Sales Training Article By Chris Bloor

Is sales training a waste of time? The typical company spends tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to put its entire sales force through the latest, whiz-bang sales closing techniques to increase its bottom line numbers.

Then there are those businesses that invest hundreds of thousands of dollars training their salespeople but hardly spend anything motivating them. (They end up with a bunch of highly-skilled people with little or no motivation).

Others invest a small fortune motivating people but never give them the hands-on training they need to make sales out in the real world. (They end up with a bunch of highly-motivated 'loose cannons')

But perhaps the biggest mistake that most Sales managers make, is that every member of their team receives exactly the same training.

You should NEVER make the assumption that all your salespeople are at the same level in terms of experience and expertise or that they each have the same “sales ability”.

Is There a Solution to This Madness?

My friend, James Yuille, (www.jamesyuille.com) is of the firm opinion and I agree; that good sales training starts and stops with the fundamentals.

FACT: The main reason why people can't sell is that they simply don't understand the process of the sale.

Because of this basic flaw in their training they turn to manipulative 'techniques' like 'tie downs' or 1001 closing techniques to 'clinch the sale'

When these techniques fail, (and trust me they do fail) the salesperson becomes more and more desperate and many give up on sales altogether.

The trouble with this method of selling is that people are not machines. They don't always respond the way all those books you've been reading say they do.

The Solution: Learn how to 'open' the sale and the closing part will take care of itself.

Opening a sale calls for more listening and less talking. It is all about asking the right questions.

You would be amazed at how much information a prospect will give you if you just ask them what their biggest frustration is? (in relation to the problem that your product or service has the solution for).

By getting clear answers to your questions early in the process, you can develop a strategy that will dramatically shorten your sales cycle, allow you to anticipate and defuse objections ahead of time, and make a lot more sales as a result.

Dealing With Objections In Selling:

The best way to deal with objections is to ask good questions early in the sales presentation; questions that anticipate, identify and quantify potential objections, BEFORE the prospect raises them thus allowing you to show how your company holds the solutions.

If you deal with potential objections upfront rather than hoping they don't get raised it generates believability. People will trust you more.

In conclusion: Sales Training is not a waste of time if you bear in mind that:

- - When people understand the process of the sale, they will sell more.

- - People need to learn how to open the sale rather than close it.

- - Your sales team are individuals. They are not clones. Some personality types respond better to different training methods.

- - A Good sales trainer will ask you lots of questions about your staff before they jump in at the deep end and give them materials that don't meet their needs.