Business Monitor PASSED:Layout 1 17/02/2009 09:30 Page 21
BUSINESS MONITOR
On the fast track to
creating better training
Without proper training, companies can lose out in many ways. Paul Clapham
explores the best ways of motivating workforces to bring your business results.
S
queezing every ounce of business out of on objections, he knows about your business sector be good. What’s more, even the good ones can’t all
every lead, doing your absolute utmost to and he listens. If you as buyer are getting only be right for your business or your sales people.
close in every sales presentation has to be 10% good, chances are your customers are too This is also like other investments: you only find
the most cost-effective way to improve the when you’re selling. Not a happy thought but what out if you made the right choice after the event,
profitability of your business. One way to achieve an opportunity! which is a pretty duff deal. Sadly, sales trainers will
this is to make your sales team more effective, to All the best salesmen I’ve ever met had a tell you that a fair chunk of their business comes
train them to a higher standard. number of things in common: pleasant personality, from putting right other people’s failures. Great.
What do you think of the salesmen you meet good listening skills, determination, excellent Those are the key reasons why so many businesses
when you buy for the business or as a private personal organisation. But more than that, they don’t make the investment in the first place. But it’s
individual? I predict that overall you are had all at some stage undergone a very good still the right decision, so how do you go about it?
distinctly unimpressed, but every now training programme, one which had given them First resource to explore is Train to Gain, which
and again, say 1 in 10, you come up absolute confidence in their ability to produce covers the whole country, being a government
against a real expert, a standout results. They knew deep in their hearts that body (www.traintogain.gov.uk). They have Skills
operator. He finds out about every bit of what they had Brokers who will give you a free on-site assessment
available business, he doesn’t offer learned to of training needs and subsequent
a discount until you ask, he do, they recommendations of training providers. This has the
doesn’t cave in could do and advantage of independent experts who are not
that it would financially benefited by their proposals and whose
succeed. In effect, they organisation has undertaken
were believers. appropriate quality checks. The
If all your sales team had that Skills Brokers adopt a holistic
level of confidence, your sales would approach ie they review all
jump. Investing in sales training is your training needs, rather
therefore, on the face of it, an than just addressing an area
obvious way to improve a business, such as sales which you
because the correlation between have highlighted. This is no
action and results is clear. Which is bad thing, since it’s possible
where we hit the buffers. There are to be too close to the
many thousands of problem and to have an
options and overview of what’s available
they can’t all for the whole business is
valuable. The Skills Broker’s
service is free and the initial
meeting takes about an hour to
an hour and a half of your time.
You could also look at
Training and Coaching Today, a
supplement of Personnel Today,
the leading trade magazine in
the sector. Their website offers
open access to existing articles
on sales training which,
naturally, is a topic they cover on a
continued on page 22
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk March 2009 | 21 |
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