SalesMotivation.net

by John Davis

Okay. So you want to boost your staff’s sales figures and you don’t know how to do it. You’ve considered getting the latest gadgets and gizmos that they can take with them on sales calls to impress clients with all of the bells and whistles and encyclopedic knowledge available at the tips of their fingers. Great. But what will they do before, during and after they fire up their newfangled tools? If you place any value on the fundamentals of preparing your sales reps then you may want to consider the three following sales training tips.

Take a Leadership Role in Their Training

It’s easy for sales managers to off-load the sales training function to sales trainers, the HR department or senior sales reps under your direction. After all, sales managers have a full plate of responsibilities before them when it comes to creating sales reports, projecting future sales, establishing sales goals and evaluating the performances of his or her reps. There’s hardly enough time to lead a training for your staff - let alone, plan and assemble a training. But planning these sessions can be streamlined when following a successful template or blueprint, and the difference that you can produce over some “in and out hot-shot” can’t be overstated.

Serve Up a Consistent Stream of Skill Development

Think about the many ways people learn. We learn by doing, seeing, hearing, reading and creating - just to name a few. If you decided that you’re going to use just these five modes of learning to reach your sales team with solid instruction on selling, then you’d be halfway toward developing a plan for consistently developing your sales team’s skills. All that you’d have to add after that would be the topics of their on-going training program, resources and a schedule for delivering that training. Then, you’d have a strategic approach to keeping your staff “green & growing” instead of “ripe & rotting”.

Emphasize Self-Monitoring and Self-Reflection

There’s a lot of truth to the saying, “We’re our own best teacher”. Unfortunately, many sales professionals suffer from an acute case of overconfidence. In other words, they tend to shut out any ideas that aren’t their own. Who would blame them? It takes a tough hide and a strong sense of self to rush headlong into the world each day knowing that you’ll likely experience more rejection than acceptance. But this hyper-inflated ego could cause many on your staff to get in the habit of blocking all external messages as they become their own best counsel.

But have heart, your response to this dilemma should be, “Great!” If they’ve truly developed a strong internal support system then you should require them to take it to the next level. That involves them making note of what works well under different conditions and what doesn’t on a regular basis. It should also require them to analyze the things that happen over and over to discover patterns in their in their practices and prospects’ reactions to them. Then, these discoveries can serve as material for powerful and relevant sales training sessions where you serve as a facilitator of these discussions rather than a provider of content.

If you follow these three sales training tips you’ll find that your staff will begin to see you as their greatest asset as they increase their effectiveness in selling. Sales training can provide a great boost to your organization’s profitability. And whether you realize it or not, as a sales manager you can be the key component to achieving the gains your business desires.

About the Author

John Davis offers free sales training advice at SalesTrainingZap.com