Make Sales Training Painless

I Don’t Want to be a Full-Time Trainer
How to make sales training a painless part of your sales management responsibilities

Question:
I didn't get into sales management to be a full time trainer. Yet, I realize that I need to develop my people. How can I enhance the skills of my sales staff and maximize my time?

Answer:
As sales manager, you're a busy person. You're right that part of your role should be to enhance the skills of your people. Don't feel like you have to orchestrate full day training seminars to be successful developing your people. The most effective methods for developing sales skills are those that are integrated into routine interactions with your sales team.

And, don't feel like you have to do it all yourself. Get your sales team involved in their own development and the development of their peers. In doing so, you'll elevate the effectiveness of your team and free yourself up in the process.

Assess the Current Skill Levels of Your Staff — You'll save time and see greater returns if you focus on the skills that are most needed. Use these to prioritize group training activities and to create individual development plans. There are many self-scoring paper-based assessments available. Good ones will offer insights into both group and individual scores. (Contact Impact Sales for suggested resources.)

Establish Individual Development Plans — Ask each of your salespeople to present personal development plans based on their most significant opportunities for improvement. Be sure to provide guidelines of what is and isn't acceptable. For instance, you may offer your staff a selection of options not to exceed a certain dollar amount. Such offerings may include the ability to purchase books, attend seminars, enroll in a college course, speak at a meeting, attend certain events or even travel to another region to see what others are doing. Then, ask individual team members to report back on what they learned and how they will apply the concepts to bettering their sales efforts.

Coach During Sales Calls — Simply learning to ask the right questions during joint sales calls will help your salespeople develop themselves. Prior to the call, ask your salesperson what the desired outcome should be at the end of the call and what the next step will be. At the end of the call, ask them two things that they think went well, two things that could have been improved and two things that they will change as a result. This will teach your sales team to teach themselves. Also, consider hiring an outsider to ride with your sale team for a day each to give them objective feedback.

Coach & Train Your People During Sales Calls — You had asked how frequently you should ride on sales calls with your people. The answer is, ìWhen it's needed!î I recently spoke with a salesperson who expressed frustration with his manager. He said that his manager schedules sales calls routinely whether they are needed or not. He also felt that the calls were strictly to criticize his performance and said that his sales manager offered no real support or guidance on the calls. When he needed the manager to ride along on an important call, his manager told him he couldn't because he was scheduled on a routine call with another salesperson. Don't let that happen to you!! Certainly one reason to accompany a salesperson is to offer coaching and training. Other reasons for accompanying salespersons on calls are to support the salesperson such as when there is reason for technical expertise beyond what the salesperson can provide, or to keep informed about the markets and what's happening in key accounts. Don't ignore top performers. Most will welcome your visits. It's a great way to learn what's working and share the successes with others.

Tips For Coaching Sales Calls
• Give your people plenty of notice.
• Thoroughly discuss the objective of the call.
• Agree on roles to play. If you are observing skills, then be quiet.
• Establish signals for the call to determine when you should contribute.
• Debrief the calls immediately after each.
• Have the representative critique the calls first.
• Reinforce what the person did well.
• Use questions to get the representative to see additional opportunities.
• Try to get the representative to suggest better ways.
• Leave the representative on a positive note.

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