QUALITY / AUTHENTICITY / PURPOSE
Adapting to Improve
I’d like you to Think of an occupation where a majority is asked to perform without an education or formal training in their field.
Now imagine asking those employees (the ones without formal training or education) to drive company revenue through the marketplace - arguably the hardest thing to do in business.
The reality is that most salespeople were never educated in their occupation nor have they learned how to develop an effective selling approach that fits their unique style.
Many enter the field because they have a 'personality' for it. That personality is undoubtedly what makes them successful, and salespeople can get by just fine off their like-ability, quick wit, and hustle, as they've done up to this point.
But, imagine arming, even your best and most senior salespeople, with new tools and techniques they can use to close more business. What business leader or sales manager wouldn't want to do that?
The technology age has forced businesses into a constant state of transformation, and salespeople are being asked to deliver under more complex circumstances than ever before. Since consumers are changing the way they are buying, we as salespeople must adapt to improve the way that we are selling. And adapt we shall.
The following material is part of my newly developed sales methodology, Technically Selling. Our unique framework combines a structure similar to what’s taught at an academic-level with our strategy infusing new selling techniques derived from extensive research in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics.
So, what happens when business meets behavioral science? (buckle up)
OG NOTES (Pro-Sales Cheat sheet)
Current Sales Training Method (industry): Old school selling - new school selling landscape
New Hire/Onboarding Only: almost every company only has sales training for their new hires, which is usually only a few weeks before feeding them to the wolves. Almost ZERO companies have sales training for their current team/ongoing basis.
WHAT vs HOW: this is the biggest thing I ‘preach’ to executives/sales leadership. Nearly all companies train their salespeople on WHAT to sell (product/company) but virtually no one teaches HOW to sell (strategy/delivery/efficiency).
I focus on the latter, which means I’m NOT coming in trying to replace what they have implemented already - more so to “fill the gaps” of their current training to help them create a more comprehensive program.
3rd Party Sales Training (my ‘competitors’): sales trainer comes in for multi-day sessions and trains team. Salespeople sit and listen to presentation and have some activities for interaction, then they’re given all the materials/handouts (which most often get buried when the training over.)
Limited Value: There’s not a ton of real value and is looked at more of a nuisance for salespeople. Most training includes a lot of “fluff” (e.g. prospecting, linkedin best practices) and NOT real sales skills - I feel companies just hire these sales trainers to just ‘check the box’ so they can say they provide it.
One size fits all: most every sales training organization has a ‘pre-canned’ training solution which isn’t effective - aside from needing to customize strategy based on their industry, sales cycle, and sales channel - every company has their own set of strengths/weaknesses/goals that should be factored in.
Unum/group insurance is a perfect example - we don’t do any prospecting or need to get leads - everyone has a set broker block who provides us with the quotes - so when I train Unum reps, I wouldn’t include my prospecting/appointment setting, but would for other companies in a different model.
On top of that the group insurance industry is a B2B2C sales channel, which is significantly more complex than most industries, so outside sales training simply wouldn’t be effective unless it’s tailored around these factors.
Lack of Reinforcement & Organization: outside sales training comes with little to no content reinforcement - so once training is done, it’s done (unless they hire trainer again). Along with that, there isn’t a good way for the salespeople to keep everything organized. Most are given handouts or a folder with all the documents, but it’s easy for them to get lost/buried (they won’t look at them again.)
Expensive: Cost for sales training is STUPID expensive. I knew it was high but realized even more after researching. Most set up per person per hour - which makes it more difficult logistically and leads to a higher overall price, even tho it’s not any extra work for the trainer - but the big sticker price deters a lot of companies for offering it at all.
CLIP-IT!