How to make the most of sales skill and technique books
Every time you turn around, someone has written another self help book on sales techniques or specific sales skills. Jill Konrath, Art Sobczak, Debbie Mrazek, Mitch Anthony; have all authored books, plus there are compilations like Top Dog Sales Secrets (those are just some of the ones on my shelf) - someone always is selling salespeople and managers a new book that is going to launch their sales like fireworks on the 4th of July.
Which brings up today’s question: How do you make the most of self help style, sales books?
If you’re a salesperson, here is your favorite answer - it depends (salespeople use “it depends” when; asked about sales forecast, how likely it is that they will earn someone’s business, why people buy from them, and even what their voicemail message strategy is).
Instead of accepting that as a valid, answer a little research was in order, where this startling statistic appeared:
“96 per cent of respondents agreed that individuals required advice and support if they were to take on more responsibility for their own learning.” (Eric Parsloe and Jessica Rolph 2004 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey)
96% of people needed advice and support to make lasting change. That is a huge percentage, so to see real world examples, participants in an instructor led sales book club were asked what they found most helpful about the program.
Their answers backed up the statistics, all stated that knowing other people were facing the same challenges, plus being asked about their progress weekly made a significant impact on their ability to implement new strategies, tactics, and techniques.
“I probably wouldn't have done such an extensive forecast if there wasn't a group of people keeping me accountable for following through with the exercises in the book.” ~ Mindy S
To continue objectively looking at how to get the most out of skill and sales technique books, the research was refocused to the idea of sales books as training. The Kirkpatrick Model is one of the most well-known and used model for measuring the effectiveness of training programs. It was developed by Donald Kirkpatrick in the late 1950s and updated by Donald L. Kirkpatrick and James D. Kirkpatrick in 2005 in their book Transferring Learning to Behavior.
For the purpose of this article we are only using levels 1-3 and skipping over level 4 which is about organizational benefits of training.
Level 1 - Reaction; How did participants react to the program?
· If you bought the sales technique book, there was something about it that interested you. Title, author, content, or presentation of the material. Level 1 success, a positive reaction.
Level 2 - Learning; To what extent did participants improve knowledge and skills and change attitudes as a result of the training?
· When you read the whole book and learned something new OR remembered things you had learned in the past, but forgotten. Success at level 2.
Level 3 - Behavior; To what extent did participants change their behavior back in the workplace as a result of the training?
·
You
apply everything you learned and created new routines, where it makes sense for
you. Success at level 3.
To successfully transform the content in a book on sales skills and techniques into new habits to increase sales, the reader has to change their own behavior. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development survey tells us that a majority of people need accountability partners, support, and/or instruction to successfully implement new skills into their careers.
Here are three options to explore:
1. Determine if taking an instructor led class is something you need to absorb the new sales strategies and tactics.
2. Have an accountability partner, read the book together and meet weekly to discuss what you need help sticking to.
3. Join a business book club, where all participants have committed to read a chapter, take action, and share results each week. Think accountability partnership on steroids, as everyone has made the same commitment.
The key is to determine your personal learning style and choose the best way to move from thought to learning and then taking action to change.
How to make the most of sales skill and technique books - To learn more about this author, visit Lynn Hidy'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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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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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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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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