One of the best ways to improve results with your Sales Team is a structured and strategic training program. However, many Sales Managers find it difficult to decide what training is needed, how much is needed and how often. Combine this with time pressure and many managers choose the three-day intensive sales seminar where their employees sit down to listen to an "expert" and tell them things they already know or forget when they return to their hotel that night.
The bad news is that there is no single solution for business training. It is very likely that your team members have individual strengths and weaknesses and different levels of experience. So if you send everyone on the same course, you can not only waste money but also demoralize the best employees.
The good news is that with a little strategic planning, you can develop a program that will not only move your business results in the right direction but also help your sales team. Before you start, you have to do some housework. It is important that you take the time to honestly assess the strengths and weaknesses of your team, the gaps in their knowledge, collectively and individually, and the needs of your business. Are you losing your business due to a lack of understanding of the product? Is your sales process interrupted somewhere? Do you have the ability to use the provided software or equipment? Gaining deep insight into your sales statistics over time will be enormously helpful, but more importantly, talk to each member individually to evaluate their specific needs. This way you will know that the training you are about to provide will be effective.
Sometimes it is useful to bring in a "fresh pair of eyes" someone who is not emotionally attached to your business and who has a vast experience in troubleshooting in business development. A Corporate Sales Trainer can be hired. An experienced Corporate Sales Trainer has probably consulted and worked with businesses just like yours and helped them overcome their sales team issues. When you train your own sales force you are repeatedly showing them what you know. A different outside consultant will have a different technique. Knowledge is power. Allow new knowledge and innovation into your company from someone with a proven track record in corporate sales training.