Is it Time to Spend Real Money on Sales Training?
If an organization feels like it really must teach "knowledge," then what about knowledge of one's self (i.e, your goals, strengths and weaknesses)? Or a knowledge of the buyer (the organization structure, their competitors, their vision)? Or what about teaching important legal, environmental and ethical aspects of business or how businesses work? Companies do not spend enough time on this because they do not have the knowledge they need to discuss it in relation to the most important aspect of any sale - the customer. Everyone talks about "talking to the executive level." This is how you do that - through relevant knowledge. Not by teaching salespeople the features and functions of a software tool or solution knowledge in general. If a company cannot articulate the relevant business knowledge, buyer knowledge, and salesperson knowledge in relation to their solution, they will not attain the level of effectiveness they seek.
Sales Management and corporate executives should therefore seek to understand how selling effectiveness is built upon understanding the components of knowledge, skills, and abilities that will most likely lead to the best behaviors and outputs of a salesperson within a given territory or market. Every buying organization is unique and every territory is unique (selling in the U.S is different then selling in Greece, etc). What allows a salesperson to customize and personalize their approach within that constantly changing landscape is "competency." Competency is defined by our organization as the knowledge, skills, and abilities that lead to the right behaviors in a selling situation.
Related Tags: sales training, sales, sales management, salesperson, sales effectiveness
Brian is the Chairman and Founder of the the United Professional Sales Association (UPSA). UPSA is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington DC that has addressed the concerns and challenges of individual sales professionals. Brian has authored the world's first universal selling standards and open-source selling framework for free distribution. This 'Compendium of Professional Selling' containing the commonly accepted and universally functional knowledge that all sales professionals possess. The open-source selling standards have been downloaded in 16 countries by over 300 people. Over 30 people have made contributions.
Because UPSA is not owned by one person or any company, it is a member organization and guardian of the global standard of entry into the sales profession.
Find out about the membership organization and understand the processes and framework of professional selling at the UPSA Website at http://www.upsa-intl.org.
Find out more about Brian at: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert_bio=Brian_Lambert
Or at http://www.brianlambert.biz
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