"Confidence is what we get
when we take fear,
face it and replace it."
-- Tim Fargo
Sales training is something I've been involved in for a very long time, and I've come to know some things about training people up to do well in sales. In the last many years, I've been more focused on outside sales people which involves going out and finding business rather than awaiting its arrival by default. I've learned even more about that aspect of sales.
I have a sort of "system" about outside sales to insure that when someone is hired for the position the sales person themselves and the manager who manages them will know relatively soon how it is going to go. If the system is not used, it is often more of a guessing game and people will be held longer than necessary and then fail. That's the whole purpose of the system. I always remembered that my mentor Jim Rohn said that "the purpose of training is to find out who you have." I have learned that this is wise and true.
I was thinking a day or two ago about this subject and how I thought that if I could get that trainee's head in the right place, that all would go forward like magic. Isn't that the same thing with our children and when dealing with each other? So, as with salespeople, children and each other, one of the purposes of training, or at least surviving training, is to get their head, and our own in the right place that is most conducive to success.
When you're trying to sell a concept to a potential buyer. You may know they need it and how beneficial it may be, along with what an awesome value it is, but that knowledge is not fully effective until we can transfer it to our prospect. If we could just get their head right, it would be a slam-dunk, right? Of course, that is in essence the sales challenge always. We all know this I'm sure, but I'm now applying that scenario to training.
We have a relatively short window for initial training to do its job. Because we have a short window and results are what we are ultimately looking for, we focus on action. It's what we have been trained to do since childhood. But, it is the mind that matters most. The mind and the heart working together, or rather playing together, along with some knowledge and practice can work wonders quickly enough if properly done.
Some speak of motivation. I want to motivate my team to perform. That's not really how it works, especially long-term. What works best from my own experience is leading them, complimenting them, explaining benefits to them, finding things they do right or well, even when it is not as well as we would do. There is one really good word for that: Encouragement. I have found nothing in my own life, and nothing in my training life that works as well as encouragement. It's okay to find things that are not working to try to get them back on track as long as we find more things that deserve encouragement and praise.
These are the things that get the head and heart in the right place. The system is only a tool to use in the meantime until we can see who we have and then having found them, win them over.
"Nine Tenths Of Education Is Encouragement."
-- Anatole France
Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing the real you to show. Take the mask off.
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