Sales Training In Hot Demand

The year of 2006 was a year of growth for the training industry. Many organizations reported healthy increases in their training budgets. Companies invested on average $1,273 per learner on training, including staff salaries.

So where was a large part of those training dollars invested? According to the latest industry report in Training magazine, sales training is currently in hot demand.

“Corporations are hiring new salespeople and are focusing on training their new as well as existing sales staffs. This typically is an expensive program area to deliver, as it has one of the greatest amounts of face-to-face training and involves learners from all over the globe. In addition, sales training is a fairly continuous process, as the rapid pace of new products and features requires year-round updating of the sales force. All of these factors make sales training one of the top areas for program funding.”

Sales training is essential for any organization with a sales team. And a one-day seminar or a two-day course here and there are not enough to outshine the competition. No matter the product, there is always a competitor in hot pursuit to sell what another company has better, faster and more often. The key to moving that product is not only the quality of the product, but the message that is delivered by a sharp sales team. Sales training is still delivered primarily in classroom or face-to-face training as are customer service training and management training.

According to the industry report, “Instruction has always been a popular area for outsourcing, as organizations turn to outside professionals for facilitation and teaching. Today, 44 percent of organizations report using external instructors to deliver at least some of their training.”

A good sales training program should include not only selling skills, but all the skills that complement a sale and keep customers loyal. Areas like customer service training, communications, presentation skills, negotiating, problem solving, and strategic planning should all be incorporated to take selling beyond just making the sale.

An effective sales training program will produce results long after the training is over. Organizations in search of a good sales training program should look for a program and not a course, seminar or workshop. Though these may be good for refreshers, a comprehensive program is more desirable. Comprehensive sales training programs should require accountability on the part of the participants, regular follow up by the training company, and be able to show a measurable, quantifiable return on investment.