sales training

Scott Deane is the Managing Director of meta morphose International, the leader providers of sales jobs.

We believe that for any sales training initiative to be fully successful, sales managers must be fully involved in the program. This involvement should include both training the managers, and the managers re-enforcing the learning with their sales team.

The four main types of sales management training programs that we have run are shown below:

Leadership

Leadership and management are often confused and following processes and procedures is seen as good leadership. For us, leaders create a vision and are able to drive the team towards the goal using a number of traits including charisma, integrity and leading by example.

Some of modules for a leadership workshop would possibly include the following:

* What is leadership
* Qualities of leadership
* Leadership styles
* Leadership and vision
* Leadership versus management

Driving The Team

Today business is very competitive and sales managers are expected to drive their teams quarter on quarter to ever larger revenues. Sometimes sales managers just get focused on the day to day metrics and fail to see the bigger picture. It is this bigger picture that allows you to get ahead of plan and away from the "hand to mouth" existence that we see in many organizations today.

Some of modules for a Driving the Team workshop would possibly include the following:

* Motivation
* Individuals and teams
* Metrics versus performance
* Planning for success, driving the plan
* 80/20 rule - your top 10 accounts

Coaching for Results

Even the very top sports people have coaches. Why, because it has been shown that coaching can improve the performance of all levels of people. So, why don't businesses ensure that all their managers are trained in coaching, and coach their team to improved performance.
Some of modules for a Coaching workshop would possibly include the following:

* What is coaching
* The sales manager as coach
* Coaching process and structure
* Fundamental skills of coaching
* Goal setting

Managing Teams

Many sales managers have been promoted from a senior sales role and been told to manage the team. Many have no management experience, little training and little support or direction.
Some of modules for a Coaching workshop would possibly include the following:

* Developing a team strategy
* Delegating and allocating responsibility
* Coaching and feedback
* Recruitment
* Disciplinary issues
* Communicating to the team

For more information about sales and management training please visit sales-training-consultants.co.uk/ target=_blank onclick=javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/article_exit_link');>http://www.sales-training-consultants.co.uk

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Quality insurance sales training is one of the most important aspects of keeping an insurance business profitable and creating a good name for yourself within the community you serve. There are several key components of quality insurance sales training, including needs analysis, features and benefits, objection handling, and closing skills. In addition to these common things, however, a good insurance sales training program will teach the prospective insurance salesperson how to reach out to the customer and build trust.

The first four components of insurance sales training is textbook sort of stuff. A prospective insurance salesperson will need to learn how to evaluate the needs of a potential client. Any insurance sales training class or manual should place this skill right out front. This means imparting to the prospective insurance salesperson the knowledge of how to figure out what a potential client needs. In order to do this, the insurance salesperson needs to figure out things like how much, if any property does the potential client own, and does that client own or rent his or her residence. The family situation must be taken into account as well the insurance salesperson will need to know if anyone depends financially upon the potential client. While each case in particular is pretty standard, being able to look at all the needs of a potential client, as a whole, can take some time and training.

Features and benefits is closely related to needs analysis. Insurance sales training should include as part of the curriculum, how to quickly and accurately identify a policy that will fit best with the potential client. It should be a close fit for your potential client, but perhaps most importantly, the insurance salesperson should be able to identify the right policy without looking through a bunch of manuals or giving the client any reason to doubt the insurance salesperson’s knowledge or ability.

This leads into the next key component of insurance sales training, which is objection handling. If the insurance salesperson has quickly and accurately identified a policy that will fit the potential client, a couple of things will result from that. First of all, the fact that the insurance salesperson is quick and accurate will remove some doubts and objections all on its own. Secondly, having identified the right policy will also remove objections, since it should include everything the potential client is looking for. Of course, there may still be objections, but a quality insurance sales training program will prepare the insurance salesperson to deal with all sorts of objections in from many different types of people in many different situations.

Once all the objections are handled, it is time to close the deal. Learning to close the deal is, obviously, a very important thing, as all types of sales and a quality insurance sales training program will recognize this. If you don’t learn how to close the deal, then learning all the other steps is a waste of time. All good insurance sales training programs will spend a good amount of time teaching potential insurance salespeople how to close a deal effectively.

There is one other element that successful insurance salespeople have that should be included in a high quality insurance training program. That is the skill of building a trust and rapport with the potential client. This is a process that supersedes all the other processes, happening while all the other steps are taking place. If an insurance salesperson builds up a trust and positive rapport with a client, it makes all the other steps just that much easier. For example, needs analysis is easier if the potential client will open up and talk about his or her lifestyle and concerns. Connecting personally with clients is one of the most important things an insurance salesperson can learn in an insurance sales training program.

Scott Deane is the Managing Director of meta morphose International, the leader in sales training.

