The dichotomy facing sales leaders now, is how they reconcile the fact that most corporations today provide less upfront training for their sales staff than in years past, yet attach increasing importance to staff development?

This should not come as a surprise, because current stock market thinking provides a powerful disincentive for firms to invest in their people on an ongoing basis. An organisation’s investment in their human capital, in the form of training and other forms of education, is not separable from general expenditure. It therefore appears as a cost on the corporate balance sheet.

Tough Choices:
Unfortunately, as a consequence, most sales leaders have concluded that their only realistic option is to cut back on training and instead look to recruit sales professionals who, in theory anyway, already possess the necessary skills needed to do the job. They then send them out to win business armed with what they know.
However, most of those same sales leaders are discovering just how difficult it is to find skilled salespeople who have all of the essential skills and personal traits. And anyway it is not possible to equate experience or seniority with success.

As I have said on numerous occasions: Some frontline sales professionals do have ten year’s experience, but most have one year’s experience ten times.

In skills development there are many similarities to sport i.e. does an athletic champion stop training as soon as they win their first medal? In music, does a concert pianist stop rehearsing as soon as they have given their first recital? In art, does the artist stop improving after they have enjoyed the first exhibition of their work?

The answer in all cases is obvious and we should apply the same common sense principals to the ongoing development of our sales teams.

The reality is that selling in today’s climate is both an art and a science. Selling is a profession that demands a far wider range of skills than ever before, skills that require continual fine-tuning and constant practice.

In Summary – Ongoing Reinforcement and Development Is Essential:
The operative word here is “ongoing”. Even if salespeople have undergone progressive sales training, there’s no guarantee that they will be successful. It is common knowledge that skills grow rusty over time and salespeople are prone to pick-up bad habits along the way or to simply skip steps and take shortcuts that can lead to long-term trouble.

Perhaps even more important these days, is the fact that markets, competition, technologies, and customer preferences are all in a constant and accelerating state of change.

This fact requires that sales people are able and willing to rethink their sales strategy and approach frequently and receive a regular top-up of skills and motivational coaching.

Today’s News: All this week, to coincide with the launch of the TSE VIP Choices campaign,  I have twenty FREE places to give away for upcoming TSE events.

Today, you can grab a seat for Tuesday’s TSE Masterclass, featuring Dave Brock & Niall Devitt

The Good News: Customers Want To Buy. The Bad News: They Can’t Find the Funding
Tuesday June 2nd 2009 1:00 PM EASTERN (6:00 PM GMT)

If your target is small and medium-sized businesses, how do you get salespeople to recognize the importance of doing the right job in financial marketing/selling to their customers?

How well do you understand:

■The financial/business justification process for your customers?
■Key metrics they track, key hurdle rates, how they evaluate new investment proposals/authorizations?
■Key financial decision makers and their drivers?
If you customers really don’t have the cash to invest, how do you help them find the funds?

a.    Flexibility in terms.

b.    Helping find bank finance.

c.    Government loans/grants.

Simply click here to claim your FREE place.

Tomorrow: It is “Jill Konrath Day” so be sure to join me.

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