So often when sales lag, sales leaders look for a quick fix. They figure that their salespeople must be doing something wrong. Why not find a business sales training program that will teach them the “right” way to sell?
Unfortunately, this rarely works…for several reasons.
A lack of consultative sales skills may not be the root cause of poor revenue generation. Salespeople may not be at fault. Instead you could point the finger of blame at poorly designed sales territories, the lack of a proven sales methodology, undifferentiated offerings, outdated technology, increased competition, or compensation systems that support the wrong behaviors.
Even if you decide that your salespeople need consultative selling training to build the sales skills they need to succeed in your specific environment, then be aware that sales training by itself does not ensure their behavior will change or their performance will improve. You will need a follow-on system to reinforce the desired sales behaviors and a training measurement system to hold everyone accountable for their performance.
Let’s look at how you should go about selecting a consultative selling training program that will bring you the business results you hope for and be your key to sales success.
- Know what you need.
An assessment of the sales skills, experience and motivations of your current sales force can save many headaches, not to mention your training investment. You need to find out what critical few competencies and behaviors work in your specific sales situation by examining your top sales talent. Once you have a profile of success for your sales strategy, then look at the individuals on your team to determine who needs what in the way of skill-building. Sales training without diagnostics, planning, and meaningful objectives would be a waste.
- Be choosy.
Find a sales training and consulting provider who specializes in consultative selling training and who is willing to work with you to customize the program to your specific sales strategy, sales culture and sales force based on your sales force assessment.
- Clearly determine the sales success metrics and learning goals.
First identify the sales metrics that you want to improve such as revenue, margin, win rate, portfolio mix, deal size, and sales cycle. Then set learning objectives and design a measurement system to track progress and provide actionable feedback.
- Set up a system of reinforcement.
Hold sales team members accountable for actually applying the consultative selling skills they learned. Measure their adoption levels and performance. Reward them appropriately as new behaviors are practiced on the job and new performance targets are met. Create a system of ongoing sales performance coaching to encourage and embed the desired behaviors.
Learn more by going to http://www.lsaglobal.com/solution-selling-training
