AA launches first electric/hybrid vehicle training course

AA launches first electric/hybrid vehicle training course | Ubergizmo window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '139683546053659', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Network:Ubergizmo English, French, SpanishUberphones Subscribe to RSS Ubergizmo ReviewsMobileGamingAndroidAppleComputersGadgetsConceptsPhoto/VideoEvents |  Jobs Home > Green > AA launches first electric/hybrid vehicle training course AA launches first electric/hybrid vehicle training course Tyler Lee 10/06/2011 09:02 PDT

Driving a hybrid/electric vehicle isn’t the same as driving a regular fuel-powered vehicle. The point of hybrids and EVs is to minimize the use of fuel, which is not only greener but could potentially be more efficient in terms of mileage, although the latter seems to apply more to hybrids than EVs which have a set range before needing to charge.

Either way, with hybrids and EVs possibly being the choice of vehicles in the future, the AA DriveTech Academy in the UK has launched a training course aimed at hybrid and EV drivers.

The training course is more of a workshop and supposedly will only last about three and a half hours, and covers the differences between conventional fuel/diesel vehicles and hybrid/electric vehicles. It will also teach drivers techniques on how to maximize economy, refuel, recharge and plan their journeys.

Given how EVs have been painted in a negative light due to their short range and long charge times, perhaps this course will address some of those issues. Would a course like this convince you to adopt a hybrid or EV as your next car purchase?

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Apple retail employees to begin training for iOS 5 and iCloud?

Apple retail employees to begin training for iOS 5 and iCloud? | Ubergizmo window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '139683546053659', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Network:Ubergizmo English, French, SpanishUberphones Subscribe to RSS Ubergizmo ReviewsMobileGamingAndroidAppleComputersGadgetsConceptsPhoto/VideoEvents |  Jobs Home > Apple > Apple retail employees to begin training for iOS 5 and iCloud? Apple retail employees to begin training for iOS 5 and iCloud? Tyler Lee 09/16/2011 11:13 PDT

Looking for confirmation of a possible iPhone release in October along with iOS 5 and iCloud? According to Cult of Mac, one of their sources informed them that Apple is trying to fast track the training of their retail employees on iOS 5 and iCloud. It seems that corporate managers are making their way around select Apple retail stores and telling employees to get their RetailMe (an in-house communications and training client) courses on iOS 5 and iCloud done by the end of September.

While this may not be an indication that there will be an iPhone launched in October, for those who are excited about iOS 5 or iCloud will be pleased to know that they both seem to be on schedule. According to the rumors, Apple has plans to release two iPhones – the iPhone 4s which is supposed to be the cheaper version of the iPhone 4, and the iPhone 5, although if the previous rumors are to be believed, this October will see the iPhone 4s with the iPhone 5 being delayed until 2012.

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Sales Presentation Training to Learn Sales Skills That Will Stop You Irritating Your Customers

This sales presentation training will tell you if you, or your sales team, are irritating your customers. Many sales people don't even know they are doing it. They could be losing sales and missing out on rewards, and be unaware of why. Only good sales training techniques will make them aware of their habit and get them to stop. They can then learn sales skills that will eliminate the problem for good, and increase the effectiveness of communication with buyers. So what's this habit that many sales people have but don't know they are doing it?

Erm, you know, obviously, you don't want to irritate the buyer

The next time you hear someone giving a presentation, on anything not just a sales presentation, count how often they repeat an irritator. Irritators are those words or phrases that people have a habit of repeating, and that add nothing to the meaning or the communication of the message. Typical irritators include: You know, obviously, yeah, basically, at the end of the day, and the most common irritator of all; Errmm. When people have the irritator habit they only use one. It's very rare to hear a mixture of different words or phrases repeated.

Errmm or err, tend to be used between sentences. To the listener it sounds like the presenter is thinking of what to say and just making a noise to fill the gap. Basically and obviously usually come at the start of a new topic in the sales presentation as a way of introducing the sentence. Listen to sports celebrities and spot the irritators. U.K. soccer players and managers can often be heard repeating; you know, at the end of the day, and over the moon, when giving interviews. On a recent sales presentation training course I had a delegate that constantly used the irritator; my friend, when showing features and benefits to a customer. Like most people he didn't realise he was doing it.

Sales presentation training on stopping irritators

The first sales training technique to stop people using irritators is to make them aware they are adding them to their presentation. You can do this in several ways. If you have visual or audio recording facilities, ask them to do a sales presentation and record it. Then play it back to them and ask them what they think. Most sales people will watch the replay and not pick up on the irritator habit. Once you point it out to them a look of revelation comes over their face. They realise they have been doing this for years and never noticed. For many just the action of pointing out the habit is enough to stop it happening. If they include it again, once they are aware of it, they can start to irritate themselves.

A good sales training technique to include in your sales training courses is to get all the delegates counting the number of times their colleagues use an irritator for the rest of the training course. I ask people to count by holding up their fingers as they listen to other delegates presenting. This usually limits the inclusion of the irritator to one or two as the speaker is again made aware the habit has returned. You have to use some diplomacy and tact when making people aware of their speaking habits. They can take it personally and feel insulted or embarrassed. When giving sales presentation training make it light hearted and fun and tell them how you used to have the same problem.

Now add some more selling techniques

Using effective sales presentation training to eliminate irritators will improve the communication of the message and help keep the attention of the customer. When sellers learn sales skills the effects stack up on each other. Once the irritator habit has been stopped, you can start looking for more sales techniques to improve the sales presentation. As more selling techniques are learned and put into action the effects will compound and sales results, and rewards, will multiply.

I'm Stephen Craine and I earn my living by managing successful sales teams. The sales presentation training above comes from the training I give to my teams. My income, my job, and the success of my teams, rely on the results we achieve, so we only use what works. You can see more sales training on my website by opening http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

If you like the training you've seen so far you can get a free sales training course and try it out for yourself. There's no catch, no registering or submitting your email address, just click on the link and it will take you to the page where you can open the training course. To see the course open http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/free-sales-techniques.html You can use it, save it, and even pass it on to others. Try it out and let me know how you get on.

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Sales Presentation Training on How to Increase Sales Using Features and Benefits Effectively

When I'm presenting sales presentation training I'm amazed at how many people can't use features and benefits effectively. With sales training to understand real features and benefits they can quickly see how to increase sales and make more money.  If you are one of the people that don't understand how to use features and benefits, then that's great news. It's great because you can expect a big increase in your results when you add this sales presentation training to your sales skills. It gets to the very core of why people buy, and that they want the benefits of the product or service, not the features.

Definition of Features and Benefits   So let's start with a working definition of both features and benefits: A Feature is what the product or service does, how it works, what it looks like, the mechanics of it. A Benefit is what the features do for the customer. A feature of this sales presentation training is the information it will give you to add to your sales skills. A benefit of that feature is the extra income you can earn as a result of the additional sales you will close. Every feature can have lots of benefits. Many features can have the same benefits. The information you'll find on this page is a feature. The benefits are endless and they all result in you gaining something.

How to increase sales using features and benefits   At some point in your sales process you ask the customer some questions to establish what they want. These wants are usually expressed by the customers as benefits. Saving money, feeling safe, and looking good, are all examples of benefits. None of these are features. In your sales presentation your aim is to present a sales proposal that gives the customer what they want. What they want are the benefits, not the features. The features are just the tools that supply the benefits.   If a customer wants a car that is cheap to run they don't want a boring sales presentation on the technical features of the engine and its fuel consumption. They want a presentation on the benefits, and in this example that is how it saves them dollars. Yes, you will include some features of the fuel economy system in your sales presentation, but only the few that are directly related to the main sales benefit that you are presenting. Focus on the benefit of cost effective motoring and only use the features of the car to support how the benefit is delivered.   This sales training can be just a simple change of your viewpoint on features and benefits. Many sales people are experts on the features of their product, and we all like talking about topics we are experts on. The benefits customers want can be unique to each individual and not as easy for sales people to talk about. This is where sales presentation training is important. To learn how to increase sales with a great presentation you must learn how to focus on the benefits not the features.  