Books Sales Professionals might like to Read

While developing out new website for Sales Training Consultants, we thought it would be a good idea to provide a reading list for sales people wanting to develop their sales skills and knowledge. So, here it is, divided into various sub-categories for ease of use:

Selling Skills

* Getting Into Your Customer's Head: 8 Secret Roles of Selling Your Competitors Don't Know, Kevin Davis. New York: Random House, 1996. (ISBN 0-8129-2628-5)
* Stop Selling and Start Partnering, Larry Wilson
* Changing the Game, Larry Wilson. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.
* SPIN Selling, Rackham, Neil. New York: McGraw Hill, 1988.
* Solution Selling by Michael T. Bosworth (Irwin Publishing, 1995).
* Samurai Selling: The Ancient Art of Service in Sales by Chuck Laughlin, Karen Sage and Marc Bockmon (St. Martin's, 1993).
* The 25 Sales Habits of Highly Successful Salespeople , by Stephan Schiffman (Adams Publishing, 1994).
* The AMA Handbook of Successful Selling, by Bob Kimball (NTC Publishing Group, 1993).
* The Selling Bible: For People in the Business of Selling, by John L. Lawton (Council Oaks Distribution, 1995)
* Closing Tactics, Andoni Lizardi
* Negotiate to Close, Gary Karass
* Ziglar on Selling, Zig Ziglar. Nashville, TN: Ziglar Corporation, 1991.
* The Sales Strategist: 6 Breakthrough Strategies to Win New Business, Warren Kurzrock. New York: Irwin Publishing, 1996. ISBN: 0-7863-0738-2.
* Selling to VITO: the Very Important Top Officer, Anthony Parinello, Massachusetts, Bob Adams, 1994.
* Selling to the Top, David A. Peoples. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
* Sales Reengineering From the Outside In, Mark Blessington and Bill O'Connell (McGraw Hill, 1995).
* Strategic Selling, Stephen Heiman and Robert Miller.
* Conceptual Selling, Stephan Heiman and Robert Miller. Berkeley, CA: Miller Heiman, 1987.
* Selling the invisible, Harry Beckworth
* Cracking New Accounts: Tips and Techniques for Opening and Closing the Sales in Half the Time, Terry L. Booton (Probus, 1994).
* Guerilla Selling: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics for Increasing Your Sales, Jay Conrad Levinson, Orvel Ray Wilson and Bill Gallagher (Houghton Mifflin, 1992).

Business Acumen

* The One to One Future: Building Relationships One Customer at a Time, by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers (Doubleday, 1993).
* The Monster Under the Bed by Stan Davis & Jim Bodkin. (Simon and Schuster, 1994).
* Corporate Life Cycles: How and Why Corporations Grow and Die and What to Do about It by Izak Adiches. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990).
* The Little Black Book of Business Math, by Michael C. Thomsett. (New York: Anacom, 1988).
* The Art of War, by Sun-Tzu (Delacorte, 1989).
* The Goal, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt (North River Press, 1992).
* The E Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber (Harper-Business, 1990).
* The Popcorn Report: The Future of Your Company, Your World, Your Life by Faith Popcorn (Harper-Business, 1992).
* Finance and Accounting for Non-Financial Managers by William G. Droms, (Reading MA: Addison Wesley, 1990).
* The Vital Difference: Unleashing the Powers of Sustained Corporate Success, by Frederick G. Harmon and Garry Jacobs, (AMACOM, 1985).
* What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, Mark H. McCormack, (Bantam Books, 1984).
* Zap, the Power of Empowerment by Jeff Cox.
* Marketing, by Robert D. Hisrich (Barron's Educational Series, 1990).
* Multi-Level Marketing: The Definitive Guide to America's Top MLM Companies (Summit Group, 1993).
* Relationship Marketing: Successful Strategies for the Age of the Customer, by Regis McKenna (Addison Wesley, 1993).
* How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Guy Kawasaki.
* The Ten-Day MBA : A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America's Top Business Schools @amazon.com
* The Complete MBA For Dummies® @amazon.com
* Financial Statements : A Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports @amazon.com
* Business Planning : 25 Keys to a Sound Business Plan (The New York Times Pocket MBA Series) @amazon.com
* Tracking & Controlling Costs : 25 Keys to Cost Management (The New York Times Pocket MBA Series) @amazon.com
* Forecasting Budgets @amazon.com

Strategic Sales Planning

* The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals, Keith Ellis, Three Rivers Pr., 1998, ISBN: 060980166X.
* Achieving Individual and Team Goals, Terry R. Bacon, Thomas Doggett, International Learningwork, 1996, ISBN: 1577400135.
* The Agile Manager's Guide to Goal-Setting and Achievement (The Agile Manager Series), Walter Wadsworth, Velocity Pub., 1998, ISBN: 0965919323.
* All About Goals and How to Achieve Them, Jack Ensign Addington, Devorss and Co (Txp), 1977, ISBN: 0875162371.
* 10 Minute Guide To Planning (10 Minute Guides), Edwin E. Bobrow, IDG Books Worldwide, 1997, ISBN: 0028618181.
* The Sales Strategist: 6 Breakthrough Strategies to Win New Business, Warren Kurzrock. New York: Irwin Publishing, 1996. (ISBN 0-7863-0738-2)
* Sales Reengineering From the Outside In, by Mark Blessington and Bill O'Connell (McGraw Hill, 1995).
* First Things First, Steven Covey, Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill (Simon & Schuster, 1994)
* Winning the Fight between You and Your Desk by Jeffrey J. Mayer (Harper Business, 1994)
* Strategic Selling, Heiman, Stephen and Miller, Robert.
* Conceptual Selling, Heiman, Stephen and Miller, Robert. Berkeley, CA: Miller Heiman, 1987.
* Successful Large Account Management, by Robert Miller
* Major Account Sales Strategies, by Neil Rackham. New York: McGraw Hill, 1989.
* Managing Major Accounts, Neil Rackham
* Stop Selling and Start Partnering, Larry Wilson
* Power of Consultative Selling, Bryce Webster
* Organizational Capability: Competing from the Inside Out, by Dave Ulrich and Dale Lake, (John Wiley and Sons, 1990).
* Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In, Fisher and Uri.
* Cracking New Accounts: Tips and Techniques for Opening and Closing the Sales in Half the Time, by Terry L. Booton (Probus, 1994).
* Guerilla Selling: Unconventional Weapons and Tactics for Increasing Your Sales, by Jay Conrad Levinson, Orvel Ray Wilson, and Bill Gallagher (Houghton Mifflin, 1992).

