Smart Thinking : How to Choose the most effective training vendor

by Cathy Atkins

April 4,2008

You want something different for your company in 2008. You want more revenue but not at the expense of profit margins. You'd like more efficient and effective employees but without high turnover. You alsocan't imagine how you're going to get all this doneyourself.

You're not alone. Companies are looking to streamline productivity and get the most efficient use of their employee talent. They realize that what got them here won't get them there (that's the title of a great book, by the way). You may also be one of those companies forced to develop a sales culture where you've never had to before, and even though you may not like even saying the "S" word in public, you realize that you must change and begin proactively selling—or sell out.

Finding an appropriate training company to whom you'll entrust your most valuable resources can be a formidable task. Start at home. Train your "motivated" home office staff using outside training professionals; this will serve as a "test" for training companies you may want to recommend to your sales reps, and you will boost learning and productivity at the home office, too.

"You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar." If you have kids, you know what I mean. You have to run down the street with them, holding on, talking them through it, consoling them when they fall down and skin their knees and convincing them to get back up—in short, lots of hand-holding. Remember that seminars are OK, but they don't last. Choose a training vendor that offers reinforcement sessions and, better still, coaching sessions too. It's here that real learning takes place—not sitting through a one-or two-day seminar. It's just like learning to ride a bike. Create incentives for your salespeople to participate in the cost of the training (or motivate them if the home office is not participating in the expense at all).

They will get more out of it if their own money is on the table. Of course, make sure you or someone you trust has gone through a sampling of the training first before you build a campaign around a particular training vendor. Some training vendors will offer training coupons that allow individuals to attend an introductory sessions for free. This helps the people decide, for themselves, whether they wish to participate.

Tangible tools for reinforcement are critical as well.

Choose a vendor that provides self-study homework and audiotape or CD reinforcement in addition to classroom reinforcement. Many of your reps drive during the day and can turn windshield time into learning time.

Along those lines, a brand-new trend is "live training with Web site support." If your salespeople are scattered about, the cost of attending training classes out of town is high. If there is no local training available, reps have to give up one, two or three days out of their business to travel somewhere else. Sometimes that's useful for building a team atmosphere. If your training vendor of choice has some form of Web site reinforcement, where attendees can access a Web site and plug in exercises, case studies and articles, participants who are geographically diverse can derive greater benefit.

FYI: Many Fortune 500 companies are training their sales reps via "Webinars," a 45-to 60-minute seminars delivered over the Internet—like video conferences at much less expense. To participate, you need a computer and a modem, a telephone, and a code that registers you for the "event." Watch for the spike in Web-based training as the technology gets cheaper.

Serious training vendors have testing mechanisms in place to score participants before, during and after training to measure improvement. Ask your vendor what type of testing is offered before the training begins.

Listen to your reps. Many times a salesperson or manager will "fall in love" with a training vendor and may never even think to tell anyone at the home office.
Encourage your associates to pass along success stories.

After all, you are in the ivory tower (or so your salespeople seem to think), and they are out in the trenches every day.

Do not exclude training vendors who are also franchise systems. Consult your latest IFA Franchise Opportunities Guide under "Educational Services" or "Business Aids and Services," and you'll see some franchises in the training business. If one of them fits your application, consider using them. Chances are they have local franchisees near your reps, and not only do they understand training, they also understand franchising.

"To train or not to train?" All things being equal … TRAIN! Training is an investment in people that not only pays for itself but also brings a sizable return, if the training vendor you choose makes you comfortable in most of the tips you've just read about.

The Sandler Sales Institute is an international sales and management training/consulting firm since 1967. For a free white paper entitled "Why Traditional Sales Training Doesn't Work…and how to fix it," call 573-445-7694, or e-mail atkins@awarenessmanagement.com.

Popularity: unranked [?]