“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings by changing the inner attitudes of their minds can change the outer aspects of their lives.” William James
If we look at a sales-person in terms of sales skills and personal abilities, then sales training may affect changes in sales skills. The Transformational Learning model produces a change in the person. For rookies, sales training is necessary. However, veterans usually find sales training does not provide a sufficient solution for significantly increasing performance. The solution for achieving significant sales improvements depends on changes within the salesperson, not the training.
The traditional steps in personal selling have been around in essentially the same form since the early part of the 1900’s. These steps to a sale follow the process of prospecting, pre-approach, approach, sales presentation, handling objections, overcoming resistance, closing, and post-sale follow-up. You know the drill. Even though there are very elaborate programs, most sales training still focuses on variations of these traditional skills. However, top salespeople are not simply using these steps more effectively; rather, they are working in a completely different realm. They are performing in ways that generate incredible revenue. You can too! However, sales training programs do not provide the environment, nor are they designed, for teaching you these transformative methods.
The differences between top performers and less effective salespeople are more complex than learning selling techniques. Furthermore, in most instances, salespeople who want to improve their sales will interfere with their own progress. This occurs at two critical times. The first is at the very beginning of the improvement process when one is required to look at their situation objectively. The other critical time is when a salesperson feels threatened by a commitment to strategic action, so they maintain their usual routine. Of course, over time this only adds to their frustration. We know how to solve this dilemma.
Adult learning theory holds the key because adults resist learning anything that does not fit their accepted models. This phenomenon occurs even though these models are not serving them move toward their goals. Therefore, a salesperson continues to produce roughly the same amount every year because they are captive in their own training models, and continue living into them.
Your industry and company most likely provide sales training that focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary for you to do your job. They do not include the specific growth strategies for your unique method of carrying out the job of selling. In just the past few decades, sales research has identified sales performance indicators, critical success factors, and cognitive functions that determine high performance. They are available to you now, but will most likely not become commonly known for another generation.
Of course, the salesperson also has the options of either taking or not taking action.
