Top business coaches in Russia: what to learn from. Sales Portal rating

If we consider entrepreneurship as a profession, then in the number of necessary skills it prevails over most others. Whereas a narrow-profile specialist studies one subject, but deeply, a businessman works, so to speak, "in breadth", trying to learn as much as possible about everything. In this sense, a novice entrepreneur must combine in one person a marketer, a techie, a manager, and, if necessary, an electrician with a plumber. Becoming a "free bird", working for yourself, you are not freed from the routine of a hired worker - you have even more of it. But the truth is, now you are accountable to yourself and the income in your pocket comes directly and, as expected, in a much larger amount.

Since this very income, or rather, its increase, is the main task for the entrepreneur, an end in itself, for the sake of which he, in fact, set off "in all serious" independent business, then he faces the main and difficult question: "How to do this?" . A beginner in this case will inevitably encounter some difficulties. Yes, even experienced entrepreneurs sometimes pat the back of their heads in confusion, unable to understand why all of a sudden "I began to lose money." In this case, it is better to turn to people who have turned helping entrepreneurs into their profession. Business coaches, whose theoretical knowledge is consistently supported by the experience of running their own business, are able to give useful advice, think over an algorithm of actions or evaluate the prospects of a particular solution. They are not just vociferous experts with motivating slogans. By looking at the situation from the outside and passing it through the prism of their experience, the coach can provide an objective assessment of your performance, which is especially important in the absence of a business partner or mentor. And if you lack certain knowledge to realize your entrepreneurial ideas, then a business coach from the relevant field will help fill this gap and master the necessary skills. To do this, you just need to choose yours. Therefore, we decided to compile a list of some of the most sought-after business coaches in Russia so that you get acquainted with their activities, and maybe take advantage of their help.

1. Radislav Gandapas

Those who are interested in business training in Russia are probably familiar with the name of this person. This is not surprising, because he is one of the most famous and sought-after business coaches in the country with extensive professional experience and a wide geography of performances. Therefore, even if you are not in business, but live in a large city, you may have met this person more than once on local posters or advertising banners. But to follow their call to go to his training or not depends on your goals. Radislav Gandapas is a specialist in leadership and oratory, and therefore his seminars will be especially useful for those who want to hone their management skills, master the power of persuasion and make their business communication as productive as possible.

2. Maxim Batyrev

Having passed a rich career path from an ordinary employee to a top manager in a large domestic company, he has accumulated rich practical experience, which he laid the foundation for his consulting activities. The knowledge that Batyrev shares in his own master classes is supported by real examples from personal practice. Therefore, they will be useful primarily for business leaders, business owners and recruiters, as they cover such expert areas as management, sales promotion and employee motivation.

3. Mikhail Bakunin

A marketing expert helps freelancers, professionals in various fields and service companies build the most effective sales system. His main specialization is the marketing of professional services, which are now experiencing a kind of renaissance, responding on the Internet in the form of numerous ads. Standing out as a programmer, designer, tutor, specialist in advertising or psychology is not so easy now. It's even harder to sell yourself. This is what the trainings and courses of Mikhail Bakunin are focused on, who, relying on his practical experience (he is the founder of several companies), trains independent professionals in competent marketing and effective promotion of their services.

4. Evgeny Kolotilov

Sales technique, despite its apparent shapelessness, is very important in the implementation of almost any business process. It is especially important in the B2B sector. The volume of one-time sales here, as a rule, is quite large, and customers, as direct participants in the industry, place high demands on the purchased product. Therefore, it is not always possible to exploit emotional pressure on the buyer. A large customer is a professional, so it is much more difficult to convince him than an ordinary consumer. Difficult, but not impossible. It is precisely these sales techniques that he teaches, whose work experience is measured not only by the number of years (and their figure, by the way, approaches 30), but also by the list of published books, has long secured the status of an authoritative expert. At the same time, Mann himself puts an inequality sign between the concepts of "marketer" and "marketer", making it clear that there is a difference between theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. But this does not mean that one excludes the other. It's just that truly competent management is possible when they are used together. Therefore, Igor Mann positions himself as a universal marketer working at the intersection of theory and practice, which allowed him to develop a balanced business development methodology, which he willingly shares in numerous trainings and corporate programs. In his master classes, books and video courses, Igor Mann laid down an extensive marketing management base for a variety of business tasks: increasing sales, working with feedback, negotiating, working with B2B, optimizing work schedules, and others. Therefore, his work will be useful not only for novice entrepreneurs, but also for experienced players.

