary to get them where they need to be? Everyone can be skilled up. Everybody can be leveled up, but it’s about having the investment of time to invest in their development.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:01] Now do you find that more and more organizations really kind of lean into that belief that really anybody that is talking to a customer or a vendor or anybody other than themselves or their coworkers are in sales,

Wesleyne Greer: [00:04:15] It’s something that I’m trying to change the dynamic. I really believe that everyone is a salesperson, right? And so whether your customers internal or external, you are still a salesperson because, hey, if I’m an accountant, I probably don’t talk to external customers, but I do need to talk to maybe the salesperson to say, Hey, I just got this purchase order. Now I need to invoice someone. Can you help me with this right? And so when you have that thought that, Hey, this is somebody that I’m serving right? Because I like to say we’re serving that selling it really helps you in how you operate daily within the company.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:54] Now, when you go into an organization that maybe I’m sure they’re they’re calling you because something’s not going as well as they would like either. It’s going fine and they want to be better or it’s not going well and they have to turn it around. Do you kind of have your own methodology of selling or you just adapt to whatever the selling kind of methodology is in the organizations you’re working with?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:05:18] Mm-hmm. So I really, when I’m working with customers, I always start with what I like to call a sales training boot camp and really what that sales training boot camp is. It is a methodology called gap selling. And what that is is it’s a problem centric way to sell. And really what we’re doing is we’re understanding the actual problems the buyers are having and we’re trying to figure out, Hey, how do I get you from where you are today to where you want to be? And we really sell to what we call that gap? So what is the the distance between where you are today and where you want to go? We’re not selling based on price or need or timing or any of those other. I would say traditional sales methodologies, that is really what we’re doing.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:03] Now, when you’re working with folks, is it something that is, do they kind of get a light bulb goes off or is this something that you have to kind of constantly being reminding them of the the path that they’re trying to lead their prospect on?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:06:21] Yes. This is why I like to say sales, training and isolation just doesn’t work because you can’t really stick people in a room for eight hours and expect them to come out. Like I say, fix. What has to be coupled with sales training is what I really call coaching, right? And so when I’m working with clients, we’re working together for three or six or nine or even 12 months. And typically it takes everybody has a different learning curve. Sometimes it takes people three months to get it. Sometimes it takes them four months to get it. Or sometimes we’re even like in month nine and it just clicks, right? Because before then, they’re going through the motions. But once it clicks and they really understand the work that we’re trying to do and they really understand those changes that we’re working on because everything that I do is behavior change, right? It’s not just you pick up a phone, you pull call, you pick up a phone, you call how you have a meeting with your sales rep. Yeah, those are just the tactical things. But in order to get people to do what we need them to do, we really have to insist upon behavior change.

Lee Kantor: [00:07:22] Now are you finding that organizations are they? They seem to me to be adapting a kind of a it used to be one salesperson used to be the whole thing, right? Like they were the prospector they were. The closer they were, the one doing the demonstration they were, they were doing every aspect of it and then they were kind of managing the client too. But now it seems like everything’s been delineated to almost like tasks like you describe, like somebody’s job is just prospecting. Someone else’s job is just, you know, kind of demonstrating the product. Somebody else’s job is to close the sale. Somebody else is in charge of customer success. Are you finding that as well? Or is it are there still folks out there that are wearing multiple hats?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:08:09] You know, I think it’s part industry, so in the tech industry, they’ve done a really good job of breaking things down, and I like to say her people’s strength because sales isn’t really just sales. You actually laid it out really nicely. I say it’s three separate things. It’s the prospecting is the nurture and it’s the close, right? And so when you think about it, you can have a really, really superstar salesperson that’s good at all three. But typically one person is not great at all three. So within the tech industry, they’ve really done a good job of breaking that out. You have the person that prospects, the person that demos, the person that closes and then you have somebody on the back end. Like you said, it’s customer success. But in some of the other industries that I work in the petrochemical industry, manufacturing industry, some of those those types of industries, even things like medical devices and biotech, they still have the one sales person doing everything. And they’re starting to realize that, hey, maybe this isn’t such a good idea. So they’ve broken it up into inside sales and outside sales, and then they do have a customer fulfillment team. But I still think that within the industry that within those industries that things need to change up a little bit right. Like, we need to realize that we can’t expect one sales person to produce two or three million dollars a year without any inside or outside support.