Customer Focus

* Discipline of Market Leaders, Treachy, Michael and Wiersema, (Addison Wesley, 1995)
* Brain Power: Learn to Improve Your Thinking Skills , Karl Albrecht. Prentice Hall, 1987.
* Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Stephen R. Covey. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
* Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach to Customer Service , Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles. New York, William Morrow & Co., 1993. ISBN 0-688-12316-3.
* Stop Selling and Start Partnering, Larry Wilson & Hersch Wilson.
* One-to-One Marketing, Martha Rodgers and Don Peppers.
* The Customer Driven Company: Moving from Talk to Action , Richard C. Whiteley. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1991. ISBN 0-201-57090-4.
* Customer Centered Growth: 5 Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage, Dianne Hessen and Richard Whitely. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1996. ISBN: 0-201-47967-2.
* Getting Into Your Customer's Head: 8 Secret Roles of Selling Your Competitors Don't Know , Kevin Davis. New York, Random House, 1996. ISBN 0-8129-2628-5.
* Changing the Game, Larry Wilson, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1987.
* Solution Selling, Michael T. Bosworth. Irwin Publishing, 1995.
* Customer Visits: Building a Better Market Focus , Edward F. McQuarrie, Sage Pubns., 1998, ISBN: 0761908838.
* Customer Focus: A Strategy for Success, Roger Langevin, Bill Christopher, Crisp Pubns., 1998, ISBN: 1560524855.
* The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market , Michael Treacy, Frederik D. Wiersema, Perseus Pr., 1997, ISBN: 0201407191.
* Implementing Quality With a Customer Focus , David N. Griffiths, Quality Resources, 1991, ISBN: 0873891104.

End User Effectiveness

* All Consumers Are Not Created Equal, Garth Hallberg. John Wiley & Sons, 1996. 320 pages.
* Real Time, Regis McKenna. Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
* Enterprise One to One, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. Currency Doubleday, 1997.
* Keeping the Edge, Dick Schaaf. Dutton, 1995.
* Customer-Centered Growth, Richard Whiteley and Diane Hessan. Addison-Wesley, 1996.
* Strategic Customer Alliances : How to Win, Manage, and Develop Key Accounts @amazon.com
* Key Accounts Are Different : Sales Solutions for Key Account Managers @amazon.com
* Account Management (Building Service Management Program) @amazon.com
* Successful Large Account Management by Tad Tuleja(Contributor), et al @amazon.com
* Key Account Management: The Route to Key Supplier Status by Peter Cheverton @amazon.com
* Key Account Management: Maximizing Profitability from Major Customers by John Rock @amazon.com

Negotiation Skills

* Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and Bill Ury (Viking Penguin, 1991).
* Getting Past No, Bill Ury (Viking Penguin, 1993)
* The Tao of Negotiation by Joel Edelman and Mary Beth Crain (Harper Business, 1993).
* How to Out-Negotiate Anyone (Even a Car Dealer) by Leo Reilly (Adams Publishing, 1993).
* Major Account Sales Strategies, by Neil Rackham (McGraw Hill, 1989).
* The Complete Negotiator, Gerard Nierenberger, (Berley Books, 1986).
* The Negotiation Toolkit: How to Get Exactly What You Want in Any Business or Personal Situation @amazon.com
* Deal Power: 6 Foolproof Steps to Making Deals of Any Size by Marc Diener @amazon.com
* The Power of Negotiating: Strategies for Success by Mike R. Stark @amazon.com
* The Shadow Negotiation: How Women Can Master the Hidden Agendas That Determine Bargaining Success by Deborah M. Kolb, Judith Williams @amazon.com

Channel Partner Effectiveness

* The channel advantage, Lawrence Friedman and Timothy Furey
* Market-Based Management: Strategies for Growing Customer Value and Profitability, 2nd edition, (Prentice Hall, 2000) - Roger Best - Part III Tactical Marketing Strategies Chapter 9
* Make Your Dealers Your Partners Harvard Business Review, March-April 1996, pp. 89-96.
* Rethinking Distribution: Adaptive Channels Harvard Business Review, July-August 1996, pp. 112-120. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990).
* The Sales Rep Navigator: How to Find the Perfect Sales Rep or Distributor for Your Business, @amazon.com
* How to Market Your Product Through Distributor sales Networks, @amazon.com
* Planning Telephone Sales: Handbook for Distributor Management, @amazon.com
* The Channel Advantage : Going to Market With Multiple Sales Channels to Reach More Customers, Sell More Products, Make More Profit @amazon.com
* Channel Champions: How leading companies build new strategies to serve customers @amazon.com

Computer Skills

* Lotus Notes for Dummies, @amazon.com
* PowerPoint for Dummies, @amazon.com
* Excel for Dummies, @amazon.com
* Word for Dummies @amazon.com

Unfortunately, many sales and service industry professionals gain an intellectual awareness of the methods of selling from the sales training they receive, yet fail to improve their bottom line sales results by systematically using the concepts in their daily transactions.

