Selling Power has surveyed top experts in sales training methodology about just what makes a successful sales training effort. These experts have spent years diagnosing sales problems and finding customized solutions that actu- ally produce higher sales. Here are six concrete steps sales managers and sales VPs can take to improve sales training results.
1. USE THE RIGHT TECHNIQUES One of the most common mistakes sales managers make when approaching sales training is to use techniques that are obsolete or ineffective. For example, many firms have sent their sales reps to classes in closing. In most cases, the closing techniques taught are laughable – particularly when applied to B2B sales. I recently tried a closing technique on my four-year-old daughter when she didn’t want to go to bed. I asked her, “Do you want to wear your pajamas or your nightshirt?” Rather than making the proverbial small decision that as- sumed the larger one, she simply said, “I’m not going to go to bed.” If a technique won’t work on a four-year-old, what makes sales managers think it will work on an execu- tive making $250,000 a year? Most sales managers approach sales training as if it’s just a way to educate the sales force on a particular skill or skill set. The real point of sales training is to increase sales through increased sales performance – which results from the sales organization’s increased productivity and ef- ficiency. Skills training is a part of that process, but it’s not the entire solution.
I’ve noticed that this bias toward ineffective skills- oriented training is common inside organizations in which human resources takes the lead on training. In general, HR professionals are not qualified to identify the root cause of sales problems, so they’re very bad at devising effective sales training programs.
Sales managers doom sales training to failure when they don’t get sufficient leverage to drive the sales force to change behavior. There are only two things that motivate people to change: a fear of loss or a desire to improve. The challenge is to make certain that sales- people feel, at a visceral level, the change is necessary. For this to happen, the training must be presented in the context of how both the organization and individual will become more effective with the training – and will fail to meet goals without the training.
2. USE THE RIGHT FOCUS Sales managers must think through the reasons for the training, so they can draw a clear line of sight between what’s being trained and the impact on both the company and the sales rep.
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All too often sales reps end up going to training simply because they’ve gotten a memo saying, “Be there.” If the training is going to have a positive effect, however, the sales manager should be able to give reps a clear understand- ing of the issues the training will address. Ideally, manag- ers should be able to express the value of the training in a five-minute conversation with the rep – clearly explaining the reasons behind the training investment and what will be expected of the sales rep after the class is over. Companies often know what they need to do in order to be successful, but fail to provide the training that would make those actions possible. For example, one large company has been telling its sales force for the past 20 years that they must start calling on senior executives. The sales reps, however, continue to call on technical managers. Why? Because that’s the audience they know and understand. If the company’s executives were serious about getting
sales reps to call at the top, they’d provide sales training on how senior executives think, what’s important to them, what they see as problems, and how they view their careers.
3. FOLLOW THE BEST PRACTICES The concept of best practices can be deceptive. Many training companies would have you believe their standard training program consists of proven best practices. How- ever, sales training isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Training decisions made based on success stories from other com- panies are usually off base, because the experience inside another company is likely to have absolutely no relevance to the issues your sales force faces – like a doctor prescrib- ing a medicine without diagnosing the illness. For every company, the real definition of best practices is whatever type of training will make the most difference to the customers – not to the sales reps. The sad fact is most companies don’t know what they need to do to make their customers happy. They give lip service to cus- tomer satisfaction, but don’t take time to analyze the sales force’s weaknesses and decide what training would help them serve customers better.
The definition of a best practice varies by industry and situation, but it is possible to draw some large general- izations when it comes to matching sales processes to markets. According to my research, there are three kinds of market: Seller’s market: when your solution already maps to the customer’s needs. In this case, the best sales strategy is to sell the features of your solution. Competitive market: when customers have a need that doesn’t automatically map to your solution. In this case, the best sales strategy is to help the customer clarify needs so your solution makes sense. Missionary market: when your customers don’t under-
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