This document outlines common issues that can lead to unsuccessful sales training programs and ineffective sales processes. It then provides recommendations to address each issue, including qualifying customer needs properly, differentiating your solution, understanding the customer perspective, and establishing an action-oriented account plan. The key is to train salespeople on asking the right questions to discover real customer problems and priorities, while also equipping them with economic principles and unique selling points to avoid price discussions and instead focus on the value proposition. Continuous evaluation and coaching is critical to ensure salespeople are properly applying the techniques and maintaining their knowledge. The goal is to structure sales conversations, build better customer relationships, and increase turnover and profits over the long run.

1. SUCCESFUL SALESTRAINING
BY
BEN MARKSLAG

2. 1. Insufficient lead generation.
2. Incomplete qualification of needs.
3. Premature presentation of a solution.
4. Recipient of the proposal does not recognise himself
in the offer.
5. Objections arise whilst trying to close the deal.
6. Price appears to be too high.
7. ‘Suddenly’ multiple providers.
8. ‘Suddenly’ multiple people involved in sales process.
9. Customer does not experience value because of lack
of differentiation.
10. Etc. etc. etc.

3. 1. Insufficient to no growth in new business, cross-
selling and up-selling.
2. Fear of rejection arises and sales people ‘flee’ in
unnecessary administrative tasks.
3. Extent of problem/need in time and money is not
experienced by the customer, which means the
urgency to have a solution does not arise.
4. Solutions are presented too quickly and do not cover
client’s priorities. Latent need is not discovered at all.
5. Sales organisation appears inefficient: high activity,
low productivity.

4. 6. Decision-making processes at client are long.
7. Predicted order flow becomes unreliable.
8. High discounts are needed to bring in orders.
9. Profit is under pressure.
10. Competitors have easy access.
11. ‘Others’ get blamed for bad sales.
12. Sales try by overflow of words to convince customers.
13. Etc. etc. etc.

5. Client looks: W. I. I. F. M.
What’s
In
It
For
Me ?
Consists of:
1. Why should I buy?
2. Why should I buy from you?

6. 1. Use tests to give sales people insight in personal
points of improvement.
2. Provide tools, discuss and role play to learn sales
people to ask the right questions and achieve
structure in their sales conversation.
3. Participants learn to encourage client to sharply
define his own problems and advantages of a solution.
4. Pragmatic approach.
5. No video camera during training because research
has shown that this leads to unnatural behaviour.

7. 1. Create insight for sales people in important economic
principles how to survive price discussions.
2. Clearly determine what differentiates your
organisation.
3. Link unique selling points to the most important needs
of the client and determine which core qualities
should be emphasised towards the client.
4. Determine your company’s position with respect to
primary competitors.

8. 1. Map whether the right and most recent contacts
involved in the sales decision (formal and informal)
are known.
2. Development of an action-oriented account plan;
(who does what, with whom by which date?).
3. Tackle possible price discussion by selling value
instead of giving discounts. ‘Trade’ possible discount
against a higher commitment of the customer.

9. 1. Definition of action points at the end of each training
module.
2. Month between modules to apply gained knowledge
and action points.
3. Continuous evaluation of action points by intensive
coaching of trainer:
What went well with which result?
What did not go well and what was the cause?
4. Maintain knowledge by repetition at the beginning of
each new module.
5. Management of principal of sales people is involved.

10. 1. Extensive branch knowledge.
2. Supply tests based on scientific research to provide
insight in personal points of improvement.
3. Get structure in sales conversation.
4. Ask right questions and discover right needs.
5. Pragmatic.
6. Unique selling point become really UNIQUE!

11. 7. Better relationship with multiple contacts at client
leads to less vulnerability.
8. Action-oriented account plan that leads to fast
response and turnover.
9. Hardly any price discussions by selling value as
experienced by customer.
10. Better mindset by not only training ‘HOW’, but also
develop insight in the ‘WHY’.
11. Change to “selling = HELPING TO BUY!” is structural.
12. Turnover and profit become structurally higher.