Very few people love sales. For most, it’s uncomfortable, challenging, and laced with rejection. However, the most successful businesses in the world are all proficient at sales. And in order for your business to grow, you need to be training your team.
There’s no question that
In an attempt to solve these problems and alleviate the fears associated with selling, lots of businesses and sales leaders try to shift the psyche of their teams and provide emotional support. Sadly, this rarely works. The only long-term solution is to ensure your salespeople are prepared.
Preparation shatters fear by giving salespeople the knowledge and tools they need to overcome challenges, move past rejection, and close sales in the face of pushback.
If you aren’t prioritizing training in your organization, something has to change now. You can’t expect employees to be prepared without a consistent commitment to both formal and informal training. Here are some tips that should help you instigate movement in this area.
#1. Tap Into Motivation
It’s impossible to be successful in sales if you aren’t motivated. Everyone’s motivation springs from a different source, but it has to be cultivated in one way or another. One technique industry sales leaders like Spotio like to use for motivating salespeople is the T.U.R.F. method, which stands for talk to your sales team, use the right words, remind individuals of achievements, and find motivational quotes.
As you can clearly see, motivating salespeople to succeed is all about being proficient with your communication. If you don’t verbally communicate with your sales team, you’ll find it nearly impossible to set them up for success and convince them that training is a necessary part of achieving big-picture objectives.
#2. Train Every Day
Under no circumstances should you ever let a day pass without conducting some type of training – let alone weeks or months. Training isn’t something you do annually to satisfy requirements from the corporate office. Training needs to be held daily.
To put the importance of consistent training into perspective, let’s use the example of a football team. No matter how talented or skilled players are, a team will be at an extreme disadvantage if it doesn’t spend the days leading up to a game practicing the game plan, working out, and staying in shape. Simply waking up on the morning of a game, putting on pads, and running out of the tunnel isn’t smart or healthy. Preparation is a must if success is the goal.
The same is true with your business. You can’t expect your salespeople to get up out of bed, show up at the office, and start making sales calls. Instead, it’s a good idea to start off each day with some brief training exercises to get everyone loose. This may seem like overkill on certain mornings, but it’s beneficial in the long run.
#3. Try Different Learning Styles
Everyone has their own learning styles and preferences. Some people learn best by reading a book, while others need to perform hands-on activities. Some people learn best in a classroom setting with an actual instructor, while others find e-learning options more preferable. Since you can’t appeal to everyone with a single training style, switch things up and use multiple strategies.
#4. Reward Achievements
Are your employees being rewarded for their accomplishments? Many organizations have found that their employees absorb and apply more information when they know they’ll be recognized for what they’re doing.
Rewarding achievements could be as simple as awarding badges and titles to people who reach specific training levels, or as complex as setting up unique achievements for each employee and presenting them with individual rewards when they accomplish these goals.
#5. Implement Techniques Immediately
Training is great, but the problem with training is that it’s impossible to fully simulate on-the-job experience. Even the greatest program with the most relevant and up-to-date information can’t replace experience. That’s why it’s imperative that your salespeople implement the techniques they learn as soon as possible.
For example, if your team focuses on specific cold calling introductions in a morning training session, make sure your salespeople are applying these techniques as soon as they leave. This immediate focus on real world application significantly improves knowledge transfer.
Don’t Skimp on Sales Training
Very few people get up in the morning and look forward to driving to the gym and spending 45 minutes on a treadmill. However, despite the unappealing nature of working out, people still maintain disciplined fitness regimens. Why? Because they know that exercise plays an important role in maintaining a healthy body.
In much the same way, nobody likes sales training. It’s not like your salespeople get out of bed in the morning and rush to work in anticipation that more training awaits them. But that doesn’t negate the fact that training is a key driver in sales success.
From a business perspective, there are few assets more attractive and beneficial than a sales team that’s clicking on all cylinders. When sales performance is high, employee morale increases and the rest of the business has the building blocks it needs to scale.
Now’s the time to invest in sales training and ensure your sales team is prepared to conquer whatever challenges they face – including rejection.
