How to Choose the Right Sales Training Products

You will have to choose from thousands of different sales training products when you choose the system or systems that you want to train your sales force with. Some of these products are very specific and some are general to sales. You will need to determine what your team needs and the best training methods for them before deciding on which products to use.

Remember, sales training products can range from CDs, DVDs, tapes, online, books and many other sources. You will have to decide between all of these different formats for your team. Studies have found that the younger generations learn well online while some of the older generations have difficulty because they did not grow up in school learning on computers. Hence, you will need to determine which format is best for your sales force.

First, you will need to determine the goals of your training materials. The more specific your goals are, the better you can determine which products will best serve your purpose. For example, increasing sales 100% this year, is not a good goal because it is too broad and doesn't focus on what skills need to be taught or improved upon.

An example of a good goal would be to improve your sales forces' ability to determine your customer's needs. Too often a person will try to sell a product without determining what the customer needs. Hence, you will want to teach your sales force how to listen and how to ask follow-up questions. Now your sales team will be able to identify the needs of your customers and sales will improve.

Now you have your goals and you know what you want taught. How do you determine what training materials to purchase?

Find out what the market has to offer. You know what you want so start looking to see what the market has that matches your needs. You should be able to find companies that are willing to demonstrate their products and send free samples. Adult professional education is a huge industry and many companies are willing to help you see what their products can do to help your team.

You may also want to hire a sales team trainer. If you are not ready to hire a trainer for the entire company, you may consider having one of your staff receive the training and then have them train the rest of the sales team. When you have the staff member go through the training make sure they use this time to identify the best training material for your company.
You may also want to find ways to maximize your employees' time for training. If your sales team has to travel a lot to their appointments, then you should consider CDs for them to train and listen to while traveling. This will save company time that otherwise would have had to be spent in training meetings.

Also, the best training products are those that get the sales team actively involved. As the team gets involved with the training and learning, they will remember and internalize the training better. Projects and presentations prepared by the team will have a much longer affect that the team listening to a few CDs.

In summary, you have many different sales training products to choose from. You will first need to determine what the goals are of your upcoming training. Once you have your goals set, find the training that matches these goals. Sample the training on the market and find advice for the best products before purchasing. Last, your program will always need review and updating.