Is Your Sales Force Obsolete?

Those that fail to continually train sales employees quickly slide into obsolescence.

It appears that many accounting, and payroll organizations are in denial about the need to train. "We only hire experienced salespeople" has been a common reason for not having a training plan. The emphasis on experience contains two discernible pitfalls.

First, as the world changes, our methods for dealing with situations have a tendency to lag the change. Our old methods can become ineffective and we may be unaware of our ineffectiveness in dealing with the new situation.

Second, in a sales career spanning 30 years, the same one-year's experience can, in effect, be repeated 30 times. The quantity of sales experience is not necessarily connected to its richness or intensity.

The conclusions we can draw from this analysis are: 1) sales managers, like salespeople must continue the learning process in order to maintain competitiveness, 2) experience and learning are not synonymous, and 3)
organizations that lack a plan for training salespeople are planning to fall into obsolescence by default.

There are four critical elements of effective training of experienced salespeople:

What is needed is a complete, ongoing Learning Plan that helps experienced salespeople learn new skills, apply them and measure their effectiveness.

With each phase of the Learning Plan, a variety of tools must be used to maximize the learning experience.

Prepare - Prepare salespeople and managers: Align learning objectives with business goals. Complete pre-training.

Train - Mass Learning: Install a selling foundation and "Best Sales Practices" that the entire company will follow.

Reinforce - Spaced Learning: Transfer new skills into the field where they begin to make a difference. Involve managers and measure compliance to the Learning Plan.

Assess - Measure Learning: Assess learning and identify skill gaps that are impeding performance improvement.

Conclusion: Without a Learning Plan, your sales force is obsolete. For more information on how to train, coach (reinforce), and manage your sales force call Payroll Marketing Systems, Inc. at (239) 540-1096.