Trick or Treat
I was asked by a client recently if I could provide some sales training to a somewhat seasoned salesforce. While I was not really conscious of it at the time, I think what was going around in my head like a mantra warning was the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”.
It is important to disclose that I spent the first half of my career in the training business of one shape or another. But I got frustrated in that profession because I learned that too many problems could not be addressed through training as a sole solution, but often I was forced into that situation.
Tonight my doorbell will ring and on my doorstep will be spooks and goblins in search of Kit Kat bars and Reese’s cups. Just prior to arriving at my house the 11 year old who presses my doorbell will have transformed into Spiderman. But, at the end of the night with a bag full of candy, Spiderman will transform back into the 11 year old. The change was superficial, just a costume to serve the purpose of collecting on the annual promise of free processed sugar.
Too many of the training programs I ran in the past served only the purpose of a superficial attempt at skill upgrading. The training session at best gave the participants a costume to wear briefly, then they changed back to their old selves.
Sales people cannot be expected to improve their effectiveness by wearing the costume of the sales methodology du jour. For sales effectiveness to serve up to its namesake a broader intervention is needed. Skills and knowledge are only a piece of the puzzle. The other factors that have to be included are processes, policies, management attitudes, organizational culture, enabling technology, and a bit of good timing and luck.
To accomplish an improvement in the effectiveness of the salesforce requires attending to all these variables, which just can’t be accomplished within the neat package of a training seminar. In combination, however, with attention to these other factors, the training program can be a great catalyst, energizer, focal point for communication, and a place to demonstrate the necessary management support.
Don’t eat all that kind all at once.