A quick sales presentation training technique   Try this quick sales presentation training technique and see if you understand the relationship between the buyer's needs, the product features, and the sales benefits.   Choose a common need or want that your customers express when you are selling to them. Now select the feature or features of your product that can give them that what they want. When I'm giving sales presentation training it's at this point that the delegates start presenting. Don't, you will only be presenting features and that's not what the buyer wants to hear. Add another link to the chain and now select the benefits of those features that will match the buyer's needs and wants. This is how to increase sales when presenting.   It may sound something like this: You said; saving money, compared to what you currently pay out for fuel each month, was important to you. (Customer want) This car has the latest fuel saving technology that will give you 60 miles to the gallon around town. (Feature) That means you will fill up once every ten days instead of once a week as you currently do. So let's look at what you'll save over a typical year. (Benefit)   Add some agreement gaining at the right places and you've got the bases of a great sales presentation, with effective use of sales training on features and benefits. Sales presentation training is all about showing the customer a sales proposal with benefits that match their wants.  It's an important part of your selling process, and investing in more of these sales skills is how to increase sales and make more money.

I'm Stephen Craine, a working sales manager and trainer. The sales presentation training above comes from the training and coaching I give to my working sales teams. We rely on these sales skills to achieve targets and keep our jobs. This is not classroom training that only works in role play situations, this is real sales training developed in live sales situations with real customers. You can see more sales presentation training on my website at http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/sales-presentation-training.html

The website is packed with free sales training, sales tips, and if you really want to know how to increase sales there are workbook training courses you can download and start using today. To visit the site and click around the pages, open http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com and get real sales training proven by working sales professionals.

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Choosing a Sales Training Program - Finding the Right Training Program For Your Sales Trainees

In the competitive marketplace that we live in today, differentiation many times comes simply from the quality of salespeople on the street. How effectively they present themselves, build value, drive the sales process and meet and exceed their customer expectations can be the difference between getting a sale and failing. Training should be a vital part of your Sales Management philosophy. However, I find that there are misconceptions about what sales training can and cannot do. Many Sales Managers believe that sales training is the answer to their problems - train my salespeople and they should sell better. I understand that logic considering the investment many make in these programs - facilities, trainers, materials, lost sales opportunities while salespeople are in the program, travel expenses, etc. These costs can surely add up. The expectation that there will be an immediate ROI can leave some weary of making such an investment.

Here are several ideas to keep in mind as you consider investing in a sales training program.

Personalization - Generic training is not as effective as personalized training. The salesperson must understand how they perceive and engage the consultative sales process. Their "uniqueness" as a salesperson must be infused into the sales training in order to make it real to them. If your salespeople have to make a mental leap in attempting to connect with the material, then there's a good chance they won't learn it or apply it at all. That's too costly for you as a Sales Manager and your company. Find out if the program provides in-depth, personalized assessment tools that provide personal feedback about the salesperson inside of the sales process. Also, find out if they can customize the course material to your specific industry, company, language and culture. This will connect the salesperson to the training material and help them understand their strengths and areas of development much better.

Reinforcement - If the training is not reinforced, the learning is lost. Be sure the program you select has sufficient tools and resources to keep the content of the sales process in front of your salespeople consistently over a long period of time. The training concepts must be transferred from the salespersons short-term memory into their long-term memory. The internet, along with a variety of digital learning tools, makes reinforcement much easier today. Check out the reinforcement tools built into the program - if they're lacking, or flat out don't exist, move on.

Coach Salespeople After the Training - After the training program ends, the real work begins. As a Sales Manager, you're also a "coach". Part of your responsibility is phone or field observation. Are your salespeople applying the knowledge learned during the sales training program? Are they using it correctly? What do they do well? What do they need to improve? What action steps will you take to help them? Keep in mind that a good training program will not attempt to turn you, the Sales Manger, into a sales trainer. That's not really your job. However, you should make it a part of your weekly objectives to observe and "course correct" each of your salespeople in alignment with your new sales methodology.

Hold Salespeople Accountable for the Training - Finally, a good sales training program should offer you the tools for accountability. What if your salespeople don't learn the material? What happens if they don't apply it? How should you respond? Likewise, what rewards should your salespeople expect for going through a training curriculum that requires more time and energy from them? Testing and measurement are excellent ways to determine if what was taught was retained. Observation enables you to actually see their learning in action. In either case, formal accountability plays a vital part in your Sales Manager role.

There are many other factors to consider when assessing a sales training company to train your salespeople. Consider the costs and the realistic expectations you have associated with the training. Determine what will work best for you and make the investment. Remember, regular sales training and daily sales coaching should be part of your competitive strategy to help your company grow. I hope these ideas help you make that happen.

Barrett Riddleberger is an internationally recognized leader in the fields of sales assessments, customized sales training, sales recruitment and sales consulting. He also is founder of Resolution Systems Inc., a strategic sales consulting firm. His book, "Blueprint of a Sales Champion," details how organizations can find, train and retain top performing salespeople... even in a highly competitive market. An accomplished author and sales consultant, Riddleberger is also highly in demand as a business development and motivational speaker for organizations seeking to drive their sales force to greater levels of performance. For more info visit ResolutionSystemsInc.com or call 866.350.4457.

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Subliminal Messages in Sales Training Can Multiply the Power of Your Existing Sales Skills

Subliminal messages are a great sales training tool when used in addition to traditional and practical training techniques. With subliminal training you can effortlessly stimulate your mind and multiply the power of your sales techniques. Imagine putting on a set of headphones, listening to a CD or MP3 subliminal messaging track, and having your unconscious take in directly targeted subliminal messages. No reading through hundreds of pages of a sales training book, and no complicated selling techniques to remember. This is an effortless way to learn and make the best use of your time.

Subliminal messaging should not be used to completely replace effective practical sales training. You still need to learn, practice, and refine your sales skills. Subliminal training should be used as an additional tool and act as a catalyst to fire up your sales motivation and make deep seated changes to your attitude. These changes will give you a different viewpoint that stimulates your mind to take new actions and use your sales training in new ways. Many salespeople are doing the same old thing every day and getting the same old results every month. They have the basic sales skills but don't know what new actions to take to increase their results and earn more money. Subliminal sales training will give you a whole new attitude and create an unconscious resourceful state. 

I've used subliminal messages when coaching sales people that had problems in other areas of their life that were affecting their performance at work. I've seen subliminal training used to overcome obstacles such as lack of confidence, financial problems, and to make changes to personal appearance and physical well being. There are many things that can affect our results at work, such as fears, phobias, or irrational beliefs. Once these negatives have been overcome we can focus and use our resources to move forward and become successful in a sales role. Subliminal messages work in the same way as hypnosis.  They bypasses your conscious logical mind and act on your unconscious mind. This is why subliminal messaging is so effective at helping you change patterns of  behaviour. Your logical mind is a function you start to develop around the age of five or six. This is why you can suggest almost anything to a child and they will accept it as truth. When we are younger we are much more susceptible to suggestion and you don't need hypnosis or subliminal messaging to create self beliefs in a child.

When we are adults our logical mind does not let us accept all the information presented to us. By going around the conscious mind you can make major changes to your self beliefs, patterns of thinking, and physical behavior. These changes would be very difficult if using conscious learning techniques. By accessing your subconscious mind you can solve difficult problems or issues much more quickly and directly. Hypnosis gains access to your subconscious mind by sending you into a trance. And this is where the difference between subliminal messaging and hypnosis comes in. Subliminal messaging doesn't send you into a trance. You won't feel drowsy, or need to take a time out for an hour.  This means that you can use subliminal cds and mp3s while you work, study, or go about your daily activities. I've seen many top sales performers using subliminal training while at the gym. This is a great sales training technique because the exercise, and the surroundings, distracts your conscious mind and the subliminal messages go directly into your subconscious. It is also a great way to save time as you are getting physical training and mental sales training in the same space of time.

