The Sales Trainer Debate
The Sales Trainer Debate
This video titled “Sales Myth #1: “Sell The Benefits” is described as “pulling the plug on that age-old sales tactic - selling the benefits.
“So what’s wrong with benefit selling? Well, firstly, we’ve heard it all before. We’re all sick of salespeople telling us how great their product is. And secondly, we’ve all been let down so much by these false promises that when we hear a list of benefits we just start looking for the catch. Watch Grant Leboff explode the myth and introduce the alternatives — you’ll never try and sell the benefits again”
Watch the video and you will realise, and as Skip point outs it has nothing to do with benefit selling. In fact what Grant has presented in his video is a whole load of misinformation around selling benefits. I can only presume that this is another case of a so-called sales expert skewing the facts for his own benefit, pun intended.
Misinformation is ripe within the sales training community, one recent gimmick is to advertise sales training with believe it or not, the promise of a “No more selling” approach to sales. Could be the ultimate in misinformation? While the sales trainers involved may see this as some kind of clever marketing strategy, I believe it to extremely irresponsible and misleading because there are companies and people who will be taken by these water to wine promises.
Reading down through the debate on Salespractice, a sales trainer makes the argument that people don’t buy benefits they buy solutions to their problems to which Skip replies “isn’t it possible for a customer to buy a product’s benefits, and at the same time buy a “solution to a problem? Solving a problem” and “buying benefits” are not mutually exclusive concepts, are they? Can’t a customer (and salesperson) do both at the same time?
This trainer is trying to promote the excellent Sandler Sales System but what is not grasped is that the main reason this system works, is because is built on sound selling strategy much like correct benefit selling. A feature can only becomes a benefit after the salesperson is able to show that it addresses a client’s need or part of, it becomes beneficial.
In effect, all the trainer is left arguing is semantics yet persists in the opinion that a customer buying benefits of a solution and a customer buying a solution are entirely different things. If a trainer is prepared to do this publicly and to this extent, it raises the question, can the trainer in question fully grasp either the concepts of selling benefits or selling solutions?
This is by no means the first time I have come across sales trainers who struggle to understand basic sales principles. I have believe it or not, attended benefit selling based courses where it was quite obvious that the sales trainer didn’t quite understand the methodology.
Some may feel that I am been too hard, because many sales trainers might be well intentioned and maybe they are not setting out to mislead, but simply lack the knowledge and experience to know what they are talking about. I say tough! If you are going to promote yourself as an expert, it is on that basis that you should be judged.
Whether a sales trainer is intentional or not, the result remains the same. In my opinion they are fundamentally symptoms of the same problem. Because our industry is virtually unregulated, it has always been too easy to lack knowledge, it is always been too easy to not grasp what your talking about. It is in this environment that some sales trainers have set out to deceive, actively misleading clients for many years without fear of anything or anyone.
A recent more sinister turn of events has now brought the sales training community under the spotlight like never before. Jill Konrath and Dave Stein, among others have identified sales trainers who have brazenly stolen their content and then republished it as their own. I would like to add my congratulations to everyone who was involved in bringing this to the attention of all and it is my hope that a sales trainer will never stoop so low again.
Surely this now should serve to make us stop and think. Should we now be asking questions like:
How do we want to be perceived by the wider business community?
And what impact are the practices of some sales trainers having on the rest of us?
Some sales trainers may feel that this is only relevant if it directly affects their business, I would suggest that this has already happened. Maybe you have not had your content stolen but have you lost business to sales trainers who make promises they can’t possibly keep? I know I have, as I have encountered clients who were so very close to turning their back on sales training because they had previously hired a sales trainer who hadn’t a clue.
Perhaps now is the time for the rest of us to say “NO MORE BAD SALES TRAINERS”
The Sales Trainer Debate - To learn more about this author, visit Niall Devitt's Website.
