Sales training can be tough. No, I don't mean for the trainer although that can be tough as well. (As a sales trainer for the last 26 years I can vouch for the arduousness of the job!) Actually, I mean for the trainees themselves. Here's why:
Sales training "forces" you to look at your skills and accept / change some of your behaviors. Now, athletes do this all of the time. They have coaches and trainers that regularly tell them what they can improve. But us "regular" folks? Not so much.
After a certain age we get enmeshed in what we are doing and rarely do we engage in core skills improvement endeavors. Skills improvement initiatives mean that we accept that we have weaknesses. Again, not such an easy thing to do.
The sales training itself will potentially push you out of your comfort zone into areas in which you are less than familiar. Cold calling? Perhaps. Overcoming objections instead of simply skulking away and taking "no" for an answer? Sure.
Like I said, tough.
But because it is tough is no reason to avoid what can possibly be the most important thing that you'll do for your career.
Ongoing skills improvement keeps you at the top of your game and enables you to better execute required sales techniques. Better execution equals more prospects, clients and revenue. All good, right.
So why is it that so many companies and individuals alike shy away from providing this critical education?
The investment itself will be returned in profits many times over so that can't be it.
Time constraints and personnel issues should certainly not be a roadblock either.
So what is it?
I believe that many company owners and some sales reps themselves think that sales just isn't that difficult, that once you get it, well, you get it and there's little if no reason for additional training. They under-estimate the impact of a new technique or approach, minimize the need for skills enhancements and are simply content to keep doing exactly what they have always done.
Sad isn't it? It's also incorrect.
Effective and well planned sales training will provide for skills improvements that lead to bottom-line revenue benefits, improved morale and reduced attrition.
Check it out now. Do a Needs Assessment of your sales team (yourself/!) and see where sales training can make a positive impact.
The positive results are yours to reap.