When developing sales skills, professionals often look for 'something new'.
But does that always yield the best results? No, argues KENNETH SMIT trainer Marcel Hoefman.

Mark is a sales manager at an ambitious company. "My team consists of experienced sales people," he tells me during an exploratory conversation about training. 'We have already had so many training sessions, we are looking for something new.'

I come across it often, the search for 'something new' in the field of training. Understandable: so much has already been said, written and trained on topics called 'open doors'. Does that really have to happen again? Is there perhaps something different, something new?
The belief behind the statement 'we want something new' is usually that salespeople have a good command of the basic skills of their profession. "They have trained those basics so many times," they say.

Interesting, because that is precisely where the essence of improvement lies and where 'the new' lies. In my practice as a trainer, I often see that commercial success is largely determined by working hard on the basics. And not through yet another hip or hype method that sounds tempting, but in practice leads to disappointment.

Basic skills
What do we actually mean by basic sales skills? Take a look: conversation preparation, taking control, building trust, process structure, asking impactful questions, active listening, (non-verbal) communication, sharing insights, insight into decision styles, managing resistance, negotiating and of course gaining commitment.
And inextricably linked to this is a range of behavioral and attitudinal aspects such as self-confidence, beliefs and style flexibility. In short: less basic and simple than the term 'basic skills' suggests.

If you want to strengthen the performance of sales people through training, you can ask two questions about these basic skills:

“Do I already know this?”
For experienced salespeople, the answer to this question is a resounding 'yes'. Basics are basic for a reason, they appear in almost every sales training and every sales book. That is why they are often scornfully referred to as 'open doors'. Unfortunately, the result is that closing these open doors rather limits access to further growth and development.
If you really want to get better at sales, ask another question about these skills, namely:

“How good am I at this?”
Sales is not only a thinking profession, but also a doing profession. You can know a lot about communication, questioning techniques, objection techniques, dealing with DMUs, etc., but in practice your knowledge about this is not decisive.
Commercial success (and any lack thereof, by the way!) is mainly determined by how well you master those skills in practice.
The question 'how good am I at this?' focuses on effectively applying what you know. This question therefore helps you to make strengths visible, discover areas for development and improve sales results.

If you, as a manager, want to support your sales team in their skill development, the following three steps will help:

1. Note which basic skills and behavioral aspects are relevant in your situation. Prioritize this list so you can determine what is important and what is less important in a specific sales role. The premise 'sales is sales' is nice and simple, but it is far too simple an approach to the complex practice.
Of course there are generalities, but it is precisely the differences that are interesting. The basics for commercial office staff are different from those for a key account manager. And a commercial process within consultancy requires different skills than the sale of office supplies.

2. Look in the mirror with your team and do an honest self-assessment: how well do your people master their basics? Where is the stretch? Who can learn from each other? What are you satisfied with? What requires development? What will make the most impact in practice?

3. Get started with the results of this analysis.
Which basics are you going to develop from sufficient to good? And how exactly are you going to approach that? Who does what and what support do you offer your people?

Mark and his team have now looked in the mirror. They saw that the basics were partly in order. We have actually started working hard on other parts. The result: new ideas, new behavior and a new vision on skill development.
And not unimportant: new customers and new turnover.

Author

Marcel Hoefman
m.hoefman@kennethsmit.com
06-54764840

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