The Importance of Ongoing Sales Training in Today’s Competitive Business World

The practice of reading is as old as civilisation itself, and before the concept of currency was established, it was based on bartering goods for services or other goods and vice versa. However, as the population grew, modes of travel improved, and the use of gold and coinage replaced bartering; there was no formal sales training, and merchants had little option but to compete based on quality and prices.

Today, developing sales skills has become vital for a company to gain, maintain, and grow its market share. However, those same skills can be equally valuable in many aspects of our everyday lives. In a sense, all interactions between humans are transactions. Whether asking your boss for a raise, convincing a child to eat veggies or discussing holiday destinations with a spouse, achieving the outcome you want will require you to sell it.

More significantly, only by providing ongoing staff training for developing sales skills can a business expect to achieve its most fundamental goals: profitability and long-term sustainability.

The Key Elements of an Effective Sales Training Course

Often, especially in smaller businesses, new salespeople are coached by an existing staff member with experience but no formal training. While the practice can save money, it’s rarely cost-effective. Unintentionally and with the best will in the world, these “old hands” pass on bad habits they have never been taught to recognise and rectify.

The cost of ignorance is invariably far greater than that of a good sales training course. For best results, courses aimed at developing sales skills should address the following key elements:

• The sales process: Selling consists of several steps, from identifying and qualifying prospects to building trusted client relationships, securing deals and ensuring further business. Understanding these steps simplifies training.

• Product knowledge: While quoting sales brochures won’t cut it, knowing the key features of a product and its benefits to the customer and any unique selling points (USPs) can be vital when attempting to close a deal.

• Communication skills: The ability to communicate clearly and concisely is crucial when negotiating a sale. However, contrary to popular opinion, those who talk most usually sell the least. A seasoned sales trainer will focus on developing the active listening skills essential to hear and understand a client’s needs and how to meet them.

• Handling objections: Even the best salespeople regularly encounter objections, so it’s essential to learn how to overcome them in a manner that does not lead to conflict. Objections can take many forms, but there are ways to overcome all of them. Handling objections forms part of the closing process.

• Role play: Talking about these processes or watching audiovisual presentations is valuable, but applying them is the ultimate goal. Professional sales training will demonstrate these and teach learners how to use them through role-playing to practice and perfect the essential elements of the sales processes they will depend on when they meet face-to-face with their first real customer.

Expert Sales Training in Gauteng

Orgro is a Johannesburg-based company specialising in the essential requirements of organisational development, including training and coaching for sales personnel. Don’t delay. Contact us now and give your sales team a much-needed edge in today’s increasingly competitive business arena.