7 Key Questions Around Sales Training

www.saleswolves.com

NOTE: We do NOT offer sales training. This is not a “pitch”, just information.

Question Why should I invest

in sales training? Isn’t it a waste of time for my team? Haven’t they already been trained? Don’t they pretty much go back to what they know?

If professional football players drill, and baseball players get hitting instruction, and PGA pros get help re-tooling their swings,

why would you NOT provide training?

Answer

Question

What’s the best first step?

Humble thyself

Answer

Yes, you are a great manager, but… there are experts who can train better than you can.

Don’t high-level sales execs each

have their own style and approach?

Question

Probably, but an adopted methodology gives you a common frame of reference for deal dialogues and pipeline discussions, a basis for performance analytics, concrete insight

for coaching, etc., etc., etc.

Answer

What are some of the key selection considerations?

Question

Here is a Top 5 list: 1. The selling process must map to your customers’ buying processes 2. Your sales methodology should directly correlate to your sales force automation tool 3. The package should train you to coach around the methodology 4. They should have references in your industry 5. They offer tactical and strategic sales training

Answer

What are the costs involved?

Question

There are two costs: Hard-Dollar and Soft-Dollar

Answer

Hard-Dollar Costs – The money you pay directly for training and materials. It can easily run a few thousand dollars per employee (or more).

Soft-Dollar Costs – The reduction in productivity you experience while everyone gets up to speed with the new methodology. These costs can be much higher than the hard-dollar costs.

Are the soft-dollar costs worth it?

Question

If you are okay with the status quo, probably not. If you seek long-term improvement, probably so. BUT, you have to be patient. When Tiger retools his swing, there is a down period while he is ingraining the new swing. Your team is likely to hit some bumps in the road as they adopt a new sales approach. All investments cost something.

Answer

What about upper management?

Question

They HAVE TO BE bought in. Your vendor can help educate them. If they are not okay with short-term setbacks, you should not waste your time.

The sales people will leave the training excited, but will quickly become deflated when they aren’t given room to make some mistakes in the new system. Under pressure, they will revert to what they know – and the training time and money will have been wasted.

Answer

Want to do more homework?

Here is our list of some of the more prominent solution sales trainers in the U.S.

www.saleswolves.com

Elite Sales Professionals - Sales Training Vendor Matrix

- Scroll to the bottom of the page and open “Sales Training”

Also, you may want to join the LinkedIn group Sales Training Best Practices