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Why you need to make time for sales training

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John Sherman
2018-04-25

Did you know that only 13 percent of customers feel that salespeople understand their needs?

We can all agree that this is a shockingly low number - one you wouldn’t want to be associated with your company, right?

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Yet, with 55 percent of employees lacking basic skills they need for effective sales, it’s no wonder that businesses are struggling to satisfy customer needs and are not fulfilling their sales goals.

It’s common knowledge that sales are the most important part of business. That’s why most companies have a dedicated sales team that spends every day trying to grow their customer base, generate more leads and convert them into a return.

But despite the crucial role that the sales team play in a business, companies are ignoring the importance of sales training for their employees. There’s often an assumption that people working in sales already know what they’re doing…

But, this isn’t always true.

You can even have the best products or services in the world, but they won’t sell themselves. It takes more than just an extroverted personality to sell – it’s about making a connection with customers and understanding their needs, as well as asking and answering the right questions.

Sales aren’t easy and the whole process requires skill and technique. No basic script that you provide your employees with will make sales happen. It’s all about salespeople knowing what they’re doing, talking and listening to customers.

In a competitive business world, it’s more now more important than ever to make time for sales training. There’s no point in rushing your employees into contacting and dealing with customers – they’ve got to know what to do first for effective sales.

It’s important to remember that customers buy from your sales team – they are the face of your brand. So, why wouldn’t you want to invest in sales training to make your business better?

Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of sales training for your company.

High Win Rates

Sales are all about the numbers. Every company wants to boost productivity and increase leads and their return. So, what the best way you can have higher win rates? Well, it’s through training your staff in sales.

Using successful sales techniques that are common in the industry, you can make sure that employees are beating the competition and growing your customer base.

Training will provide your employees with the skills they need and learn how they can use these techniques themselves.

You want to get your new products and services out there and the better trained your employees are, the more success you’re going to have.

Sales training leads to higher win rates - it’s that simple.

Meet Customer Needs

There’s no point in trying to sell products and services to customers that don’t need them. This is a waste of their time and yours, as it will likely result in no sales.

Thus, sales figures will be higher when you are aligning the solutions that you offer to those that your customer needs. Through training, you can make sure that your employees understand customer needs and are able to identify what they want through recognized sales techniques.

At the end of the day, customers don’t want a generic sales pitch. They want someone to listen to them and understand what they want, rather than simply pushing a product or service on them. You can make sure your sales team know how to build meaningful relationships with customers through training.

In return, you not only generate sales, but you also build foundations of loyalty that mean customers are more likely to buy from you again and even talk about their experience and recommend your company to other people.

Confident Team

Training not only makes your sales team more knowledgeable and prepared to do their job, but it also helps to increase employee confidence.

When employees know what they’re doing and feel they’re confident in their role, this leads to a more natural flowing conversation with customers. They know what questions to ask and how to answer queries properly, which are important for sales.

This all leads to increasing the chances of closing a sale successfully.

Plus, when you’re confident in what you do, this gives you the motivation to carry on what you’re doing and this also leads to higher job satisfaction in the long run.

Low Staff Turnover

Sales can be stressful, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. But, with sales training, you can make sure that your employees receive all the support they need and feel knowledgeable about their role.

Plenty of statistics show that companies who have good training in place for their staff are more likely to have a lower turnover. That’s because employees look for more than just a big paycheck – they want to grow personally and professionally.

Providing sales training means you can continue their education after induction. We all know how expensive it can be to recruit new employees, so the last thing you want is to have to complete the process again and again because you aren’t supporting your staff properly. Sufficient training is economical and less time-consuming.

In addition, it takes new employees an average of two or three months to become an asset to your company. But, by providing sales training from the beginning, you can speed this up and make sure your new employees are valuable straight away.

With sales training, you can make sure your whole team speaks the same language. By providing materials that allow employees to learn new sales techniques and skills, you can improve the efficiency and sales effectiveness of your company.

This means that you can not only create sales goals, but you can actually achieve them. So, what are you waiting for?

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