Product Training or Sales Training?
When
I ask the question “Do you have sales meetings?” most often the answer is to
the
affirmative. Weekly, monthly,
quarterly or something else is the standard answer. But when it comes to content, a few follow up
questions are often needed. That’s when
the truth comes out; distributor sales meetings are rarely about sales. Oh, sometimes the numbers are reviewed. Goals are generally discussed near the
beginning and ending of each year. And
occasionally, distributors talk about the need for results on some supply-partner’s
new product line. Rarely, if ever, do
distributor leaders actually talk about the science of selling.
 |
| Without teaching about the science of selling, your meeting room may as well be empty |
Over
the past few days, I have participated in over a half dozen conversations
(phone, email and social media) on the topic of sales meetings. Allow me to highlight. In one conversation a manufacturer asked one
of their top distributors if they did sales training. Immediately and with great pride, the
distributor manager launched into a conversation on the product technology
training his team had covered over the past few months. The manufacturer tried to steer the meeting
back to selling skills with the mention of the Strategic Account course they
recently put their team through, but the conversation immediately turned to
product details.
Just
this morning I received the following message from a new LinkedIn.com
connection:
“I
enjoyed the article you posted on selling.
I am always interested in what’s happening in distribution sales, as it
is a pretty unique type of sales. Most
of the information I get is product based, so I always find it refreshing when
I see something that addresses the type of selling I do.”
This
is not an isolated situation. Over the
years I have heard this comment from distributors in the Industrial, Safety,
Automation, Fluid Power, PT and Electrical markets, as well as the Irrigation,
Automotive Parts, Sporting Goods and Motorcycle parts industries.
Considering
distribution is an industry which is primarily a “sales function” driven
business, I believe this is both a threat and an opportunity.
If
you are a long-time reader, you probably realize we cater to distributors who
are knowledge-based and solution selling organizations. Most of us pride ourselves on our product and
application skills. We add massive amounts
of value to our customers, but the customer has to get to know us first. Further, our industry is ever being squeezed to
be more efficient. For distributors, 60
percent of our budget is spent on our people and salespeople represent a large
share of the outlay. Developing,
refining and growing selling skills serves to address both the speed of
relationship and sales efficiency issues.
Why
do we continue to ignore the sales skill part of the equation?
Here are some possible answers:
Here are some possible answers:
- Managers believe their sales teams are already seasoned veterans and training would be a waste.
- The manager’s mistaken belief that professional sellers devote time to improving themselves through books, tapes, podcasts and online programs. (My apologies and best regards to the one percent who actually do this stuff.)
- Salespeople resist training especially if they believe management will require changes in activities
- The “salesmen are born not made” theory which still persists despite research to the contrary.
- Cultural tradition – they didn’t have sales training back when I was a “rookie” and I turned out all right. (Maybe you’ve heard me reference “dinosaurs” in previous entries.)
- A belief that sales training doesn’t work for our industry
- Training is expensive
We
wrote this in an article published by “The Distribution
“… people are our greatest asset.” Yet, according to
research conducted by Jonathan Bein, Ph.D., of Real Results Marketing, only 22
percent of distributors have a learning management system. Sadly,
distributors struggle to fund skills-based training for their organization
during tough times.
This will sound strange coming from a guy who offers training
for a fee, but I would much rather see distributors spend 20 minutes a week
reinforcing sales or leadership training than put their teams through a two-day
session without follow-up. Training can be part of your culture for next
to nothing.
Sales meetings with selling skills content can be part of
your culture. Every month, hundreds of great ideas are published in trade
publications and in online blogs.”
Why
not take 20 minutes from your sales meeting to discuss one sales related topic? The sales manager can provide personal examples
and challenge the team to try something for the next couple of weeks and report
back to the group.
Keeping
with this theme and using “The Distributor Channel” blog as a reference, here
are a few topics to explore:
To
have a real strategic plan for our accounts we need to take inventory of what
we know now and what we should learn in the future. Our plan must revolve
around positioning ourselves to really be solution providers. In some
instances, this means understanding that providing solutions to the customer is
a poor use of our resources.
After
nearly a year of calling on a couple of major accounts, orders still weren’t
flowing. As our day wound to an end, he asked me point blank, “How long
should I pursue an account before I give up and move on?” Here are some thoughts for you to consider.
From
where I sit, standardized pricing, or whatever you want to call it, is destined
for failure in our business. Our customers are tight with their money. They
don’t want to pay more, they want to pay less.
This is a great introduction to using a pricing process.
This seems a bit silly, but I keep running into
people who talk Gross Margin without really knowing the formula. If you’re anything like me, this is a huge
pet peeve. BTW: this one is great for
your suppliers too. They clearly don’t
teach this equation in most MBA programs.
A Challenge for my Friends…
Spend
a little time thinking about the half dozen issues you, your coworkers or maybe
your team have in the selling process.
It might be setting appointments, breaking past voicemail, getting
customer time, establishing new accounts or a rash of other topics. Jot them down and determine how you could
introduce the subject into your next sales meeting.
A Post Card from Iowa
Send me the ideas for your next sales meeting along with your address and I will
send you a genuine post card from Iowa.
For one lucky reader who sends an idea, I will provide a customized
PowerPoint covering your selected topic along with discussion points. That's a minimum of 15 minutes of sales training for your
team…
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