There are a number of methods you can use to move beyond an intellectual awareness of sound sales techniques. By applying some of these ideas, you can begin to see a steady improvement in the number and scope of your sales transactions. These concepts can help any sales professional drill-for-skill the vital selling principles needed to become a sales leader. Really all it takes to be successful in sales is just a little practice and perseverance.

Give Yourself Permission to Succeed
To become a sales leader in any kind of business only requires that you give yourself permission to succeed. In sales, as in every endeavor in life, it is your attitude not your attributes that count. There is no reason you can not be extremely successful at selling your company’s products and services, if you make up your mind to do the job.

William James, a Harvard Professor and the man many view as the father of American Psychology, wrote in 1895: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his circumstances in life by altering his attitude of mind.” James also gave people a formula for achieving an altered attitude of mind. He simply told them to “act as if” they were already successful and this act alone could make them successful.

If you act as if you have changed or act like a different person, according to James, you must change or become a different person. If a sales professional acts as if she can sell, her sales ratios and product account closings can do nothing but improve.

By releasing your “inner brakes” and seeing yourself using the sales and customer service techniques you have learned, you can become extremely successful in your efforts to sell your company's products and services. If you want to consistently produce multiple sales transactions, just let yourself go and you will start to see the success you are seeking. You have the right to be successful. The only thing that can stop your improvement and ultimate success is you. Tell yourself that it is all right to produce outstanding sales results; and then, begin envisioning the success you expect to achieve.

Use Affirmations to Produce Success
To help you consistently execute the sales techniques you have learned, use affirmations to change the way you think and perform. Affirmations can also help release your internal breaking system.

We gravitate to our dominant thought patterns. By using affirmations (“I can,” “I am,” etc.), you can create dominant thoughts about specific sales methods that will help you to move away from your fears (the fear of failure or of looking foolish) toward successful sales transactions. Write down a series of positive affirmations about the sales process or a specific technique. Then read them over until you create the dominant thought patterns that produce success.

It is vital to your sales success that you regularly affirm your selling skills and visualize successful transactions using the techniques you have learned. To succeed you must see yourself as one of your company’s top sales producers by regularly performing mental dress rehearsals for the position.

Repeat the Technique Until It Is Yours
As you are taught new sales techniques you need to practice them on the job as well as in your mind, until you can use them in each transaction without even thinking about their use. We call this level of sales proficiency “unconscious competence.”

Many sales professionals try a new sales approach only once or twice before rejecting it out of hand or deciding that it will not work for them. True professionals; however, diligently practice a new sales concept until they can execute it without even thinking about it. This approach (going beyond an intellectual knowledge of a sales method) sets top producers apart and can be seen in their extraordinary closing and multiple sales successes. It is also quite noticeable in their pay checks as well!

Role playing at each new sales technique with a co-worker is a powerful way to gain the ability to consistently use these concepts on the job. Remember however, that practice does not make perfect. Only “perfect practice” makes perfect. So as you practice with other employees, try to be as accurate as you can in the execution of a given sales concept.

Set aside some time each working day to drill in the sales concepts you have been taught. Take them one at a time and master each one. It might surprise you how much more you will enjoy coming to work when you become truly proficient in building sales and long term customer relationships for your company.

Saturate Your Mind
Saturate your mind with sales and motivational materials. As you do this, you will move from an intellectual understanding of the sales techniques to a daily working knowledge of the methods you need to succeed, and you will have more than just an occasional thought about what you are trying to accomplish. What is needed to help you change your behavior is a constant positive saturation of your mind by reading over the materials you have been given or the notes you have taken on the subject.

In his tapes, The Psychology of Selling, Brian Tracy tells his listeners that one of the best methods to increase sales success is to read then reread one of the best books on sales for 30 minutes each day. He feels this type of saturation will have a tremendous impact on the sales activity of an individual. Research from Stanford University indicates that you can learn more from reading the same book six times than you can from reading 40 books on the same subject.

Work Smarter Not Harder
Outstanding sales results come to those sales professionals who correctly follow and apply sound sales principles. They won’t do the work for you but they will lighten your load and give you an edge. All it takes to be successful at selling your company's products is to want to improve the way you perform, see yourself using new selling techniques, give yourself permission to use the concepts and regularly practice them until they become second nature.

Scott Deane is the Managing Director of meta morphose International, the leader providers of sales jobs.

Scott Deane is the Managing Director of meta morphose International, the leader providers of sales jobs.

