Sales Training The Future

The challenges of sales training will still exist as we come out of the recession - to develop in trainees a high level of communication skills, self-organisation and a key understanding of the specific market(s) relevant to the sales person and ensuring they implement the right actions required for success.

Information technology will continue to dominate providing ever better access to up to date information. This will enable sales people to provide customers accurate information and feed information quickly back to head office. This will in turn mean that we will need sales people who are team members, and not loners.

As to where the sales training function should sit on an organisational chart this is an interesting question. This begs the question about the corporate attitude toward training in general. Organisations in the UK have been criticised for not taking training seriously. Specifically, the buck stops at the top - the Sales and Marketing Director, if there is one, the Chief Executive if there is not. The government has become increasingly involved in promoting training and education at all levels. At the time of writing it is heavily promoting leadership training and there are numerous schemes available for organisations who want to specifically improve their leadership – and this includes sales leadership.

Continued training remains the responsibility of line management, but responsibility lies also with the individual. In order to encourage individuals to take responsibility, some organisations have developed a system where the individual sets out their own development programme. These are the so called “Learning Organisations”. In some instances this has given management the excuse to abdicate responsibility for training. This trend needs to be reversed.

It is interesting that virtually all brand leading companies still consider sales training as vitally important, despite recent challenging times. It is also a fact that most companies that have gone out of business had poorly developed training, or no commitment to training at all. Almost without exception, those companies that invest in the training and development of their sales team will tell you it is an investment, not a cost. These people produce more business, are highly motivated - and they are fun to work with too.

For someone to develop into a top quality sales trainer, they require three things:

1. The ability to relate to the level of knowledge and understanding of the trainee. Sometimes the best players make the worst trainers.
2. A good understanding of the role of a trainer, which is about helping people to learn and not trying to prove how good they are themselves.
3. Excellent knowledge of the subject matter. So to achieve the latter if not the former, at least five years sales experience is needed, preferably in different markets, dealing with different products or services and different levels of purchasers and buyers.

On the saying: “If you cannot train, you cannot manage a sales team”. For example the H J Heinz, the food company, put would be sales managers into sales training first. This is a good idea if it is possible. The human ego is one of the most fragile things on earth, and must always be handled with sensitivity.

Training is an ideal proving ground for would be sales managers. They can learn how to deal with people effectively, how to get the best from them, and a great deal of other skills that will eventually stand them in good stead when the become a manager.

What proof is there that classroom based sales training actually works? Classroom, if that is the most appropriate word, can be an effective way of delivering knowledge and converting knowledge into skill. This can be proved by setting learning objectives and measuring the trainee’s ability to meet those objectives.

For example, a qualified pilot, will tell you that classroom work is essential to gain the knowledge a pilot needs, and a simulator is a highly effective way to build up skill levels.

For sales people, imparting knowledge in the classroom is a good way to help people learn and through simulations they can greatly enhance their skills and which can be measured.

Sales trainers must be accomplished sales professionals, you have to be accomplished and knowledgeable about the subject matter. All our trainers are experts in their particular field. Certainly DVD’s and other training aids help, but advice to would-be sales trainers is this. If you know nothing about the subject, keep your mouth shut!

As for the Internet, we have to remember that computers are machines and not human beings. So expect human beings to be involved in training for as long as human beings need to be trained. It is also worth pointing out that one of the numerous benefits of face to face sales training is the increased level of motivation that attendees have upon returning from a course. This motivation stems from a number of things, such as sharing experiences with others, and a feeling of personal growth, and a lot of it also comes from the course leader. Good sales trainers do not just train, they inspire, and that is something you cannot get by surfing the net just yet!

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