Successful selling beyond 'sales training'

Selling and sales training ideas, courses, programmes, products, etc., are just part of the picture.

Modern selling requires understanding and capabilities that extend way beyond traditional 'sales training' skills.

Modern selling is about life, people, business (and increasingly ethical business and corporate responsibility), communications, behaviour, personality and psychology, self-awareness, attitude and belief. Selling is about understanding how people and systems work, and enabling good outcomes. (By 'systems' I mean organisations and processes and relationships, not just systems in the sense of tools and IT.)

So consider and learn about other aspects of modern business, management, and self-development that interest you, and extend this principle to your people if you are a sales manager or coach.

Develop your experience and understanding of organisations, management and business - beyond sales training alone - and you will greatly increase your value and effectiveness to employers and clients, and to the organisational and business world generally.

The more you understand about how people think, how organisations work and how they are managed, the more effective you will be.

Look beyond sales training and selling, and strive to become an enabler and a facilitator of good outcomes. This is the role of the modern sales-person. It's a highly valuable, sought-after and transferable capability.

Selecting sales training providers and sales training programs

There are many different ways to obtain sales training, for yourself, for your sales team and for sales managers.

The template below will help you create a specification and selection process to find the right training methods and providers, and to maximise the agreement and commitment among your team and others involved.

The material above provides useful explanation about different methods of sales and selling, which reflects the many different sales training methods, courses, providers and programs available.

See also the theory, tips and examples for training development, teambuilding, and motivation.

When you select your sales training methods and providers it helps to follow a process - and ideally to create a training specification - rather than working purely from instinct. Here are some simple training selection guidelines, in the form of a checklist template, for specifying and choosing sales training courses, sales training programs, methods and providers.

You can of course adapt this template as a checklist and process for selecting any other training providers or support outside of sales training. These principles apply for selecting any sort of team development, training or support.

Sales training specification and selection and template

main question	issues and factors	your answers or comments - cover all relevant points
1. What must your sales training achieve?	Be able to write this down in the form of a specification using this template. Get input from those with an interest in the sales training (stakeholders). Agree this specification with your boss and other stakeholders. What will the sales training 'look like' and 'be like'? What difference will it make? How will you know if it has worked?
2. Who are the stakeholders?	Who is affected by the training? Who needs to have some input into what it aims to achieve and how? What do the trainees and other stakeholders want?
3. What are the timescales?	For making the decision? For communicating it? For the training? For the follow-up? For the period of impact and assessment?
4. What is your budget?	Per head? Total? Cost breakdown: venue, accommodation, materials, design, delivery, evaluation and assessment? Cost of people's time and travel? Cost as a percentage of improved performance?
6. How will you measure the success of your sales training?	How will your boss measure it's success? How will your people measure it? This must be clear and truly measurable. The Kirkpatrick model is a wonderfully simple, easy and highly regarded method of identifying and evaluating training aims and effectiveness. It is especially useful for sales training. Preferably the cost must be understood in terms of the extra sales and profits that are expected to be derived from the investment. If expectations are vague then you will not know that the training has been successful, and you will not be able to hold the provider or the sales training program responsible for clear deliverables and outcomes.
7. What are the preferred learning styles of the sale trainees?	Don't guess - ask the trainees - involve them in finding out. Use the free VAK and/or multiple intelligence tests.
8. What are the characteristics that your sales training provider or method must possess?	In light of the above, how would you describe your ideal sales training provider and/or methods? Consider the values and philosophy right through to the materials, media, size and scale, delivery and follow-up, and type of service and contact you expect? Consider also how the providers will measure and report to you on the progress of the training. What flexibilities to change dates and numbers exist? What are your contractual commitments? What are the payment arrangements? What certification or accreditations must apply to the provider, and also to the training outcomes.
9. Where can you find suitable sales training providers?	Referrals? Networking? Directories and listings? Past providers who have been successful and well-liked? Suggestions from your team? Universities - seek out the leading-edge? Writers and gurus - aim high - many great people are actually very approachable and not as costly as you might fear. How much can the team itself provide? Everyone has something to teach - and people enjoy being given the chance to teach and inspire others. Other sister companies and divisions? Your customers? Buyers and Directors of your customers are potentially very enthusiastic and very capable teachers of your sales people - and this of course helps develop great relationships too.
10. How can you assess the quality and suitability of potential sales training providers?	Referrals and recommendations? Networking? Case-studies? Demonstration or guarantees of return on investment?
11. Can your shortlisted providers meet your people to see what they make of each other?	Try to achieve buy-in from your team and offer involvement to them in the selection and decision process? Is the provider happy to speculate time getting to know your people, and helping to ensure there is a good fit?
12. Other points?	Ask the potential providers and your team to suggest any other important considerations before selecting your methods and providers.