Some executives think one quick training will produce big results. Imagine that. I love the movie Groundhog Day. If you haven’t seen it, please do. If you have, then you will remember that Bill Murray, the lead, masters the piano, develops incredible medical diagnostic skills, becomes fluent in French, and learns to change tires in minutes. All the while covering the breaking news of the emergence of Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog signaling a longer winter - hence the movie title). And Murray does all this in one day. I want to do that. The fact that he has to live the same day over and over and over again until he gets his life right is…well, just a minor detail. Sometimes when I speak with CEOs and VPs of Sales, I think they must be living in Punxsutawney, PA with Bill Murray. Sales are down, the sales team isn’t making quota, and management is not sure who is capable of improving. But they truly believe they can fix whatever ails and build their team’s sales skills with a two-day sales skill training session…or a one day refresher course…or even better, a one-hour rousing, inspirational speech (just after the golf and before the cocktails).      

What beneath-the-surface weaknesses could be holding your salespeople back? There are thousands of ways to kill a sale. Some are obvious like not showing up to a meeting prepared, not following up, not listening, not establishing trust, going to proposal too early, not speaking to decision makers... the list goes on. These are all pretty easy to see and with some work and practice can be overcome. Then there are the killers that hide beneath the surface that many sellers and sales managers do not even know exist. They are the sales weaknesses that are a part of an individual salesperson’s makeup that act like weights pulling them down. Sales researcher, Dave Kurlan, best-selling author and sales development expert, has conducted extensive research into what holds salespeople back and has classified these as the five major hidden weaknesses. These hidden weaknesses often get in the way of your salespeople, killing the sale without you or they even knowing what hit them. The first step to overcome these sales weaknesses is to know what they are and then to determine who on your sales team has them so you can fix them.      

Is your sales team fluent in their knowledge of your products and services? This summer, I finally decided I was ready to go from the junior varsity batting cages (65 mph) to the high school varsity cages (80 mph). Boy was that a mistake. I did foul one off, but the experience was mostly entertainment for my sons and their college friends. Later that day, I checked to see just how fast my reaction time had to be to square up on an 80 mph pitch. My findings: less than ½ second. I had no chance. I can’t imagine facing Justin Verlander and his 100 mph pitches. Fast forward (no pun intended) to yesterday. I was in Chicago speaking to a client about his sales team. In his view, they have the skills to sell, the desire to sell, and the motivation to sell. But something is missing. He knows they can be doing so much more. As we dug deeper, it became clear that they can’t catch up to the fastball. First of all, the products and services they sell are complex and require a great deal of sales knowledge to understand. My client does provide extensive "product" training and when quizzed some of his salespeople will get most of it right…and most will get some of it right. Good, but not good enough. Buyers are picky, looking for guidance, and want to buy from experts. Knowing some of it only sometimes…strike one!      

If you’ve downloaded our Why Sales Training Fails report within the last few weeks, you’ve been getting my tips on how to make your sales training initiatives better. This is a great start for you, but it is just a start. My partner Mike Schultz and I have been getting so much great feedback on the report, and more questions than we can address by email and by phone. So, we’ve gathered up a lot of the questions and put together a webinar all about how to run successful sales training initiatives that really lead to long-term results. And we’re offering this webinar free...      

Need to turbo-charge your sales? Check out our free new video series. 76% of leaders at small and medium sized businesses cited sales growth as their greatest challenge in 2011. Having been through the process of founding RAIN Group with my business partner, John Doerr, I know just how difficult it can be for a young, growing business to get off the ground. You’ve got a great idea that people have told you will succeed, outstanding value to offer, and the people in place to make it all come together. Problem is, when it comes time to launch, you’re just not generating the business you thought you would. More often than not, this is a direct result of the fact that many entrepreneurs simply have not been taught how to sell. And even experienced salespeople struggle to sell in an entrepreneurial environment where there are unique challenges to selling new ideas or selling against big, well-branded competitors. As good as your business idea might be, it’s not going anywhere if you can’t sell.      

