Importance of Sales Training in your Organisation

Everybody agrees that Marketing & Sales is the single most key function of any business for generating sales, income, growth & scale.

All businesses, incl. micro, small & medium businesses & beyond, in order to remain in business, require some type of selling platform or venue, to sell their products & services.

Some businesses allow their websites to do all the selling. Most businesses depend on selling in person or over phone, through their sales teams. It’s therefore imminent to have salespeople who’re well trained to represent the organisation (or brands) in a professional manner and sell their products or services effectively & successfully.
Customers today demand to be educated about their purchase and can gain access to information about your product or service at the click of a button.

The more interactive, engaging and transparent your brand is, better are the chances of your prospects wanting to do business with you.

Also, these prospects:

• Are so often confused with myriad of choices
• Want to hear that one good reason why they should buy your product or service to be explained
• The reason why they should buy FROM YOU should be established (sell yourself)
• There’s a gap between promise & delivery amongst your competition – who better than you can explain that, in a convincing manner
• Cust. Support / Cust. Care / After Sales / Buy Back / Guarantees – Warranties need to be re-iterated
• Project the brand promise – superlatives, etc for customer pride…

Whether you run your own business or work for a company in a sales-related role, you need to hone your selling skills periodically, more so, to continue selling in this digital age.

Customers are usually very intuitive can sense an inauthentic, incompetent or dishonest sales person easily.

Role of Sales Training Programs for an Organization

How the role of sales training is perceived, really depends on the organizational leadership.
There are organizations who think it is really a waste of time and that sales team learn best while doing their job.
There are also organizations that invest a lot of time and money to train their sales people and you can tell by their sales performance and motivation.

Regardless, let’s evaluate the benefits of training sales team(s) periodically, in organisations:

1. For Increased Revenue: The sales department, of course, is the main revenue-generating department in any organization, while others have support functions. In the highly competitive marketplace, the onus is upon the sales people to offer the right product to the right customer at an opportune time. By providing the training to the sales staff, you prepare your sales people to tackle the challenges and win sales for your organisation effectively and successfully.
2. For Enhanced Product Knowledge: Information on one’s own products as well as those of competitors is fundamental for sales. A new sales person needs to be well versed with the product or service that he is going to sell. A training program provides the opportunity to inform the staff about the products or services that the organization provides. Information can be passed on in an authentic way, leaving no room for ambiguity or misinformation that might arise if the staff is left to learn about it on their own.
3. For Procedural Compliance: In many industries, organizations need to follow certain rules and regulations while selling a product or a service. It is particularly true in the service sector such as the insurance industry where employees have to adhere to the norms set by the local regulatory bodies such as IRDA, etc. If employees are not made aware of these rules and regulations, companies may be answerable to the regulatory authorities. Hence, the sales team needs to be well-versed with all the information around compliance & regulatory.
4. For Soft Skills Training: Selling involves analytical skills as well as creative skills. By providing training in leadership, team-building and communication skills, employees will be better equipped to showcase companies’ products/services and use their persuasive skills to convince potential customers that their product/service best meets the requirements of the customer. This ultimately helps in more sales and thereby more revenue for organizations.
5. For Motivating Sales Teams: Sales training also provides an opportunity for managers to keep their sales team motivated. With team-building activities and morale boosting workshops, managers ensure that the sales team does not lose focus of the sales targets and organizational goals. It reduces employee turnover and increases productivity.
6. For Ensuring Business Values and Ethics:With pressure on sales targets, there is a risk of employees compromising on organizational business values and ethics.
   For an organization to succeed in the long run, it has to ensure that its employees follow the business values it stands for and training is an appropriate platform to drive home this message to the sales team.
   In short, a sales training program:
   • increases the efficiency and productivity of a sales person
   • helps in accessing the abilities of a sales person
   • improves the organization’s top line revenues

   In conclusion, sales training is an investment that helps organizations remain sustainable and competitive in the long run. It also motivates the sales team and helps them to remain up-to-date with respect to the company’s products, market and competition..

   Therefore, if you are looking to improve your top line revenues, then this is the time you may want to consider investing on yourself as well as your sales teams in a sales training intensive to thrive in a transforming sales environment in this digital age.

   NexGen Consultants Intl. conducts Open Workshop for Selling Skills as well as In-House Sales Training Programs, customised to address the success gaps relating to selling skills.

   Please visit: www.selltothrive.in