Welcome to Sales Training Month at SalesPOP! For all of August, our expert contributors will be focusing on the vital subject of Sales Training.
Why is it that the average sales training program only runs one to three days?
- Is it due to time constraints or budget allocation?
- Is it so management can confidently state, “We trained you”?
- Is it because all anyone wants is a quick fix?
Or one of endless others…
But what is it that will bring the most rapid improvement to a company’s bottom line? Of course, it’s sales.
Doesn’t it therefore make the most sense to invest in that bottom line–your sales force?
Today it’s a buyer-based economy. In this economy the need has never been greater for sales and non-sales professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners to learn how to sell their products. Selling today is conducted by following a proven sales process while engaging and empowering buyers.
The real sales training skills that produce bottom line results are not gained through one- to three-day programs but through continuous or ongoing sales training.
Statistics have shown that sales training will be forgotten within 30 days. It doesn’t matter if the training is public or in-house. Sales training has to be an ongoing process not just a one- to three-day event.
How to get continuous sales training you can afford
Continuous sales training is a few hours a week for a few months, from a quarter to a period of a year or more. This process can be costly though, when you take the venue, accommodation, travel and trainer fees required for live programs into consideration.
However, with today’s technology continuous sales training has become more accessible and affordable to all. The alternative to live training is interactive video virtual sales training.
Virtual sales training allows participants to:
- learn at their own pace;
- complete workbook exercises;
- apply what they learn in the real world;
- be tested, monitored and tracked by management; and
- be coached along the way.
Keep in mind that no one likes to be told they have to take sales training. Introduce the virtual sales training program at a sales gathering or sales conference with the objective to obtain participant buy-in and commitment to the process. Without participant buy-in or commitment, virtual sales training will not be as effective.
The key behind continuous learning is to apply what you learn in the real world then come back into a group where everyone discusses their experiences and learns from each other; you then go back out for a second or third try until you get it mastered. Once mastered, you can move on to the next module.
Every sales training program will teach you how to sell and sales will be made. But only continuous sales training with real world application will provide the sales training skills for measurable bottom line results.
Continuous sales training should not be about tricks and techniques. It must provide an understanding of human behavior; an understanding of universal buyers’ requirements; and ultimately, an understanding of how buyers buy and how honesty and trust afford lasting relationships and a secondary sales force.
Learn how to execute the disciplines of attracting, engaging and empowering the “Buyer Focused” Velocity Selling System, to up your bottom line:
Get our complimentary e-Book “The New Economy of Buyers, Why Traditional and Consultative Selling Methods No Longer Work,”
Pipeliner CRM visually and intuitively empowers sales training. Get your free trial of Pipeliner CRM now.
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