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Strategic Sales Training
Posted By: sanjay* on 9/27/2004 2:54 AM (CST) 250 Points
Most sales training worldwide is ineffective
Price as a startegy and becoming a volume player is a path to suicide.

companies like philips, carrier, whirlpool, Otis, ford, GM, etc are not capitalising on their strenths

Posted by: Mushfique Manzoor Member Response
9/27/2004 5:20 AM (CST)
hi sanjay

you have just expressed your views/some statements. Would you please elaborate??

cheers!!
 
Posted by: ASVP/ChrisB Member Response
9/27/2004 6:45 AM (CST)
This seems like Schubert's 9th...

If you post a question perhaps someone will be able to help you.

ChrisB
 
Posted by: Promo Dave* Accepted Answer
9/27/2004 7:32 AM (CST)
I will assume a training question is implied.

Most Corporations spend too much time on features, benefits and competition. The best results we have had are with training focused on qualifying prospect accounts and negotiating, particularly negotiating. Good negotiators are better at diffusing objections and or making low impact concessions (not always price) in order to close the deal. We have always had a good return on our investment when sending employees to a Karass Negotiations Seminar. Send your senior management as well!

Good Luck
 
Posted by: Rick Sebok* Accepted Answer
9/27/2004 8:00 AM (CST)
Sanjay - what's your point?

Side note -
Sales training is ONLY as good as its real-world application. Based on personal and professional experience, I can tell you that many companies are incapable of changing their ways to incorporate the learning of sales training...
 
Posted by: Inbox_Interactive Accepted Answer
9/27/2004 8:23 AM (CST)
As has been pointed out, you haven't asked a question. However, I'll take a shot at pointing out what I think are some problems with your statements.

You say that pricing as a strategy and becoming a volume player is a path to suicide.

Somehow, I think the people at Wal-Mart will disagree with you.

Moreover, the decision to become a price and volume leader has nothing to do with sales training. Salespeople are the ones out in the field who make it happen. The strategy, though (that is, the decision to become a price and volume leader), is developed in the boardroom, not the water cooler where the salespeople hang out.

Finally, it's generally believed, I think, that in most industries there is room only for a handful of truly dominant companies. You can't have 10 or 20 or 30 "name brands" that people recognize right away. All others are second-tier. If you're a public company, your mission is to grow and become one of those dominant forces, not an "also ran." And sometimes growth comes with giving on pricing, not to mention that sometimes your survival relies on it.

Do you think the American car companies are giving $5,000 rebates AND 0% financing for 72 months because they're being the cheapest guy is part of their strategy? No, it's because the demand for automobiles has changed, and dropping prices is the key to moving inventory--and survival.

My $0.02. (And yes, I can't believe I wrote such a wordy post without there having been a question asked! AND I haven't even had coffee yet!)

Paul
 
Posted by: jason.koulouras* Accepted Answer
9/27/2004 8:26 AM (CST)
Interesting point Paul:

"Do you think the American car companies are giving $5,000 rebates AND 0% financing for 72 months because they're being the cheapest guy is part of their strategy? No, it's because the demand for automobiles has changed, and dropping prices is the key to moving inventory--and survival."

One of the angles is that the "American" car cos need to maintain market share and production to move volume and sales to keep their health and pension costs funded (these are roughly fixed costs for them). Having said that it would appear that ineffective product management and product marketing have a lot to deal with the root causes of them being the most vulnerable to changing consumer preferences.

*****
On the original post, I do not see a question either - we need more guidance
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
9/27/2004 9:45 PM (CST)
Sales training may not be as effective as it could be, but I don't see so many great marketing companies either. There are some companies that do a terrific job of sales training, and there are others that aren't so good. In industries where Sales is the driving function, it's a good bet that the market leaders somehow train their people pretty well.

Similarly, in industries where Marketing drives the company, market leaders have probably developed good marketing practices and train their people pretty well.

I think your opinions are right in some cases and not-so-right in others. It's kind of Darwinian. The survivors are the ones who do the best in areas most critical to their success.

Now, what was the question?
 
Posted by: jcmedinave Accepted Answer
10/4/2004 5:20 PM (CST)
In the present environment is critique the development of the emotional intelligence, the intuition, empathy, customer Relations, focus on the present customers, agility, empowerment, Service attitude, be genuine, gain confidence, believe in the products you sell and use them first.

