I’m not sure where the phrase “one size fits all” originated, but I bet it was a marketing creation designed to convince a buyer that one standard, mass-produced item would meet both her need and those of all humanity. Great concept if you’re the seller, but destined to produce an unhappy, dissatisfied buyer.
Buying packaged, off-the-shelf sales training can be as disastrous as buying a “one-size-fits-all” tuxedo for the boss’ holiday party. It looks great at first glance, but closer inspection of the oversized sleeves and too short pants makes a bad impression—not the result you were hoping for.
Selecting the right sales training for your company is the result of a careful examination of your goals and an honest appraisal of your staff’s current strengths and weaknesses. Sales training delivered in isolation from your company’s goals and strategies will fail to deliver the desired results. You want a skilled sales force armed with the appropriate tools and knowledge to increase revenue and improve margins. And remember, training is only one building block of a great sales culture that will produce and support highly effective sales professionals.
Selecting the Right Sales Training Requires Alignment
For any sales training program to be effective and deliver lasting results it must be aligned with your company’s:
- Financial Goals
- Growth Strategy
- Sales Strategy
- Industry
- Culture
Aligned With Financial Goals
This one is simple. You say, “We want our sales force to drive revenue and deliver yearly increases.” Driving revenue is just one financial goal, but it isn’t always the appropriate goal.
Too many companies go out of business by solely focusing on driving revenue. If increasing your market share is the primary goal, sales training that focuses on selling against the competition and closing any deal would meet your need.
But delivering the “right” business drives higher margins, and this goal requires a sales force with skills and knowledge above just being closers. Building the business around higher margins requires higher-level sales relationships and the ability to sell based on customer needs.
Aligned with Growth Strategy
What happens to companies that don’t grow? They stagnate and eventually wither. This truism means that every company desires growth. But how you choose to grow affects the content and the focus of your sales training program.
If your growth strategy is to focus on acquiring new accounts, your sales team must be expert at prospecting, backed by a marketing strategy that produces leads and gives reps a competitive advantage. If your growth strategy is to focus on an industry vertical, success will be determined by the industry knowledge and experience possessed by your sales team. When account penetration is your growth strategy, your sales professionals must be able to sell “value” through a consultative approach.
Aligned with Sales Strategy
Your growth strategy determines your sales strategy, which, in turn, affects the type of sales training you select. A product-focused sales strategy requires an in-depth knowledge of not only your products, but those of your competitors.
Product-focused selling is often the preferred approach for companies with limited product lines or for industries where there are no opportunities to up-sell or sell additional services. This approach means sales reps must “close and close now”—service and long-term relationships are not important. Telephone sales require this aggressive, close-at-all-costs culture.
Training for this team has a different content and approach than for a team that must build relationships. Sales strategies designed to foster long-term relationships and account penetration can only be successful when training teaches how to become a trusted advisor, i.e., how to become the consultant customers depend upon to meet their needs and further their goals.
Aligned with Your Industry
Sales is sales is sales! True or False? The politically correct answer is “True”; sales skills can be applied across any industry.
But the real answer is that how you apply these skills is unique to each industry. How and why your customers buy your services establishes how you should sell to them. Buyers of life insurance and financial services buy to protect themselves and their families. When purchasing education, particularly advanced education, buyers do so to advance careers, and perhaps egos. How you sell to your customers should be based on an understanding of buyer styles, buyer influences, and buyer decision factors. Your sales training provider should know and understand your industry.
Aligned with Your Organizational Culture
How would you describe your culture to an outsider?
- Fast-paced
- Aggressive
- Driven
- Relaxed
- Methodical
- Risk-taking
- Customer-focused
- Change-adverse
Sales training must factor into your organization’s unique culture. You have two choices when considering how your sales training should respond to your culture: Tailor the sales style to your current culture, or use sales training as a catalyst to change your existing culture. In either case, you should consciously evaluate this aspect—your “cultural goal” for sales training is critical to success during and after the training.
Shelley F. Hall, author of Brick Wall Breakthrough – What The @#$% Do I Do Next? Actions for Exceptional Sales and Service (Page Court Press), is an entrepreneur and corporate fugitive who has built, reinvented, and turned around numerous companies. Hall is principal, managing director of Catalytic Management LLC, a leading management consulting firm delivering consulting and training that accelerates business growth through improved sales, service, and process improvement. She is considered a leading expert in the field of “customer-focused management.” Connect with Hall on Twitter: @ShelleyBoston or visit http://www.catalyticmanagement.com