Having managed and trained sales people for many years it is my opinion that using subliminal messages has no negatives and a lot of potential positives. The worst that can happen is that the training has no effect. The potential positives are: increased sales results using an effortless sales training tool. You make changes that create a positive mental attitude, and you increase sales and earn more money,

I'm Stephen Craine, I'm a working sales manager and sales trainer. Subliminal messages are a sales training technique I have advised many people to use. When combined with practical sales skills training it is a powerful resource that takes very little time or effort, and can produce great results. Is also very effective in helping to overcome obstacles in all areas of your life and can help you create all round success and achievement. You can see more about subliminal sales training at Subliminal Messages for Sales Training As a working sales manager I look around the world for effective sales training techniques for my working sales teams, and I share the results on my website which you can visit at http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

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Professional Sales Training on Techniques to Build an Introduction in 3 Easy Stages

Step 1: Introduce you and your business or product

Start with your name and hand the prospect your business card. A good sales technique at this stage is to add something about you that could be of benefit to the customer. Don't just call yourself a sales representative as that offers no benefit to the buyer and may make them defensive. You want something about you that supports your objective of closing a sale. This could be your position in the company, especially if it is your own small business. Maybe you have a technical qualification or a title that will give the customer confidence in you and what you present to them. This can be a really effective selling technique if you use an advisory sales style or sell a technical product.

Now follow your name with either your company or product details. This is a good professional sales training technique. You are looking to give the buyer points of reference. This is how we navigate through new situations. We look for information we are familiar with. So give your customer clear words and phrases that allow them to quickly find something similar to what you do in their memory and experiences. Many sales people make a common mistake here and use technical jargon. The best sales techniques to use here are to keep it simple and let the buyer find familiar territory. If the buyer will recognise your company name and know instantly what you supply, then use it. If your products, or types of products, will be more familiar then include them. If the buyer will not have heard of either then relate your products to something they will know, such as what your product will replace, or the main competitor.  

Step 2: Your main selling point

Step 2 of this professional sales training on building a sales introduction is to start grabbing the buyer's attention. In step 1 you have used just a few quick lines to introduce you and your company or product. Now tell them what your main sales point is. In years gone by this used to be called your unique selling point, or USP. Nowadays it is very unlikely you will have a unique selling point because as soon as a company gets one it is soon copied by the competition.

Your main selling point can be related to your company's image. It could be the high quality service you offer, your history in the market, specific benefits you offer to customers, or many others. This can often be a sales technique where many small business sales people have an advantage over the large corporations. They can have a more unique main selling point that differentiates them from the rest. A good professional sales training tip is to start thinking about your company's sales angle. Are you priced focus and offer the cheapest prices. Do you have excellent customer service, or are your products unique in some way. Find that sales angle and add it into your sales introduction stage of your sales process.

Step 3: The reason you are there

Step 3 is the most important line of your sale. It's the reason why you are there, and the reason why the customer should carry on listening to you. This is a professional sales training must do action. If you want to be successful in sales you must become fully competent at using this sales technique. Start by putting yourself in the buyer's position and think what you would want to hear that would grab your attention and retain your interest. Start with the phrase, I'm here today because, and see what naturally follows. The reason you are there must be a big possible benefit for the customer. You are not there to see if you can sell them something. Be creative, think in terms of benefits, and write a list of possible gains the customer could get from listening to what you have to say. Here are some examples I have recently used while coaching field sales people:

I've asked to meet with you today because: We are specialist in supplying your industry. We have improved productivity for many companies like yours. I have a new product to show you that will... Our products can give you... I recently met with... and they said you might benefit from...

That's just a few ideas to get you started. Now write your own list and make it specific to your company and your products. Build up the possible benefits for your customers, and make yourself stand out from the rest. Use this professional sales training and you can quickly build an effective sales introduction stage for your sales.

I'm Stephen Craine, a working sales manager and trainer. The professional sales training above comes from the training and coaching I give to my working sales teams. We rely on these sales techniques to achieve targets and keep our jobs. This is not classroom training that only works in role play situations, this is real sales training developed in live sales situations with real customers. You can see more free sales training on building a stunning sales introduction, and free sales training on the other stages of the sale, on my website at http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/sales-techniques.html

The website is packed with free sales training, sales tips, and if you really want to know how to increase sales there are workbook training courses you can download and start using today. To visit the site and click around the pages, open http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com and get real sales training proven by working sales professionals.

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Motivation Techniques on How to Motivate Employees Using Sales Team Training and Free Web Resources

Motivation techniques and how to motivate employees is an area many sales managers find difficult and time consuming. They find it easy to present and supply sales team training on selling skills, but what about motivation techniques. To motivate a sales person you need to offer a regular boost of self motivation. It can take time to constantly find new and refreshing ideas, and give different angles and perspectives on how to get into the most effective selling state. The sales motivation techniques offered here will give you a sales training and motivation program for your sales team using a minimum amount of time. It uses the free resources available on the Internet and it won't cost you a penny. It also gets your team involved from the start and asks them to contribute as the idea grows in size and benefits. 

How it worked for my sales teams

The objective is to build a list of free online sales training and motivation resources available on the Internet and use them in an ongoing motivation program. You probably have some links saved in your favourites list. Your sales team will have some as well.  As a starting point imagine if you had a list of links to all those sales and motivation websites you already know about, all in one easy to access place. This is how I started when looking at how to motivate employees in my sales teams. Then we added all the other sites we came across that had effective sales training or good motivation techniques.

How to put these motivation technique sinto action today

Here's how to put this sales team training into action with your sales teams. First, build the list of good quality links to websites. Present the idea of building an Internet based training and motivation resource to your sales team. Show them a few examples of websites that you use for sales training and information. Ask them to submit their own. Get them to go through their favourites list on their PC's, log into their search history, and ask them to click around the Internet to find new and interesting websites. Get them involved, show them the benefits, and ask for their feedback.

Decide where to keep the list of links

Decide upon the best place to keep your list of sales and motivation websites. You want somewhere that is easy to access, will be remembered, and is accessible by all the sales team. It must also be somewhere that the information and new links can be added regularly. If your organisation has a company intranet then that may be a good place to start building your sales training resource. Shared drives and folders are another good place to park the list of links. You might think of other ideas such as sending it out in a company newsletter, or simply emailing the list to your sales team on a regular basis.

Add some information to each link

To make this list of sales team training and motivation links effective, add a brief description to each link. It only needs a few comments to indicate if the link is about motivation techniques, sales training, or product and industry knowledge. Ask your team to add these comments when they submit a new link to be added to the list. You could take this further and add a rating system from 1 to 5 on how effective and useful they think the website is.

Keep the list updated

Keep the list updated and over time you will build an enormous resource of sales training and motivation techniques. The more comprehensive the descriptions and comments about the website are the more effective and useful your list will be. Think what could happen if you expand and develop the use of this free resource. What if you included more people within your organisation and expanded the topics covered by this list of websites. As long as the list is separated into categories for each topic, and perhaps even a contents page written, it will remain useful and effective.

Add a motivation training schedule

Once we brought all these great website links together we set certain times of the week to make the best use of these motivation techniques. Motivation training works best in short bursts with specific objectives. There a certain times of the week when a quick burst of motivation, a new sales training idea, or examples of proven marketing techniques, are most effective.

