Article 101

LIES, DAMNED LIES AND SALES TRAINING
Common mistakes to avoid and the keys to a successful sales training experience.

There is a lot of wishful thinking involved in sales training. A salesperson or beleaguered sales manager hopes and prays that with the right combination of information, motivation, carrots and threats, that the time and money invested in sales generation will reap quick results far in excess of the cost of a training program.

But, it is not usually so.

Many participants of sales training programs look back and conclude that the time and investment just wasn't worth it. Did the programs contain some great ideas? Always! Many times the programs were chock full of great ideas and strategies. Most attendees left so full of enthusiasm that they resolved to make some changes right away.

But what usually happens? The same thing that happens after you listen to a great Sunday sermon, advice from your parents, or your doctor's speech about eating right and exercising more…. Nothing.

Here is the problem.. Commonly accepted sales training models have only a minimal chance of improving sales effectiveness We need only refer to our own experiences and those of others we know for proof. In fact, participants and the organizations that pay the bills consider 85% or more of sales training experiences failures.

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions about ways to improve sales effectiveness.

Mistake #1. The belief that the "right information" will make a difference.

Not having the right information is rarely the biggest obstacle to improving sales results. Telling people the right things to do rarely gets results. Insights from selling masters are available easily and cheaply in books and tapes. We have all attended presentations full of great ideas. Yet in spite of soaking in all this great information… all too little seems to change.

New ideas are not going to help the people who are only using half of what they already know and only doing half of what they know they should be doing. Most people already have the knowledge and ability to increase sales results. What they don't have is the knowledge about how to put it all together and make it happen.

Mistake #2. Preparation is not the same as action.

If five people are on a cliff and three decide to jump, how many are left? Answer? Five. Why? Because deciding to jump and actually jumping are two different things!
So it is with sales training. You can be determined to increase sales, or improve margins, or both. You can acknowledge that improving your sales results will mean altering work habits, organization methods, and your sales process. You can also enthusiastically announce to the world your determination to increase results. But actually changing is quite another story.

It's like paying for your gym membership every month yet not going. You feel better as you convince yourself that you have taken a meaningful step toward fitness. Reality is that all you have done is waste resources while months pass by.

Mistake #3. Seeking a large solution, rather than a series of consistently larger successes.

The more ambitious the training goal, the longer it takes before you can start to implement anything. There is just too much to absorb. As time dribbles on priorities change, people come and go, and the competitive marketplace further evolves. These factors make your training less relevant.

Mistake #4. Not having good communication between the sales consultant and the organization.

If there is not effective communication between trainer and corporation, the odds are that the information will be too complex or too far outside an organization's comfort zone to expect people to implement anything of substance. Worthwhile training is a collaborative effort. There is always more than one way to achieve a desired result. There should be serious discussion of the pro's and con's of all options.

Mistake #5. Wanting results superior to others, but doing that which is common and generally accepted.

Hello! If 85% or more of large sales training programs are considered failures 12 months after delivery (and most managers would be hard pressed to cite an example of a sales training program that was wildly successful)…. Why be so willing to do again that which has not proven effective?

Mistake #6. Defining success as the delivery of information, rather than as a measurable sales result.

Obtaining the right information and answers is not success. Success can only be obtained after initiating change that contributes to reaching a predetermined worthwhile sales goal. Quality information and answers can only support that change process. It is not success in it's own right.

Mistake #7. Being too quick to accept a sales consultant's pre-packaged solution.

You may have a sales problem and a sales consultant may have a solution. But, when the applause dies down, how likely is it that the program will contribute to initiating change and increasing sales productivity? Before the program is delivered there has to be frank and honest discussion about: sales goals, when results can reasonably be expected, time and resources available, and the organizations willingness to implement and support changes in strategy and work habits.

Do What You Have Always Done and You'll Get What You Always Have Gotten.

Brilliant ideas about what ought to be done come easily compared to the actual ability to make needed changes happen. Let's state the obvious. If you need to improve sales results, it's not going to happen if you do essentially what you always have done before. If you or your organization is unable (or unwilling) to do or support the types of change recommended by a training program -–Why bother at all? Find this out before you invest a lot of time and money.

