Good versus great sales training

I've been with lots of different types and sizes of companies in my career. The very best ones provided sales training programs that were custom-developed to account for who the company was, what made us unique, how we wanted to be perceived in the markets we served, and how we could best be consultative in the decision-making processes of our future customers.

What the best sales training never was was the off-the-shelf and one-size-fits-all variety.

That's what was on my mind as I read this article from McKinsey, "The difference between good and bad sales training: A closer look at certification."

It's a very interesting read, and the authors have done a masterful job in drawing attention to and making distinctions between what good versus great companies do when it comes to sales training.

Experience has taught me that beyond how you recruit and make hiring decisions, probably the single greatest factor in determining each sales person's success and the success of the sales team will be training.

Whether or not that training is great is tied directly to how leaders think about sales, talk about sales, implement sales training, and how they weave it all together as part of the cultural fabric of the company.

As the authors point out…..

"Creating a world-class sales capability-building program requires focused effort by sales leadership, particularly with regards to practically establishing the program (Exhibit 2). Defining the core sales skills that your organization needs to enhance, determining the most appropriate forums to train for those skills, and then creating realistic content tailored to your company's sales motion are just a few of the challenges."

While I highly recommend that business owners and sales leaders read this McKinsey article carefully, let me also recommend that sales people read it, too. It ought to be helpful in framing the conversation about how the company is doing at developing your sales skills.

What's been your experience with sales training?

Feel free to share your thoughts, or reach out to me in the comments if you'd like to pick up the conversation elsewhere.