Some articles related to the topic:

http://www.bai.org/bankingstrategies/2000-jan-feb/Overcoming/

http://www.bankinvestmentmktg.com/cgi-bin/tbc-cgi/bim-cgi/bimview-generic.c...

Bye,

Juan Carlos
 
Posted by: norquest* Accepted Answer
10/7/2004 5:51 AM (CST)
To take a slightly different approach to a question that isn’t a question. Yes, I agree that many companies do not use training as effectively as they ought to.

Many of the international brands present in India have a woefully inadequately trained staff at the point they come in contact with customers.

This obviously results in diluted brand equity. After that they just look like higher priced people selling the same products.

While my experience is limited to what is happening in India, I know that brands all over the world are unable to keep the magic and mystique that made them special.

One reason for this is because folks have equated branding with advertising and forgotten that a brand is what a brand does.

Training has an impact on how the folks associated with a brand behave and the impact of inadequate attention to this is beginning to be felt by branders everywhere.

Then, as sanjay puts it in his slightly cryptic question, price rules!
 
Posted by: jose04 Accepted Answer
10/7/2004 9:05 AM (CST)
Hello sanjay

You must be pretty sure of yourself to make a proposition like "Most sales training worldwide is ineffective". THe objective of Sales training ultimately will be increase sales (doubling or trebling it, for example). Sales training could also have other objectives like increasing awareness/ sharing knowlege, making customers more loyal and keen towards your product, and enlivening the sagging spirits of customers and make them advocates for your product. If this is what you feel, then your proposition may be more acceptable.

When you say "Price as a strategy and becoming a volume player is a path to suicide," i understand it as an indictment against conventional product price approaches. THere are growing evidences against this line of argument, as in the case of Walmart and surely among the strategies of most business houses. Indian examples like Foodworld (in Chennai), Margin Free (in kerala) are just two examples to prove a point that price strategies which are often low, are not necessarily suicidal. Of course, as you say, the risk taken if not strategic and well thought out, it can be suicidal.

On your comment "companies like philips, carrier, whirlpool, Otis, ford, GM, etc are not capitalising on their strengths" the answer can be anything. Assuming that your allegation against these brands in the context of India is true, then some supporting thoughts for you could be that these brands are yet to bring out technologically, cost effective products to meet the needs of the masses in their key areas of operation. THis is the key challenge for any business isn't it? Competition is probably the only driver which allows prices to plummet down in the long run and allow consumers to experience value for money in a more meaningful way.

Hope these thoughts help!!
 
Posted by: jason.koulouras* Member Response
10/7/2004 9:09 AM (CST)
Is Sanjay coming back???
 
Posted by: et3dotcom Member Response
10/10/2004 11:08 PM (CST)
The minimal adjustment was made to turn your statements into questions, only one word moved in each case. The questions:

Q: Is most sales training worldwide ineffective?

Q: Is price as a strategy and becoming a volume player a path to suicide?

Q: Are companies like philips, carrier, whirlpool, Otis, ford, GM, etc not capitalizing on their strengths?
 
Posted by: et3dotcom* Accepted Answer
10/10/2004 11:09 PM (CST)

A: no, training is effective enough that it continues to be used, and training companies are still working.

A: It is if you loose a little on every sale, but make up for it in volume!

A: no company in the world fully capitalizes on all their strengths. IMO the companies you list could leverage their many strengths more effectively, and IMO, they all are using just enough of their strengths to maintain easy profits. Using strength costs money – better to sit around and get fat (not a good long term plan is it? – makes it tough to fight off competition).

daryl
 
Posted by: mcorson* Accepted Answer
10/13/2004 10:50 AM (CST)
Training is just one tool in the box. It needs to be focussed, releevant and effective. It also needs to be an ongoing never ending process. As the market and influneces move so does the training to respond to those must.
Any traing is only as good as the exectuion and evaluation of its effectiveness. there must be a metric that you devlop to reflect the net effect of that which the staff have been trained on.
 
Posted by: Val (Moderator)* Moderator Response
10/13/2004 8:31 PM (CST)
Hello all. I am closing this question, since its more than 10 days old. We do this to make sure members' contributions are rewarded in a timely manner and to improve the visibility of newer questions. Thanks, so much, for participating!

Val (Moderator)
 


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