5 Steps to capture sales reps’ knowledge

If you find our posts useful, don't forget to subscribe to our RSS Feeds or Email Updates

Sales managers, what’s bouncing around the heads of your sales representatives? You and I both know there’s a goldmine of info that’s stored nowhere but their brain cells. What are you going to do about that?

Let’s take a successful, 10-year veteran. Think of the number of sales calls made over those 10 years. Think of the number of scenarios they’ve encountered. Think of the product knowledge they’ve amassed. Think of the mistakes they’ve watched newcomers duplicate. Now think of how little of that truly practical expertise is included in your company’s sales training.

You’ve got to transfer that knowledge to future newcomers if you’re going to be successful as a sales team. Here are five ideas for doing that:

1. Tape interviews with your top sales reps, on a regular basis, on very specific topics. You choose the topic, you give them an idea of what you’re looking for ahead of time, then you record the conversation. Use a teleconference line that records calls, even if it’s just the two of you. Yes, it will cost you $25-40 per one-hour episode, but think how inexpensively you can then distribute that audio to the rest of your team, simply by duplicating audio CDs or, better yet, making mp3s available.
2. Bring several top performers or long-term veterans in for a video-recorded forum. Have it very well facilitated with every hooked up to microphones, then create a DVD or CD-ROM from this.
3. Assign a veteran to mentor every single new rep. Get over your worries about the veteran’s crusty attitude. Think instead of the vast experience they can pass on and the landmines they can help your newbie avoid
4. Ask your top sales veterans to write brief tutorials. None of them will want to, or should be asked to, write your training manual. A paragraph here and there, though, can go a long ways.
5. Share the training load. Your sales meetings can be egocentric displays of your talent, or they can be productive. It’s up to you. Get your veterans involved, instead of listening to your ideas of things they’ve learned firsthand over the last two decades.

You’d be surprised how inexpensive it will be, over the course of a fiscal year, for you to implement every single one of these ideas. And image the payoff for your company, you personally, and more importantly, every new sales professional you hire.