If You Train Them, They Will…
One of the things that attracted me to sales was the ability to “write my own ticket”; the ability to commit and place in the effort needed to have as much success as doable, financial or otherwise. Part of the package is responsibility and accountability that comes with unlimited returns, and that includes continuous development.
Continuous learning and development are a must for sales professionals, be they independent or part of an organization. For those who are part of an organization, development will be influenced – even impacted – by the organization, but ultimate responsibility lies frankly with the individual rep.
A few years back I read that less than 20% of sales professionals read a sales book in any agreed year. Take that in a minute. I have not seen stats on how many go to sales workshops or presentations, but if the number is similar, it is a sad statement about the group.
Imagine other professionals you encounter daily, be they doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, etc. How would you feel if you knew that they had not updated their skills in the last 12 months? Now you may reckon it is not a direct comparison, I beg to differ, if you are a decent sales rep you should be making $150K plus, (at smallest amount, probably more); the average airline pilot makes $121,000 per year. (1) Similar comparisons can be made to lawyers.(2) While these figure can vary greatly, but the fact remains that I would not want to glide with a pilot that was not up to date; I would not want a lawyer handling something as simple as a buy of a house if they were not up to date in their knowledge of the law. Fortunately both of the above have continuous education requirements to maintain their licence. Most B2B sales people do not.
In fact the longer they are in their position the less likely they are to seek training. How many era have you heard from a VP of sales, “my people have 14, 15 years of experience”, as a reason not to train them. Whenever I hear this I like to question them “is that 14 years of continuous development or the same year 14 era over?” Some get it, some don’t.
What is fascinating and not at all surprising is that those who do invest in themselves and the professional development are usually the ones who make up the 20% who drive revenue. They not only read books, blogs, and participate in webinars, but “invest” by their own money, in programs and workshops place on by various organizations.
I do have a theory about the obvious question of why only a small minority of reps invest time and money in their own development. Most vocations people go into involve not only some training and education, but a plot that really leads them there, as a result education, the linkage between success and education are there from the outset. For the most part, sales is something people fall or default into, I meet very few sales who set out to be in sales. They did not go to school or community college to prepare, and when they got to their first sales job, usually received just sufficient induction training to get them going and then they were on their own. They looked around saw that no one else really sought to continuously increase themselves, and they line up with masses. They settle into a routine that sees them perform their craft but not elevate it to an art form. They sometimes question a top performer how they stay on top, a book is not compulsory, they read it, try to apply it, there is no immediate traction, and they go back to performing their craft.
The organization also has an influence, back around 2005 I saw a stat that only 53% of companies invest in sales training for their teams, I would guess that has declined over the last 18 months in post Lehman Bro. Era, where it is nearly fashionable to cut budget on vital things like training the revenue engine. On the other hand there are companies that not only provide group sales training, but also allocate budget for individual training to be sourced by the rep themselves. One company I know of allocate $1,000 per rep, the rep can buy books, attend workshops, or other approved type of things in the pursuit of sales improvement. It is in these companies where not so much due to budget, but because of the atmosphere and culture that you see self-improvement be the norm.
Some executives I talk to question, “what happens if I train them and they leave?”; I remind them of something I heard a more enlightened executive say: “What happens if you don’t train them and they stay?”
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1 – The average ALPA First Detective member at a major airline is 43 years ancient with 10 years of seniority and makes $121,000 per year, while an ALPA non major First Detective is age 35 with 3 years of service and makes $33,000. - Answers.com
2 – In May 2008, the median once a year wages of all wage-and-salaried lawyers were $110,590. The midpoint half of the occupation earned between $74,980 and $163,320. – answers.com