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Sales Training Programs - Are they Worth It?

Guest post by: Terri Levine

Article Overview: In a sea of sales training program options, which ones are better than others and are any of them worth it?

Sales Training Programs - Are they Worth It?

If the majority of sales training programs were effective, there would be less sales people struggling in their chosen profession. The truth is, while many training programs have good intentions, they are not applicable in today's market. Much of what they teach is rehashed from 'yesterday' and is presented by people who've no experience in Sales themselves - they are trainers.

This applies to small business owners, too, and any person or business who relies on the sale of a product or service to remain in business. In large organizations, whole sales teams struggle because they lack the skills and attitudes required for success in today's market.

Another problem is acquiring the right kind of training. Many organizations prefer to use in-house training by their own staff who may, or may not, be "in Sales". Sales Managers, themselves, are too busy to train their staff, and Human Resource departments can only teach "from a book". Too often, all that is delivered "in-house" are 'fire 'em up' speeches.

Some Sales Managers kid themselves that they are "training" their sales teams during their regular sales meetings - which are an inappropriate place/time for something as important as training. In addition to which any training given is usually a repeat/rehash of the same old, same old.

What I've found is most sales training programs can be likened to putting a plaster on a dirty wound. What is taught is often out of date, does not work and is more effective at putting people to sleep. What's more, it's all forgotten within days of attending. What a waste of time and money. Organizations spend thousands of dollars to send their sales people to training programs or one day seminars that, again, do not produce results, or if they do, the results are short-lived and anything learned is soon forgotten. The same applies to online courses that sales people can do sitting at their desk with their computer. It seems like a great idea, but the novelty soon wears off and in a sales office environment it is very difficult to "study" using this method. Generally, sales people do not like using these online tutorials.

Don't be fooled by flashy sales training programs and seminars which tout famous speakers who very often have no sales experience of their own and are usually an opportunity for them to sell their own books and products on the day.

Speaking of books... another method growing in popularity is offering training using courses consisting of books and tapes or videos. This is a cheaper option than sending your entire sales force to a training seminar, and means your sales team can learn at a time convenient for them - they can listen to tapes in their car on the way to work, in their lunch break - or do it during a "training" period throughout the day. You do need to ensure any training program presented in this way has been compiled by a professional who really does know what Sales is all about. There are many training programs out there who copy-cat each other and do not deliver training that is appropriate or suitable for today's market.

I don't mean to put you off instigating sales training for your staff, merely to be aware of the pitfalls when looking for a suitable training option. Given that increased sales means increased company profits, it's obvious that sales training is important, but it is also important not to waste your money on training that falls short or does not deliver long term results.

A good sales training program should deliver certain things as a minimum, for example:

• How to sell without selling
• How to create sales without cold calling
• How to sell without fear
• How to feel proud of selling
• How to serve others
• How to be a coach to help people buy
• How to ask powerful questions
• How to deeply tune in to hear what the prospect wants
• How to get referrals
• How to sell with ease
• How to stop doing the "churn and burn" and to have high ethics in selling
• How to always be truthful in selling
• How to teach people to buy

When "buying" a sales training program, as with most things it is "buyer beware". Do your research and buy wisely.

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Article Tags: sales, training



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