Monday morning after a weekend break 15 minutes on a good website, with short sharp self motivation techniques, can get you into a selling state. Friday morning we have found clicking on websites with time management, or prospecting tips, which can be used the following week, can have a great effect. When you have a tough day facing difficult objections and can't close sales, then a sales training site is a good way to finish the day. These are examples of how we use these sales team training motivation techniques. You can adapt them, develop them, and find how to motivate your employees using a list of good Internet links. The sales team have bought into the idea because they helped to build the list. 

I'm Stephen Craine, a working sales manager and trainer. If you like the motivation training techniques offered here then my advice is to take that first action today. You know what will happen if you put it off and leave it for later, it just will not get done and you'll miss out on the benefits of these techniques. Take one step towards creating your list now, and also think about where you are going to store it. It only takes one person to start this list rolling and others will soon join in and want to share the resource. So let me offer you these first links and descriptions to start your sales team training and motivation list of web pages and free resources on the Internet.
http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

The home page of my sales training website for all sales people, self employed and small business owners, and sales managers.
http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/sales-training-free.html

Free sales training that you can use today and start using to increase your sales results. Sales training on: Basic sales training for people new to sales. Sales training on using a sales process. How to make sales appointments. Simply copy and paste the above links and descriptions and you have started your list of sales training and motivation techniques for you and your sales team. Mail these first 2 links out to your team and let them know about the free training resource you are starting. Add the links to your company intranet, shared drives or folders, or send out a regular update by email. This could be the start of something big and you will get the credit.

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The Importance of Sales Training Videos

Any top sales specialist that you meet is continuously learning, studying, training, reading, networking, attending seminars and watching sales training videos to continuously enhance their sales skills.

Why is that important? Because the competition never sleeps and someone is always going to try to knock you off of the top spot!

Let's face it, a career in sales is harder today than it was 10 years ago.. Decision makers and purchasing professionals are getting smarter everyday. They have more information at their fingertips, they are much more informed and more analytical in their method and they have more options to choose from than ever before.

So what do you do? Do you keep using the same old sales tactics and sales method that you have used since you started your career? Answer: Not if you want to be successful!

As a true Sales Professional you have to manage your career just like the professional athlete does. You have to continuously refine your sales skills, continue to search for new sales methods and new technology, adapt to an ever changing landscape and be open to reach outside of your comfort zone and try some new things.

Are you getting better at your profession? Are you continuously improving your sales skills? Are you listening to CD's in your car as you drive around during the day? Are you watching the sales training videos that are offered to you? Most importantly... Are you the sales person that your competition fears?

If you are ready to bring out your "A" game, start by visiting some of the top sales blogs that you will find after you do a Google search on Sales Blogs. These sites and other sales related blogs, offer a ton of wonderful articles and free resources on every aspect of sales. Identify your areas of development (your weaknesses) and find appropriate articles and guides to help you get better in those areas.

Next, if you don't have one already, I would also propose that you begin building a personal library with sales resources such as Sales training videos and inspirational or motivational CDs, and Books on selling strategies.

I would encourage all sales reps, veterans and newbies alike, to write down your personal goals or commitment to yourself to improve your sales skills and personal development. Do it Today! Write down your goals, be very specific and most importantly... put them somewhere that you will remember to review them everyday!

Here are some suggestions that I use with my sales reps:

o Read one new sales skills training book every month.

o Invest in an audio program on self development and listen to it in your car everyday.

o Purchase a sales training video and encourage your peers to do the same, then exchange the videos with each other.

o Commit to attending at least one Sales seminar or Webinar twice a year

As you multiply your input of sales training information and self improvement material, you will start to accumulate some excellent "Ah-Hah's that hit home with you, and you can then start taking these to the street.

I can tell you from personal experience that the first time you make a sale, using a new technique that you learned in a sales training video that you watched, you will be hooked on your personal development!

If you treat your sales career like the professional athlete approaches their career, you will find yourself at the top of the sales charts and leader board very fast!

With over 25 years of Professional Sales experience, John Morey brings a real world look at what it takes to be an elite Sales Professional in his informative sales training articles. John goes beyond the training class and offers real life sales advice to help Sales Pros and Sales Managers achieve greater success.

For a list of Johns favorite Sales Training Videos visit: http://salesvideos.saleshangout.com

Visit John's blog at: http://www.saleshangout.com for related articles and Free Sales Training Resources.

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Sales Training For Small Business Owners People That Sell Their Own Products and Services

Sales training for self employed and small business sales people is often not available or overlooked. You can be an expert at what you do or know everything about what you sell, but do you really know how to use that knowledge when selling. Let me give you a real example that I recently experienced.

I had new windows fitted in my house by two very good and experienced window fitters. Throughout the day I saw many people that were passing my house stop and ask them questions. They wanted prices, information, and the benefit of their knowledge on windows and having them fitted. For a salesman these passing sales prospects would have been like winning the lottery. To actually have sales prospects queuing up to talk to you is every sales person's dream. To the window guys these people were just getting in the way. This is where small business owners and trades people can learn a lot from sales training by learning to see people as sales prospects and opportunities not distractions.

I overheard one lady ask the guys for a price to do the same job on a house similar to mine. I wanted to yell, stop! But it was too late, without further questions the window guy gave her an approximate price and then said nothing. There was a short silence and he gave her a business card. She said she would call him and she walked away. Will she contact them, who knows, and I didn't see him take any information to follow up this red hot sales lead. As a sales manager and trainer several thoughts rushed into my mind. Firstly, don't give her a price. Arrange an appointment and get round to her house. You want to make sure you are talking to all the decision makers. At her home you can do a really effective sales presentation and secure the sale. This is basic sales training on how to close a sale.

One of the other thoughts I had was, ask her some questions. Get her to tell you about her house, her windows, how she made her last decision on home improvements. Get her to build a picture of how great her house will be with bright new windows. She has come to you and she's a red hot prospect that wants your help. This is the advantage small business owners and skilled trades professionals have over the average sales person, they know their product, trade, or service better than anyone. The buyer wants that knowledge and experience. They see it as a benefit and will pay for it. Think about it, who would you ask about which new windows you should have fitted, a salesperson in an expensive suit and a flashy car, or a guy in overalls that actually fits them for a living?

Self employed and small business owners can take advantage of how they are viewed by potential customers. The customer sees them as a benefit to them, the buyer. Often buyers see sales people as wanting a benefit only for themselves or the company. To make the most of this great advantage you self employed trades professionals and small business sales people need to do two things. 

1. Maintain your image as a working professional that knows your products and services.  

2. Invest in effective sales training that you can use to increase sales, grow your business, and earn more money while maintaining your friendly non-sales image.

I'm Stephen Craine, I'm a working sales manager and sales trainer. If you sell your own products or services, or own a small business, and you want effective sales training that will increase your sales and grow your business, you can see more information on the sales training I give my working sales teams at Sales Training Workbook Course. My job is to manage and train working sales teams. To do this, and get the best results possible, I look around the world for effective sales training techniques and sales skills and share them on my website. You can see free sales training courses, free sales skills information on selling and motivation, and get the free newsletter packed with sales tips, by visiting http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com.

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How Sales Training Forgets This Essential Sales Tool

When you think of sales training, does this include sales tools? Probably so because sales professionals need help or additional knowledge on:

PDA
Sales scripts
Customer relationship management databases

Additionally for many, sales training may also include specific sales skills and how to use certain tools

within:

Fact Finding
Prospecting
Negotiating
Earning the sale (a.k.a. closing)
Building customer loyalty

One thing that is absent or often overlooked is this essential business tool that can potentially break any future sale - the every day common business card. Yes, this simple tool can increase sales or decrease sales far quicker than any other honed sales skill or tool.

A post by sales guru, Jonathan Farrington, suggested that only 2.5% of all business people per his extensive networking and meeting experiences have an up to date informative business card on them at all times. How many times do you attend a business event and experience people who:

Left the business cards at home?