As the marketing in this industry changes so must the marketers. The marketing techniques, products and services change daily. New technology is always on the horizon. Today in the consumer retail environment there is change everywhere. Much of this change is necessitated by the ever increasing number of outlets selling the same products. As it has been often quoted, the piece of the pie is getting smaller. Retail neighborhood storefronts of years ago had only to compete with other retail neighborhood store fronts, and only those in the same neighborhood. Then with the advent of shopping malls and centers , large retailers moved from the neighborhoods to the shopping malls. The competition then became centered on shopping malls and centers. Eventually neighborhood stores began to make a comeback by being more customer friendly and service conscious. Automotive, Marine, RV and Motorcycle dealers were no different. Many neighborhood dealers moved to better highway locations, and thus began the auto mall building. Some did this voluntarily and some were forced by the factories. Either way all retailers moving to bigger and better facilities also took on a lot more debt to do so. So the question is did taking on more debt to be bigger and better really make sense. To many it worked very well. However, I have been involved in working closely with dealerships that over spent and had to restructure, sell off parts of their business, or completely sell out. The buyers were almost always large and very well capitalized dealer groups. Many were publicly financed. And of those public companies many of them have also had to eventually restructure and/or sell.

Now today it s no secret that there are many dealerships in trouble. The competition between the dealerships is phenomenal due to the amount of makes and models available , with more coming. Many domestic manufacturers are making there money overseas. However, here in the USA many dealerships are struggling to stay alive. Many dealerships, mostly domestics, have not been able to find buyers for their franchises and have just closed. Domestic manufacturers have been planning for years to close many operating franchises, so to increase the share of the pie for the remaining dealerships.

Franchised dealerships, such as auto dealers, marine dealers, and motorcycle dealers do have an edge over the non franchised business.. The edge is that you must be a franchise to sell and service the product, unlike a clothing store , a restaurant, a food store, etc. With the manufacturers understanding the need to reduce the number of dealers , the future should improve. However , while this is happening another challenge is developing. The internet has brought about an onslaught of non franchised brokers for cars, trucks, boats, RVs and motorcycles that compete with franchised dealers on the internet to sell the franchisees products for them for a referral fee or a listing fee. These internet sites operate both inside and outside each individual dealer s area. The promise of the lowest price drives many of these sites. Dealers find themselves fighting over deals worth a few hundred dollars. It s ironic that dealers operate in a retail environment where when a $30,000. vehicle is sold the state collects a sales tax around $2,000.00 for doing nothing (depending on state) and the dealer who has stocked this vehicle, maintained it, and paid the overhead to operate the sales organization many times makes less, both on the gross side and the net side.

Ok , so what s the answer? Well the first thing is that the manufacturers must do a better job with product mix. There have been many management errors in this area. It seems that all manufacturers are aware of this. How well and how quickly they can and will make the necessary changes remains to be seen. Either way it has been and will be a very costly lesson for domestic manufacturers. Many dealers will be better off with leaving the business. Those who, for whatever reason have not kept up the rapidly changing times. The factories and these dealers have got to work the details out between themselves. For the survivors it is imperative that they know and implement the newest products, services and techniques available today and tomorrow and the next day, etc. As the old saying goes; only the strong will survive. Actually, the new saying is that only those dealers that are knowledgeable, prepared and willing to change will survive .

Sales training in the Automobile, Marine, RV and Motorcycle dealership is more important today then ever. Training that shows sales personnel how to prospect on their own, how the dealer can maximize the internet to his or her own benefit, how to cut advertising expenses, how to maximize return on investment not only with the fixed assets of the company but with the human assets of the company. As with both they must be developed. Too many dealerships are not maximizing the potential of the human assets. Unskilled owners and mangers are the problem. An owner, manager and salesperson today is dramatically different than an owner, manager or salesperson of twenty year sago. Just ask any dealership owner, manager, or staff of the dealers and dealer groups that have gone out of business and those who will fail in the future. Cutting edge products and services for the dealership of the future is the answer.

Pharmaceutical Sales Training Groups: Building Better Sales Forces (PH89)

This study is developed to research pharmaceutical companies’ sales training departments and programs. The report examines sales training department structures, leadership, spending and improvement strategies, along with individual sales department training programs.

Pharmaceutical Sales Training Groups: Building Better Sales Forces examines the inner workings of real pharmaceutical companies’ sales training groups and what makes them successful. From per rep spending to leadership structures, and training hours to essential training topics for several key positions, the report details the strategies and processes of some of the industry’s top companies.

Companies Included in Report :

Bayer
Connetics
Daiichi-Sankyo
Forest Labs
Genzyme
Gilead Sciences
Orientare
Pfizer
Solvay
UCB Pharma
Wyeth

Charts & Graphics table of Contents :

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Figure E.1: Annual Sales Training Spend per Rep in the Sales Force
Figure E.2: Sales Training Budget Resource Allocation
Figure E.3: Annual Hours of Training Given to Trainers
Figure E.4: New Reps: Total First-Year Training Hours

