Business Sales Training Selling is a Learned Skill
June 29th, 2011 Filed under: Business Sales Training — Negotiation Author
How many times have you heard someone say “that person is a born salesman”? The truth of the matter is: no one is a born sales person. Selling is a learned skill that has to be developed. Some people may be born with some attributes that may enhance selling skills, but a person that becomes successful in selling develops their skills. Therefore, if you want your team to be effective and dominate the marketplace, you want to have an ongoing routine of business sales training. You want to help your team develop the skills needed to close the deal consistently for your company and become true professionals.
One common misconception made by many organizations is not understanding the difference between sales training and product training. Product training is often provided to sales representatives under the assumption that product training is the same as sales training. Product training teaches sales representatives about the product that they sell. This is not the same as sales training. Sales training teaches representatives how to sell. It’s not just about teaching people what to say. It’s about teaching the sales person how the process works and how to effectively engage in the process.
You also want to teach sales people what to do throughout the sales process. Amateurs try to convince prospects to buy what they are selling. Professional sales people ask questions to uncover needs that their products or services address. By asking questions and understanding the prospect’s needs, a professional is able to create value with each prospect. The professional sells high volume and high margin.
Often overlooked in the development of sales people is how to develop the right attitudes and habits. It is important that sales people develop the habits and attitudes that will allow them to achieve their goals and objectives. If you teach everything the sales person should say and do during the sales process, they will still fail if they do not have the right habits and attitudes!
The good news is: if your sales team is not performing at the level you expect, it doesn’t mean that they will never be good at selling. Practically every successful sales professional will tell you that they were not very good when they started selling. However, they learned the knowledge, skills, habits and attitudes that the professional sales people adopt. They applied them, practiced them, and got better. As a result, they are now the best sales people. Your sale team can do so as well. As long as you are willing to train your sales people with the proper business sales training, they can win in the sales game.
