TRAINING
to win a big piece of business, it will create some dramatic results. Finally, if all salespeople in a company man- age their large accounts via a con- sistent methodology, then the ability of the company to make the right investment decisions and continue to expand their existing relationships is greatly enhanced.
SECRET #7:
MAKE LINE MANAGERS RESPON- SIBLE FOR TRAINING SUCCESS. Managers should actively participate in the sales training – either through a manager briefing or through partici- pating in the full program – so they can reinforce the training through coaching and role modeling. When managers participate in the training with their reporting team, the role of the manager should be as a coach working with the trainer. Acting as a coach forces the manager to grasp the concepts, skills, language, and tools that will be necessary for post-training coaching and feedback. To make this effective, line managers must sometimes receive additional training on how to be good coaches and how to give useful feedback. Most important, make sure there’s a way to measure the result of the post-training coaching, so line managers can assess how they’re doing. Typical measurement meth-
SELLING TIP Detailed Referrals
How can you get your satisfied clients to talk you up to friends and acquaintances?
Make it easy on them by sharpshooting your message, says this sales expert.
Most people think they’ll catch more fish with a bigger net. Not so with referrals, says the expert. “The problem with a really broad net is that there are big holes in it,” he says. “When you say, ‘I’m a full-service printer; I do everything,’ that doesn’t mean anything to your pros- pects – or to those who refer you to them.” If you had a serious illness, for example, you wouldn’t be interested in generalists – you’d need to know which
26 | MAY 2019 SELLING POWER © 2019 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
ods include benchmarking before- and-after training performance and setting criteria, such as cross-selling goals, increased number of referrals, and higher closing ratios.
SECRET #8:
USE REAL CUSTOMER DATA FOR THE SALES TRAINING. All too many sales training programs are heavy on the theory of selling and the importance of sales process, but light on the day-to-day reality of selling. The best way to ensure sales train-
ing isn’t merely academic and theo- retical is to use real customers as part of the sales training process. For ex- ample, if part of the training is build- ing a comprehensive sales campaign for a major customer, use currently active customers in the pipeline as the example. In addition to ensuring ac- curacy, you can bet that the reps who are assigned those customers will be paying close attention and thus more likely to incorporate the skills being taught into their day-to-day work. But using real customers has another extremely important benefit. At the very least, when those reps walk out of the sales training session, they’ll have a much better chance of closing business with those custom- ers. Even if they completely forget what they’ve learned (which is highly unlikely under these circumstances),
you will have gotten substantial value for your training dollars.
SECRET #9:
RUN A PILOT PROGRAM TO PROVE THE TRAINING’S USEFULNESS. When a company’s top management is convinced that a certain kind of sales training will increase revenue and profit, there’s a tendency to roll the training out to the entire company in one gigan- tic rush. However, even if the powers that be are completely convinced a pro- gram is a panacea, it should be rolled into a sales organization gradually. The best way to do this is to always start with a pilot program – for three reasons. First, starting with a relatively small program allows the sales train- ers to focus their energies on a small group, which makes the pilot more likely to be successful. Second, every training effort requires some fine tuning, and the pilot allows the sales trainers to make adjustments neces- sary to make the training as effective as possible. Third, and most impor- tant, when the pilot is successful, especially in terms of increased sales, that success will quickly become clear to the other sales teams, who will clamor to get trained. This is a far cry from the usual scenario, in which sales reps resist training because they see it as distracting them from the business of making their numbers.
hospital has the specialist who can cure you. A long laundry list of products and services is not likely to catch anyone’s attention. Potential referrals are more likely to mention your name if you play up your unique attributes. Instead of offering “benefits packages,” say you specialize in “executive benefits packages to owners and managers.” There’s plenty of time for referral partners to learn the full range of what you can offer, says the expert. After all, getting referrals in a specific area doesn’t mean you can’t continue to offer other products or services. Ultimately, referrals are about long-term gain. “The more you can educate people about different things that you do – one at a time – the more likely you are to get referrals in the long run.”
– LISA GSCHWANDTNER
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