POSITION BY POSITION TRAINING GUIDE: HOURS, VENUES AND KEY TOPICS

New Sales Reps: First-Year Training
Figure 2.1: New Reps: Total First-Year Training Hours
Figure 2.2: New Rep Training Venues
Figure 2.3: New Rep Average Annual Training Hours by Venue
Figure 2.4: New Reps: Percentage of First-Year Training Spent in Classroom
Figure 2.5: New Reps: Percentage of First-Year Training Spent in Self-Study
Figure 2.6: New Reps: Percentage of First-Year Training Spent in the Field
Figure 2.7: New Reps: Percentage of First-Year Training Spent on Web-Based Material
Figure 2.8: New Rep Training Topics: Breakdown of First-Year Curricula
Figure 2.9: New Rep Average Annual Training Hours by Topic
Figure 2.10: New Rep Training Curricula: Product Knowledge

Curriculum Review and Improvement

Figure 3.15: Annual Veteran Rep Training Curriculum Review/Change
Figure 3.16: Annual New DM Curriculum Review/Change
Figure 3.17: Annual Veteran DM Curriculum Review/Change
Figure 3.18: Annual Sales Executive Curriculum Review/Change
Figure 3.19: Grading Keeping Training Materials Relevant

for more information, please visit our web site :
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=52029

How many times has your company run sales training with no visible effect on the business after the training. There are many reasons that sales training fails, here are some of the most common:

No Clear Objectives
Many times we have been told by sales managers that there sales team can't close, so they obviously need training based on closing skills. When we actually analysis the issues, we normally find that the problem lies much earlier in the sales cycle. Often the issue concerns poor questioning and qualification skills which leads to the sales person trying to close the customer inappropriately, with a product/service that doesn't meet their real needs.

Another classic misunderstanding often occurs when a new product/service has been launched, but the sales team aren't selling it. Obviously, they need some product training - get product marketing to do a day's powerpoint detailing all the features and benefits of the new product. Unfortunately, the newly launched product may need to be sold at a higher level in the customer's organization, and the sales force have no experience of how to engage with customers at this level.

There are many examples of misaligned training. It is important to put thought into what you want to achieve and what analyse what the gap between where you are now and where you need to be is. This is often termed a Training Needs Analysis (TNA), often accompanied by a sales force assessment.

The other situation that occurs is when the training is seen as a catch-all day, where all the things you need the sales team to know are crammed into the day. No focus, no clear objectives and lots of brief sessions with no theme or linkage.

It's Not Sales Training
Sales training tends to be a catch-all phrase for any communication to the sales team. We have witnessed many times a technical trainer running through a very detailed PowerPoint presentation, originally developed to train the technical department. This is not sales training, it's not an effective way to train the sales force,but it is cheap based on existing training materials.

But if we stop and think for a minute, do we actually want our sales force to be as technical as our systems consultant, do we want them to engage our customers at a detailed technical level. Hopefully the answer is no, we actually want the sale team to be able to engage our customers at the level of their business needs and drivers. For them to be able to get their customers to commit themselves to action because of the size of the business problem and bridge between that problem and your solution. So the sales training required is around business drivers, case studies and role plays to re-enforce the skills.

Other examples include getting 200 sales people in the room and getting people to talk at them for a day without any interaction. Again this is cheap, but of almost no value. Good sales people are used to being active and challenged and doing things. Good sales training is built to engage the sales team, create lots of interaction and move at a pace that keeps them moving.

What Changes?
Your sales people have just attended a 3-day sales training course. It's theme was account strategy and opportunity management, how to develop a more long-term relationship with your customers. The sales people enjoyed the course, it was thought provoking, and gave them some tools to help change their behaviour.

They get back to their desks and their sales manager says, because of the training you are $60K down this week, get on the phone and get some business, even if you have to drag it from next week. So they phone their customers and try and force them to pull orders they had promised for next Tuesday into this Friday. We know today's business is crucial, but think of the affect this management style has on the sales people and the customers. What has changed, when will the new skills and behaviours discussed on the course ever be implemented.

This example is not uncommon, and raises issues around management buy-in (see No Executive Sponsorship) and whether thought has been given to how the required changes will actually happen.

Many people confuse objectives of a training program with the outcomes of the program. We use a simple definition: objectives are what the training course was developed to achieve; outcomes are what happen if the sales people actually take actions from the course and use the new skills or change their behaviour. If there is no mechanism to get from objectives to outcomes nothing will change.

No Executive Sponsorship
This section fits together with What Changes?. Real change in the sales force can only happen if there is a top-down desire throughout the management team to make change happen. In our view, this is the most common reason for sales training failing, no management buy-in to change their behaviour and how they work with their sales people.

There are really two situations where the whole organization gets fully behind the change program. Firstly, and most commonly, when the company is in real, and obvious, trouble. There is no doubt that change must take place. This can be competitive threat, a fundamental change in the market, an economic downturn, etc. Secondly, when the company is doing so well that it's velocity of growth is causing the business to stall. Not so common in the IT business today (maybe more common prior to the dot.com crash), but still a possibility in new, niche technologies.

Other examples include, when the sales team changing their behaviour also affects other departments who haven't been engaged and are not prepared to change their way of working. For example, sales are trained to drive more customers to order over the web, but the operations and order entry departments have not visibility of these changes, and no processes or systems to cope.

