Traits of Top Salespeople

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Sales Training is Crucial for Businesses

Sales Training is Crucial for Businesses

The sales profession is incredibly difficult, and failure is common. There is no profession (aside from marketing) where the expectations are so significantly missed. It is not unusual for 10-20% (or even 30%) of a sales team to not achieve their company-set goals. If accountants failed at that level, most companies would get fined by the SEC and the IRS. If product engineering failed at that level, the products we buy would constantly fail.

Some of this is the way that companies set their quotas. It is common practice that companies will set quota (i.e., the expectation of success) so that only 60-70% of the sales team achieves quota.

Doing sales training well could be significant. 37% of salespeople do not think their company can provide the techniques and training they need to be successful.

Salespeople are not typically trained in universities, with only 59 universities offering a major in sales. Comparing this to the above professions, accounting is offered in over 1,800 universities. This means that sales managers cannot rely on the university system to offer them quality candidates.

Universities Don’t Offer Sales Education, So Businesses Need to Offer It

It’s no secret that the traditional university education system is lagging behind when it comes to teaching students the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace. As we can see above, this is no more evident than in the sales field. With the ever-changing digital marketing landscape and data analysis’s increasing importance, today’s salespeople need to be equipped with a more diverse skill set than ever before. However, universities fail to keep up with the times, leaving businesses to pick up the slack.

The Importance of Sales Education

To be successful, salespeople need to be able to understand and employ a wide range of skills, including but not limited to market analysis, lead generation, product knowledge, presentation skills, objection handling, and closing techniques. In addition, with the rise of digital marketing, many salespeople now need to be proficient in using various software platforms and tools such as Google Analytics, Hubspot, and Salesforce. The problem is that most universities don’t offer courses that adequately prepare students for a career in sales.

It’s no secret that businesses invest a lot of money in sales training to fill the gap of the lack of university-led training. In fact, U.S. companies spend over $70 billion annually on training and an average of $1,459 per salesperson — almost 20 percent more than they spend on workers in all other functions.

The Case for Businesses Offering Sales Education

Given the current state of affairs, businesses can’t afford to wait for universities to catch up; they need to take matters into their own hands and start offering sales education themselves. By doing so, they can ensure that their employees are equipped with the skills they need to be successful in today’s competitive marketplace. In addition, offering sales training can help businesses attract top talent and retain their best employees.

Universities aren’t doing enough to prepare students for careers in sales, so businesses need to step up and offer sales education themselves. By doing so, they can ensure that their employees have the skills they need to be successful in today’s competitive marketplace.

Sales training is crucial for businesses because it helps them close more deals, increases customer satisfaction, and grows revenue.

Here’s a closer look at each of these three benefits:

  1. Sales training helps businesses close more deals.
    Sales training gives salespeople the skills they need to succeed. When salespeople are properly trained, they’re more likely to understand their customers’ needs and pain points, know how to tackle objections, and have the confidence to close more deals.
  2. Sales training increases customer satisfaction.
    When salespeople are properly trained, they can provide potential customers with the information they need to make a purchasing decision. This leads to happy customers who are more likely to become repeat buyers and sing your company’s praises to their friends and family members.
  3. Sales training grows revenue.
    It’s no secret that businesses exist to make money. By investing in sales training, businesses can see a direct return on their investment in the form of increased revenue. Skilled salespeople mean more closed deals, which leads to a boost in the bottom line.

Effective sales training includes role-playing.

Role-playing is one secret ingredient that can make all the difference in sales training. Role-playing allows trainees to practice their new skills in a low-stakes environment by simulating real-world sales scenarios. Not only that, but role-playing also helps trainees to better understand their customers’ needs and how to best meet them.

Why Role-Playing Works

In a role-playing exercise, trainees are placed in simulated sales situations and must use what they’ve learned to succeed. This allows trainees to get a feel for using their new skills in the real world and helps them identify areas where they need further training. Additionally, trainees are more likely to retain the information they’ve learned by seeing firsthand how their newly learned skills can be applied.

Role-Playing Helps Trainees Understand Customers’ Needs

It can be difficult for trainees to understand customer needs if they’ve never been in a sales situation before. This is where role-playing comes in. By putting trainees in simulated sales situations, role-playing allows them to experience firsthand what it’s like to interact with customers and understand their needs. Additionally, by allowing trainees to try out different approaches, role-playing can help them determine which approach is most effective for meeting customer needs.

Role-Playing Builds Confidence

Another benefit of role-playing is that it helps build confidence. Sales can be daunting for anyone, especially if you’re new to the job. Role-playing allows trainees to build their confidence by practicing their sales skills in a safe and controlled environment. Additionally, role-playing allows trainees to get feedback from trainers and other participants to improve their performance and build up even more confidence.

Role-playing is essential to any successful sales training program because it allows trainees to put their new skills into practice in a low-stakes environment. Additionally, role-playing helps trainees understand customer needs and build confidence. If you’re looking for a way to improve your sales training program, then consider incorporating role-playing into your curriculum.

You may want to check out my article on maximizing your sales training budget. In that article, I list four ways to make sales training fit into your tight budget.

Sales training is essential for any business that wants to close more deals, increase customer satisfaction, and grow its revenue. If your company isn’t investing in sales training, it’s time to reevaluate your priorities — because you’re leaving money on the table!

Header Photo by Jeremy McGilvrey on Unsplash