LIBN Advertorial 4/28/97 edition

THE SALES COACH
A Sales Training Program That Produces Winners
by Michael J. Galante

Sales training is often described as the process of teaching selling skills, such as prospecting, qualifying, presentation and closing. As there is no doubt that these skills are essential, they are only a portion of a solid sales training program.

The goal of all training should be to produce competent, self-sufficient salespeople who can operate in the field without constant supervision or assistance from their manager. Each rep should be an extension of the sales manager, who himself can handle any selling situation effectively.

In order to accomplish this goal and prepare salespeople properly, a sales manager must include three key components in the sales training program.

• Product Knowledge - Each rep should have complete knowledge of your company, products, industry, market or customer and your competitors. The more they know about your company and it's policies the better they can communicate with customers. When they fully understand all the features, benefits and values of your products they make better presentations. They should know what's happening in your industry, keep track of trends, mergers, new products, etc. This way they can offer better advice to your customers. And they should know what your competition is doing so they can sell against them more easily.
• Selling Skills - Two of the most important selling skills are prospecting and overcoming objections. When salespeople do these well, they make a lot of sales. When they do them poorly, they are doomed to failure. Other important skills are being able to ask probing questions, listening, building rapport, customer service, negotiating and time management.
• Personal Attributes - Being self-confident and having high self-esteem are tremendous personal attributes. However, they are not possessed by all salespeople. While there is no formal training program for these, you can give people the support they need to feel better about themselves. Strong, organized, well prepared people are more likely to succeed. Set up successful practice sessions back at the office that will give them the confidence and motivation to go after those tough customers. Your job is to make them feel like they can conquer the world.

A well rounded salesperson is proficient in each of these areas. In order to cover all this material your training program will have to be ongoing. Don't stop after a new employee's first two weeks of orientation. Have an intense schedule when they first join the company, then hold weekly or bi- weekly sessions in order to cover the rest of the material. Pick a timely topic or theme for each meeting. Ask your people what they would like to work on or are having the most trouble with. Let top producers run some training meetings for a change of pace.

The phrase "sales training" is a very broad and all encompassing statement. When done properly it produces long term success. And success comes to those who know their product and their industry, are in command of all the selling skills and have the confidence and motivation to approach people with an offer. Sales managers who understand and apply this principle will have a sales force that is armed and ready to compete in today's tough selling environment.

Michael J. Galante is president of Galante & Company (Long Island), a sales training firm that specializes in in-house training programs and one-on-one coaching sessions.
For more information call 1-800-405-8889