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Guest post by: Paul Johnson Become an Author

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© 2007 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

Most sales training is not only misguided, but also mislabeled.

When I ask sales managers what goes on at their big sales conferences, the topic of sales skill development rarely comes up. In between addresses from company executives and talks about company and industry news, the only sales training provided for the salespeople isn't really sales training at all.

Delivered by product managers, this "sales training" is all about products. The mantra: "Learn more about our products and you'll sell more of them." Big mistake. Product knowledge will not cure all sales sins.

TOO MUCH LOGIC IS ILLOGICAL.

It's no secret that people buy using emotion, and then defend their purchase decision with logic. Product knowledge supplies the logic. Too much logic, fueled by an obsession with learning the product line inside and out, will derail selling efforts.

Emphasis on product knowledge causes salespeople to strip emotion out of the sales dialogue. Salespeople become so comfortable reciting speeds and feeds, usage jargon, and application patterns that they stop listening to the customer and miss the big picture. They ignore buying motivation, the decision process, and the buyer's emotions associated with achieving their desired results.

When product training masquerades as sales training, salespeople become sterile regurgitators of irrelevant factoids.

FEATURES PACIFY FEARS.

I suspect that this irrational, endless pursuit of product knowledge stems from the contagion of fear, the fear of not being able to answer any question that could possibly be asked.
 "What if somebody "important" asks me a question and I don't know the answer?"
 "If I can't answer, will they think I'm not smart?"
 "Will this mean I'm inferior?"
 "Does this mean I might 'lose'?"

Sadly, too much of our self-esteem seems linked to how smart we perceive we are. Memorizing product features can make us feel smart.

WHAT DRIVES CUSTOMERS AWAY?

My wife and I were recently shopping for a new vehicle. She and I had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted the vehicle to do, which suggested which features would be relevant for us. The salesperson never bothered to ask us how we were going to use the vehicle, so we just gave him the list of key features we thought we needed. None of them were under the hood.

When he took us outside to see the first candidate, he invited my wife to sit behind the wheel, then popped the hood and proceeded to show me the locations of all the fluid fill points around the engine. I interrupted him and asked, "Why are you showing me this?" He thought my question meant that he should explain more about what's under the hood. I had to tell him three times to close the hood, so I could get on with what mattered to me. I have no doubt he was doing exactly what he was taught in his "sales training class," yet his misguided product knowledge was irritating me and jeopardizing the sale for the dealership. Sometimes we buy in spite of how poorly the salesperson is trained.

LEARN THE TRUTH BEFORE YOU SELL.

For the record, I believe that product knowledge is a good thing, and that more is better than less. I just want to put an end to the lie that says, "Learn all about the product, and people will buy something from you." Instead, we should be teaching salespeople, "Learn all about the buyer, and they will buy anything from you."

I contend that I can spot a good salesperson by the questions they ask. These pro's will guide me through five layers of questions to understand my buying motivations, previous experiences, compelling events, and other aspects that fuel the emotions surrounding my decision. Only then do they need to pull out usage questions based on product knowledge.

FOCUS HERE.

The real reason that product training can never substitute for sales training is that the focus is on the product, and not the buyer. True sales training is about helping salespeople understand the buyer, identify a suitable solution, and gain commitment. The product is merely a means toward that end. Include that kind of sales training at your next sales conference if you want all those product-related power-points to pay off.

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