When a new salesperson comes on board in your organization, what happens?  In most companies, he or she sits through weeks of lectures by key company representatives or attends generic, off-the-shelf training.  There are possibly a few role-plays, some entertaining war-stories, followed by an endless dump of information on all the features of your company’s products and services.  
 
What's missing?  Practice (and feedback from internal experts) in applying the product information to your company’s sales process.  Lots of practice and a requirement to actually demonstrate all the skills the job requires before going out and talking to customers.
 
According to Dr. Seth Leibler, CEO of CEP, The Center for Effective Performance, “You need to integrate product training with the sales process so that new salespeople experience in training precisely what they will be required to do on the job.”
 
“The key,” says Leibler, “is to give people practice and supportive feedback in applying their product knowledge in critical sales situations.”  For the training to be effective, you must create explicit performance expectations for sales people that articulate precise job performance requirements and the standards by which performance will be measured.  Training, including product knowledge information, should be limited to only what is essential for meeting those performance requirements.
 
Leibler offers the following additional recommendations for developing training programs aimed at generating increased revenue:
--Integrate product knowledge into training for all key processes, including sales, help desks, or technical services
--Limit product knowledge to only what is essential for meeting very precise performance requirements
--Translate technical product documentation into language that can be readily understood by employees and customers
--Provide opportunities in training for learners to work with, touch, and experience the products themselves
--Don’t try to teach every product or service in industries where products often go out of date or where there are a multitude of product/service combinations.  Instead, teach the basics of your product/service line with special concentration on those they will be specifically accountable for selling.
 
When salespeople can successfully show they are competent in the skills the job requires, they become much more confident.  “Behavioral science research tells us that people need both skills and self-confidence to perform,” adds Leibler.  “By applying these recommendations, organizations will be positioned to grow revenue and improve the return on investment for sales training and product training programs.”
 
The workforce performance experts at CEP can help you increase sales in your organization.  For more information, call 770.458.4080 or visit www.cepworkforceperformance.com.