Top 25 Prerequisites for Successful Sales Training and Sales Development

  • January 6, 2015
  • Posted by: Dave Kurlan
  • Category: Understanding the Sales Force

Dave Kurlan is a top-rated keynote speaker, best-selling author, sales thought leader and expert on all things sales and selling.

Before an inside or outside expert can help you develop your sales force, there are at least 25 milestones that must take place or the initiative will probably fail.  Development has much less to do with content, curriculum, and methodology than it does with the person, or people who will do the developing.  I am not saying that content, curriculum and methodology are unimportant! They are very important. I am saying that much like everything else you do, the people have more impact on the success or failure of the initiative than the tools being used.

When I, or members of my team are involved in developing a client’s salespeople and sales managers, we make certain that the following milestones take place very early on – in our  very first session.  We must:

  1. Help them feel safe
  2. Get them to believe we can help
  3. Get them to want the help
  4. Develop credibility
  5. Understand their challenges
  6. Be viewed as a resource, not a threat
  7. Develop a relationship
  8. Add value through the effective strategies and tactics we share
  9. Encourage them
  10. Challenge them
  11. Question them
  12. Demonstrate, through role-play, exactly how a strategy or tactic plays out
  13. Entertain them
  14. Engage them
  15. Make them want more
  16. Provide them with several perspectives
  17. Give them assignments
  18. Be committed to their success
  19. Get them to commit to their success
  20. Poll them often for their lessons learned
  21. Make sure they understand their assessment results
  22. Prepare sales management to coach to the training
  23. Have systems and processes in place to support the training
  24. Create a no excuses environment
  25. Get them to practice.

There are many more things that take place along the way, but when these things don’t take place day 1, it’s an uphill climb.

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