Sales Training that Really Works

The 2003 research by CSO Insight spanned 2000 sales forces across Europe and North America, and revealed the disturbing fact that 55% of salespeople fail to hit their quotas. Given the fact that 45% of the business training spend in the USA is directed at sales training, this raises serious question about whether sales training efforts are delivering any significant return on this investment.

There are well researched explanations about why this situation occurs, and the most important are:

1. Sales talent can be sharpened but not created. “You can't train somebody for a job they can’t do!” This home truth is frequently forgotten or ignored in the rush to fill open territories or cover critical positions. The key is distinguishing between “talent-based” roles and those that can be learned. Examples of talent based jobs or professions include sports, military leadership, art, graphic design, entrepreneurship, computer programming, and most sales roles. After 30 years of research and assessing hundreds of thousands of sales people we know that sales is primarily a talent based profession and that sales talent can't be improved by more than 20% by training. Consequently a sales person who 5% effective can only become 6% effective – not a great training investment. However an 80% can become a 96% - a far more attractive proposition. Now, this does not mean that you can't teach anybody how to write programs or play golf, but all the training in the world won’t turn the average hacker into an Ernie Els or Tiger Woods.

2. Teaching sales people the “right” things is critical and most sales training falls short in this regard, because it is focuses primarily on the needs of the seller and not the needs of the customer. Basic skills such as time and territory management, telephone skills, overcoming objections and closing skills are necessary, but they have limited impact on the customer’s decision to buy. Research, which involved interviews with over 100 000 executives responsible for making purchasing decisions, gave fascinating insights into why B-to-B customers buy from a particular supplier. This research, which involved the rating of sales people against the volume, margin and repeat purchases they made, revealed that only three sales skills really made a difference:-

• Competence at “personally” managing the customer relationship
• Developing a deep understanding of the customer’s business
• Acting as a customer advocate to correct any and all problems

The most effective training focuses on learning the customer’s business and being able to manipulate your own company’s systems efficiently to serve the customer’s business priorities. Of course these skills need to be married with face-to-face selling and other skills, but they are the competencies that ultimately make the difference between success and failure.

3. Using the “right” training approach is the third key. Salespeople are a special breed. They possess unique talents and values that allow them to succeed in a challenging and highly competitive business environment. Those unique talents and values also make them unique learners. Selling is, after all, a contact sport and typical classroom training is not hugely effective.

The very best sales training is largely based on realistic simulations that mimic the situations and environment that salespeople encounter on a daily basis.

Research suggests that salespeople share a particular set of attributes:

• Urgency: Salespeople love fast-paced action. They want results, and they want them quickly.

• Risk-taking: Salespeople take risks. They know there are no certainties in selling. They have the talent to step out of their comfort zones, experiment, and learn quickly from their mistakes.

• Competition: Anyone who has spent time with salespeople knows how competitive they are. They need to win. They are always being measured and they personally keep score.

• Empathy: Salespeople often have an uncanny ability to sense the reactions of others. They relate well to a wide variety of people and thrive on face-to-face interaction.

• Persuasion: Salespeople derive enormous satisfaction from persuading others, including their managers, coaches and, of course, customers.

• Resilience: Because salespeople frequently face rejection, they must be able to bounce back quickly. Their resilience enables them to restore their motivation for their next call.

These attributes reflect a particular type of learner who responds to a specific kind of learning:

• Fast-paced: The learning programs should mimic the dynamic pace of the real-world selling environment.

• Feedback-rich: The programs should give salespeople the opportunity to make mistakes and get quick feedback.

• Challenging and competitive: Learning activities must leverage the types of experiences that get salespeople interested and engaged. They present challenging, competitive situations that dare the salespeople to fight for a win.

• Face-to-face and team-based: The programs must respond to salespeople's needs for face-to-face interaction.

• Relevant: Learning activities reproduce real-world situations in which salespeople must repeatedly persuade customers as they move through their multi-stage, multi-party decision-making process.

• Fun: The learning event should be entertaining, enjoyable, and amusing. Salespeople bounce back from difficult challenges and stay engaged in the activities.

Salespeople learn best from fast-paced, customised simulations. What is a simulation?
Simulations are representations of real-life situations. Simulations permit people to confront the same sorts of challenges and opportunities as in real life, yet in a safe environment where they can experiment and learn. They process information, set priorities, make decisions, take action, and learn from their successes and mistakes. The best simulations utilise professional actors and trainers and becomes a model reality that provides a safe environment for experimentation and learning. Simulations allow professionals to learn and embrace a model for the sales process. Well crafted and executed simulations are totally different to the tired old role plays that have bored generations of salespeople witless. During the learning process, salespeople externalise assumptions, get feedback, and actually practice the use of sales strategies and skills. Team discussions and full group debriefs allow participants to absorb, contextualise, and expand their knowledge and skills, making them their own. Most importantly, simulations that are fun engage people, and engaged people learn faster.


Sales Training that Really Works - To learn more about this author, visit Peter Gilbert's Website.

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