Every day I have the opportunity to interview salespeople to determine whether I want to spend time training them in the knowledge and skills of selling. I don’t want to waste their employer’s money if the salespeople are not committed to improving their skills, allowing them to produce more profit for their employer. I feel a deep commitment to produce a fabulous return on a business owner’s investment in sales training. I’m confident in the programs taught and trained at the Business Performance Group and I need to feel just as confident in the salespeople I work with.
I’m looking for a positive attitude and a desire to improve their situation. I’m looking for a person that wants more out of life and one that is willing to pay the price required for success. I’m looking for a salesperson who knows they can improve and is willing to work hard and apply new methods of achieving success. I’m looking for salespeople who have dreams and goals, people who want more out of life than they ever imagined possible. I’m looking for salespeople who are willing to move beyond their comfort zone and take a risk in doing things they have never done before in order to achieve their dreams. What are you willing to do in order to achieve your own dreams and goals?
I was speaking with a business owner the other day who asked me what he should do with his salespeople if after I interviewed them, I decided not to train them. My answer was simple and straightforward. I told him that I didn’t care what he did with them, that was his decision. Personally, I wouldn’t keep a salesperson who didn’t want to improve, unless I was satisfied with his or her performance. At that point I would have to decide if someone else could do better and if I was willing to sacrifice what I could achieve with someone else for what I was getting with my current salespeople. I believe that a salesperson who is given the opportunity to improve their performance, should capitalize on that opportunity. By not striving for improvement, they are telling their employer that they don’t care about the success of the company.
The world is full of mediocrity. It can be found in every facet of the workplace. Selling is no exception. Sales training is a seven billion dollar per year industry and yet most salespeople don’t take the initiative to improve their performance. I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a physician. He told me that he spends more than ten hours each week, learning and improving his skills to remain on the cutting edge, no pun intended, of his profession. Professionals in all areas spend time improving their skills to be at the top of their game. Many professions require a certain number of continuing education credits each year to maintain their accreditation or license to practice. What are you doing to improve your performance and to stay on top of your sales game?
Imagine what you could accomplish in the field of sales if you spent ten hours each week, learning and improving your skills. Most salespeople have no idea how good they can actually be at selling. When the economy is strong they have decent sales results and when the economy is struggling, like it has been for the past three years, their sales are down. They rationalize their performance based on the economy. I wouldn’t want my surgeon rationalizing my recovery just because he didn’t know the latest procedures and medical techniques. Salespeople, get your selves trained. Business owners, get your salespeople trained. In the past three years there have been many companies who have flourished while their competitors have closed their doors. The companies that have flourished trained their salespeople and the ones who closed their doors didn’t. Sales training is not a cost, but rather, an investment in the success of your company. It is not too late to begin. Those companies who provide programs for their salespeople will always out perform those that don’t and in this economy it might be the difference between achieving more success than you ever dreamed possible, or shutting your doors for the last time.