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Star of training programs for businessmen. His name is one of the first on the lips of people who have made any way to success. is a personal consultant to the owners of the largest business corporations. He has thirty years of successful experience behind him. This man wrote many books on which more than one generation of entrepreneurs around the world grew up.

Randy Gage.

This person is considered an expert in self-development and. He is also known as the author of the book "Why you are stupid, sick, poor ... And how to become smart, healthy and rich." Randy Gage travels the world with his trainings, which are in great demand. His social circle includes state senators, various actors, and others. Gage's success story is instructive for everyone.

What do these business coaches have in common?

If you carefully study the history of the development of each of them, it becomes clear and obvious that the desire and faith in one's own strength helps to achieve colossal heights. It doesn’t matter in which country and family you were born, it is important how you fill yourself during your life and how you develop. Various trainings are good and useful, but it is important to remember that it is worth checking the information received from outside and adapting it to your own experience.

The sales department constantly needs to improve the skills of its staff. Sales training is a necessity for every company.

Today the market is oversaturated with offers of sales trainers. They look alike. And it is very difficult to choose a candidate who will really make a qualitative change in the work of the department.

How to find your sales coach:

1. Decide what results you want to get from it and how you will measure this result.
2. Describe your requirements in the vacancy in as much detail as possible when selecting candidates.
3. Prepare for the interview. Create a list of required questions. In particular, how and where the results that you expect from the candidate have already been achieved.
4. Examine the resume, check the achievements and track record of the coach.
5. Evaluate candidate reviews.

Remember that the main value of the coach's work is the ability to form sales skills among employees. As well as monitoring the effectiveness of the application of this skill by each employee.

Qualification types

Trainers are not trained in universities, but higher education plays an important role in choosing a candidate for this position.

Trainers are of two types:

1. Coaches who have a humanitarian education in the field of psychology. At best, this is a higher education, at worst, optional courses.
2. Coaches who graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, Polytechnic or Economics.

Neither the first nor the second have a special focus on sales, but the second category of trainers has a completely different vision and approach to learning.

Coaches with a psychological background are not the best choice for a company. This is a category of theorists who, in the realities of business, are not able to show by their own example how the whole process takes place.

Their coaching abilities are based on the ability to imitate circumstances and teach in a game format. But at the same time, the coach uses an abstract language of concepts. There are no scripts or cases with customer objections in the structure of his program.

Trainers with technical backgrounds speak to your employees in the language of numbers. For them, sales are clear numbers, schemes, methods, step-by-step guides. Their undeniable advantage is additional education in the field of sales.

The most ideal option is when the trainer has several years of experience. Finding such a person is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

Sales Coach: Performance Evaluation

What should be an effective "teacher" who is able to bring results to the company?

1. To be able to form the necessary skills for sales staff.
2. By your own example, be able to show how to close a deal.
3. Be in a state of constant professional growth.

It is desirable that the candidate demonstrates to you his ability to conduct a training program. At least a 30 minute workout.

A good option is to conduct such demo versions of trainings once a week, receive feedback from employees and make minimal measurements of employee performance after such meetings.

A sales coach must have the following skills:

Coach motivation

The material motivation of a coach depends on his experience and past achievements. It is very important to evaluate the value for money.

The motivation system should include:

• Salary
• quarterly percentage

He should be paid for his work based on the financial achievements of the sales department. Constantly take performance measurements and compare them with the results of the previous period.

Teaching "corps"

You need a good external sales coach at regular intervals when a breakthrough is needed. If you did everything correctly in accordance with what is stated above, then you have no problems with this. A fresh perspective is always helpful. But this does not mean that the company should not have an internal learning process.

The functions of an internal coach can only be performed by line managers (heads of departments) and the best managers. This is quite acceptable until the sales team has grown and does not exceed 4 people.

As the company gets bigger, in addition to the executives and top salespeople who train employees in the background, the company will need a coach as a separate staff unit. This usually happens when the number of employees in a commercial structure exceeds 50.

Performing ABC XYZ analysis

The first thing a sales coach should offer when providing a consulting service to a company is to conduct an ABCXYZ analysis of the current client base. It will make it clear which buyers to focus on for revenue growth, and which ones it is better to refuse to interact with - the total amount of the transaction with them is not worth the time spent.

ABCXYZ analysis will divide the current customer base into several categories:

A - counterparties with the largest volumes of purchases,

B - buyers with an average volume of purchases,

С - buyers with a small volume of purchases.

