Sales Training - Where Do We Go From Here?

Marketing

Sales Training - Where Do We Go From Here?
by Thomas Fee



Einstein is credited with saying that “the only thing that doesn't change is the way we think”. Never has that been more evident than today. Those in sales who choose to remain focused on traditional imperatives are facilitating the perpetuation of a lack of productivity, but non-traditional approaches to sales training can provide reps with the tools to create competitive advantages beyond product, pricing and services.

Traditional assumptions promote three primary ideals in sales training: first, to teach sales reps how to sell; second, to be skills focused; and third, to produce increased revenue. The problem with these objectives is that they are not appropriate in today’s market. They do not result in added value or profit.

Organizations need to develop sales training programs that do not try to answer today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is dangerous, old-fashioned thinking. The sales team is responsible to win the marketing war on the front lines. That doesn’t mean winning every battle. It begins with investing limited resources in the battles that are most likely to be won and walking away from those that are likely not to produce results. Organizations must stop creating sales reps who don’t know how to make such basic decisions about opportunities.

This is especially true in the complex selling arena. This selling situation is unique because of its characteristics. Complex sales have long sales cycles. They require large investments of time and resources on the part of the vendor and the prospect. In this selling situation there is a need to contact the organization at many levels. Lastly, a complex sale means there are significant dollars at stake.

Organizations that participate in complex sales campaigns need to nurture effectiveness at developing opportunities in ways other than investing greater amounts of resources. Reps on the front lines must be taught a new set of operating standards. Creativity cannot be stifled by continually going back to basics. As the market evolves, so must training objectives.  

Organizations must stop teaching salespeople to sell and start teaching them how to win. Sales reps are paid to win and are up to their navels in technique-driven methodologies that do not produce results. What they really need to know is how to demonstrate business value at the executive level, how to defeat the competition’s strategy and how to differentiate themselves and their organization. 

Even more basic, sales reps must know how to select opportunities based on the likelihood of winning. This requires a deeper understanding of how businesses operate. Anyone who has ever lost a sale to a competitor with a weaker business case and a higher price knows the value of understanding political structure. This is where deals are won or lost.

Tools must be in place to support and enforce the sales process once it’s defined. Manual systems are the “horseand buggy” of selling. No sane organization would consider using a manual system to keep their financial records or run their manufacturing. But the same organizations that spend millions buying and selling systems for automation often use manual systems for reporting sales activities and forecasting. This happens despite the fact that these same sales campaigns often represent investments of thousands of dollars in time and resources.

Perhaps the greatest enigma is that the sales process often stands alone as the single element in an organization that is not integrated with other organizational systems. Therefore its impact on company results is not really considered in the equation of success. Businesses can tell you, to the unit, how many half-inch screws are in stock but cannot accurately predict their sales for the month.

Along with sales automation, the use of database information is woefully inadequate. The computer is the great equalizer in business. Now, more information is available to more people than ever before. To gain a competitive advantage, organizations must sort and disseminate information. Most organizations are not competent at communicating strategic information to those closest to the point of sale. In the area of implementation alone, the computer is the single most effective way to reinforce process. Many otherwise sophisticated organizations, however, are still trying to monitor and control sales activities and quality manually.

Process re-engineering, which has been a revolution in many disciplines, has not yet had a great effect on the sales field. Every organization recognizes market changes, but few change their sales approach to adapt to these changes. Sales professionals must begin to insist that the sales process in their organization be defined and developed.

There is no greater opportunity for growth in sales than in the areas of developing team skills and empowerment. The day of the single-person sale is long past in complex selling. Now the sales rep serves as team leader. It is their responsibility to set strategy for the campaign and to coordinate the sales unit. This requires a new set of skills and a new level of management.

Finally, the focus of any sales campaign should be on its return on investment. Winning at all costs is not good business. Put simply, it costs as much to lose a sales campaign as it does to win one. The proper allocation of resources should not be based on the size of the deal, but on the opportunity for success. Teaching the development of business acumen, as it relates to managing a sales campaign, should be a major focus of training. Furthermore, the manager’s role in this process is critical, requiring tremendous credibility and experience both to model and to coach.

Organizations must stop forcing sales reps into the traditional role and start viewing them as market development resources. Staffed with seasoned frontline professionals or consultants, sales training must take the lead in developing processes and ways to implement them that produce measurable results. The organizations that survive into the twenty-first century will write the book on how to meet this challenge.


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Thomas Feetomfee@procentral.com