A friend of mine told me a story I wanted to share. As a sales coach and sales trainer, I’m often asked by potential clients and friends “What is the impact of sales training? “I thought in order to really grasp the profit-producing power of sales coaching or training, let us step back to see what is going on that drives people to seek sales coaching or training in the 1st place.
My friend was home one day, and he was trying to figure out what he was going to do about the declining state of his lawn. As luck would have it, he got a knock at the door and it was a representative from a lawn maintenance service company. The lawn maintenance man was selling in the neighborhood and was offering quotes for seasonal lawn service. My associate Dave decided he wanted to find out what this might cost and what exactly the company was offering. Dave told the sales consultant that he was just thinking that he needs a company like his and he was very interested in learning what the consultant could do for him.
The sales rep went out and measured the lawn and prepared a detailed quote. When he came back to the door, Dave invited him in and offered him coffee. They sat at the kitchen table for an hour as Dave picked the rep’s brain.
By the end of the conversation, Dave was able to get a lot of information from the sales rep. What Dave learned was, what it would cost for a contract, how many applications would be applied for the year, what specific products would be used and in what quantities, and how each application was to be applied and at what intervals.
When the sales rep asked for the order, Dave felt a little guilty. He told the rep that he’d probably sign up, but he had to wait until next week before he could do anything. When the man left, Dave drove to the local Home Depot and purchased everything he needed and was able to do it himself and saved several hundreds of dollars.
If you build a sales team, or your wondering how to build a sales team, learning how to use product knowledge more effectively is a key skill most business owners who hire and train salespeople do not fully understand. Let’s go back to the story.
When the sales rep followed up, Dave felt bad about what he did so he never returned the man’s calls, choosing instead to let it go to voice mail. Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, this happens all too often. Does your sales process leave you with too many prospects that require follow up and not enough prospect following through? If so, think about making a change to your sales process.
The real impact of sales training is that it teaches reps to use product knowledge in a more strategic, and effective ways to increase sales.
