As a growing company, one of the major challenges you face is developing your
sales organization. Bringing in a professional sales training company to help
out can be a hefty investment, but very worthwhile if you make the right choice.
Right now, you may be handling your own in-house sales training. Perhaps it's
not even a formalized process. Your new hire may be given a bit of
product/service training, armed with marketing collateral and told to spend a
few days in the field with Patty the Pro.
If that's what you're doing, your future sales are definitely at risk.
In today's crazy business environment, your salespeople are your competitive
differentiators. Prospective customers expect your salespeople to add value in
every client interaction. If they don't, your company doesn't get a second shot
at their business.
Prior to evaluating potential sales training companies, analyze where your
salespeople are having problems. Are they struggling to:
Set up meetings with corporate decision makers?
Fill their pipelines with high quality opportunities?
Convert interested prospects into customers?
Differentiate themselves/your company from
competitors?
Handle the numerous objections they encounter?
Make sure to search for the root causes of these sales challenges. Nothing is
worse than investing big bucks in the wrong sales training program.
Key Considerations
If you decide to go ahead with professional sales training, check out these
areas to ensure you get the right "fit" for your organization.
Sales Methodology
Review the sales training company's methodology to ensure it aligns with how
your prospects make buying decisions. Because customers' expectations have
changed so much in the past few years, it's important to do a "sniff test," too.
Ask yourself: If a seller used these techniques with you, would it raise your
opinion of this person, make you feel like you were wasting your time or make
you feel like youre dealing with another self-serving salesperson? Trust your
gut; it knows.
Industry Expertise
There is no one-size-fits-all sales training. Selling to a retailer is
different from selling to a technology company. Selling to consumers is
different from selling to big companies. Selling technology is different from
selling commodities.
Check with the sales training firm to make sure they have a depth of
experience in your industry. If they don't, keep searching until you find one
that knows your business.
Ongoing Reinforcement
Research shows that 85 percent of your sales training investment is lost
within weeks
unless
it's immediately reinforced with follow-up learning activities. Ask the sales
training company how they can help you reinforce the strategies and skills
covered in the workshop.
Some ideas to consider include: teleseminars, webinars, group/individual
coaching, software tools and more. Don't let the learning end with the training
session.
Adult Learning Principles
Effective sales training is not a data dump of everything a seller needs to
know. Professional sales training programs should clearly articulate the
behavioral changes you can expect at the end of the training session. They
should have numerous opportunities for salespeople to practice new skills and
apply the newly learned strategies to their jobs.
Watch out for those sales training firms who are trying to cram too much
content into a short window of time. When that happens, virtually nothing is
retained.
Futures Training
If you want the sales training program to be fully integrated into your
company's DNA, then it's important to know how your future sales reps can be
trained. Some companies offer open sessions. Others have teleseminar or online
sales training options. Find out what's available so that you're never left in
the lurch.
In today's marketplace, it's essential to invest in professional sales
training programs to ensure that your salespeople become the differentiators.
When that happens, your competitors won't know what hit them!
Jill Konrath
http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com/
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