Leak #6: Low or No Accountability Toward Training and Skills Based Selling – Leaking Profits: Article 9

In order to prevent leaking profits you can’t just recruit sales people to fill the seats on your sites, there must be proper training in order to hold sales people accountable for their skills.

Talent and skill are not synonymous. A talent can be the ability to chat with anyone or the thick skin that isn’t damaged by rejection. A skill can be taught, like learning how to listen for cues, to overcome objections, and to make a compelling sales presentation. If you want to plug up the holes here, invest in ongoing sales training.

Remember that education is not finite. Your salespeople can always become better. They can learn about new technology, as well as fundamental selling skills. They can learn how to handle changes in the economy and the sales process. Even the best salespeople can sharpen their skills through additional education.

Training is a cost of marketing and requires a budget line. Training Magazine reports that retail business as a whole set aside $1,900 per employee. Large corporations average $18,000 to $24,000 in training per person before anyone is allowed to carry the company bag. What is your per-salesperson budget?

What is true training? How to act and respond when fact to face with a potential buyer.

Expense versus investment. It’s about a return. If the issue is cost, what’s the cost not to train? You can only measure training; you cannot measure not training.

What if I train them and they leave? More importantly, what if you don’t and they stay?

Kick-start all team members with the 30-Day Express Launch Training. Never put untrained salespeople in a selling scenario. A 30-Day Express Launch is the beginning; it takes 6 to 9 months to become operational if a person is brought in from outside the industry.

Engage in the “Purposeful Engagement” Role-play, which is teaching to sell in simulated conditions. Assess videotaped presentations.

BOTTOM LINE: If you want a profitable operation, don’t just sit salespeople in their seats and walk away. Invest in ongoing education.

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