How to Hire a Sales Trainer

Does your company need sales training? Maybe, maybe not. But how will you determine if you need it and who are you going to hire? If you meet with a sales trainer he’s going to steer you towards what he can deliver. If he is a great sales trainer, he ought to be a great salesman. Instead, take it from a company that delivered sales training for over a million salespeople worldwide. Here is what you should consider.

Here are some reasons why you DON’T need sales training:

• You have a well-defined prospecting plan and your people execute it consistently.
• Once in front of a prospect, your people have a systematic approach to qualifying the opportunity, and can predict its probability of turning into real business.
• The ratio of proposals to closed deals is 80% or better.
• There are very few “think-it-overs,” meaning your team gets decisions from prospects and very few undecideds that linger for 90 days or more.
• When your salespeople return from a sales call they can tell you exactly what happened, i.e. why the prospect’s buying, their budget, decision-making process, and what the next step is going to be.
• There are no back-outs, charge-backs, or buyers calling with buyers’ remorse to cancel – what’s sold is sold.

If you think you DO need some outside training here are a few thoughts on selecting a trainer. In your meeting with the prospective trainer, is he doing things that you wish your people could/would do?

For example, does your sales trainer:

• Do most of the talking or does he get you talking? The best salespeople do less than thirty percent of the talking.
• Set a mutually agreed upon agenda for the meeting, one that you helped determine?
• Have a methodical process of uncovering your needs, diagnosing your problems, and coming up with solutions that fit?
• Make you feel comfortable with the questioning methods used – not too aggressive, not too weak, but probing beyond the surface issues?
• Help you realize aspects of the situation that you had not previously considered?
• Keep the sales process moving towards a decision? Does he deal effectively with stalls and think-it-overs?

The best opportunity you’ll have to see if the training is a fit for you and your company is when that trainer is selling to you. If you like what he is doing and you’re thinking, “I wish my people could do this,” then maybe you have the right guy. If you’re thinking, “This guy is using all the same failed tactics that my people are using,” perhaps you should pass on his services.

Do you need training? I’m not sure, only you can decide that. But if you hire trainer, make sure he sells the way you want your people to sell.

You may also like our free whitepaper: 4 Tips When Hiring a Winning Sales Manager