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Train always

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Robert King is president of The King Consortium, founder of Executive Exchange and author of "Are You An Exceptional Salesperson?" He lives in Midlothian with his wife and two sons. Learn more about The King Consortium,

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by Robert King
for Virginia Business
June 2006

A popular platform for our training organization is the examination of arrogance that pervades the salesperson culture. We attempt to differentiate between healthy confidence and natural arrogance. After working with salespeople for many years, we have discovered that the most disappointing personification of arrogance is lack of preparation.

I studied acting and presentation skills in college. In that study, I learned firsthand the importance of practice. Did you know that actors will rehearse more than 100 hours before performing in front of an audience? Imagine how impressive your people's presentations would be if they were to practice for more than 100 hours. Some of them have yet to practice a presentation, ever, in their entire sales career. For the most part, salespeople "wing it". Imagine this: salespeople who have elevated themselves higher than the likes of Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Carly Patterson, Serena Williams, Robert DeNiro, Yo-Yo Ma, and Arcadi Volodos. Athletes, Singers, Actors, Olympians, Musicians. They all practice. But, not salespeople?!?!? It just doesn't make any sense!

Another form of unfortunate arrogance is corporate arrogance. I recently found myself in a cocktail party conversation with an average salesperson who said, "Our company doesn't have sales training because we don't hire people without experience." He had no clue how misguided this point-of-view is. What does it say about a company that has no interest in seeing its people learn new skills or refine the skills they already have? What does it say about the individual?

When the numbers are down, what's the first thing cut from the budget? You know: TRAINING! The opposite is what is necessary! CEOs, sales managers: Train your people in every business climate and at all times.
I was working as a publisher during the advertising crunch of 2002. Every market suffered. Businesses cut back. Some closed. Guess what? Our publication prospered. We had double-digit growth that year. Why? Our team had exceptional skills derived from sound training.

In fairness to companies and corporations, I will say that the fact that sales managers are hesitant to engage sales training is really the training providers. Time and time again corporations skip training and development because of lack of confidence in the results or the content of the training. Too many times have they invested in programs that were unsubstantial and produced little-to-no results or were a flat-out waste of time.

For mid-size to large companies, and even some entrepreneurs out there, you now have an evaluator/consultant to assist you with your decision-making process for sales training. Dave Stein, author of "How Winners Sell" and a former successful sales trainer, has identified a need in the marketplace for this type of careful evaluation of sales training providers and has created Effectiveness Solutions Research. Check it out. Sound advice from an independent source may help to restore confidence in corporate allocation of funds for sales training.

As Dave will tell you, the answer is not to stop training. The danger is your competition will crush you. You've heard it said, "You build great companies by building great people." Continue to provide sales education that will make your people better. For those at companies or corporations with the power and budget to choose training, I suggest to you three considerations. First, find sales training that is customized to your industry, ideally to your company. Second, the training has to be accessible so that you or your reps can implement it quickly and easily. And, finally, in order for training to be effective, it must be sustainable. It should make an indisputable difference in one's life and one's income - or the lives of your people - and ultimately the company's bottom line.

Are there sales training providers that deliver or exceed expectations? You bet. If you are in a decision-making position and can approve training, do it. If you are in a position to receive or benefit from training, do it. Take the time to make an investment in your people and yourself. This will help to cultivate their/your confidence. I have yet to attend a training class of any type where I did not learn something. The exceptional sales manager trains their people always and in every business climate.

Robert King is president of The King Consortium, founder of Executive Exchange and author of Are You An Exceptional Salesperson? He lives in Midlothian with his wife and two sons. To learn more about The King Consortium, visit: www.thekingconsortium.com.