Sales training is just for sales people, right?

Wrong.

This basic misconception is where I feel many businesses go wrong: they provide sales staff with sales training, but not their employees in other departments. This may be a rather controversial opinion, but let me explain myself further.

Sales training is of obvious benefit for sales staff. Training incorporates such issues as persuasion, overcoming objections, closing the sale, considering competitors and identifying target markets. All aspects have a crucial importance in the world of sales, in order to allow sales people to get an edge on their nearest rivals, and better them in what they themselves do. A sales course can greatly enhance the sales technique and capabilities of a sales person, but it is not this that I am trying to convince you of.

Instead, I argue that it is not just sales people that can benefit from sales training. Why? Firstly, knowing your brand, your competitors and the objections to your product are as essential to other company workers as much as it is to those engaged in direct sales. Brand knowledge is an inescapable advantage for any person, be they involved in H.R., Administration or Finance. Even though they might not use it in an everyday capacity as a counterpart in the sales department does, but they will still use it in their working lives.

For instance, assume a Finance Director is attending a networking event on behalf of their company. It does not look good for their company if their knowledge is limited purely to their own field of work. In promoting the company, they are also promoting the company’s products; hence where the sales pitch comes in. Whilst they are not conducting a sales pitch as such, the ability to talk comfortably, knowledgeably and confidently about the company’s products speaks volumes.

Brand knowledge also contributes to the overall company vision. After all, a company is only as good as its products or the services it offers. Without proper knowledge of such things, an employee could well struggle to appreciate this wider vision: in knowing the sales pitch, benefits, weaknesses and so on they can foster pride in what they work for. Treating each division as a separate part of the company is not generally fostering such a vision: after all, sales are the key to the company’s success. Without any sales, the company would amount to very little.

As well as brand knowledge, sales training can be of further use to other employees. In their work, it is likely that they will be employed to do some sort of sales, but not necessarily in that guise. For instance, the Finance Director has to present a tender to a prospective client. The tender is their product, they must know their market in order to identify any possible objections the client may make and prepare to respond should they arise, and so on. Winning over the client is akin to closing the sale. With sales training, their task could be much better executed.

Whilst I am not maintaining that all employees should be sent on sales courses, I am suggesting that the basic tenets of sales training should be considered carefully within training plans for staff. It is almost as important for non-sales staff to have the ability to sell a product as for the sales staff, as they never know when such knowledge could come in useful. A good company can be indicated by its employees sharing in the complete vision of the company, including product knowledge.

West End Training can tailor-make a sales course for non front-line staff. The benefits could make an enormous difference to the business’ exposure and the all important bottom line.

'Written by a graduate placee employed by West End Training. Thank you Sarah'