Last Updated on 23/07/2008
It is increasingly understood that sales professionals need training to begin and advance careers in sales. The old adage that ’salespeople are born’ is now partly debunked. Most organizations realize this and dedicate a lot of time and money training employees in soft sales skills and target market specifics.
What is more difficult and less understood is how to train, or shall we say re-train, senior and experienced sales staff. What is meant by training to begin with?
Here are suggestions on how to choose targetted training for senior sales staff:
1- Be specific and zoom in on one particular topic.
Be it ‘Managing Meetings With CFOs’ or ‘Understanding The Needs Of Service Companies’ the experienced salesperson would probably benefit more from and appreciate a targetted lesson more than general topics.
2- Share insights
With all the accumulated wisdom within the company by the senior salespersons and management is it not time to share the wealth? Why not organize regular sessions where the team can expand on each other’s experiences?
3- Buddy up
When senior and junior salespeople embark on a day (or more) of joint sales calls and meetings everyone learns and benefits. To further the concept when was the last time the senior salesperson shadowed his or her VP of Sales?
While training can be useful forcing sales staff to go through basic or repetitious training could result in resentment and the feeling of wasted time. It is time to get creative and motivate the sales staff instead of forcing employees to undergo hours of unwanted training.
