WHAT DO YOU REALLY NEED? Although there are plenty of first- rate trainers in the field, prepare your questions and develop a hiring strategy before interviewing any of them. This will help cement a productive and purpose-driven relationship.
First, what kind of training do you need? Do you want to change or reinforce the steps in your sales process? Or do you want to improve the skills with which reps execute this process? Both kinds of training are best done live by instructors. On the other hand, if you only need to train reps on products (especially new products), online or e-learning tools are economical and effective. To help fill in specifics and set training priorities, you must know what is driving your training initia- tive. Does your company have a new overall strategy that requires a new approach to sales? Or have you talked to customers and discovered problems with reps? You should also talk to sales managers and reps to get their perspectives. Most good training firms can do their own as- sessment of your needs, but you should have a very good idea at the outset of what specific methods and skills need improvement. Understand also there are many methods for delivering training – ranging from generic lectures by sales experts, to live sessions more customized for your company, to one-on-one coaching and role plays, and to online, on-demand lessons. The more live, customized, and indi- vidualized the better – but also the more expensive. The best training usually mixes several methods. Realize next that you should com- mit to the whole package: thorough preparation for the training sessions by your company working with the trainer, effective and enjoyable train- ing sessions, and, crucially, follow- up steps that reinforce and perma- nently impact training. Be prepared to budget in detail for all these steps. Total training costs are usually
two to three times the payments to training providers.
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS? Now you are ready to start search and selection. References from similar companies could be your best guide, but your competitors might not be eager to tell you which trainers they found most effective. You can Google “sales trainers” and check out Websites. Both Selling Power and
Trainingindustry.com publish lists of top trainers and promising new train- ing firms. And Brandon Hall’s Excel- lence in Sales and Marketing awards are also useful.
Check out trainers’ Websites to do a quick screen for basic quality and experience. You want to see awards and well-known client companies. Look for persuasive case studies – especially those addressing needs similar to yours or companies in a similar industry. Next, use Websites, email, and phone contact to learn more about each training provider. Does it offer training in methods or skills focused on your priority needs? Has it worked for clients whose sales process and skill requirements are like yours? Does it have the online tools you may need for product training or skill reinforcement? One important consideration is size of your company relative to the typical client of each trainer. If you are a Fortune 500 company, you need a trainer accustomed to scale up for a huge sales force. If you are small or midsized, you want a trainer that pays close attention to similar-sized clients. Global reach and local knowledge will be important to multinational corporations. That requires fluency in many languages and experience in many cultures.
How far is the trainer willing to go to customize for your needs? Some trainers are relatively strict in teach- ing their best-practice sales tech- niques because they believe strongly in them. Hire them, you hire their method. That may or may not be what you are looking for.
Recommended Sales Training
Providers Each of the sales training providers listed in this section earned a spot on Selling Power’s 2018 Top 20 Sales Training Companies List. Please visit each company’s Website to learn more about their services and solutions.
The Sales Board – with its Action Selling™
Professional™
and Customer Relationship product lines – is the
leader in delivering tangible organic sales growth. The Sales Board tracks the ROI of every training engage- ment and delivers a greater return than any other training program. The keys to ROI success: 1) the highest quality content, 2) the most effec- tive learning transfer system, and 3) training that salespeople love. Want a better sales culture? Let The Sales Board put together a tailored program that fits you perfectly and guarantees sustainable results.
www.actionselling.com
ASLAN is a sales training company with over 20 years of experience empowering international companies to better serve the needs of their clients. We begin with a commitment to helping organizations “bridge the gap” in their sales force execu- tion. We focus on the improvement
SELLING POWER JANUARY 2019 | 25 © 2019 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
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