Tweet

Classroom Sales Training Demise Rumour Debunked

Guest post by: Clive Miller

Article Overview: Many sales people work very hard yet apparently less than 50% achieve their sales target. Some might say this is testament to the failure of sales training. This is patently not the case and here are the reasons why.

Classroom Sales Training Demise Rumour Debunked

Many sales people work very hard yet apparently less than 50% achieve their sales target. Some might say this is testament to the failure of sales training. This is patently not the case and here are the reasons why.

Employers set sales targets at or even just beyond what they consider to be possible. Companies are not in business to make sales people rich, they are in business to meet or exceed their stake holder expectations. Sales targets are usually difficult to achieve and always will be. Every time a sales person exceeds what his or her employer considered the limit, the boundary of the possible is pushed back a little further.

The point is that selling is competitive. There are winners and losers. Sales people are always in competition with themselves. Those who succeed, continually raise the bar.

The bar only plateaus or is lowered when a definite majority fail to make their target. There comes a point where belief falters. Self interested employers, whether they think these thoughts or not, watch closely with the aim of keeping sales targets at or near the limit of what's possible. It is not in their interest to push a sales target too far. As long as at least half a sales team can achieve it, the other half can be persuaded that it is possible.

So what has this to do with classroom sales training? Well have you heard the joke about to trekking companions who disturb a Grizzly Bear? One starts to run and the other stops to change his shoes. His friend exclaims in a superior voice, "you will never outrun a bear" to which his friend retorts, "I don't have to. I only have to outrun you".

If you want to make your target, you have to be better than 50% of your peers in the same market!

Now, you could invest in some books but you know you will never read them. Recorded titles are better especially if you travel a lot. Yet while you are travelling; it is hard to act on learning and easy to let those good ideas slip away.

Can sales people develop their soft skills and sales techniques through online courses?

Sales people are renowned for having a short attention span. Online learning works for product knowledge, particularly if you are required to obtain an accreditation. Can it improve ability to sell?

Even if you put in the time and answer the quiz correctly, it doesn't mean you will use this dry knowledge in the field. Some can and do learn selling this way. Judging by the responses to questions I ask in classroom sales training sessions, about one in fourteen sales people keep themselves ahead of the game this way.

What about virtual classrooms? This is where everyone dials into a conference and watches a slide show. You think no one can see you catching up with your email, or writing that report? You can even mute the sound and take telephone calls while you are supposedly present in the virtual classroom.

With a good video conferencing set up and all of the learners in the same room with just the trainer beamed in over the fibre, with good discipline and better 360 microphones, these set ups can work. Yet this is classroom sales training by any other name.

So if you want to be in the 50% that make their sales target, you need to hone your sales skills and techniques, regularly. The most talented athlete in the world, who doesn't practice, is no match for mediocre athletes who do.

You could take time off from selling as holiday and pay for training or a sales coach out of your own pocket. This makes a lot of fiscal sense. To make money on the investment, you only need to increase your sales results by about 2%.

Why take the risk when you can persuade your boss to pay for it?

Your boss is smart. How else would he or she have got the job? Since hiring a coach for you would mean hiring a coach for everyone, you are stuck with the next best thing - classroom sales training.

Related Articles
  Advantages of Classroom Training
  Private Training versus Public Classroom Training
  E-Learning vs. Instructor Led Learning
  Why Salespeople Fail to Make Needed Changes
  Unlock Sales Training and Development With These 8 Dynamic Learning & Sales Coaching Keys
  External Private Training vs. In House Classroom Instruction
  Advantages of One-on-One Computer Training
  New Trends In HR Development
  Courtroom Earth vs. Classroom Earth
  Online Training - Does it Work for Smaller Businesses?
  Use Forex Trading to Provide a Hedge for the Demise of the USD
  Unlock Your Natural Abilities to Increase Sales
  Formalized Employee Training
  Why developing your Sales Managers is the key to your sales success
  Collaboration & Team Building for Sales Force Management Growth
  A Guide To Implementing E-Learning in Smaller Companies
  Finding SelfWorth
  If Gap Needs a Niche
  Sales Training Materials that Work!
  Sales Training - short term or long term success?

Article Tags: sales skills training, sales training, sales training courses, selling techniques



Related Forum Posts
7 words or less for Structogram - Some "7 words or less" (more or less) for Structogram for your comments: Training to get your message across(6) Secrets to get your message across (6) Training so people will listen to you (7) Helping you get your message across (6) Training to learn to get your message across (8) Communications training for yourself and your team (7)
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
Budget. - I believe the biggest barrier is related to budget. Training tends to be a normal practice for a big company. But I have to consider it seriously as an entrepreneur.
Hello From Marietta GA! - Hello All! My name is Tim Naylor and I am in Direct Sales! I am glad I have found EC's sites and I hope to learn and share a lot!


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

International Employment Background Checks

Clues to Increase Sales -- Listen to the Buyer

Using your social media profiles to drive traffic

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.