Lee Kantor: [00:09:27] Now do you find that you’re working with people that some of them have a bias against sales like some people think sales are icky or I don’t want to be seen as a sales person, so they’re kind of fighting that internal battle of, you know, is this work to be proud of?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:09:44] You know, because a lot of the clients that I tend to work with are kind of technical, as a former chemist, I tend to work with engineers and scientists and people in those areas. And what I find is they they don’t like to be called a salesperson. They do feel kind of like a, you know, a little bit sleazy or dirty. But a lot of times once I help them understand that, hey, what you’re doing is helping whatever product you’re selling or service you’re selling, you are helping somebody achieve a goal, you’re helping them do something that they couldn’t do before. And so really, in one of the very first sessions that we have is, I call it, getting rid of their self limiting beliefs because once people get rid of those self limiting beliefs and sometimes it might even be like, Well, if I’m calling somebody, I’m bothering them, right? So any of those beliefs will hold you back from selling. So we really try to break through those pretty quickly.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:40] Now, when you’re working with your clients, how do you deliver some of this? Is this, you know, are you doing kind of one on one coaching or do you have a team? Is it a group? Is it, you know, a workshop for the whole organization? Like, how do you kind of deliver some of the the the coaching and the work that you do?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:10:57] It’s all of the above. So we do some in-person work. We do some one on one. We also do team coaching because what what I found is when I’m working with a sales manager, they have a team and as I’m trying to level up that sales manager, their team is still two or three steps behind them. So we do a multifaceted thing where I’ll be working with the sales leader. I might be working with them one on one or with a group of their peers within an organization. And then I’m also working with their team and then I also do one off workshops. I do sales kickoff events to get sales teams really motivated and excited about the the year.

Lee Kantor: [00:11:36] Now, you mentioned that a lot of your work is kind of B to B. Is there any advice for coaches out there when it comes to selling something like coaching some low hanging fruit that a coach can do right now that can improve their sales?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:11:54] You know, as a coach or a consultant, I always say understand what is that thing that you really enjoy doing that people may think is annoying or think is quirky, that is your secret sauce, right? And so I always like to say there are riches in the niches. So really, find out what is that addressable market? What does that smallest area that you can just tap into? And if you tap on somebody’s shoulder and said, this is what I do in 60 to 90 seconds, they’d be like, I need that now. So that would be one thing. And then the second thing is, ask your previous customers, your existing customers, ask them for business. You don’t have to beg them for business, but say, Do you know any other business owner or any other sales rep or any other, whatever that is, any other CFO that may need the kind of services that I’m providing to you? And a lot of times people will say, You know what? I do have a friend, a colleague or somebody who I’ve met or go through my LinkedIn connections, see if there’s anyone you want me to introduce you to. So when you ask you open up that door,

Lee Kantor: [00:13:01] I find that people always err on the side of not following up and connecting enough with their network. They always think they’re bothering people or they don’t think it’s appropriate. But I rarely find the person that is. That does it too much.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:13:17] Exactly right, like we always think that we’re going to bother people. But at the end of the day, most people aren’t even doing it. And so and it’s not again, this is somebody that you’ve worked with that you’ve helped them see growth in an area. So why not ask them, Hey, who else is out there or even asking them for, Hey, can can you write me a review? Can we do a quick recording so I can get you on video? Because those kind of things are helping give you another reason to reach out to somebody who you’ve already worked with?

Lee Kantor: [00:13:49] Now, can you share a story? Don’t name the name, but maybe explain the challenge that this client had that you helped them overcome and get to a new level.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:13:59] Ok. So I was working with a client and he had just been turned down for a job promotion, and he didn’t really understand why. And so once I got in there and we started working together, he hadn’t met his quota for a couple of months. He was way behind this quota. And he really did not develop that managing up tactic, right? He didn’t know how to do that. He would just keep his head down, do what he needed to do and keep going. We worked together for about six months and what we found was by the end of the six months, he had already hit his annual quota and he was a year ahead of where he wanted to be. So he was at about twenty two million and that was his goal for the next year. And we also found that in him realizing like, Hey, I don’t say this, I just do it. He started keeping his boss in the loop. And eventually his boss stopped checking in with him so much. And so he asked them. He said, Well, why don’t you call me and check on me? He was like, Because I know you know what you’re doing. So I don’t need to check on you as often. And so really helping to instill that confidence into his boss, as well as hitting his revenue targets helped him to open his mind to say, Yes, I can do this. So the next time there’s a promotion that I want to apply for, I have all of these things that I can show as my growth.

Lee Kantor: [00:15:32] Now, when you’re working with somebody like that, are you also sharing tactics to help them improve their performance? Or is it just a matter of reminding them what they already know and just going and doing it?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:15:44] Oh, no, so I have a few different options, so what I do with people is either I advise you so we have our sessions and again, it might be a one on one. It might be a small group and I’m listening to their challenges and we’re coming up with an action plan and they go implement it and then they come and report back the next week or in two weeks. Then I have a stake done with you option. And so that done with you option is I’m advising, but I’m also assisting in doing some things for that person because again, depending on the strength of that sales manager, they may need a little bit of extra help and the goal is to get them to where they need to be as quick as possible.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:28] So it’s it’s an either or but I mean, it could be an and right. It’s not an either or like you help them in whatever way they need to be helped.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:16:36] Exactly. I meet people where they are.

Lee Kantor: [00:16:39] So now if somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what’s the best way to get a hold of you? Is there a website?

Wesleyne Greer: [00:16:47] Yes, the website is transformed, salesforce.com and there’s a contact form there. And also on LinkedIn, my name is pretty unique. Wesley and Greer. You can always get me there. Let me know you heard me on Coach the Coach.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:01] All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Wesleyne Greer: [00:17:06] Thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:07] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We won’t say all next time on Coach the Coach radio.