We have all sat through our share of boring training courses, designed around disseminating vast amounts of information to as many people as possible, and in as little time as possible, without any thought of incorporating the attendees’ past experiences, or providing individualized attention to attendees who need more support, or who crave more of a challenge.
This won’t work in the sales training setting. There are a great many inspirational speakers who can deliver a rousing talk to a large audience, but is this training? Are you actually developing skills in this setting? In order to learn and really get something out of a sales training course, you need to be engaged: you need to be a participant, not an attendee.
A good sales trainer should offer a course that can motivate, engage, and involve the participants. Instead of being lectured to, they should participate actively in their own learning. The trainer should work with the participants to help them understand that sales training is a skills development course that can not only help them in their day-to-day tasks, but help them down a path of life-long improvement with practical sales skills that they can use every day.
There is an interesting Answers discussion thread on LinkedIn asking, “What impact does sales training typically have on a group of sales reps?” There are many responses citing how most of what we learn is forgotten within a few days, and that salespeople go back to what they were doing before and lose what they’ve learned because there is no recurring reinforcement of what the course taught them.
This is a major concern, considering that $5 billion is spent annually in the US on sales training. What’s your ROI on sales training if this money is mostly going to waste?
This is why at SalesWays we believe in integrated methodology training: sales training based on a method that you’ll actually use each day through software tools that make your life as a sales person or manager easier. Depending on your needs, we also offer consultation follow-ups to measure success and ensure that things are running smoothly on an on-going basis.
This is how we ensure a return on your sales training investment. Why would you settle for any less?
SalesWays Brazil is conducting their second OPM Sales Methodology Workshop on May 25, 2010 from 9:30 to 5:30 pm.
2nd Open Workshop – “Opportunity Portfolio Management”
What makes the difference between success and mediocrity: gaining extensive knowledge about your products or the mere acquisition of the best CRM on the market? No, today you need more than just product knowledge and customer information.
To guarantee success you must be able to derive maximum value from your portfolio of opportunities. Success in sales depends on a rediscovery of the fundamentals of selling.
Do not miss the date is 05/25/2010, 09:30 to 17:30.
- SalesWays Brazil Team
For more information, visit SalesWays Brazil
Salespeople usually get trained by “learning on the job.” Depending on who’s teaching, that may be OK, but it often leads to non-conformity of understanding from one salesperson to another. As salespeople move around, they find that they have little in common with their fellows as far as understanding the fundamental language of the sale.
Without formal academic teaching, the language of sales has developed in a distorted way. Even some of the most commonly used words, such as opportunity, can be understood differently from one salesperson to another. Some are convinced that an opportunity is a lead, an indication that someone may be interested in your product. Others say that the opportunity really doesn’t have any bite until there is concrete evidence that the customer is serious about buying something, such as when a request for a proposal arrives.
If the latter idea is taken to the extreme, opportunities are not recognized until late into the customer’s buying process–this is not a good way to sell against competition who know better.
The OPM public workshop is a 1-day course based on SalesWays’ patented sales methodology, Opportunity Portfolio Management (OPM). Also taught at the University of Connecticut School of Business, OPM sales methodology focuses on the sales cycle and sales strategy. It will help you:
- increase the number of sales opportunities that you have
- create more time to work on each opportunity
- increase your effectiveness in selling against the competition
- produce more accurate sales forecasts
- become more aware of what needs to be done now to ensure success in the future
- use your time more effectively
- avoid wasting effort on low value opportunities; concentrate on the ones you can win
- and more…
Even the practiced sales veteran will benefit from the new perspective that OPM offers. Give yourself the tools and awareness to excel in sales!
Learn more or Register
Upcoming OPM public workshop Feb 11
Sales Training:
You’ve probably been to many sales training workshops and sales seminars that present methods for winning sales. Sales tactics, different ways to approach a potential customer, and the kinds of questions you should ask are all important aspects of your personal development as a sales professional. You can never sharpen your skills too much when it comes to keeping your edge as a salesperson. It’s all about winning more sales!
Winning more sales overall:
It’s important to have the skills and experience to be able to win an individual sale, but have you considered your whole portfolio of sales opportunities? After all, the bottom line is the sum of all deals, so how can you grow your bottom line without getting too distracted by any one deal? Using a good CRM tool is essential, but that won’t necessarily help you decide how to manage your time most effectively.
How do you know which of your opportunities deserves your attention today?
Which of your many potential deals do you focus on first? The one that is easiest to close? The one that represents the most revenue? The one that you are most comfortable in selling?
Should you work primarily on new leads or business for existing customers? Should you spend your time fighting against your biggest competitors, or go after the low hanging fruit? How do you maximize your overall performance as a salesperson?
This is where OPM (Opportunity Portfolio Management) comes in: to help you build a framework for understanding your overall sales opportunity portfolio and prioritize your efforts to get the most out of it. It’s all about winning more sales overall!
There are still a few spots remaining for our next OPM Public Workshop next week, Thursday February 11, 2010, in Toronto.
Click here to learn more about OPM Sales Training
Click here to register for OPM Sales Methodology Public Workshop
The attendee feedback is in for the 1 day public SalesWays OPM Workshop held last month at the Skytek facilities in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, and by all accounts the event was a great success. Everyone involved felt it was a great course to help understand the fundamentals of the selling process, and how sales people need to manage their portfolio of opportunities to maximize the potential of success. Below is a quote from one of the attendees of the workshop that touches on some of the benefits gained from attending the course.
“We attended the SalesWays Workshop on October 28th. The course is excellent, and very different from other training courses. SalesWays OPM has a framework that will help us to standardize sales practices, and ensure that no business opportunity will fall through the cracks! I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to improve sales.”
- Gerry Cellucci, Yorkland Controls
Good news – the next session is scheduling for January, in Toronto. Click here for more information!
This post off the Tom Peters site caught my attention (Blue + ? = Green).
Everyday as technology unleashes more possibilities on us mortals, I wonder whether it is all for the good!
On page 246 of sales automation done right I wrote:
“An unexpected consequence of this newfound freedom for the traveling salesperson is that it has a very positive impact on the CRM and SFA initiative. Good CRM practices depend on capturing customer information and providing fast, efficient and customized service in return. If a salesperson comes out of a client meeting and heads into Starbucks for coffee, they can use this chance to log details while it is fresh in their mind. They can also research issues raised at the meeting in their company’s archives, and perhaps get back to the customer with answers via an immediate e-mail. Customers are always impressed by this level of immediate attention.”
I still stick to that, but what if the salesman visits the Starbuck’s washroom and decides to use their new bluetooth enabled phone to call head office. I was taught in my early days in sales that “washrooms have ears; the competition could be in there with you.” Best not to do it, time is not that short. I agree with the posting on the Tom Peters site.
