Why do sales trainings fail?

By: Adhir Uzcátegui*

The acquisition of new sales habits in this security industry, which the only constant is change, requires sellers much more than a conference, a seminar, a clinic, a workshop or the reading of a text. It requires them, first of all, to discard already rooted habits, which requires even more effort than creating new habits.

On the other hand, many salespeople survive by practicing ineffective habits. It's the same as a secretary used to typing with two fingers on her computer. He doesn't train to do it with all ten fingers because he knows that for some time he will work slower. He understands that an efficient method will make him more productive in a few days, but, for the time being, he fills more pages by typing with two fingers.

In the same way, salespeople understand the importance of learning new things, in my seminars they enthusiastically attend the training days, they understand what they explain there, from time to time they read the books that are recommended to them, but the next day, when they are in front of their client, they resort to their current habits.

Another form of training that was formerly used with salespeople was sales clinics. The seller would confront a co-worker, who was tasked with the role of buyer, and try to sell him an alarm or monitoring product or service. Meanwhile, the trainer, his bosses, and his peers looked at the scene and judged the poor salesman's performance.

Several facts threaten the effectiveness of sales clinics in electronic security. One of them, which takes place under fictional circumstances, which usually differ greatly from a real interview. They are made in the presence of bosses and co-workers, who are, without a doubt, the last audiences in front of which a salesperson wants to make mistakes. The desire to show off inhibits the performance of both the seller and the buyer.

Something similar happens when a supervisor accompanies the salesperson in the interview with his customers. Their presence alters the natural circumstances of the interview. The seller will look to show off in front of his boss. The boss, for his part, will try to prove why he is. In any case, the seller will feel judged and act with some level of inhibition and this is very common in our Latino culture.

Some security companies ask their star salespeople to pass on their professional secrets to apprentices. The results are calamitous. As Neil Rackham says, efficient salespeople can rarely explain their successes. This doesn't just happen in sales; the same goes for the most prominent figures in all fields. This is why very few great athletes become great coaches and I'm not talking about Maradona. The most outstanding in each profession often do things naturally, not realizing what makes them different.

On the other hand, there is an appreciable difference between what efficient marketers say they do to achieve their results and what they actually do. Anyone who wants to know how expert salespeople work should go out with them and watch them in action, never sticking to what they say next.

Rackham's appraisals suggest a useful methodology for training novice salespeople: allowing them to accompany the successful ones to see them perform, without paying much attention to the advice they will surely be willing to give them. The idea is not that they learn from their teachings but from their performance in front of customers. The purpose of this accompaniment is for beginner salespeople to assimilate the winning habits of successful salespeople by watching them work, not listening to their recommendations. By observing the winners, rather than attending to their explanations, an attentive salesperson can learn very useful lessons.

• Closing techniques.

• Handling of objections.

• Presentation of the benefits of products and services.

• Open and closed questions.

These concepts were exposed a long time ago and are still presented as the basis of any salespeople training.

Now, how effective are these concepts? They have been shown to be effective only for sales of products or services whose sale is specified in a single interview with the buyer, which are called low-priced products.

But they are not effective to sell products or services whose sale requires several interviews such as projects, which are of higher prices. It is shown that for products or services whose negotiation requires several visits, the so-called closing techniques that are so much promoted "simply do not work".

The technique of asking open and closed questions "is useless." And it shows that successful salespeople strive to avoid objections, not handle them.

Regarding the presentation of the benefits that the characteristics of the product or service represent to the client, they add very little when making sales.

If removing the old habits of salespeople requires more than a lecture, a seminar or reading a book, if sales clinics have not proven their effectiveness, if those who are successful in sales are not able to convey their secrets, and if the concepts on which salespeople are trained do not work, the conclusion is unfortunate: the training of sellers around the world is only in the experimental stage.

Happy Sales!!!!!

*If you wish you can write to the author of this article at the email [email protected]