Categories: Sales Coaching Tools | Sales Planning
In the sales training industry the question, "Who does this line of work?" may be answered with, "a good many". There are dozens, if not hundreds, of sales training organizations out there who help clients become more successful. These training groups are used by companies in the hopes of improving sales performance, building a stronger team, and ultimately increasing revenue. It's as simple as that. But, how does an organization know which partner to choose? Below are critical points that any sales organization should prioritize when seeking to hire a partner to train their sales organization:
Experience
You want to make sure the people the partner will be putting in front of the room knows sales. Experience "carrying the bag" and understanding the unique dynamics the sales managers and account teams face in your organization ensures the training is relevant and effective. Remember, there is a difference between a sales training company who specializes in teaching with sales experience, and one who specializes in sales with teaching experience.
Practical and Customized
What good is a training investment if your account teams can't apply it to their daily cadence? Ensure that the sales training company you bring in has straightforward methods that are immediately usable. Tackling your weaknesses requires customized plans. These plans should include carefully executed sales training altered to you, relevant to your company's strengths, history, buyers, revenue goals, and metrics. Investing in a partner that uses pre-packaged content helps when you need a fast roll-out, but your results will be limited at best. The content won't be customized to your organization and the training initiative will soon feel like the flavor of the week. Complicated and tedious methods can easily burn out your sales reps and make it difficult for management to monitor with any frequency. Find a partner that provides the medium - a program that's complex enough to account for your organization's needs, but simple enough to execute on a repeatable basis.
High Adoption
When training is customized, it has longevity and high adoption rates. The goal is for your sales reps, managers, and cross-functional leaders to retain the information and immediately adopt it into daily habits. Motivational speeches easily fizzle out. Tedious pamphlets and reference guides are stashed away to collect dust. An effective sales training will engage everyone, even the C-level executives. Therefore, no training should end when everyone leaves the conference room. Longevity requires follow-up and a system that holds your company accountable for what you learned. What's the point of training if it's not long-lasting and transforms your business? When deciding between sales training organizations, be sure to ask about how they plan to sustain the training weeks, months, and quarters later. This ensures the desired learning behaviors are adopted in the short-term and sustained in the long-term for maximum sales effectiveness.
As always, look for customer references. Talk to people who have been in your role to learn the outcomes they've achieved. These reviews can help ensure you're selecting the right partner for your organization. Remember, you know your company better than anyone else does - choose the sales training partner that fits.