Ran out of business cards?

If they had a business card on them, was the card:

Hard to read?
Dirty, crumpled?
Missing a phone number?
Minus current email address?
Lacking a call to action on the backside?

When sales trainers forget to emphasis the importance of this simple sales tool, they are truly missing the boat in how to increase sales. For the business card explains a wealth of information about the sales professional and the business or organization. Additionally, the potential buyer makes a judgement specific to the values and ethics of the salesperson.

Not only is this incredible tool for the most part discounted, how to use the tool is equally ignored. Business card etiquette should be one of the first learned sales skills because the business card is the potential key to unlock future sales success.

Think about how most North American business professionals give and receive business cards. If you experiences are like mine, they grab the card and:

Stuff it in their pocket and rush over to the next person
Give it a quick read and then stuff it in their pocket

Of course there are the few sales professionals who pass out business cards like playing cards giving everyone at least three to four cards. Sales Coaching Tip: Passing out multiple cards is an absolute No-No.

What would happen if your sales team accepted business cards and actually took the time to study them to read them? Would that set you apart allowing you to be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits?

Take Action Sales Training Coaching Tip: Include business card etiquette as part of any sales training program. Make sure that your calling card promotes your business and is not an obstacle to future sales. Finally, instruct your sales professionals as how to leverage this sales skills beginning by always having complete and current information.

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith Achieves Your Sales Goal Because the Real Issue Is not Do They (You) Know It (Sales Training), But Do They (You) Want to Do It (Sales Attitudes)? Call for a free coaching or consultation strategy session at 219.759.5601 if you truly wish to improve your business or sales results.

Sign up to receive a special offer for Leanne's sales coaching book on how to be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits. This book does not forget the importance of sales tools such as business cards.

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Sales Training is Much More About Great Attitudes Than Superior Sales Skills

Have you ever wondered why some of the best salespersons are not the most knowledge sales professionals respective to their sales skills? Possibly, he or she cannot tell you how to:

Fact finding
Turn stalls into objections
Deliver excellent presentations
Close (I prefer to say earn) the sale
Explain their overall selling process

Yet, month after month, these folks continue to meet or exceed their sales goals. And, you as the sales trainer, the human resource person or the CEO continue to shake your head as to the reason why. Why do some excellent sales team members continue to perform while having sales skills that are minimal to average at best? And the better question is how can you replicate the success of these anomalies?

Possibly, these statistics from a national sales association may help answer that question"

48% of all leads are not followed up
10% of all professionals make more than 3 contacts
80% of all earned commitments are made between the 5th and 12th contact

Looking at these statistics, the answer is truly not found within knowledge or skills because most professionals know that they need to follow-up and to keep calling. The answer is really about great selling attitudes and habits.

Recently when speaking to a group of business people including selling professionals small business owners and C-Level executives, all said that they wanted to increase sales. Yet, when I asked if they had followed up on all leads, no one could respond positively. Did these individuals know that they need to do the follow up? Of course, they did. So why did they not follow-up? The answer again is all about having the necessary positive attitudes and habits more than great selling skills.

Those people who meet their sales goals probably have far greater positive attitudes and habits than all those professionals with super sales training and skills. These individuals keep going and going, much like the Energizer Bunny, demonstrating the basic behaviors necessary for success. Sales Coaching Tip: Using a proven goal achievement process reinforced with a proven goal achievement tool can help to establish the necessary sellings attitudes and habits.

When reviewing the plethora of sales training programs, many examine how to acquire or develop sales skills as mentioned early. The emphasis on how to build positive attitudes and sustainable habits is in many cases not present. Sales Coaching Tip: Learn how to separate the real problems from the symptoms disguised as problems.

Possibly, this is why sales coaching has experienced such a dramatic increase these past few years. This type of sales training focuses much more on the individual and what is keeping him or her from success.

Take Action Sales Coaching Tip: If you want great people who actually sell and meet goals or targets, then look to developing the necessary positive attitudes and sustainable habits along with filling those gaps in sales skills.

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland-Smith helps to achieve Sales Goals because the real Issue is not "Do They (you) know it (Sales Training), but "Do They (you) want to do it? (Sales Attitude)

Receive a special offer for Leanne's sales coaching book on how to be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

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Sales Training - How to Make Sure it Will Work For You and Your Sales Team

This sales training is the ultimate sales program that will make you rich. Wild claims and false promises are everywhere when you're looking for the right sales training to invest in. There are lots of different ways you can improve your sales skills. Books, CDs, DVDs, or live training courses. So how do you make sure it will work for you?

If you're investing money into improving your sales skills, or the skills of your employees, then it's important you get a great return on your investment. You're investing money and time, valuable time that could be spent selling. So even if you are just buying a book, and some books are as good as sales training courses, make sure it's going to give you a good return for your investment.

Does it work for your sales

Look at how the sales trainer, or author, presents sales closing techniques. This is a good indicator of how appropriate the training is for your product.

A high value or technical product can't be sold with one line closes that would be effective in retail sales. Selling with a process that includes closing and agreement gaining at each stage is a good way to sell some products, but only if it's necessary. If your product has one unique selling point, such as a competitive price, then do you really need a long sales process?

Consider the process that the sales training uses and assess it against the type of product that you sell. You are looking for selling techniques that match the value, technical level of the features, and the main selling points of the product or service you sell.

Financial return

What do you expect from the sales training you are looking for? Many individuals and companies have no idea of what they want the sales training to do for them. Think about it, whether it's for yourself, or for your employees, what do you expect from the training? Would you buy any other product or service for your business without having a clear objective of what you want to gain? Before you buy a sales book, course, or training program, clearly set out what you want to gain from it. You might think a book is a cheap enough investment. It's a small cost even if there is no, or little, increase in sales as a result of the purchase. But what about the bigger investment you are making. Your time has a value, it's precious. When you buy any type of sales training, even a book, you spend time taking in the training, and time putting it into action. Invest your time wisely.

Think about the results you want from your investment, and then find the right training. Not the other way around. Look at targets, revenue, and budgets. Calculate the increase in sales you are looking for, either as a percentage, or as a number of sales. When looking for the right course of action use this figure as a way to assess the training offered. Ask yourself, what will this sales training cost me in time and money, and what increase in sales can I realistically expect.

Are there added complications

Look for anything that's been added to the training that makes it look good, but adds no real value to the effectiveness of the sales training. When a business is based on marketing and selling sales training courses and books, you can sometimes find the content has been made more complicated than it needs to be. This can be to make the course look different and stand out from the rest of the programs on sale. This can be related to the title of the course. You get great titles that are easy to advertise, like The Whooosh Selling Technique, or The Ace Way to Sell. These are made up as I didn't want to embarrass anyone, but you get the picture.

When you look at investing your time and money, no matter how little, in sales training, be wary of anything that's added but doesn't appear to have a practical function. Has a good basic idea been remoulded and made more complicated than it needs to be. The more that's added the harder it will be to learn the training and put it into action.

How will it be remembered

If I give you a list of twenty things to remember you'll probably be able to recall around a half of them the following day. If I tell you those twenty things embedded into a story, show you how they follow a logical process, you'll remember them a lot easier. Then if I add a really good reason for you to practice this process, such as, it will earn you commission payments, you will make sure you can recall it.

Look for how the sales trainer is building into the training a way to recall it and put it into action. Many sales people I have managed and trained have read books, listened to CDs, and attended courses, aimed at increasing their sales. But only a small percentage of the training presented is ever used, and the percentage gets less with time. Make sure the training you invest in will be used.

