When having a conversation about sales problems, I might remind you about the folly of only taking cash (depending on the type of business). I might also remind you to eliminate the tedious & annoying out of your buying process. There are cases where thats useful, but mostly it isnt. But not today. Today, Id like to remind you of the value of training your sales team.

Heard of Quora.com? Quora is a website where you can ask questions. Many times, youd never have access to those who answer: world-class subject matter experts. If you asked an airplane question, you might hear from an engineer who helped design it & three commercial pilots who fly it.

Why Quora? Because I found a Quora question pertinent to this discussion: What can businesses learn from the military? It reminds me of the not well informed Why dont non-profits run like a business? question, but this is a much better question.

A Marine named Jon Davis who deployed to Iraq & Afghanistan answered: Training. His answer breaks down like this: 1) A detailed process to track progress. 2) Regular job specific training. 3) An annual schedule to ensure standards are met. 4) Find & reward teachers. 5) Ignore the training them to leave myth. 6) Discipline.

If those six items are checkboxes can you check any of them?

Ive recently met several folks who work in the car business. The one I wrote about last week is the only one Ive encountered recently who knew the product well. I dont mean he could wake him in the middle of the night & tell me (blindfolded) how to change a timing belt. I mean he didnt have to run to the showroom to find out the horsepower for a vehicle whose manufacturer makes cars with only two engine choices across the entire product line.Yes, it happened.

This isnt a sales team failure. Its a management failure.Are you preparing your salespeople to succeed? Product knowledge isnt what sells cars. Rapport is. Guiding me to a special value (car thats been on the lot too long) because it pays more than a mini (minimum commission) doesnt build rapport.

A question about the value of rapport: Whats worth more to you, getting that special value off the lot, or creating a relationship that provokes me to return every x years to buy only from you for the rest of my vehicle buying days, while also encouraging my friends to do so? You decide.

Sometimes product knowledge is critical: Can you help me find a good red wine? The salesperson who knows less about your product than most prospects will struggle & reflect poorly on your business. You need someone who understands the problems your prospects want to solve & how your solutions address them.

One of the best parts of the answer Jon gives relates to on-boarding. He describes how the military trains recruits and leads them. He then compares that to the training that most businesses provide: haphazardly, if at all, and with little ongoing mentoring which unfortunately matches my observations over time.

You probably hire experienced people so theyll step in & become effective quickly. Do they do it the way you want it done? Did they learn a completely different way of doing what you do? What if you dont want them to do it that way? How will they learn your proprietary way of doing things?

Dont assume an experienced new hire has mastered the systems, machinery, methods, and processes your business uses to succeed. Learn from their experience, but train / mentor them.

No matter what, the last thing you ought to be doing is turning them loose on your customers, prospects, products, and services and simply assuming that everythings going to work out. Maybe it will. They might survive, or get by, or be good enough. Did you exert all that effort to find just the right person only to toss them to the lions with the expectation that theyd get by?

How much does it cost each time you have to replace a poorly trained salesperson who failed? How much does it cost to keep someone not as effective as they could be because they had to learn your ways by the seat of their pants?

Want to learn more about Mark or ask him to write about a strategic, operations or marketing problem? SeeMarks site,contact him on LinkedInorTwitter, or email him atmriffey@flatheadbeacon.com.

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Training: Improves Sales, Improves Ops - Flathead Beacon