Your sales training stinks

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So says Rob Reed and the research reports he cites. (The press release with more information can be found here.) I agree.

The reason is obvious when you step back and look at it. Most sales training is sales lecturing with little or no role-playing and zero field work. There is no assurance that the skills lectured about are transferred into actual behaviors.

And really, it’s not the sales trainer’s fault. He’s a trainer, not a “sales skill implementor.” His job is to teach, so he needs to be good at that. But it’s impossible for him to roll out the behavior changes rep by rep, call after call.

If you follow the five principles for effective sales team leadership, you have the closest thing to real-world, behavior-changing sales skill training. If you want true sales training, where participants master the art and science of selling, your training program needs to have these elements:

1. User-focused. The training needs to take into consideration that adults are being trained, and that they come with their own life and career experiences. You need to tap into those experiences, not merely seek to replace them.
2. Curriculum-based. Training can’t be a one-time event, or one seminar with a follow-up. An ongoing series where participants not only role-play, but share experiences from implementing previous sessions’ skills is essential.
3. Credibility-bound. Your trainer needs credibility, preferably having sold in your industry. Tough one here, but it’s the best way to pull in the hearts and minds of your participants.
4. Character-tied. If you don’t confront peoples’ deep-seated feelings about sales as a profession, you may be applying expensive paint to a rusted car. In other words, you’re giving people skills and techniques that something deep within them will stop them from using. Read Integrity Selling for more on this (or Ron Willingham’s forthcoming The Inner Game of Selling).

You’re shooting for more than knowledge with your sales training. And while you may nod your head and know that intellectually, it’s a tall order to put training in place that avoids the intellectual bent. Hence, your sales training often stinks.

Bond your training to the four must-haves above, and you’ll be on your way.