Hi, I'm Stephen Craine and I've managed and trained sales teams for a number of different organizations. Using the knowledge and experience I have built up I've developed a number of sales training programs that are easy to follow, quick to put into action, and are proven to get results by working sales professionals. They are available as workbooks with step by step guides and some have full exercise programs. See if they are the right sales training for you by opening the Sales and Training solution Shop.

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Sales Training is Not Enough

Research conducted by Revenue Storm during the Strategic Account Management Association Conference measured 100 Strategic Account Managers in 48 companies and showed they were 35% deficiency in allocating time to creating demand compared to Revenue Storm's best-in-class benchmark. One potential reason of spending less time in this critical area is the lack of competencies that Revenue Storm has identified; namely, managing pipeline, mapping politics, building momentum, establishing executive credibility, providing thought leadership, selling consultatively, messaging and probing. These competency deficiencies are further exacerbated when the market is like it is today.

In order to address these deficiencies, you could assess your sales force against the above competencies and develop specific training curricula to bring them up to best-in-class levels. From my experience, sales training is not enough. One approach would be to align the organization with the sales training initiative by starting with clarifying the Go-to-Market Strategy.

 

The Go-to-Market Strategy provides a direction not only for the sales force but also the rest of the organization. There are four Go-to-Market Strategies that companies can select. In fact, companies can deploy all of them, but each of the Go-to-Market Strategy needs to be aligned to each selling group. The four Go-to-Market Strategies are Transaction focus (example: low cost, commoditized offerings), Process focus (example: solution, one-stop shop selling), Business focus (example: business improvement), Partner focus (example: equal risk reward and gain sharing).

 

Once the Go-to-Market Strategy has been selected, sales process and sales roles including competencies need to be designed and aligned with the Go-to-Market Strategy. Sales management needs to be front and center in this step since they are the key role in successful implementation in the field. Sales management needs to be educated and trained so they can own and lead the implementation process.

 

Assessing the sales force against sales roles and competencies provides at least two important factors: fitting the right people into the right roles and identifying the competency deficiencies for each sales representative. Identifying the sales representative's competency deficiencies provides direction for both specific training and specific coaching from sales management.

 

Other functions need to be aligned to the Go-to-Market Strategy including Marketing, Delivery, Customer Service, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal and Finance. All of these areas need to be educated and trained on the strategy. Marketing will need to provide specific inputs into sales such as developing market messages and customer case studies. Delivery and Customer Service outputs need to be aligned with the specific strategy. Human Resources function can assist with sales on assessment, hiring, selection and compensation. Information Technology manages the Customer Relationship Management application and needs to be aligned with the Go-to-Market strategy, not the other way around. Legal and Finance will also need to be aligned with the strategy. Large companies have a Sales Operations function that also assists and aligns the sales organization. When theses functions are aligned with the Go-to-Market Strategy, the company will avert the often complaint from sales forces that it's much more difficult working with internal processes compared to working with customers.

 

This holistic approach starts with the Go-to-Market Strategy and purposely aligns all functions with the Go-to-Market Strategy. So it's not just about sales training, it's about building an aligned engine that can provide fast acceleration without the drag of sub-optimized, legacy, silo functions.

Bob Malandruccolo is the founder and principal owner of Sales Force Effectiveness Consulting and a Distributor of Revenue Storm. His purpose is to use his passion and expertise to assist and educate others to optimize their sales orgaanizations. With over twenty-five years of practical business, management and consulting experience in sales and marketing, Bob has worked with a broad range of clients from Fortune 100 corporations to small firms with special emphasis on sales and marketing process implementation. He has worked closely with his clients through hundreds of successful engagements and implementations across multiple industries.

Prior to founding Sales Force Effectiveness Consulting, Bob was a Principal in Mercer's Human Capital Business, specializing in Sales Effectiveness. Based in Chicago, Bob worked with his clients' sales organizations to achieve improved business impact with special emphasis on sales compensation along with sales coverage design and implementation. He was actively involved in designing solutions in the areas of sales force sizing, sales force organizational structures, roles, training, automation, forecasting, goal setting and change management.

Prior to joining Mercer, Bob served as a consulting practice manager in a firm that provides sales and marketing effectiveness training and consulting to high-tech companies. Earlier, Bob founded and managed a consulting firm based on his extensive technical sales experience with a multinational chemical company. He has also taught courses in management strategies at Governors State University of Illinois.

Bob has a BS in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and completed his MBA studies at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. He has completed several post-graduate courses in the Business Economics Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bob is a frequent speaker, member of World @ Work and was recently cited as the "Ask the Expert" in World @ Work's Sales Compensation Quarterly.

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Sales Training Lesson - How Behaviors Will Always Triumph Over Sales Skills

Check out most sales processes and they usually focus on the potential customers (a.k.a. prospects) and the sales skills of the sales professionals. Yet, sales research continue to reveal that the actions from the behaviors are the major obstacles in achieving sales targets. 

For example, follow up is a sales skill.  Yet, business research suggests that almost 50% of all leads are not followed up.  So it is the skill that is lacking or the application of the skill?

Years ago, my coach David Herdlinger created the KASH Box and since then with his permission I have expanded it into the KASH Box for Sustainable Change. The essence of this model is that Knowledge and Skills are not the obstacle for performance improvement be it in sales, leadership, customer service or management.  Attitudes and Habits are the real culprits preventing people, teams and organizations moving forward.

Too often we confuse learning with performance.  Learning is the acquisition of knowledge while performance is the application of knowledge.

With this understanding of the difference between learning and performance, I realized that sales training departments in organizations were asking the wrong question. Instead of asking do they (the sales people) know it, they should be asking do they (sales professionals) want to do it?

When we begin to look at the Attitudes and Habits, we are looking at the demonstrated behaviors. Most sales professionals know that they need to follow up, they know that very few sales are made on the first contact, they know that they need to listen more than talk.  However, given that sales research suggests anywhere between 50% to 80% of all sales targets are not achieved, then this data confirms that the issue is not sales skills, but rather behaviors.

When the focus is on the technical sales skills be them negotiating, fact finding, asking open ended questions, there is probably little to no emphasis on the behaviors.  Sometimes it seems that there is an apparent assumption that somehow the skill will immediately become a learned behavior. 

Sales training to be effective must look at both developing Knowledge and Skills while providing opportunities to apply (practice) these sales skills and then allow for feedback and additional practice. Many sales training programs be them 5 days to 1 day are like drinking from the fire hydrant. A lot of information given very quickly with little time to digest, practice and very rarely opportunities for feedback.

Sales Training Coaching Tip:  If you want your sales training to stick, the look at your curriculum and make sure you have both Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits.  You will discover not only a lot less redos, but a lot more positive return on your sales training dollars.

Take this free sales skills assessment to help you increase sales.

Chicago Sales Coach Leanne Hoagland Smith helps to achieve Sales Goals because the real issue is not "Do they (you) know it (Sales Training), but "Do they (you) want to do it?

Receive a special offer for Leanne's sales coaching book on how to be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits.

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How to Increase Sales? Focus on Sales Development Training

To get the best sales results out of your training investment, a sales development training program needs to be focused on your product's, or service's, unique value proposition. What unique value or benefit does your product or service have for customers? Ensure that your training program provides information that your sales staff can use in sales planning and sales calls.

Customize the training program to focus on the specific needs of your unique sales staff; by customizing for your own staff you will increase training effectiveness. All training needs to be developed with specific objectives in mind:


Do you need to train newly hired, but experienced, sales people? For example, for newly recruited sales employees (even experienced ones), it is important to ramp up their effectiveness by training them on your products or services. Review the unique characteristics of your products or services. What benefits do they provide to your customers? What is different about your product or service, from your competition's products or services?
Do you have a sales and marketing kit to give to new sales employees? For example: product literature; information from, and about, suppliers; the industry; your competitors; and your business. Include a summary of your business plan and strategy, as well as your marketing plan and your marketing mix strategies.
Do you need to train existing sales staff to be more effective, to close more sales, to be more successful at prospecting, to improve presentation skills, or more? What type of sales performance training do you need to develop and provide?
Do you need to train your sales staff on changes to existing products or services? Or to train on newly developed and newly introduced products or services?


