Simply sending your sales team through a one-day training program is like running your car through a car wash — the minute they hit the streets, they get dirty again! Sales training is not a one-day magic bullet. Changing, improving, interrupting, enhancing, or facilitating better sales behaviors requires a commitment to education, development and strategy. Without a concerted commitment, a sales training program is merely an exercise that will not get the results desired.
The process for truly changing and improving sales results is systematic, ongoing, and very strategic:
- Assess the current strategy: Understand what is working, not working, where the challenges are and where opportunities exist for improvement. This is not simply an assessment of the team, it is an information gathering exercise on the strategy, the product offering, the team and of customer experience. This provides the foundation for improving the strategy and building a sales education curriculum for the program.
- Develop an improved program: Armed with powerful feedback from existing customers, valuable information from the market, insightful knowledge from the entire organizational team, and a thorough evaluation of the sales team, the business is poised to develop and implement an improved sales program that includes a well-defined educational curriculum.
- Educate and inspire the team: The information and the strategy are encapsulated into an educational curriculum focused beyond the conversations and behaviors offered in a typical training program. This process provides insights into the strategy, the process, the tools, and the tactics that will actually improve performance and results.
Make a commitment to educating your team on the entire process of revenue growth. Accomplishing this requires a thoughtful, ongoing process that yields significant results. You would not expect your golf game to improve with only one visit to the swing coach or your health to improve with one visit to your personal trainer? Why would you expect your revenues to improve with a single visit to a sales training show. Make a commitment to your team and to improving results through a focused strategy and eduction program. You will be glad you did!
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I just had this conversation with one of my clients the other day. I didn’t use the car wash example, I used the “going to the gym” example. Just getting an orientation on the gym equipment doesn’t change behavior or produce results. You have to go, correct and redirect all the time to get the results and long term, sustainable change. Its the same with sales, hell, its the same with life. You have to be committed to the process of change and improvement for the long haul. There are no short cuts.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for you insight. What do you recommend for sales teams that are smaller and can’t really afford the time or funds to have a full blown ongoing sales training program?
Agree. The challenge is the commitment to change and to continuous and consistent implementation and follow through. Thanks for your comments.
You bring up an interesting question that likely requires more than a simple response. The bottom line is that if you are committed to having a sales team, that commitment must include an investment in a proper development program. The cost of failure is much, much higher than the investment in success. Great question. Look for a follow-up post to your question.