The Truth About Sales Training

Sales training takes time away from selling. So if the training or the sales participants are ineffective, your firm is not only losing money on the cost of the program, but also on the lost sales that would have been made in that lost time. This is lost opportunity cost.
Choosing wisely is important! The first concern is to train or not to train.

When you set up a sales force in your company, it behooves you to spend as much time as possible teaching your salespeople the “ins and outs” and fundamentals of selling. The same holds true for any of your channel partners who represent your product line and control its successful introduction to the market. Additionally they need to be acutely aware of all your company’s products and services, terms and conditions, delivery and customer service. But that is not all. You must always be aware of the competition’s offerings. It is a good idea to break this down for your salespeople and train them in all aspects of this.

“Failure to Train Sales People can ruin your Company”

Failure to train your sales force, sales staff and salespeople really can ruin your company faster than any competitor ever could. It is essential to have competently trained staff working for your team.

For the sake of this example let us assume that you have chosen to move forward with sales training. In the course of your investigation you will begin to realize the truth about sales training programs. Most simply do not work. This is a lesson that is not lost at the Center for Organizational Energy with its Sales Pro—Professional Selling System program (PSS).

Though any number of elements could be responsible for an ineffective sales training program, the following stand our as common areas of concern:

There is very little if any follow up support to ensure that the implementation of the new sales process is adopted and implemented by each salesperson. Find a training provider that guarantees their work. The Sales Pro participant receives a life time ability to re-attend any public program at no charge. Your company is provided a one year replacement of any sales participant that “washes out” by your choice or theirs. Recently Sales Pro worked with a cable provider that experienced over 35% turnover each year. Re-training costs and new hiring dropped dramatically as sales professionals now had a place to turn to assure the implementation of the sales training.

Management and the training department do not reinforce the training. Why train salespeople in a process like Sales Pro with the expectation of improved performance and not do the same for sales managers and the trainers/coaches? Sadly this is exactly what many corporations do. Even if the sales force is excited about what they have learned, it does little good if sales managers, trainers/coaches, leadership and marketing do not share the enthusiasm or take the time to understand the process that they have invested in. The Sales Pro client is strongly encouraged to put sales managers, trainers/coaches, leadership and even marketing personnel into the program to have an intellectual understanding of the approach. Unfortunately, we have seen examples of organizations training on a needs satisfaction selling basis and then “hammering the sale” of products that the market has seen no need for. Sales personal were then measured on contradictory information.

Too much theory, and too little practicality. Anyone can develop a theory on how to boost sales results. What too few people can do is prove that it works. The promise of “innovative” techniques, without real world examples of an increase in productiveness is of no value! The seminar participant must have a clear understanding of turning the step in the process being taught into sales action. The Sales Pro participant will practice immediate application skills exercises in class. While in the field, that support system must be strong for the sales mangers, trainers/coaches to assure the use of the skill. Direct contact with Jim Ullery the Sales Pro instructor is also available.

An inexperienced sales trainer who fails to engage the audience. Anyone qualified to teach a sales training program better have extensive experience in the frontlines of sales. The sharing of actual selling stories—both victories and defeats is an important aspect of sales training. When a presenter does not know how to establish a rapport with the audience, or present the material in a compelling manner, the audience will not only tune the presenter out, but discount the sales advice of someone who fails to sell them. Jim Ullery your Sales Pro presenter personally has trained between 600 and 900 sales people per year for the past 12+ years. His practice includes selling the Sales Pro program and teaching it. He also regularly rides with salespeople and their managers selling the client company’s products.

The benefits of coaching will not be realized without proper follow up. The object of continuous training is to ensure that the company profits will continue to increase, Without continuous educational programs, the investment in education of personnel is a waste. Every company today should be striving for the development of a learning community. Jim Ullery at the Center for Organizational Energy, the creator of Sales Pro Professional Selling System, has been actively involved in the creation of organizational learning communities for over 30 years. His work has been included in publications like INC Magazine, Board Room Reports and Successful Meetings Magazine who named his work as One of the Top 5 in the Nation.

Sales training is not simply an intellectual activity. By its nature it demands behavior modification. To be effective, sales training requires that negative or ineffective behaviors be replaced with positive or effective behaviors. The Sales Pro sales coaching we provide is action oriented much more like sports coaching than academic coaching. The lessons must be integrated into one’s behavior, not just filed away. The initial team of sales managers, trainers/coaches start with their coaching calls directly with Jim Ullery, scheduled every two weeks or as desired. Beyond the first 90 days coaching usually continues at 3 to 4 week intervals. Action plans which are to be shared with each of the salespeople are taught and implemented. Beyond this, individual salespeople are welcome to set times directly with Jim Ullery on a time available basis. Several of our clients have established Linked-In dialogue groups which are closed to only their company for assistance in the adoption of new behaviors.