The average sales person in America earns a median income of $68,000 (Source: Salary.com) and yet most sales people are reluctant to spend as little as $20 on a sales book, let alone invest in sales training or a professional development program (unless of course their company is paying the bill).
Note that I said "most sales people." In our experience, it's easy to spot top performing sales professionals - they're the ones reading two books at a time, listening to audio books or sales tapes in their car, and signing up for workshops or on-going sales training programs.
Let's assume that you are a top performer or aspire to be one - what should you look for in a sales development program?
· Seminars/Workshops - these types of events can be highly effective and produce a short term improvement, but without sustained follow up the benefits quickly evaporate. A workshop (and we host them from time to time) can be a great way to jump start a new sales team or refocus and re-energize an existing team. But understand that this approach will have a short term impact and is often more edu-tainment than true sales training.
· Reinforcement - have you ever read the same book or watched the same movie more than once? If so, you probably noticed things the second (or third) time that you didn't pick up the first time. Having the opportunity to review sales development material a second or third time has the same impact. This reinforcement training provides the opportunity for additional clarity and real world application. Consistent review combined with the opportunity to put new ideas into action is where true change takes place.
· Ownership - the more you practice and perform your sales techniques (from making prospecting calls, to opening questions, to handling objections, to qualifying budgets, to presenting solutions) the more natural they become. You probably didn't need to think about checking your blind spot when making a lane change on the way to work this morning. It was automatic. Ownership happens when you don't have to consciously think about what you are doing or what you're going to do next. It takes time, effort, continuous learning, and the right lessons from failure to get to this stage.
If you would like information on the type of program that can move you up this learning continuum, please Contact Us about the Intelligent Sales CircleTM and our Sales Development track. But only call if you're truly a top performer who is willing to invest at least as much as an Auto Mechanic spends on tools every month (actually, a little more).