In my 39 years of business, I have never seen things change this quickly from a sales perspective. We lost the handshake! We lost the vast majority of face-to face-meetings. To be successful, we have to learn to sell and manage virtually. We have to master the “pivot.”
The only thing that remains constant is change. The ability to change requires an ability to learn. We must create learning organizations where people can adapt, align, change, learn, and grow.
I had a conversation with a Vice President of Sales recently who was interested in our Virtual Sales Effectiveness Training and, specifically, how he can get his sales team competent selling virtually.
“That is a pretty big expense, Mike," he said when I socialized the cost with him.
“Well, I can appreciate the cost of training may have been more than you thought. I am curious, why are you viewing this as an expense and not an investment?”
“Ok, fair point, Mike. I get it. It is an investment. What is the ROI if I train?” he asked.
My response was simple.
“I can benchmark and calculate that in 10 minutes if you don’t have an optional culture. If you make implementing the training a priority. Our training will pay for itself in less than a month after the training is complete.”
That’s right, less than a month.
I then asked a couple of questions. “What is it costing you not to invest in training? What’s your lost revenue if you don’t train?
Example: Customer objection: “Your price is too high.” Salesperson: “Where do I have to be?” That is a poorly trained salesperson--what did that cost you? That is happening, time and time again in your company. And it comes with a cost!
Another example: Leaving a voicemail: “Hi, it’s me again, just checking in to see if you’ve got any needs.” God awful voicemail. What did that just cost you?
Or “Hi, Bill, this is um, Steve Jones and I am um, the business development manager for your area and I was hoping to um, arrange some time to um, get to know you and your company better so that we may determine if I can be of help.”
Horrible! What did that just cost you?
Can I keep going with examples?
A salesperson schedules a Zoom meeting with a prospect. He has no Client Meeting Plan, nor did he do the requisite background research. He did not check his sound or reboot his computer before the call and had no Plan B. Prospect told him that his sound was breaking up and eventually ended the meeting. What did that just cost you?
Training is an investment! It is an investment in your people. It is an investment in the people who represent YOUR BRAND. Having untrained, mediocre people represent your brand, who perform poorly and then quit—tell me-WHAT IS THAT COSTING YOU????
Here is a little stat that might be of interest to you:
Over the past eight months, we went through the most dramatic change in sales – EVER! And if you did not train your sales team on how to sell and manage virtually, you should seriously ask yourself: What did that cost? In lost revenue? In lost employees? In lost customers? In lack of new client acquisition.
If you want a return on your training investment, we can help guide you to implement the highest priorities to ensure a quick ROI. Our clients grow 4X their respective markets for a reason. Ask us to put you in touch with one of them. They will give you the straight scoop. Contact us to learn more.