 

Sales development training will help your business increase sales; it is an important tool in effectively managing and developing successful sales staff. Training needs to be a continual process; it starts when you hire new sales people and continues as new products or services are added or improved, and as the market and your competitors adapt.

Business owners and managers often behave as if sales people know everything they need to know (perhaps because they act like they know most everything) and therefore they often overlook the importance of continually training sales staff. When hiring experienced sales people, you expect them to be trained and capable of selling. However, to improve the effectiveness of newly hired, yet experienced, sales people, you need to provide product training that highlights the features, advantages and benefits (FAB) of your products. Alternatively, you may have to re-train your experienced sales people to sell in a way that more closely aligns to your changing business.

Training needs to introduce changing sales techniques and tactics; as the market changes or your products change, your sales approach also needs to change. Training for inexperienced sales people is necessary both on a product knowledge level and on a sales skills level. Focus first on basic sales performance and sales skills training; then work on training and developing advanced sales techniques. Your training plan needs to complement and support your business and marketing plan, your strategy, and your business operations.

Put effectiveness measures in place for your training program. For example,

Prior to initiating the training:


Record the number of calls your sales staff makes (daily, weekly or monthly), by employee.
Track the number of quotes or proposal requests (if appropriate for your business).
Record the sales by employee; profit per employee; value added sales per employee.

After training starts, set review dates (usually after at least 8 to 10 customer contacts) and compare to the performance prior to training. On a continual basis, track progress against the pre-training benchmarks. If the training results in improvement, continue with your program.  If there is no improvement, change the training.  Keep focused on your goals and make sure the training and sales staff know what the goals are.  Sales people are typically very results focused and motivated.

To engage your sales staff in training, make sure they understand the connection between learning and earning more income (if paid sales commissions based on sales volume).

For those small business owners and sales managers who feel you do not have time to train sales staff, understand that your investment of time and resources in training will pay off by increasing the effectiveness and performance of your sales staff. If you do not know how to build a sales development training program, consider hiring a sales training consultant or specialist to build a custom training program for your business.

Relate sales development training to a focus on why people buy and how product differentiation can help increase sales.

Kris Bovay is the owner of Voice Marketing Inc., the business and marketing services company and owner of the small business resource website, http://www.more-for-small-business.com

Kris has more than 25 years experience in successfully managing and leading large, medium and small businesses; businesses that she has worked with have grown by more than 30% in sales in the first two years. Use Kris' experience to help you manage and lead your business. Copyright 2008 Voice Marketing Inc.

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Professional Sales Training With a New Technique That You Will Not Have Seen Anywhere Else

Professional sales training builds new mental pathways that help you to flow through the selling process. You will acquire new ways of thinking that will increase your results in front of customers. This career sales training fires you into a motivated selling state so you can make the best of your skills and abilities. It also gives you a quick fire training exercise that teaches you how to use features, benefits, and closing, in a new way.

Try it for yourself with this quick training guide. This is a simple instruction on how to form a chain that starts with a customer need, and links features, benefits, and then moves to close the sale.

Take a need, want, or desire, that one of your typical customers may have. Now consider the best feature of your product or service that will meet that need. What is the benefit the feature provides that will satisfy the customer's need? A feature is something your product has or does. The benefit is what that feature does for the customer. A feature of a car could be that it does 40 miles to a gallon of fuel. One of the many benefits this supplies to the customer is that the low fuel consumption saves them money. To find the benefits, think how the feature of your product fulfills what the buyer is looking for.

With practice and use of this professional sales training exercise, you will start to see different ways your product can benefit your customers. You will form new mental connections that matches features of your product to the many possible benefits. When you have connected the feature to the need, and a great benefit to the feature, you simply flow into your close of the sale. This is the simplest version of a Need-to-Close Chain

Now you can see the chain and how it is formed, you can start to practice the chain as a career sales training exercise. Chose another requirement a buyer may want from your product. For the next link in the Need-to-Close Chain select the best possible feature to meet that requirement. As you complete this link in the chain you are training your mind to connect features to needs. This time when you select the benefit the feature provides, explain what the benefit does for the buyer. Present in detail how this benefit gives them what they are looking for. Then smoothly add on the next link in the Need-to-Close Chain and close the sale with an agreement gaining question.

As you practice the chain you will build the connections that link needs, features, benefits and closing the sale. This is great sales training for helping you think on your feet in front of customers. It gets you out of the bad habits of segmented sales pitches. Segmented pitches are a result of some corporate sales training courses that teach sales structure in separate sections and don't focus on linking the sections together. As you use the sales training exercise start to increase the speed as you work through the chain. Get to a point where you can do it with unconscious competence. This is when it becomes really effective and starts to become part of your selling skills.

To get the best results from this free sales training, consider the sales and motivation training needs that you have.

If you want a training technique that gives you a sudden burst of motivation, then practice the exercise between appointments. It is a fantastic way to get into a top selling state, that gives you access to all your resources, and allows you to use your skills to full effect.

When you get a new product, and you want to build your sales pitch, the Need-to-Close Chain is the perfect way to form a pitch. Instead of thinking in just boring old technical features, you start by picturing a buyer's needs. Then work through the chain for each need and link it to features and benefits. Follow this by going straight into an agreement gaining question.

For all trainers and team managers this is a professional sales training tool. Use it to liven up training sessions. Install the behaviour of linking through the chain into your sales team. It's a great interactive team exercise that creates a new way of thinking that will increase sales and conversion rates.

This is only a brief outline of the Need-to-Close Chain and how you can benefit from using it. There are many more ways to incorporate it into your daily routine or your teams sales training. For more information on sales training focused on the Need-to-Close Chain and a free ebook on how to use it to its full effect go to http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/free-newsletter-sales-training.html

Stephen Craine is a working sales manager and trainer for a major UK company. He uses his experience of sales, motivation training, NLP, and personal development coaching to achieve results for himself through the achievements of others in a sales environment. All the sales training presented here, and on the website, has been tested and proved by working sales people in real sales situations. There are no acronyms, buzz words, or complicated techniques to market training courses. The focus is on practical sales training that achieves results.

For more free sales training and sales skills information, and to see what else might be of interest to you or your company, visit the website at http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Car Sales Training on How to Close a Sale at an Unconscious Level

Car sales training focused on giving an attention grabbing sales presentation that closes the sale at an unconscious level.

Many car sales people hit the buyer with feature after feature. How boring. Is the customer going to buy a car because of a technical feature? How many of your buyer's can even identify engine parts, or care about the technical features? They are going to buy that car from you because you have shown them what the car will do for them. You have presented the benefits of the car, that match their wants, needs, and deep desires.

You know all the features of your cars. You want to show off your great knowledge in order to build credibility with your customer. But if you lose their attention you will not get them to that magic buying state. To move your customers to an emotional place where they are ready to buy you must know what they want, and give it to them in a way that fits into their view of the world.

They don't want a car

They want what the car will do for them. For some it will be a gleaming fashion accessory to attract admirers, and a sound system that is more important than the safety features. For others the car is a necessary tool, or a reliable means of transport. The buyer that cranks up the miles enjoying their leisure time will see a car from a different viewpoint than the daily commuter. The caring parent wants a safe way for the family to travel, and will benefit from in-car entertainment. While the rebelling student may want a unique statement on wheels that says who they are.

How are you going to meet that multitude of needs, wants, and desires, with technical features about a machine made of plastic and steel? The answer is, you're not. The features of the car are only ways of proving how the car gives the buyer the benefits. You have to relate those features and show how they will make real the pictures and feelings they have about the car they are going to buy.