Before you begin any sales training initiative, isn't it important you're training the right people for the right roles? I have been truly obsessed with baseball the last three weeks. My beloved Red Sox are folding faster than the deck chairs on the Titanic. I find myself cheering for the hated Yankees (so the Rays don’t edge out the Sox). And the talk shows are full of Danny from Quincy and Al from Everett suggesting ways to bolster the pitching by having relievers start games, starters come in to relieve, and closers (generally relegated to the ninth inning) pitch from the seventh on. What a way to end a (potentially) great season! Moving pitchers around from role to role without acknowledging skills, commitment, and past experience is much like hiring and training salespeople as if they were completely interchangeable parts. I hear things like: "Bill has been a great salesperson in his territory for eighteen years. He grows those accounts like no one ever has. Let’s move him to Santa Fe to open up our new office (middle reliever to starter)." Will anyone be surprised when Bill comes home a defeated man? He has proven to be a great manager of his territory and his accounts, but he has not had to prospect in a new market for years. What a way to end a great sales career.      

Part 2 of our How to Turbo-Charge Your Sales video series teaches you how to communicate your value to prospects. Don't miss it. Last week I announced the launch of our new sales training video series geared specifically to help entrepreneurs and sellers at growing companies build their businesses. It’s called How to Turbo-Charge Your Sales.   Since we launched the first video last Thursday, we’ve had a ton of positive responses, so I thought people might be interested in hearing a bit about the topic we’re covering in the second video, which launched today. This video is all about communicating an effective value proposition. In short, it’s all about how to respond to the question: "What do you do?" It seems like a simple question, but many entrepreneurs and salespeople get tripped up when trying to answer it, making it almost impossible for them to succeed in a sales conversation. After all, you can’t sell what you can’t describe.      

Part 3 of our How to Turbo-Charge Your Sales video series teaches you how to lead masterful sales conversations. Today I've released the third free video in the series How to Turbo-Charge Your Sales, and this is a big one. We’re talking all about how to hold masterful sales conversations so that your business can make millions of dollars. It’s can't-miss stuff for entrepreneurs, growing businesses, and anyone else who wants to see their sales go through the roof. You can check it out here: www.entselling.com/turbo-charge.html.  As you’ll learn in the video, the launching point of any good sales conversation is the ability to build rapport with your prospect. If you build rapport, you're well on your way to generating the kind of trust that will eventually lead to outstanding business relationships and more sales.      

Achieving your goals isn't a slam dunk. Can you do what it takes to meet them? I recently started going to a personal trainer. At the beginning of our very first session, she asked, "So, what are you trying to accomplish?" "To get in better shape?", I hesitantly answered. "Well, without a clear goal, you will not be able to see your progress, you will lose momentum, and we won’t be able to see if the training is paying off." "In that case, to fit in my suits from last year and to grab rebounds in my basketball games without getting pushed around." "Now, we are talking." Over the years I’ve seen many salespeople (and sales managers and companies) get goal planning, action planning, and commitment right, and I’ve seen many fall short. Without a clear goal they don’t know where they’re headed, so any path will get them there. In my experience, only two things set apart those who live by goals and those who don’t. Salespeople who live by goals: Know where they’re headed Commit to a goals routine      

Salespeople know what they sell, and they sell what they know. When it comes to salesperson knowledge, people know too little about their particular industry, their customers’ needs, and their company’s products and services to be able to sell the full suite of solutions. Without this knowledge they can’t: Ask the right questions to uncover the complete set of customer needs Match the right products and services to those needs Position the value of their company as superior to other options available to the customer Indeed, they can’t and don’t hold masterful sales conversations with customers. The result: Lost sales and missed cross-selling opportunities. Some of you may be saying to yourself, "Wait. We provide knowledge training. We even hold a retreat each year and classes focused on knowledge topics."     Perhaps you’re the exception, but most often even if product knowledge training happens, it doesn’t get the job done. If there is some kind of test for knowledge gained, it’s usually only for accuracy.