Are great sales professionals born, or can they be trained for success?
“There is a popular misconception out there that good sales people are those glad-handing, used-car salesperson types that have a good golf game,” says Anne Hach, director of the Key Entrepreneur Development Center at Tri-C’s Corporate College. “It’s just not true. There are an entire set of skills that can be taught and learned.”
Actually, sales work has become increasingly more sophisticated than it was in the days of Willy Loman and Hach’s glad-hander. If you know where to look, you can learn what questions to ask in specific situations; you can learn how to sell against tight budgets and price competition; you can learn how to make a more effective presentation that might even involve multimedia. And more.
Smart Business talked to Hach about the other virtues of sales training in today’s competitive marketplace.
Why is sales training important?
Someone who brings professionalism into their sales process generally will be more successful. Historically, there have been 12 different models of selling, from the pressure-close model of the 1950s to the problem-solving model of the 1960s to the team selling model of the late 1980s.
Today, it’s different. Now, the complexity of the sales processes and the skills necessary to carry out each step have changed. It’s just not an unskilled occupation any more.
As an employer, investing in sales training for employees is the most important thing you can do for the bottom line.
What are the different type of sales training that business owners should investigate?
There are many special programs for industry-specific sales initiatives. For example, there are important nuances that financial professionals need to be aware of because there are legal issues around the sales process. There are often disclosures you need to include at the bottom of a sales letter. This type of sale is commonly a more personal conversation — about money —and you don’t face the regular sales barriers. Training can teach financial sales folks how to deal with the emotional issues surrounding money.
What about sales training for business owners or entrepreneurs?
If you are an entrepreneur, making the sale can be a totally different experience as compared to Joe or Jane the salesperson. Business owners need to learn how to see themselves as a salesperson and realize it is just one of the hats they need to wear. Their relationship with the customer is different, and they often have a more difficult time keeping their own emotions out of the sales process. It’s a different story if a customer doesn’t like your widgets and you happen to have invented the widgets.
Also, if you are a salesperson working for someone, you can always blame up. When you own the company, you can’t do that. Sales training for entrepreneurs addresses all of these issues and helps business owners acknowledge and manage their emotions and use them as a leveraging point.
What are some of the trends in sales training now?
Many training companies perform a pre-training assessment to determine skill set, motivation, current sales tools and management styles before going in with a cookie-cutter training presentation. Also, customized training — available in smaller, shorter modules that address specific needs — is on the rise.
Another trend: Blended learning has spread from academic venues to sales training. The blended learning approach takes full advantage of the power and cost-efficiency of new electronic technologies. Sales training is no longer about watching, reading and listening, but about doing, simulating, socializing, sharing and collaborating. The maturation of a new wave of online applications and tools, such as blogs, podcasts, online gaming, and wireless and mobile technologies, is driving ever-greater levels of sales and service productivity.
How can a business measure the effectiveness of sales training?
An increase in sales is one obvious metric. You can also look at increased efficiency. For example, ask yourself, ‘Do these new tactics and strategies I have learned increase my efficiency as a salesperson? Can I do in three sales calls what it used to take me six calls to do?’
ANNE HACH is director of the Key Entrepreneur Development Center at Tri-C’s Corporate College. Reach her at (866) 806-2677.