Listen, I’m going to give you a really important piece of advice. DON’T DO TRAINING. Honestly, you’re not ready!
That’s what we’re forced to tell companies that just aren’t prepared to improve their sales performance.
Why do companies do training?
To either improve the speed-to-revenue or probability to increase revenue. Unfortunately, too many sales organizations are not prepared for the following reasons:
1. Executives think they can hire their sales issues away.
2. Sales leaders are not engaged in the learning & development of their sales team. They treat learning as a distraction.
3. Marketing has no alignment with sales, and content-to-revenue conversion funnels DO NOT exist.
4. Enablement is concentrating on “how to talk to the customer”, but provides little help on engaging the customer in a social world.
What companies don’t realize is that sales training (whether it is to implement methodologies or skills process) is a terrible investment without the proper support.
ANALOGY TIME: You’re back in University. You want to get a Commerce Degree, but your parents force you to major in Accounting, when you HATE numbers. Then, as you’re in class, your Teachers Assistance are talking behind the professors’ back, undermining the curriculum. Finally, as you’re seeking to join business clubs on campus, the organizers provide no assistance on the Who, Why, and When these club events are hosted.
4 years from now during graduation, do you think you’ll be poised to be a world-class Accountant?
Your company MUST, MUST, MUST have a 3 Way Love-Fest between:
- Enablement
- Sales Leadership
- Marketing
What does it look like when these 3 business units are in harmony?
1. Executives are fully onboard with growing talent, not necessarily buying it.
2. Sales Leaders provide unequivocal support and direction to the sales team, making everyone accountable to learning. The company is as good as it’s weakest sales rep.
3. Marketing is committed to building high quality & quantity content that will drive sales leads at a rapid pace.
4. Enablement is both supporting and learning themselves to become the ultimate 21st century resource in our digital and social world.