An Isolated Course
Sales training initiatives often start with grand ideals but crash and burn after the first course. We need to move the sales force from selling products in a transactional environment to selling managed services into the heart of our customers' businesses. The training program will consist of three phases:

* Phase I - will be a basic sales skills refresher to get everyone to a common level of understanding.
* Phase II - will look at the market and business drivers in our customers' businesses creating the need for managed services.
* Phase III - will focus on our managed service deployment, how we meet a customer's needs, the competitive landscape, and role plays to re-enforce the learning.

How many phases of the program do you think get rolled out? Well normally it ends up being just phase I, and the sales team are yet again put through Sales 101, with the promise of more advanced courses to come. This is one of the main gripes of sales with regard to training, we just keep doing the basics time after time.

To change this situation, there is a need for long-term executive sponsorship (see No Executive Sponsorship) and a business that is prepared to continue a training program even if the figures are bad. Now in reality, with quarterly reporting and OPEX freezes, maybe a business can never make such a commitment. We consider the implications of this in The Way Forward (see the link below).

No Sales Engagement
A technique that we have used on some training courses, is to ask each participant to write anonymously on a post-it the following information

* How well do you understand the need for this course.
* How positive are you about attending the course
* For each point, score 1-10, 1 being no understanding - not positive and 10 being full understanding - totally positive.
* For example - understanding 4, positive 3

We then create a scatter diagram on a flip chart, divide the diagram into 4 quadrants, and look at the result. What percentage of results do you think appear in the top right quadrant (good understanding and positive)? If you said less than 20% for most course, sadly you would be right.

This comes down to communication. Have your sales people been sent a crisp, precise email summarizing the need for change, why they are on the course, how it will benefit them and the business, any pre-work they need to do, and what the expected outcomes (changes) will be. If this comes from the executive sponsor, so much the better.

Too many training courses are run with sales people attending who have little idea why they are there, and even less interest in being there.

For more information about sales training please visit http://www.sales-training-consultants.co.uk

Sometimes we forget the basics, what are we really trying to achieve by training the sales force? What are the issues we are trying to address, and how do we see sales training bridging the gap between where we are now and where we want to be?

We believe there are probably four main stakeholders involved in sales training:

For the company executves - listed below are some of the common issues we hear from executives regarding the issues they see with managing the sales team

* Business predictability - how can we improve the accuracy of forecasts for orders, revenue and margin.

* Higher level customer engagement - why can't we get higher to the customer's executives, and focus on value not price.

* Consistent performance - how do we reduce the variance at both team and individual level.

* Product and services mix - how can we get the sales team to sell the optimum product and services mix.

* Raising the amount of customer selling time by reducing the time taken on administration and emails.

* Consistent customer experience - how do we get this across the team.

* Winning of new customers and getting existing customers to take a wider range of products and services.

For the customer - have you ever put yourself in your customers' shoes? What attributes would you like to see in people you do business with? Again, the ideas below is based on our experience, and they happen to form a memorable acronym IKEA

* Integrity - does this sales person display the level of honesty and reliability that gives me confidence to buy from them.

* Knowledge - do they possess the knowledge expected of them in the following areas:

o Their company - history, philosophy, culture, strategy, processes, people.

o The market - general market and business drivers, my company's specific vertical market issues.

o Their products/services - high level benefits linked to my own company's business drivers and issues.

o The competitive landscape.

o My company - see empathy.

o Technology - not at a detailed technical level, but a broad understanding of technologies from a business perspective.

* Empathy - "before I care how much you know, I want to know how much you care." Does this sales person see me as unique, and have they taken the time to do the research

* Authority - when things go wrong with the project, since they normally do, will this person have the authority within their company to get the problems sorted out quickly.

For the sales people - having looked at the company's and customer's perspective on sales training, what about the sales people themselves? Try answering these questions

* Who decides what training the sales person needs?
* Is the training part of a long term, structured individual development plan?
* Has the need for the training been explained together with the expected outcomes?
* Are similar courses repeated year after year that everyone attends?
* What are the expected outcomes and changes in behaviour? * Who measures the success of the program?

Key reasons for training from a sales person's perspective should be:

* Professional improvement, looking as sales as a worthwhile career.
* The training will help meet my objectives/targets and hence earn me money.
* All training looks good on a CV.
* Its interesting to have time to reflect and gain a different perspective.

Too often sales training seems to be undertaken with little communication with the sales force to explain why they are there, what the benefit of being there will be and what is expected to change after the training.

For the sales managers - most sales managers have between 6 and 12 sales people working for them. How do they know what they are saying to customers, and how they are positioning the company? They cannot be at every face to face call or on the phone at each customer contact. We recommend the introduction of a structured sales process that is repeatable, and can be analysed and individual performance measured at each step.

By being able to use the same structure for each sales person, the sales manager will be able to identify areas that individuals need help in, and coach them accordingly. Conversely, if everyone is using there own system, it is very difficult to analyse where a person is in the sale, and what measures they need to take to get back on course.

You can find out more about sales training at sales-training-consultants.co.uk/ target=_blank onclick=javascript:urchinTracker('/outgoing/article_exit_link');>http://www.sales-training-consultants.co.uk

Sales training products come in all shapes and sizes. Where there is a different opinion about how to train effectively, there is undoubtedly another training product available for purchase. Therefore, choosing sales training products that will work for your unique situation is possible but not necessarily an easy thing to do.

