Effective sales training can cover all aspects, from the creation of a sales plan to overcoming fears of rejection and helping sales personnel stay motivated. No matter what the role, proper training sets up sales personnel for success in their workplace.
It can be tough for any sales representative to dive into cold calling and closure of sales at a new company, particularly in a new industry. As a sales manager or team head, it is your responsibility to offer training to help employees accomplish their best.
Following are some sales training techniques to create an unstoppable sales team:
Great listening
Active listening is really the silent skill of sales. Use the following tips to instil the quality of intent listening:
- Practice listening: Try to listen to what the prospect is saying
- Echo mentally what customers are saying
- Summarize what customers or prospects are trying to communicate
Problem-solving
Work in sales needs constant problem solving, quick thinking, and empathy. These skills need a problem-solving mentality which can be accomplished through proper sales training. Great sales personnel go beyond simply solving the problems of customers; they can discover problems about which even customers are unaware.
Demos and pitches
One of the best ways to offer on-boarding training to new hires is by exposing them to as many pitches and demos as possible. Set up regular schedules of pitch practices with the sales manager, have patience and permit new hires the time they require to gain confidence in the process and product.
Customized and simple training
There are 3 attributes in any sales training. Firstly, it must be simple and practical to implement for reducing complications of the sales profession and the lives of sales personnel. Secondly, the delivery of the training must be by persons who have deep experience as well as credibility in negotiations and sales. Thirdly, it must be customized and applied to real deals to make them memorable, relevant, and re-usable in business situations.
Shadow other experts
Managers expect that new hires can articulate the value of a service or product and sell the concept. For this, they must have process and company knowledge. Combine them with expert sales -personnel for practice demos, shadow calls, and training. After this, get feedback from the new sales personnel on what they have learned from the experts and offer them further resources for training.
Go to the field
Employees can much benefit from training simulations but ensure that they are not engaging in artificial role-playing dreaded by them. Get out in the field for the best, most useful sales training.
Know pain points of clients
A commonly popular myth is that persuading a customer to buy needs actual ‘selling’. The truth in the matter is that most of the persuasion begins and happens with an effective diagnosis of the pain point of the potential client, which typically involves effective observing and listening. Thus, the performance of any sales team can be improved much with training/ coaching related to the diagnosis of pain points of customers.
A mix of training modalities
The success in the sales process of any company can be accomplished by a combination of in-person training and pre-training modules.
In sum, these are some tips for sales training to create an unstoppable sales team.
