Sales Training Mistakes Can Harm You and Your Team
Are you thinking about putting your sales force through customized solution selling training to boost sales skill levels and increase profitable revenue growth? That is a smart idea — sales talent accounts for 29% of the difference between high and low performing sales teams. But beware of six common sales training mistakes that will hinder your ability to create a high performing sales team.
Six Ways Sales Training Can Go Wrong
Investing in sales training by itself can be a huge disappointment and a waste of your limited resources. We have learned a lot over our almost two decades of implementing hundreds of sales training initiatives. Here is our summary of the most common sales training mistakes organizations make as they roll out a sales training program.
To start, share specifically how the sales training and targeted new sales skills will help them to achieve not only the overall sales strategy, but also their personal and professional goals within your unique sales culture and industry.
For high stakes sales leadership positions, consider using Leadership Simulation Assessments to identify gaps and targeted development plans.
Sales managers are the front-line leaders who need to be role-models and skilled sales performance coaches for the new sales behaviors and desired sales competencies. Ongoing reinforcement is the only way the individuals will reach new performance levels. The good news is that sales reps who receive consistent sales coaching outperform their peers 4-to-1 in terms of quota attainment,
Once you know where you are headed from a business sales metric perspective, it is time to identify sales performance and learning success metrics that are directly linked to your sales business metrics. At the end of the day it is critical to measure if sales people are using the new sales skills and behaviors and if the on-the-job adoption is making a difference.
If you want the new sales skills and behaviors to stick, make sure that you have leadership “buy-in” for each and every change. You will need top-down commitment for the sales training to succeed in transforming the way work gets done.
Make sure that you ruthlessly focus only on what matters most to the sales force, sales leadership, and your target clients. You can always add other content areas as you learn and progress.
Beware of generic sales training programs. They will not move the sales needle and will most likely waste your time and money.
The Bottom Line
Ensure your sales training programs are a success by avoiding the six ways sales training can go wrong. Done right, sales training should measurably transform your sales organization in a way that will consistently bring peak sales performance.
To learn more about taking your sales team to the next level, download How to Optimize Your Sales Force in the Face of Increased Performance Pressure
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