You are aware that a sound sales training program can mean the difference between achieving your business goals and falling short of them. You are working hard to set yourself apart from all of the other businesses in your industry. You have found and developed characteristics that make you different. It only makes sense that the training you will use will reflect these vital differences.

Therefore, when you are choosing training products is less important what name you choose or what comes recommended. You need to have something that is either custom made for your specific company or something that comes very close. As you consider your options for sales training products, consider the following points to keep in mind to ensure that the training you ultimately choose is not going to be a disappointment.

1. Prospect vs. Product Training to operate a product does not need to be very complicated. A product itself has a function that can be demonstrated in a limited number of ways. Prospects on the other hand are what will ultimately sell your product. What are the prospects of your business? What are the prospects of your employees? A product can only say so much on its own, it is the motivation towards something bigger that will drive your sales team to make the product more than just a product in the eye of your consumer. Look for a training program that incorporates this concept of prospect development.

2. Open-ended Questions Most sales teams struggle when they are presented with open-ended questions that they have not been trained well enough to handle properly. Engaging in intelligent business conversation can be the biggest and most frequent challenge that your people will be faced with. With good sales training, your team can be taught how to articulate themselves well and therefore gain the confidence of the buyer. When you salesman can appropriately provide solutions for open-ended questions, he will be more successful.

3. Avoid Overload Training can be overwhelming if you try to do too much at one time. Good sales training products will emphasize consistency and a need for continual training. Technical information, such as that which can be illustrated in a chart or graph are better to be distributed than explained extensively as most people will be able to see for themselves what the information means. Keep initial trainings simple, dealing mostly with the most common situations. As your team needs it you can go back to your training to focus on specific objective or to re-new motivation.

4. Personalize It Take the time to personalize your sales training products to the team that needs them. Some companies can be hired to come to you organization to do this for you. To avoid the expense of outside consulting, use what you know to make your presentation less generic. People who will be spending long hours at work will need the kind of foundation that training can give them to believe that what they are doing is unique and worthwhile.

Real estate sales training is perhaps the most important training in which a real estate professional can participate. Of course, in every state and the District of Columbia a real estate agent or broker must be licensed but without the ability to sell, the real estate license serves no purpose.

According to estimates from the National Association of Realtors, there are about two million licensed real estate agents in the United States. It’s a relatively easy field to join. The licensing requirements, although different for each state are not that stringent. Although you can get a bachelors degree, it is not required to procure a real estate license.

Maybe because it is so easy to jump into a real estate sale explains the large number of licensed real estate agents and brokers across the country. Of course, the turnover rate is high too. By some estimates, as high as 80 percent. Some estimates are equally as high for the percentage of real estate agents who quit in the first year.

There are seminars and classes and books that offer sales training. Some large realtors provide much of the sales training for their real estate agents. Others leave the agents to fend for themselves.

Real estate sales training is not unlike any other kind of sales training. The same rules apply. You must know your product in order to sell it. For a real estate agent this translates into knowing the community, the housing market, market trends, economic facts and figures, what is currently selling and what isn’t. It also means knowing more than a little about loans and mortgages. There are far more options today for buying and selling property than there used to be and not keeping up with the industry is the fastest way to sales suicide.

Sales is always about communication. That usually entails listening more than talking. You have to know what your client’s need is before you can fill it and the only way you will know this is effective listening. That’s why the Dale Carnegie sales training has always been so effective. It teaches interpersonal skills and communication skills. You can know everything there is to know about the real estate profession but if you can’t interact effectively with people, you will likely not be successful at real estate sales or any other kind of sales.

It’s not enough to just be a nice guy though. That’s one reason it’s imperative to have sales training. Having a real estate license is not enough that just means you have a grasp of the basics and you’re legal. Knowing your product isn’t enough either and you can be the nicest person in the world and not be able to sell a dime for a nickel. Remember Gomer Pyle? Can you imagine buying anything, let alone a house or other real property from him? Sure, he’s a nice guy but how confident would you be in his ability to sell you the best house for the best money and make sure everything went smoothly?

Learning by example is often the best way to learn. If you’re lucky enough to have a mentor or at least an experienced and successful real estate sales professional that will take you under their wing, let them. If they’ve been in the business very long, then it’s likely they’ve dealt with a wide variety of sales experiences and you could benefit greatly from that experience. You’re going to need some time anyway, in the form of several months living expenses to be able to survive in this game. If at all possible. link up with someone you can actually watch at work and discuss the experience before and afterwards. There’s no more valuable training. In fact, the better your sales training is, the more successful you’ll be as a real estate professional.

Whether you have a mentor or not, classes and seminars can definitely help. There’s nothing like the gung-ho feeling you get from a revved up motivational speaker who is also a salesperson. Any motivational speaker, therefore, is a salesperson or you wouldn’t be listening to him.

If a live class or seminar appeals to you, there are a great number of motivational speakers as well as sales coaches to learn from. The important thing is to learn the techniques you’ll need to be successful in real estate sales. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Sales training comes in different forms and the same format may not be right for everyone.

Knowing what not to do in sales can be just as important as knowing what to do. Sales training is one learning experience where you can greatly benefit from others’ mistakes as well as their successes. There are many online resources as well as live seminars and classes for every real estate sales professional.