Different organizations have different focus, mindset,
set-up & budgets for sales training depending upon various factors like
their industry, turnover, business strategy, outlook/philosophy of senior
management, etc. They may or may not have a dedicated training &
development department to identify sales training needs & conduct sales
training accordingly. Irrespective of this fact, there are certain pitfalls
that organizations need to be aware of & avoid, while designing sales
training programs. This is very imperative to ensure effectiveness of the
training programs & to get the maximum bang for each penny spent on them.
Here are the top seven pitfalls that we feel are critical to
watch out for & avoid, while designing sales training.
Pitfall 1: Not having a clear and easily definable
application or relevance to the training
Many organizations fall into the trap of looking to conduct
sales training based on the current fad in the industry led by some newfound
simulation, game, sales process, model or formula. This propensity reflects a
herd mentality rather than a training program based on a real business need
aimed at achieving a real business & learning objective. Sure, new
developments in sales training might be useful, but organizations should judiciously
evaluate if they are really relevant for their business & industry and then
go for them. After all, the concepts & skills from the training must find
application in your business & give your sales people some real firepower
to make better deals.
Pitfall 2: Only the frontline sales team needs training
Many organizations are of the belief that the frontline
sales teams, who go out into the market & personally interact with
prospects/clients, should be the recipient of most and in some cases, all the
sales training. Sure, the frontline sales team needs to have a very high degree
of selling skills as they personally are in contact with the market and would
have a very high level of positive and /or negative impact on the business.
Having said that, the importance of continually training the immediate
supervisors of the frontline teams and others in sales leadership role cannot
be overlooked. As they are ultimately responsible for the performance of the
frontline teams, the skills needed for motivating, coaching, leading &
driving productivity through teams need to be regularly honed. Also, the people
in managerial roles play a big role in ensuring the application of training by
the frontline team on day to day basis.
Pitfall 3: Our sales team is already trained & evolved
and therefore doesn’t need a structured training program anymore.
True, your sales teams might have highly experienced sales
people, might have undergone sales training in the past, come from reputed
institutes and performed satisfactorily so far. All this, unfortunately, cannot
guarantee success in the future as well. With the changing dynamics of the
business, the fluctuating economic scenarios & ever increasing competition,
all the sales people need continual “up-gradation” of knowledge & skills.
Also it is often seen that many sales people have very sound technical
expertise but lack the selling skills to make the sale. Lastly, research on
effective sales people has shown that the performance of a sales person is also
due to several external factors which are either unknown to the sales person,
or worse, rejected by him or her as not important. Either ways, this spells
trouble if undetected as the sales person in question takes undue credit while
not letting his or her weakness come to the forefront to get developed.
Pitfall 4: That’s how we did it till now
Many organizations are comfortable following the historical
practices for conducting sales training programs like following the same set of
training calendar programs year on year, following the same training
methodologies, etc. With changing times & business complexity, they need to
be flexible & change with time to do what is required currently to best
equip their sales teams.
Pitfall 5: Concluding once the workshop is over
Many organizations do not have a clear plan and/or
commitment to ensure the sales team is applying the learning post a
well-structured workshop. The real business impact from a sales training comes
from its application more than the workshop itself.
Pitfall 6: Only thing that matters is how the trainer is
delivering during the workshop.
No doubt about the importance of the quality of the trainer
& his or her way of facilitating a workshop. But it is also very critical
to ensure that a thorough pre-workshop diagnostics & customization is done
by the trainer to understand the ultimate business objective to be achieved
from the training, the dynamics of the company & the sales team, etc to
ensure effective delivery of the workshop.
Pitfall 7: Cramming too many modules or topics to be
addressed in a single workshop
Organizations should resist the temptation of cramming too
many topics to be covered in a workshop as it can have serious implications on
the quality of learning by the sales person. “Lets add Negotiations Skills as
well” can be extremely detrimental and counterproductive if the two day
program’s key objective is to develop better listening and probing skills among
sales people. A good way to ensure this pitfall is avoided is to look at your
sales process and identify all the challenges across the sales process, which
occur to make a successful sale. Thereafter, prioritize them in terms of the
following categories to conclude on what can wait or be deferred for later
development:
Applicability – the number of sales people with this
challenge
Degree of Acceptance – how many people believe in the
criticality of the challenge?
Business impact – What happens if this challenge is not
overcome?
Ripple Effect – How early in the sales process does this
challenge occur and does it impact give rise to any other challenge
Developing your sales force on a regular basis can have a
substantial positive impact on company performance provided it is properly
designed and the above pitfalls are avoided.
Have you come across any other pitfall that has limited the
success of a sales training initiative? We would love to hear your perspectives
and how you overcame those pitfalls.
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