How New Sales Training Builds a Successful Team
A salesperson's career is very different today than it was decades ago. In the past, a salesperson received extensive sales training, sometimes with a 12-month program before even meeting their first client.
Today, the reality is quite different. Nowadays, a salesperson might only receive two days of training and is then sent into the world to learn all the techniques and tricks of the trade on their own.
Companies have rightly moved away from long-term training programs due to the high costs involved.
The philosophy is that it’s better to test a large number of salespeople and then train those who prove to be worthy, or simply allow them to rotate in and out without formal training.
There is some truth to these hypotheses. The problem is that the few who prove to be capable salespeople often lack the necessary training for their sales careers, and even if they receive it, they have already learned on their own, making it difficult to unlearn the bad habits they’ve picked up.
In these sometimes difficult times, this is a great loss.
If you think about it, what great salespeople we could develop with the right training! Now, I don’t believe we should return to the old method of one-year training before they can start selling. The world moves too fast, and honestly, there isn’t enough time to train salespeople in techniques that may not align with today's challenges.
I always advise my clients with a successful method that falls between the old one-year training and the current two-day method. For this, I add a bit of science to the art of selling, which helps improve training and development processes using new and powerful sales management tools.
I propose to my clients a brief skills and knowledge analysis and inventory for each of the salespeople. This analysis is designed to assess how strong they are in two fundamental areas.
The first is knowledge:
The second area of this analysis refers to skills:
Once this first study is complete, we conduct the corresponding analyses to identify weaknesses that can be transformed into new strengths through training and recognize and reinforce current strengths.
On the other hand, this analysis can also be used to:
The results allow us to prepare workshops for small groups that need specific training.
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The second step is to gather from each salesperson what we call “Reluctance to Approach.”
After several studies, we classified and determined that there are nine types of reluctance to approach that salespeople present. These reluctances can either mobilize or immobilize the salesperson when facing sales situations, depending on the prospect they are approaching.
Each reluctance is related to market segments and types of buyers. For example, if a salesperson presents 3 or 4 reluctances, this indicates that they are failing to approach between 30% and 40% of the market they need to visit, or when they do, they exhibit significant deficiencies in their sales presentation process.
After this study and the previous analysis, the appropriate coaching is developed for each of the salespeople. This coaching can be provided by the supervisor or manager using the guidelines provided.
Now, we can deliver a course for the entire sales team related to Relational Selling and Buyer Psychology. In this course, the art of selling and psychology are integrated. We don’t just teach “how” to sell, but also the buying styles, why they buy, how they buy, and what the salesperson must do to align the sales process with the way and desires the prospect/client has for purchasing and more.
The sufficient time to train salespeople and ensure they have a comprehensive knowledge of the product, industry, customers, sales process, and arguments, depending on the industry and the number of salespeople, can take anywhere from 5 days to 2 months, but no more than that.
As soon as possible, the representatives should be out in the field applying their new knowledge and skills. There is no substitute for field practice.
Initially, they will have a personal supervisor who can provide constant feedback and the training we have provided for follow-up.
Every day, the supervisor or manager should conduct a brief training session with a salesperson, and each week hold a two-hour workshop focusing on the most complex aspects of the sale.
This continues until they reach a level of maturity. Depending on the industry, it can take 6 to 24 months to transform an apprentice salesperson (regardless of how many years they’ve been in sales, because time does not equate to experience) into a professional salesperson.
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Good points. Which companies were/are giving their salespeople 12 months sales training before letting them visit a customer?