Have a discussion with the sales consultant about how much expected recommendations and suggestions vary from your current practices. If the reality is that they will take too much time, cost too much money or just plain will not be accepted / adopted by the sales force – don't do it!

Is it your desire to continue your old comfortable routines? Are you just "too busy" to focus on worthwhile strategic thinking? Do you tend to make impulsive decisions about new strategies just to "see what happens?" Are you always disappointed about results (have unrealistic expectations)? Do you too easily excuse those who continue with work habits that fall short of goals?

Well, if too many of these things apply to you and you don't alter those behaviors, no sales training program in the world will help you.

Eight Keys To A Sales Training Program That Actually Contributes to Improved Sustainable Sales Results.

Such a program…

1. Helps to clarify and set a few short term and longer-term goals. Without goals there can be no meaningful action. The goals must be clear, concise and measurable.

2. Actually contributes in a meaningful way to the generation of additional profitable sales. It is not enough for your sales trainer to be a sales expert. The trainer must also be expert at helping organizations initiate change and realize results.

3. It provides practical information on a selling system that the organization has the ability to implement and continually support. Sales is a process. Training has to incorporate that which is already known and accepted into a defined series of steps that can (and will), be adopted by the sales team. If a selling system is too complicated or too far removed from a salesperson's comfort zone, the ideas will be ignored.

4. Closes the gap between a salesperson's potential for new sales and the number of actual new sales generated. Greater success will be realized by helping people to achieve that which they are already capable of achieving, rather than trying to mold them into some type of sales superhero. As abilities improve, the training should provide the information and strategies that enable salespersons to continually achieve to their full capacity.

5. Eliminates time spent on unproductive activities. Want better results? Simply stop doing those things that are not contributing to obtaining additional profitable sales. This is a simple concept that is often difficult to do in the real world. "New" activities, on top of everything else salespeople are currently doing, are just not going to be adopted. Effective training should assist in identifying unproductive activities so that they can be "replaced" with more effective strategies.

6. Leads to the motivation and internal commitment to change behaviors and immediately implement a few short-term projects that will likely reap quick results. Nothing will happen until an individual makes an internal commitment to improve results and then actually tastes a small bite of success. However, motivation and determination slip away quickly if success seems too far away. So, move quickly on a few short-term projects that will likely get quick sales results which will then fuel a series of continually larger successes. Lessons learned from these first-step projects provide important experience and insights for future projects.

7. Creates a sense of urgency and enables people to recognize that the actions they take will contribute directly to sales success. In the real world, if you are not consistently identifying and communicating with qualified prospects – your competition will be. They may get profitable accounts that should be yours. It's not necessarily because they are better or smarter, but because they are out-executing and out-hustling you. What a shame to lose out on sales, profits, and commissions to less deserving competitors, simply because they are implementing simple actions consistently that get results! Take actions that you are fully capable of implementing right now.

A successful program should create the belief that "time's-a-wasting?" It should also communicate the belief that the action salespeople take will contribute directly to sales success.

8. Encourages experimentation. There is always a way to achieve improved sales results. Hardly ever is that result achieved exactly the way it is initially planned to be achieved. Being right the first time is not important. Learning what combination of sales strategies and activities will produce the results needed and how long it will take is the most important thing. Discovering this combination in as short a period of time as possible requires the testing and evaluation of options. Don't be afraid of doing things that may not work. Be concerned only with discovering what will work… in as short a period of time as possible.

Conclusion: Your Sales Training Investment Should Support And Contribute To Actual Attainment Of Improved Results.

Don't be like the many companies that have spent tens of thousands of dollars on sales solutions that are ignored or impractical. Effective pre-program communication with your sales consultant, an assessment of your capacity to change behaviors, and a realistic determination of whether the strategies recommended would contribute to improved sales results can not only save you a lot of wasted time and money, but they can also generate new accounts, increased revenues and improved margins.

Be determined to have a program that will help you in a truly meaningful way. When you look around, you may see accounts going to the competition that should have been yours. Those accounts can be yours in the future.

Good luck with all the sales training programs you implement!

Copyright 1999-2009 Scott Channell

Article 144	Lies, Damned Lies and Sales Training
	by Scott Channell