Never assume to know what they want

The above examples are only possible buyer needs. Use your skills as a sales person to learn your customer's real needs. An important car sales training point is, the buyer may not be conscious of their real desires. Will that middle age man really admit to himself why he wants the sports car? He will tell you it's because he always wanted one, and only now can he afford it. The customer that tells you they are concerned about the environment may really be more worried about the cost of fuel. How many 4 X 4 off road owners ever drive over anything more than a speed control hump? Even with technical evidence that the gas guzzling 4 X 4 is not a safer vehicle to drive, many buyers still give safety as a reason why they drive one.

Great automotive sales training is about matching features of the car to the benefits the buyer really wants. The buyer wants to achieve an emotional feeling from their purchase. To understand those feelings, and identify how they will achieve them, the buyer makes internal pictures and holds internal dialogue. You find the surface needs, wants, and desires of the buyer, at the questioning stage of the sales process. But there are car sales techniques that help you get the deeper emotional triggers, and very few sales people become competent at using them.

Find the customer's real desires

What the buyer tells you they want may be only what they are willing to tell you, and are not their real desires. Beneath the surface communication will be deeper wants the customer has. For example, consider the business manager that wants a car that will project their high status to their staff. On the surface they may give you many reasons why they want a certain class of car. Reliability, image to customers, able to afford it, and many other reasons specific to them. The deeper reasons, of which they are consciously aware, could be that they want others to be envious, or to promote their own position. It could even be that they want to show off their wealth. It is unlikely that they will tell you this when you ask them what they want from a new vehicle. At an even deeper level there will be emotional benefits the buyer wants that are not fully within their conscious awareness. There will be benefits they want, their innermost desires, that they do not want to admit to themselves.

Back to the business manager that tells you they want a car that's reliable, looks appropriate for visiting customers, and is within their budget. They are not telling you about how they want to display their wealth and position to others at work. If we go even deeper into their wants needs and desires, we could find other benefits that will close the car sale at an almost unconscious level. What if you felt the business manager was really very insecure about their position. That the image they want the car to project was to build barriers with their staff. By asking about previous cars they have owned you feel they have come from a much lower income background. You read from their verbal, and non-verbal, communication that they need to be constantly proving themselves to others. Displaying a picture of their wealth and position to overcome their insecurities.

Take a new look at your car sales training

Now imagine the sales presentation you could give if you had that sort of knowledge about your customers. Take a new look at your car sales training. Yes, you need to have an expert knowledge about the technical details of the vehicles you sell. But you also need to know what questions to ask your customers, and how to read the deeper levels of meaning in their answers. What you are really looking for is their view of the world, their map of reality. Then you can show them how your car will fit into that view.

Let me give you a starting point. Why do you really drive the car that you currently have? Be honest with yourself. Look for some deeper thoughts and become more self aware. Then study family, friends and colleagues. Talk to them, look for inconsistencies. You're a sales person, you can read people. What is it about what the car does for them that lights up their face? Watch for the topics that leave them bored, or bring out the negative signs. This is a few simple paragraphs about people, not cars, and it could be the start of a whole new way of selling for you.

For more information on sales training focused on Car Sales Training go to http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com/car-sales-training.html

Stephen Craine is a working sales manager and trainer for a major UK company. He uses his experience of sales, motivation training, NLP, and personal development coaching to achieve results for himself through the achievements of others in a sales environment.

All the sales training presented here, and on the website, has been tested and proved by working sales people in real sales situations. There are no acronyms, buzz words, or complicated techniques to market training courses. The focus is on practical sales training that achieves results.

Stephen has recently teamed up with a successful clicnical hypnotherapist in Manchester uk to offer sales and career coaching to private clients and small businesses. Combining the power of hypnosis to make personal changes and overcome obstacles, with the practical experience of a professional sales coach, offers a unique training resource.

The aim is to help anyone looking to increase sales results, develop their career, or prepare for job interviews. The coachng program can also be tailored for small businesses to give them access to resources usually only avialable to large organisations.

For more free sales training and sales skills information, and to see what else might be of interest to you or your company, visit the website at http://www.sales-training-sales-tips.com

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

The Art of Sales and Sales Training

The practice of "selling" is an art that requires special skills and, since it's an art, the outcome is never guaranteed. Science, on the other hand, will generate a predictable outcome because science is based on laws. In science, for example, one plus one will always equal two. Since "selling" is and art, the best you can do is reduce the risk of failure and increase the probability of success.   You accomplish that with sales training and the perfection of sales skills. 

Salesmanship is an art form and so too is sales training. Training or instructions in any art form leaves great room for different thoughts, opinions and concepts. After all, there isn't just one acting school or acting method. That said, I'd like to give you a few of my twists and comments on some common believes held in the world of sales and sales training.     

Rarely Is It Your Closing Skills 

All too often, when a salesperson fails to close an order, there is a rush to judgment about their closing skills. For that reason, closing skills programs are one of the most popular sales training programs. However, more often than not, it is difficult for a salesperson to diagnose exactly where they went wrong. Based on my experience, the problem is rarely related to closing skills. 

Selling is a process made up of a series of well-defined steps. Each step must be successfully completed before you can proceed to the next step in the sales process. Closing is just one step in the sales process. If, for example, you failed to ask the right questions and never uncovered a need for your product, all the closing skills in the world will not help you get the sale. In fact, when you consider all the steps in the sales process, closing is the easiest and most natural step but only when you've first successfully completed all of the prior steps in the sales process. 

The Three Words You Never Hear In Sales 

Lost Order reports could be a valuable sales tool but all to often they are nothing more than a useless, if not harmful, piece of paper. I say that because there are three words I've never seen on a lost order report. Those words are... "We Were Outsold". You know reps get outsold all the time but it's never admitted, especially on a Lost Order report. 

The purpose of a Lost Order report is to correct something that caused an order to be lost. So, executives spend days trying to fix pricing issues, missing features, contract terms and a host of other things that appear on Lost Order reports but often had nothing to with the failure to close the business. It is just too hard for most sales organization to admit they were simply outsold. 

What do you think would happen if those three words, "We Were Outsold", started appearing on Lost Order Reports? That's right, those sales executives would start fixing the right problem... sales skills. They would go out and get some great sales training and make sales skills the center of their organization's culture. 

Stop Qualifying And Start Disqualifying Prospects 

My last little twist on things could make a big difference for many salespeople. If we are tasked to qualify a prospect we look for reasons to do just that, namely qualify the prospect. I think there is a safer approach and that approach is to look for reasons to disqualify prospects. That approach will keep your assessments honest and prevent you from investing time with prospects that will never, or can never, buy from you. 

Sales Training 

Make no mistake about it, when it comes to sales, you need a solid foundation of basic and advanced sales skills. You get those sales skills in solid sales training programs. However, once you have that foundation firmly in place, remember you are dealing with an art form so make those skills your own. The Sales Superstars don't play by the rules; they make their own rules. I feel that's the biggest reason for the "80/20 Rule". The top twenty percent of all salespeople take creative approaches and force themselves to look at things differently. That's why they earn eighty percent of all the commissions. 

I invite you to remember "sales" is an art so make it your own. But first, establish a foundation of solid sales skills. Look at this way, you have to learn how to play a piano before you can take it to the next level and compose a concerto.   

About The Author

Nick Moreno, founder of The National Sales Center, is a well-established sales training consultant with more than 30 years of experience providing excitement, empowerment and benefit to those he trains. Offering a competitive sales training advantage through education and cutting edge programs, his system, The Progressive Sales Process, is known for generating "Sales Superstars" who consistently reach much higher sales commissions. Mr. Moreno can be reached by contacting him at Nick@Nationalsalescenter.com or by visiting his web site at http://www.nationalsalescenter.com

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