To be a successful sales person, one needs to have adequate knowledge of the domain, be proficient in the skills required and have the right attitude. Let’s see what are the basic skills required to be a successful sales person.

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Selling is not only an art but also a science. Let’s examine if selling can be effectively taught in a class room. Well, traditionally selling was taught on the job. A new sales executive followed a senior sales person on a few calls and then went on to be on his own. In his book “Life Insurance Company Sales Training Programs” H P Gravengaard says that scientific selling methods were perhaps first started by subscription book companies and that they are the pioneers in terms of organizing training for their sales staff. Subsequently, modern organizations started giving importance to the training of sales personnel reinforcing specific skills that are important for their domain.

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There are age-old concepts called Empathy and Ego drive. And, it says that as a good sales person you need both. A sales person, who lacks either empathy or ego drive, can never sell. Do you agree?

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Research and experience show that the personality of a top sales person exhibits a balance of ego drive (a deep inner need for self-gratification) and empathy (an ability to relate to people and act for their benefit). Likewise, in a good leader, we see a balance between a concern for production and a concern for the people (Management Grid, Blake and Mouton).

I am sure you will agree with me that teachers, corporate trainers and facilitators of learning are definitely leaders. We lead our learners through the most joyous of human journeys – Learning! Like Moses leading the Israelites though the desert to the land flowing with milk and honey!

A leader motivates, envisions, inspires, communicates, cajoles, reprimands… so does a teacher. A leader is driven by his ego. Who among us can deny the thrill of self-gratification when we stand in front of a group and lead them? So, why belittle the ‘sage’ in us?

On the other hand, how much of empathy does trainer need to relate to his flock? Does being a ‘guide by the side’ depend upon the kind of learners, the trainer is dealing with? Or are we just donning the role of ‘guide’ only to mollify the egos of learners? What exactly we mean by ‘facilitating’ learning?

It looks like I am a bit partial to the ‘sage’ approach. Well! I am from the land of the ‘gurus’, where a student speaks of his Parents, his God and his Teacher in the same breath, where students respect their teachers for a lifetime for sharing their invaluable knowledge. It is fascinating to read about the wonderful relationship Indians share with their ‘gurus’ (We even have a Teachers Day – September 5 – to commemorate teachers). Enough of that, though…

Coming back to the question of which is the best approach – ‘sage’ or ‘guide’, should we follow a ‘Situational Approach’ and adopt the appropriate ‘avatar’ depending on the situation and the kind of learners? If so, what are the parameters?

I would welcome my colleagues to respond with their knowledge and experience in addressing this dilemma.

Thank you for reading my blog.

RK Prasad

CEO

Sales Training can comprise product knowledge, sales procedures & reports and selling skills.

We have been developing sales training courses for automobile major in Europe, with market presence in Europe and Asia. During the development, we realized that this client company is using a blended approach by addressing certain aspects of training via online delivery and certain others in the classroom.

For example, the procedures and reports that need to be followed and filled in respectively are quite amenable to be put online. So the company went ahead and asked us to develop a 60-minute online course to teach their sales people various procedures to be followed which included the sales planning process. The course presented adequate opportunities for the learners to test their understanding.

Products in this case were automobile spare parts; there was nothing much to be learnt about them as they fell in some kind of consumable category. Had the product been an automobile itself, product training could have been attempted through eLearning, with ample use of 3-D animations and voice over.

Coming to the controversial component – selling skills. Can it be done effectively via an online course? As a former sales person and also a training professional, I classify learning how to sell under experiential learning – learning by doing. Usually, selling skills training is either done on-the-job (OJT) along with a senior sales person for providing guidance and feedback or in a classroom where typical sales situations are simulated for the learners to enact the role of a sales person while another learner takes on the role of a buyer. Feedback is generally given in the form of a video shoot of the process.

Given this kind of training, I think eLearning or online mode of delivery is not very suitable for selling skills training.

What do you think? Thank you for reading my blog and I welcome your comments and sharing of experiences.

RK Prasad

CEO

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