For salespeople only…
Does your company offer sales training for new salespeople? Is this better than sales training from an outside source? Here is what you should know.
If your company offers sales training, it’s almost always product training and you learn an approach that the company recommends.
Usually, the vast majority of the value of this essential training, is in the product knowledge you will gain….the company history…maybe advantages and benefits of certain exclusive features you offer.
But let’s assume the initial sales training offers sales approaches, sales scripts. and prospecting scripts. …who wrote the training program? Who is training the new person?
As an example, I have learned several sales presentations selling several different high end products. At least two of these sales presentations were created by the engineers of the company. Phenomenal product presentations without any hint of sales skill. A few company sales programs were written by the CEO. If the CEO is the top salesperson in the company, this is often a good approach. Some presentations were created by consultants in the industry. Sometimes very useful, sometimes not. Many of these presentations include an awful lot of wasted information on the history of the company and the life of the founder. None of this is interesting to a sales prospect.
But when should you start reading additional sales material, other than what is offered by your company?
My suggestion is to go though your company sales training first, concentrating on what you can learn from it. The skills and information you’ll gather here is essential , even if it’s basic.
Only after you have gone through your company’s initial sales training, and are already out in the field, or in an office making calls….actually making money…should you look to learn more about selling from a real expert.
Why? Most sales training isn’t specific to your industry. You’ll need to adapt, modify, and apply what you learn to real life sales situations. You should already be selling for several months, to be able to profitably apply what you learn the next day on actual sales calls.
For example, my One Call Closing sales training program is thorough…and some of it is advanced. To a very new salesperson, some of these ideas may seem pretty advanced. So I won’t accept a student with less than 6 months of actual sales experience in the field. This training is far more comprehensive than what’s in my book by the same title. Some of it is advanced enough that you;’ll need some experience selling, just so the ideas will make sense.
Anyway, My suggestion is to do your initial company sales training…and only then take on advanced training from another source.