X - those who most often apply to the company and purchase for the same amount,

Y - those who apply to the company irregularly, and with unpredictable amounts of transactions,

Z - those who make single purchases.

Arrange buyers on the ABC axis by revenue, along the XYZ axis - by the frequency of transactions. When these categories intersect, 9 client groups are formed: AX, AY, AZ, BX, BY, BZ, CX, CY, CZ.

Buyers from categories A and B provide the main inflow of funds into the company - focus on them. Stimulate the transition of buyers from categories BX, AY, BY to category AX. Don't spray on those who fall into category C - they will not bring a significant amount of revenue to the company.

We measure the penetrationYu

Penetration in the client is the share of your company's products in the total volume of partner purchases. It reflects the true purchasing power of the company. A qualified trainer who provides you with consulting services should be able not only to identify it, but also to show opportunities to stimulate the counterparty to more frequent purchases and for large amounts (up-sale and cross-sale).

You can do this with a survey. Find out:

• What are the volumes of purchases of the same product in other companies?
• What are the volumes of purchases of another type of product from competitors?
• What are the benefits of working with competitors?
• What products do they buy from others when they could buy from you?
• What can you do to make your counterparty buy 15-20% more from you?

On average, about 70% of current buyers will be ready for such a survey. Oy-li trainers then set up sessions with industry leaders to show you how to get more customers to buy from you. And now there are 4 areas of work to expand the share of the company's trainers:

1. Create a new commercial offer according to the comments of buyers;
2. Determine the channels of contact with the target audience;
3. Adjust managers' plans for current clients;
4. Measure your share regularly.

best sales coach

What is the best business sales coach? On the one hand, if we are talking about sales trainings conducted in Russian, in recent years a number of ratings of the best business sales coaches and sales experts have appeared that you can focus on. For example, here are some of them:

• Rating Company Serreputation
• salesportal

But, in fact, the answer to this question is more complicated.

First. Who needs training? One question is when you need to prepare or train several sales people at once. For example, a few new employees that you just hired after the next competition than the entire sales team. Another thing is when you need to train experienced negotiators, especially those who have been successful and professional sales managers, directors and owners of companies for a long time.

For entry-level training, using highly qualified trainers will be quite expensive and not very optimal, especially if you send novice employees to trainings with the best sales and negotiation specialists who do not yet understand even elementary things about how these negotiations are conducted. It is even more foolish to pay for each such young employee for his participation in an open training of a leading business expert. You will pay a significant amount for his education, and he will not be able to really make sales.

Conduct an express audit of the sales department on your own according to 23 criteria and identify sales growth points!

Conduct an audit

In the end, either he leaves, or you get rid of him. Therefore, for mass training of newcomers, as well as team training in general, the best sales trainers are your own sales managers, directors or business owners, those who have the most extensive experience in negotiating with your company's clients. It is they who need to go to the trainings of the best and most serious experts in order to learn from them the experience, those sales and negotiation technologies that these business sales coaches have developed through their vast practical experience. We understand that only a practitioner can be a good sales coach, and a person who does not conduct a large number of negotiations with clients himself should stay away from training such a person.

On the other hand, if your executives, directors and business owners took part in some kind of open training of a good, cool business sales coach, and they see that it would be good to use it to train your entire team - why not? Especially if your team has several dozen employees who are involved in sales and negotiations with customers. It can be not only employees of the sales department, but also employees of the client department, and someone from the accounting department, especially if this someone helps with shaking out overdue receivables. And the security service, if it also takes part in shaking out suspended payments.

In a company that sells complex equipment or complex turnkey projects, or some complex non-standard services, lead technical specialists are most often involved in negotiations with customers. These lead technicians should also be trained in sales and negotiation. But if you organize training for the entire team for a single cost, then the costs for each individual participant in the training can be quite acceptable. At the same time, the likelihood that many of the participants in this training will apply the acquired knowledge, experience and technologies in practice, and this will help your company increase revenues and develop sales, is quite high.

So to recap, for mass training of your employees, and especially for training newbies, the best sales trainers are someone from your company's more experienced and strong sales executives, and sometimes a director and owner.

On the other hand, it makes sense for such key negotiators to periodically take part in trainings of good practitioners, leading experts in the field of sales, negotiations, sales management and building sales teams. Of those trainings that are organized by our company, we first of all could recommend to your attention "" and "".

Finally, after having worked on such trainings, how these trainings are organized and conducted and how negotiation logging is carried out, and having gained new experience, knowledge and technologies, your sales managers, directors and company owners can conduct intra-corporate trainings for their team in order to transfer this experience to the team.

