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Why is Sales training so important
Before I get into the reasons why sales people should undergo sales training let me take a minute to show you what happens when your sales people don’t have sales training. In my day to day work of running a sales organisation I come across sales people who have little, no or bad sales training. Its horrendous. They lie, cheat and steal business which if done right would have been a huge benefit to both buyer and seller. For the most part these sales people are not doing this through any bad intention but purely doing it to earn a living and feed their families. They have no idea the damage they are doing to themselves, their organisation and most importantly the customer themselves. The biggest crime of all is their dishonesty. I see it every day. Last Friday I was in a shop in the city centre and overheard a sales man selling computer equipment to a couple whose son was going to college. Knowing that they had no clue about computers he ended up selling them over €1200 of equipment that they did not and would never need. Yes they went away happy that their son has gotten the best but this was dishonest to the core. Just because they may never find out is not justification for doing it. This sales man stole from that couple and he is no different than a burglar or common thief. In fact I’d say he is a lower form of life. It disgusts me.
Now to the right and proper way. As sales people it is our job to find a need and fulfil it in a way that is profitable to both the customer and ourselves. This is the ideal sale and it is not rare. In fact it is quite common when a sales person is trained to see the sales opportunity and it is happening all around you right at this minute. One of the first things we are taught as professional sales people is to recognise a customer need. If they haven’t noticed it themselves then it is our job to educate them how our product or service will be of benefit to them. If we do this correctly then the sale is 90% done. All that is left is to establish if they have the resources or money to take advantage of our product or service. At no time in that sequence are we trying to hoodwink or deceive them. If you have to resort to tactics like that then you are not a professional sales person, you are a professional thief and you have no right to be part of our fine profession.
Sales training will give you the tools to unearth the need and in a structured way show the prospect how not having our service will cause them pain in the present and future. We can then point out the benefit they will enjoy if they partner with us and purchase our product our service. In a true sale we become a welcome partner with our customer whom they trust and like. An untrained sales person will get frustrated when the prospect cannot see the benefit and will blame the prospect for this. A trained sales professional will recognise that in fact it is our fault for not communicating that benefit or pain correctly and immediately retrace their steps to see where they went wrong.
It is important to realise that different prospects have differing needs for the same product and we as professional sales people are trained to question and find these needs so we can align our product to meet or exceed these needs. We don’t need to lie if it will not meet their need. A professional sales person will recognise when a good fit is not there and gracefully back out of the sale leaving the prospect with confidence that if the sales person returns they have enough integrity to only sell what they believe to be the right product or service.
Sales training is vital to all business types. From one man bands to large multinationals it is imperative that sales training is undertaken. If you don’t think you need sales training then I’m afraid you most deffinitly do. All good sales people know that sales training is an ongoing process and they are always trying to better their skills. Only arrogant sales think the opposite and you will always find they are still no further ahead every time you meet them. If they say they are doing great you know they are telling lies. That is not surprising, it is their stock and trade after all.
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