Part 1: Sales Development Training is Key to Consistent and Predictable Sales Results

Your company's success depends on your salespeople. That's why it is essential to focus on sales development training so your sellers are proficient in the myriad of areas they need to know.

If you're like most growing companies, you invest very little in sales training and development. Instead, you try to hire top salespeople who, from day one, can open doors and close sales with minimal guidance, and virtually overnight.

Unfortunately, if you've been in business for a while, you've had your hopes dashed more than once.

Those "miracle workers" you brought on board looked great at first. Like a sponge, they absorbed all the details about your product or service offering. They made tons of phone calls and cold called like crazy. You loved all that activity!

But after a few months, you started to get worried. Orders weren't coming in at the pace you projected. The salespeople started complaining about lack of interest, high prices or missing capabilities. They were getting discouraged.

So, you told them to make more calls. Clearly, they hadn't contacted enough companies or found the right prospects. And, as everyone knows, sales is a numbers game.

Unfortunately, they couldn't turn things around and ultimately you had to let them go. As a growing business, that hurts in many ways:

• No one is calling on prospective customers while you try to fill the open position.
• Competitors get their foot in the door of key accounts, keeping you out for years to come.
• You pay exorbitant fees to headhunters who can't guarantee the seller they bring you will succeed.
• You have to bring another new salesperson up-to-speed again.

Which brings us right back to sales development training. If you've only been training your salespeople on your offering, then sending them out to the field to meet with customers, you're making a huge mistake.

Sales is not a numbers game anymore. That's the old way. Prospective decision makers have no tolerance for sellers who are giving everyone the same old spiel.

Nor do potential customers need your salesperson to update them about your products or services. That's the old way. If they want to learn about your offering, they'll go onto the Internet to do the research.

The truth is, you need your salespeople to be valuable resources for your customers. Decision makers need to feel they get a high value from meeting with them.

The only way to make that happen is to invest in sales development training, giving your salespeople knowledge in what matters to your prospective customers. When you do this, you'll realize consistent and predictable sales results from the salespeople you bring into your company.

Part 1:  Your company's success depends on your salespeople. That's why it is essential to focus on sales development training so your sellers are proficient in the myriad of areas they need to know.