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Skip Anderson has started somewhat of a debate about selling benefits in the forum on Salespractice.com about a video by Grant Leboff, author of Sales Therapy.
This video titled “Sales Myth #1: “Sell The Benefits” is described as “pulling the plug on that age-old sales tactic - selling the benefits.
“So what’s wrong with benefit selling? Well, firstly, we’ve heard it all before. We’re all sick of salespeople telling us how great their product is. And secondly, we’ve all been let down so much by these false promises that when we hear a list of benefits we just start looking for the catch. Watch Grant Leboff explode the myth and introduce the alternatives — you’ll never try and sell the benefits again”
Watch the video and you will realise, and as Skip point outs it has nothing to do with benefit selling. In fact what Grant has presented in his video is a whole load of misinformation around selling benefits. I can only presume that this is another case of a so-called sales expert skewing the facts for his own benefit, pun intended.
Misinformation is ripe within the sales training community, one recent gimmick is to advertise sales training with believe it or not, the promise of a “No more selling” approach to sales. Could be the ultimate in misinformation? While the sales trainers involved may see this as some kind of clever marketing strategy, I believe it to extremely irresponsible and misleading because there are companies and people who will be taken by these water to wine promises.
Reading down through the debate on Salespractice, a sales trainer makes the argument that people don’t buy benefits they buy solutions to their problems to which Skip replies “isn’t it possible for a customer to buy a product’s benefits, and at the same time buy a “solution to a problem? Solving a problem” and “buying benefits” are not mutually exclusive concepts, are they? Can’t a customer (and salesperson) do both at the same time?
This trainer is trying to promote the excellent Sandler Sales System but what is not grasped is that the main reason this system works, is because is built on sound selling strategy much like correct benefit selling. A feature can only becomes a benefit after the salesperson is able to show that it addresses a client’s need or part of, it becomes beneficial.
In effect, all the trainer is left arguing is semantics yet persists in the opinion that a customer buying benefits of a solution and a customer buying a solution are entirely different things. If a trainer is prepared to do this publicly and to this extent, it raises the question, can the trainer in question fully grasp either the concepts of selling benefits or selling solutions?
This is by no means the first time I have come across sales trainers who struggle to understand basic sales principles. I have believe it or not, attended benefit selling based courses where it was quite obvious that the sales trainer didn’t quite understand the methodology.
Some may feel that I am been too hard, because many sales trainers might be well intentioned and maybe they are not setting out to mislead, but simply lack the knowledge and experience to know what they are talking about. I say tough! If you are going to promote yourself as an expert, it is on that basis that you should be judged.
Whether a sales trainer is intentional or not, the result remains the same. In my opinion they are fundamentally symptoms of the same problem. Because our industry is virtually unregulated, it has always been too easy to lack knowledge, it is always been too easy to not grasp what your talking about. It is in this environment that some sales trainers have set out to deceive, actively misleading clients for many years without fear of anything or anyone.
A recent more sinister turn of events has now brought the sales training community under the spotlight like never before. Jill Konrath and Dave Stein, among others have identified sales trainers who have brazenly stolen their content and then republished it as their own. I would like to add my congratulations to everyone who was involved in bringing this to the attention of all and it is my hope that a sales trainer will never stoop so low again.
Surely this now should serve to make us stop and think. Should we now be asking questions like:
How do we want to be perceived by the wider business community?
And what impact are the practices of some sales trainers having on the rest of us?
Some sales trainers may feel that this is only relevant if it directly affects their business, I would suggest that this has already happened. Maybe you have not had your content stolen but have you lost business to sales trainers who make promises they can’t possibly keep? I know I have, as I have encountered clients who were so very close to turning their back on sales training because they had previously hired a sales trainer who hadn’t a clue.
Perhaps now is the time for the rest of us to say “NO MORE BAD SALES TRAINERS”
The Sales Trainer Debate - To learn more about this author, visit Niall Devitt's Website.
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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