How can sales training give you a competitive edge?

Whether you're a rookie getting started out or a seasoned pro, making time for ongoing training is a must if you want to thrive in this industry. The payoff is huge in terms of unlocking your potential and performing at new levels. Hitting quotas starts to feel effortless, and you earn credibility by always understanding customers' needs and the latest market trends. Mastering different closes and objections builds real confidence. Investing in yourself through regular training is how you stay ahead of changes and stand out from the competition. Don't let yourself get stale! Foster that growth mindset and remember there's always room for improvement. Success comes to those with the passion and commitment to keep bettering their craft.

One of the great benefits of sales training is that you get every one using the same techniques and speaking in a common sales language. But for sales training to be a truly competitive advantage the sales training must be reinforced during sales meetings and one on one coaching sessions throughout the year.

One of the benefits of sales training is that, as you train, you develop predictive abilities. This is something referred to by Sales leader Grant Cardone in his book, “Sell or Be Sold”. Sales training means more than just reciting a pitch, however. Reviewing recordings, studying analytics, engaging in role playing, refining your messaging, and continuing to study the industry all play a part in your development as a sales professional.

Better customer understanding. 1. Master social listening 2. Learn about their culture, mission and goals 3. Understand who they help and the challenge they solve 4. Research their customers 5. Leverage social proximity to map out your path in and get introductions or permission to name-drop 6. Find and reach out to former employees of the prospect and even the department to gather the inside scoop 7. Detach from what the prospect is worth to you and attach to what you are worth to the prospect!

I still remember the first sales training I participated in and truly still use one of the techniques that the instructor offered to this day. There are many different approaches and skills that can be developed and learned when it comes to selling. Giving teams support through ongoing coaching, and professional development will not only create a stronger team, but help enhance organizational culture and employee buy-in.

Besides the benefits of up skilling, what I find the biggest benefit of sales training is the willingness to learn and adopt growth mindset. Often, salesforce who has been consistently exposed to sales training (esp external) is more open to continuous lifelong learning attitude and adopting best practices from other industries.

Everyone learns differently so having many different deliverables and media formats can be very helpful. The real key is understanding that training isn’t enough, coaching and accountability is the only way to ongoing support.

I believe that too much time is spent on "class" studies. It seems the information given by a "proctor" is always regurgitated by the participants. If you sit through five presentations, you will get one presentation delivered five times. I believe the best way is to take your team, one at a time, for a week in the field and let them see what you do in the real world. By day two, let them do what you did on day one. They will learn much more in the field in one day, than in a class five days. If you only present your company's offerings, they will only know your company's offerings. To handle objections they must know what they are selling, yes, but also know what the competitors offer and how to answer when the prospect compares the two.

Apart form the learning methodologies, there are the soft skills and technical skills element. Soft skills include the sales cycle, selling strategies and processes, while technical skills address the product knowledge, business acumen and industry insights.

Choosing the right sales training program should always combine a balanced mix of analytical data and practical skills & methods to apply. Salespeople are individuals who bring varied experiences to roles and thus respond to learning opportunities uniquely. This is still only half of what's required. The key to effectively improving conversion rates, is to add an element to your training program focused on identifying the target customer/ICP and how they buy. This is something most companies still miss when choosing training programs/sales trainers.

First, pick the appropriate sales training that addresses the current training needs. Usually, this is to bridge a certain gap or appeal to solve arising challenges faced by the salesforce. Then plan the duration and methodologies of the sales training. Consider to back up learning with coaching and application. In order to evaluate training effectiveness, can consider involving pre and post training assessment.

I’ve led hundreds of training workshops with organizations like SCORE, SJPL Works and more. Those who get the most out of the process are wise enough to know they don’t know everything, patient enough to learn from others experiences and brave enough to try something new; even if uncomfortable or slightly outside of their comfort zone. As with most things, you truly will get out of the process what you are willing and able to put into it. If a group or organization is offering you the ability to improve and learn, I urge you to take advantage of that opportunity.

In some cases, there may be value in hiring someone to customize a learning program for you that is aligned to your business, industry, and sales force development needs. This will also help you align your sales leaders, who must provide after learning coaching and reinforcement, to ensure the training has the maximum return on investment.

Here are some best practices to get the most out of training: 1. Relate skills to current business scenario 2. Fully participate in all activities, discussions and case studies 3. Manage distraction 4. Approach new learning with open mind 5. Interact and engage with others to learn their best practices

Incorporating sales training often shapes a positive learning culture. It isn't just about the learners themselves, potentially involve the stakeholders and their superiors to be part of the learning journey. This encourages the entire salesforce to support each other towards betterment.