If they see that it would be more efficient to invite an open training host to conduct a corporate training in your company in order to transfer valuable experience, knowledge and technologies to everyone in the first person, your company’s notes are involved in negotiations with clients, then it makes sense to agree on such a corporate training .

It is important that it is more reliable to first send a scout who understands the level and approach of the trainer, and whose opinion can be trusted, in order to then conduct corporate training with confidence. It can be risky to immediately agree on corporate training, also because not all of the business sales coaches are actually those strong professionals and practitioners that experience and qualifications will really help your team to sell better.

© Konstantin Baksht, General Director of "Baksht Consulting Group".

The best way to quickly master and implement the technology of building a sales department is to visit K. Baksht's sales management training "Sales System".

Dear ladies and gentlemen, I present to your attention a three-month work on the study of the Russian sales training market. The task of this study was to identify domestic sales gurus, consultants and trainers who are the most competent in sales and related topics - negotiations, persuasion, objection handling, sales management, building sales motivation systems, etc. Oddly enough, until now such a rating did not exist. The last to investigate this topic were the journalists of salespro, which, as far as I know, a few years ago “safely” rested in a Bose from lack of money (and, apparently, hopelessness that the sales magazine was not for sale).

Each of the people in this study is a unique individual, so whoever you choose for your next training, your company will not go wrong either way. Hire any of them and you will get the most out of what is available on the market. These people are brilliant in sales, have tremendous experience and can help not only the sellers themselves, but also the heads of sales departments, commercial directors and senior managers.

I know some of them in person, with others - in absentia, I heard a lot about the third or read their books. By the way, there are those on this list with whom my experience of communication can be called more negative than inspiring. However, this fact did not affect the rating and the position of the coach in it. All these people are quite well-known in the Russian market and have made a name for themselves in sales training, and not just in trainings "about everything". Whether I like them or not is the tenth thing. There is no doubt about their vast experience and qualifications. I know little about some of them, but by studying their websites, reviews and videos, I can draw fairly accurate conclusions about their competencies and level of expertise in the subject area.

I think that the professionals of this market will pay attention to the fact that many titled coaches of Russia, who (quite deservedly) are used to being in the first places in any such ratings, did not make it into the rating. The reason is obvious - it's "TOP-20 sales trainers". And only for them. I have included here only those trainers and consultants who specialize exclusively in sales training and refuse other topics.

For example, you and I know such well-deserved and even legendary coaches as Mikhail Molokanov, Mark Kukushkin, Radislav Gandapas, Leonid Krol, Igor Mann and many others. Of course, in another case, they could also be in this rating, since they clearly deserve the right to be among the best coaches in Russia. And they certainly know how to teach sales. But you need to understand that although they can conduct training on any "selling topic", for them sales trainings, and the topic of sales itself, is no longer the main one. Almost all of them have long “outgrown” the level of simple coaching and have gone into “gurus” in some area, “staking out” separate topics for themselves (marketing - Igor Mann, strategy - Radislav Gandapas, time management - Gleb Arkhangelsky, etc. ). And others have greatly expanded the range of training to reach more clients and, thus, left the "pure sales". This automatically excluded them from this list.

On what basis are the coaches placed? To be honest, it's subjective. I did not compare the cost of a training day for each of them, did not consider the average number of paid training days per year or the turnover of their companies. I didn't even look at their price lists. This rating is a purely subjective comparative assessment of one person. I evaluated the totality of my knowledge and the information received through various channels. For example, I have been to Radmilo Lukic's trainings many times, but not so many times to Sergei Azimov's. This was one of the reasons why I ranked SaleCraft's founder a little higher. However, this does not mean that higher is better. I rate almost everyone on this list approximately the same, and it would be extremely wrong to say (and understand) that one of them is better simply because he is higher. It is impossible to compare real pros in their field "directly" - everyone has very different temperaments, approaches and methods of conducting. But what I can say for 100 percent is that all the personalities of this rating are sales professionals of the highest category.

Slightly deviating from the topic, I want to note that it is very difficult to be a “pure sales coach” (sounds funny, right?) in Russia and the CIS countries. Before becoming the CEO of the company I currently work for, I did a lot of sales training and I perfectly understand those who, after three to five years of winding around the country and neighboring countries, go to another business. Teaching sales - although interesting, but extremely difficult and not the most profitable job. The average cost of a good sales coach is now 20-30 thousand per training / day. A good trainer deserves to receive at least 60-100 thousand a day, but there are not so many clients who are willing to pay decently for high quality. When choosing between a rate of 20 and 60, most companies still choose the former. This list is a warning and a tool for these managers. A good sales coach should cost a lot! Remember this and do not compare the "incomparable".

