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Sales Education To Keep A Motivated Sales Team

By Lynn Mattoon
Beyond.com

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Whether you have a seasoned group of sales professionals or some employees who are brand new to their sales jobs, training sessions are worthwhile. Even if your company has cut the training budget, as a manager you should still set time aside for sales education.

Educate Your Sales Staff
There are many ways to educate your sales staff. Think "education" rather than training as training has more of a "following these steps" mentality. Surely mature sales professionals don't need to be "trained." Training is more appropriate for your first week on the job. Yet all salespeople are capable of learning something new or discovering better ways to approach their sales jobs. As a manager you should take charge of your staff's education.

Revisit, Refresh, Re-Motivate
Learning through presentation and discussion isn't the only goal of sales education. It's also an excellent way to show you take an interest in your staff's development. Not only that but it takes them out of the daily grind, refreshing and re-motivates them, allowing them consider new ideas and revisiting some proven sales techniques they may have stopped using. As a manager you might also gain knowledge about your staff's challenges. This can help you to make necessary improvements.

Engage Your Staff
Make sure your education sessions aren't long, drawn-out, and boring. Appropriately-timed, lively, focused sessions will keep minds sharp, people actively involved, and refreshed when they leave the room. After all, it is important for your staff to focus their sales activities in order to achieve results, so your education session must be focused for you to achieve results with them. If you do not successfully engage your employees you will find your underachievers to have even less motivation when they head back to work and your go-getters angry about the time they've wasted when they could be making sales.

Time it Right
Timing is important when it comes to sales education sessions. The go-getter that complains he's wasting his time in your session when he could be making sales may be absolutely right! Don't pick a peak time of the week, day, or month to hold your session.

Plan & Focus
Once you have the appropriate time, make sure the session has an appropriate length and absolute end-time. This way your staff will know what to expect and you can plan out what you want to focus on for the session. The better you plan, the better your results.

Present Something New
Don't forget to bring in something new. While refresher topics are good, don't forget to introduce new ideas, new methods, new examples of good sales techniques. Invite a lively discussion and create some excitement. Get everyone to participate. Your goal, of course, is to increase productivity and increase sales. Education isn't about the status-quo, it is about growth! How can your sales grow without learning and implementing something new?

Be Results-Oriented
Finally, make yourself and your staff accountable. Ask them to notice and track how the sales techniques discussed worked for them during the week or month. Tell them to bring their information to your next session. Follow up with them between sessions. Make sure time has been well-spent and you are achieving real results.

Revised: 01/06/2010 - Article Viewed 392 Times

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Biography

Lynn is a content editor/career writer for Beyond.com and their many niche job search web sites, including salesheads.com. SalesHeads.com offers job postings and resources for those pursuing sales careers.

Contact Information

Lynn Mattoon
Beyond.com
lynnm@beyond.com

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