The right sales training courses and sales programs can improve the
performance of your sales teams, so it is important to meticulously plan them.
Still, when the courses and programs are not followed through,
it will lower the chance of realizing its true potential. That is why,
with every sales course that your company invests in,
make sure that there is a proper follow-through.
Follow through on training
Developing a proper follow-through program requires careful planning as well.
Your company should develop the metrics to be later analyzed and
evaluated using methods that have been well thought out for both in-house and
out-on-the-field training. Some factors that need to be taken into consideration include
the staffing requirements, time constraints and the compensation.
The planning may take a substantial amount of time, but the end result of the
follow-through program will be one that is easily implemented after
the first few sales courses.
Evaluation of performance
In developing the metrics and procedures, depending on the sales training courses,
there are several variables that you need to consider. It is important, however,
to keep the before and after sales metrics constant. As for the evaluation methods,
they should always include self-assessment by the individual and team,
as well as a managerial evaluation.
Post training communication
One important part of a successful follow-through program to sales training courses and
sales programs is the post-training communication and coaching.
Though the participants may not have immediate questions after the training,
they will most likely have some questions after applying some of the techniques and
methods in real-life situation.
It is therefore essential for the sales manager to provide coaching and
is accessible for the participants to ask questions later on.
The sales manager should also be receptive to whatever concerns and
motivations issues that the participants have. By communicating the questions and
concerns, problems that have gone unnoticed can be identified.
Review of results
One problem that may arise after the sales course is that sales results have not
increased all across the sales team. If this occurs, then the issue might lie on the
sales training courses and it might not be the right one for your company and staff.
It is important for your company to consider the individuality factor of
each sales staff – and don’t just force feed them the information.
They are not trained robots that will do whatever is being told.
Good sales training courses should provide them with new skills, ideas and
techniques – and ultimately able to motivate the sales person so that higher sales
goals can be achieved.
When the sales training courses and sales programs are selected and
done properly with a follow-through plan, they should provide a steady return of
investment for your company. A post-training follow-through procedure could be
what your company’s strategy has been missing to achieve better sales numbers.
If your company does not have the how-to knowledge to implement a
post-training process, you should know that many sales courses now
offer follow-through as well.
You should consider taking this value-added benefit to take full advantage of
your investment. Just as a salesperson must follow through on a sales and lead,
a company must have a follow-through on training in place.
If sales training course can help your sales team sell double,
a follow-through program can help them sell triple and more.