The dream of any trainer is to have at least 15 paid personal trainings per month year-round, but in reality it is difficult to achieve. Sometimes, it happens, of course, and more, but more often - less. Having gained a rich practice, some trainers open their own companies, others expand their own specialization towards general management or personal effectiveness. At the same time, the companies they created have a new name and thus “blur” the coach’s personal brand that has already gained momentum. In this case, he has to start all over again.

Therefore, many nominees (such as Dmitry Norka or Asya Barysheva) build a brand around their own name. Western examples (the same Jeffrey Gitomer) clearly confirm the success of this approach. Wherever and however I work, my brand will work for me. However, it is clear that a brand built around the founder's name is short-lived. With his departure (unfortunately inevitable), in most cases, his company also disappears. If the brand is strong enough to serve itself without exploiting the name of an individual, it may turn out to be more durable and serve children or even grandchildren. However, it happens differently. For example, Arkady Mizernyuk, whose training I admire, is a very successful and wealthy businessman. He could have long ago relaxed on some island under the southern sun and received dividends from a successful youth, however, he, nevertheless, still conducts trainings with pleasure and considers that this is one of his two life missions. In my opinion, this approach deserves all respect.

I admit, calling this rating "Russian TOP-20", I am a little sinning against the truth. Since the list includes not only trainers who live in Russia, but also all those who often come here and can conduct training in any Russian city at any time. I considered this approach justified, since most often Russian (and any other) companies ordering training do not care where the trainer resides. If we discard his experience and specifics, it is usually important for customers that the trainer be:

a) Affordable (in terms of money and in terms of quickly appearing on the horizon)
b) Russian-speaking (or Russian-speaking, which, in general, is the same thing)
c) Hassle-free in terms of execution of contracts, cash and non-cash payments, flights, accommodation and preparation of all necessary accounting documents that are required by intricate Russian legislation.

All participants in this rating, therefore, were classified by me as "Russian coaches". So, for example, it would be foolish to exclude from the list the highly respected and charismatic Mr. Derevitsky, who, although he lives in Kyiv, has conducted a huge number of trainings in Russia. Alexander has found 1000 ways to deal with objections, and is undoubtedly a guru in this rather narrow and, at the same time, such a huge topic. Therefore, his books are still chased throughout the CIS. And Ekke is one of the most famous trainers in Estonia, but also absolutely accessible throughout the former Soviet Union and speaks perfect Russian.

Another logical question that you can ask is: “Why are there not 20 people on the list, but 18?”. Because:

a) I didn't want to add people to the list just because I absolutely have to list 20 people. (If this is important to you, add Pavel Bukov from RQ Lab to the list - he specializes not only in sales, but knows this topic brilliantly - and, for example, Vadim Dozortsev, whose team improves efficiency precisely through professional audit and modernization of the sales system, who how can he not see sales in the complex?);
b) There are several other great coaches that could potentially be in this ranking, but I don't have enough data to verify yet. Maybe I'll add them later. Stay tuned for comments and updates. ;)

It is quite possible that I missed someone and there is a well-known and respected sales coach on the market who has conducted thousands of trainings and gained well-deserved fame, but for some reason did not make it to my list. In this case, I ask you to indicate in the comments those who deserve to be included in the pantheon of Russian sales glory. These comments will also be useful to those readers who, for whatever reason, want to choose someone else to conduct the trainings. So, 3 places in the rating are still vacant. Hurry up, as they say. ;) But, I repeat, only those trainers and consultants who have connected their business career with sales, and only with them, can get into this rating.

Why do two people occupy one place at once? Trainers Maxim Gorbachev and Dmitry Tkachenko use the power of dual charisma to train (and often give interviews) together. Therefore, I did not begin to divide them in half (suddenly, without each other, they will not be able to conduct trainings as effectively?). And, unfortunately, only one woman got on the list - Asya Barysheva - whose book “How to Sell an Elephant” was probably read by all professional sellers. Among the candidates was also Tatyana Sokolova, who recently released an interesting "Upgrade Sales", but for certain reasons, she did not get into this rating.

I guess that's all I wanted to say as a comment. Of course, I did not want to offend, offend or upset anyone. If I forgot someone, I'll gladly include it. I will be glad if this rating is useful to you personally and your organizations. As always, I look forward to your corrections, additions, criticism and comments.

Sincerely,
Mikhail Lyufanov