Hiring a Sales Training Company That Is Right for Your Organization

Once a company has identified the need for sales training, the next step is to navigate your way through all of the options that are available.  There are many companies that offer sales training in addition to other offerings, or specialize in sales training.   So how do you find the one that will be right for you?  These four guidelines for hiring a sales training company will help.

#1 Look for a skills based training company

Every VP of Sales would like to find a sales training company that can improve sales results.  The challenge is how to measure that since there are so many variable that can drive sales results: competitive factors, general economic conditions, new product introductions, etc.  In many cases, it is hard to isolate these variables and accurately determine exactly how much an increase in sales is attributable to the sales training.   

To be sure that you are getting the most for your money, ask your sales training company what skills will your sales reps be learning.  Skills based training may teach a questioning model or listening skills or very specific skills around improving prospecting.  Whether a new skill is being consistently applied by your team is something you can observe and measure.  Over time, if you can improve sales skills, sales numbers will improve. 

#2 Find a company that offers reinforcement

The training event is important:  you want your sales people to leave motivated and excited about driving more business with their new skills.  But the hard truth is that without a plan to reinforce the skills your sales people have learned, much of the training won’t stick.  Reinforcement can come in many shapes:  sales leaders can coach on specific skills, online or live virtual instructor.  Whatever training company you chose, be sure they can help you determine how training will be retained and reinforced.

#3 Look for a company that will learn about your company

You may not need to for full blown customization, but you do need to work with a company that can learn enough about your products, your sales team and your sales cycle that they can speak to your sales team in the language that matters to them.  The kiss of death for a sales training is that it is too generic – e.g., the sales team gets trained on how to sell widgets, not their product or service. 

#4 Do your research  

It’s easy to remember back to the days when you took a really great training and determine that sales training is the best for your team.  Or, ask your best sales rep which sales training they took.  The problem with this approach is that your sales rep or you may be good at sales to start with. 

Maybe you’re hard-wiring for good selling skills.  You want to be sure that the training will work for your mid level performers.  The other thing to remember is that sales has changed from where it was 10 or 20 years ago.  The best sales training companies from a decade ago may not have updated their content and materials to reflect selling in today’s market.

You want to find companies that have been successful through the eyes of third parties.  Check references. Talk to other VP of Sales and be sure that the training is a fit for you product and service.

Adhering to these four concepts for hiring a sales training company in a neutral way will help you find a sales training company that will fit for your organization and will help you improve your sales numbers.  Good luck!