Sales training should start with the end in mind

There’s a fundamental flaw with the way most B2B companies approach sales training and enablement. The de facto approach is usually to focus on the process, not the outcome …

“We’ve got $50k sales enablement budget, let’s see what we can get for that?”

“We want you to do a two day off-site for our sales team, what will you cover and what will it cost?”

Sales training is often treated like a tick in the box, a necessary evil or a way to spend some ‘use it or lose it’ enablement budget.

How should it be treated?

Vendors should start with the end in mind and work backwards….

• We need $10m in additional sales revenue, how can you deliver that for us?
• We want to increase our competitive win rate by 15%, what’s your strategy to help us achieve this?
• We want to avoid discounting so much, which erodes our margin.
• We want to increase our deal values by 10%
• We want to increase our deal volumes by 20%

The outcome you’re seeking from your sales training should be your starting point, to dictate the budget and scope of the program of work.

There’s so much sales training out there, so many different methodologies, it’s no wonder sales people are confused about what works and what doesn’t.

Generic and vanilla vs specific and targeted? I know my preference!

Cian McLoughlin is the Amazon #1 bestselling author of Rebirth of the Salesman, a regular keynote speaker at sales kick-off’s around the world and one of the Top 50 Sales bloggers in the world for the past 2 years. He is a passionate proponent of an ethical, honest and authentic approach to sales. His company, Trinity Perspectives, is committed to helping sales organizations unlock the latent potential of their customers’ insights with their Win Loss Analysis and Sales Transformation services. To read more of Cian’s sales articles visit www.trinityperspectives.com.au/blog