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Boost Your Small-Business Sales
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Article 8: How And Where To Get Sales Training
There are few areas of human behavior with more resources for personal improvement than sales.
Thousands of books have been written on the subject. Amazon.com lists 2,954 titles on sales training alone. Countless consultants earn hefty fees to instruct on the subject. It seems that every day seminars are held somewhere on the art of salesmanship. And Google lists 7,480,000 hits for the phrase “sales training.”
Where to begin?
Look first to your own industry. Not all sales advice applies across the board. If you peddle heavy machinery directly to farmers you probably need a different approach than does the clerk at a shoe store.
Nearly every industry and trade organization provides sales training, either in classrooms, through mail-order courses or online. To fine-tune your sales acumen, search out those in your niche.
Seek experts with good reputations among your colleagues. With all the motivational and self-improvement gurus available, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Cut through the clutter by asking others in your company or industry what consultants they found most valuable. Word-of-mouth references are reliable.
Check out tips clubs and referral networks. These voluntary organizations routinely include face-to-face exercises designed to sharpen sales presentations. These are excellent venues to work out kinks in a sales talk. As a side benefit, you’ll probably find other members impressed by your practice presentations who became interested in buying from you.
You don’t need to hire experts to learn from them. Tag along on sales visits with a sales rep of good repute. After silently observing the give and take, pick the seasoned pro’s brain to understand the sales call process.
A largely overlooked resource is the experience you have when you buy something. The next time you engage a salesperson, step outside the conversation and make mental notes on how the salesperson handles you, how your objections are dealt with, how you are brought into agreement to buy. The proof that the technique works is when you buy.
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