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All the goal setting, networking, feedback, and sales metrics in the world won’t help improve your sales performance if your team members don’t have the skills and education necessary to do their jobs.
Now that’s not saying that you shouldn’t use each and every one of these methods to bring out the inner rock stars of your team members, but in order to ensure that your sales team meets your expectations, you must first give them the tools they need to do so.
You wouldn’t expect a band member to hop on stage and show up Jimi Hendrix on the guitar if they’ve never learned how to play. So why would you expect it from your sales team? Read on to learn tips and tricks to properly train your employees whether they are new to your team or have been there for a long time.
Utilize in-person training and online training
There are many methods for delivering training materials and depending on their learning style, your employees may respond better to one than the other. Incorporating both in-person and online methods will ensure that you reach each one of your employees and can help them improve their sales performance and reach their goals.
Encourage hands-on training
Can you learn to play guitar without ever picking up a guitar?
Most often, learning by doing helps individuals make the most of their training experience and internalize the lessons presented. However, learning by doing wrong doesn’t help in the long-run. Make sure that you work very closely with your employees so that they learn the proper way to contact potential clients, present the information, ask for the sale, handle objections, and follow up with customers.
Only train employees for their specific job
When you start a band, you don’t ask the drummer to learn how to play bass.
Depending on how your department is set up, each salesperson may not perform every function throughout a sales cycle. If this is the case for your team, train them on the necessary skills to perform their job and really focus in on perfecting those skills rather than giving them a blanket training.
Provide mentorship from senior or top-ranking sales agents
Chances are that you’ve got a few sales people who stand out above the rest. They have a great deal of knowledge that can help your newer team members thrive in their positions. Organize formal mentoring relationships, or provide the opportunity for those who are crushing their goals, to address the team during meetings and guide them to better skills and best practices.
“The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work.” – Michael Jackson
Bring in an outside perspective
Sometimes, no matter how knowledgeable your employees are, the team needs to hear advice from an outside source. A professional speaker or trainer provides not only education but motivation and can bring out the best in your team and help them reach new levels of success. Marvelless Mark® tells his clients that before you can party like a rock star, you must first learn to perform like a rock star.
There is nothing more frustrating than being asked to do a job that you aren’t trained to do. Avoid setting up your sales team for failure and instead invest in educating them to reach their goals and unleash their inner rock star.
Mark Kamp® aka Marvelless Mark® works with organizations who want their teams to achieve immediate rock star results. A Keynote Speaker/Entertainer/Author, Husband, Father, and child of God, his primary message, “Opportunity Rocks®” gives attendees a fresh new perspective on Sales, Marketing, and Employee Performance. Fun and engaging, Mark combines the success secrets of your favorite rock stars with just the right amount of entertainment to transform your employees into business rockstars. Learn more at www.OpportunityRocks.net.