Purpose of salesperson training. How to train a salesperson to sell. Psychology of selling

In the minds of most people, the ability to sell is still something like an art or even shamanic practices, and the bearer of this knowledge is perceived almost as a superman. And I agree with this - provided that the heads of the marketing and sales departments did not bother to carry out the necessary preparatory work, which greatly simplifies the sales process and, in proportion to this, reduces the requirements for the qualifications of salespeople. How to teach salespeople to sell? What should staff training in sales consist of?

At the end of last year, one of the client companies where the system was previously installed retail sales, made another request. It was proposed to train its retailers in corporate sales skills so that they would switch to the sector during the winter trade freeze characteristic of their market sectorB2 B, where the decline is less pronounced. Not a bad idea at first glance. But even a superficial acquaintance with the work of the corporate sales department showed that it was doomed. The compromise was the Charlie's Angels project, in which the main task for recruited salespeople was to collect information on the territory and potential clients(which was subsequently processed by corporate people). And I got an incentive to write this article about how to properly organize training for salespeople.

What to teach

First, let's make the question more specific. In my opinion, it is more correct (and more useful for business) to discuss how to organize sales training for newcomers specific goods and/or services. This formulation allows you to set priorities more correctly, get away from excessive enthusiasm for super-sales techniques and quickly prepare needed by the company sellers.

So, when starting training, it is advisable to first answer a number of questions.

• Who are we? How we differ from others and why you should work with us. The seller's faith in the company is one of key factors his sales success. In addition, the question of how the company differs from others will be one of the first to arise in the client’s mind, especially in corporate sales. Therefore it is necessary to formulate unique competitive advantages of the company(from experience, there are never many of them, because each of them costs the company serious money), facts that inspire trust and interest in the company, and good reasons why we should work with you. Here it is important not to become pathetic, making statements like “we are the best,” but to speak very specifically and from the client’s point of view.

A recent example: a regional confectionery factory produces wonderful products - very tasty and without preservatives. Price segment - “middle plus”. In communication with distributors and wholesalers, the emphasis was placed on product quality. During the sales training, we focused on its higher turnover compared to competitors, a wider range and better packaging. And the compelling reasons began to sound something like this: saving on transportation costs (buying everything in one place), earning more from the same volume of purchases, lack of waste and illiquid stock, lack of product returns. Of course, it is much easier for a manager, especially a new one, to sell cooperation with the second option.

• What we sell. Of course, this question may seem strange to some, but not in all cases it needs to be asked. Personally, I encounter it when clients are interested in solving some of their problems/tasks, and they are offered a product that not only misses the target, but also misses the mark. For example, a client needs new employees, and a newspaper employment manager sells him newspaper space. This is fraught with the fact that managers begin to be afraid - of their clients (especially if their vacancies are not filled quickly), to offer large formats and comprehensive solutions(because the client, not understanding what this will give him, rejects more expensive options). They are growing emotional burnout and demotivation, and the average check and sales volume, on the contrary, are declining. And most importantly, it makes no sense to blame managers for this - at least until the contradiction is resolved.
• Who are we selling it to? A question that is more relevant for corporate sales. A clear understanding of the target audience will allow the beginner not to fish where there is none, and not waste valuable time on unpromising clients. It is also worth citing a method for assessing clients. The next step is segmentation of the client base, identifying groups of clients with common interests, and preparing proposals specifically for them. As you can imagine, this will also reduce the burden on the newbie and allow your PPC to sell itself.
• How does what we sell differ from analogues and why exactly should you buy it? Customers are very interested in differences and constantly ask about them. The more aware a salesperson is of the differences in his product/offer and the associated benefits to the customer, the more successful he will be in selling it. This is obvious, but few people focus on it. Usually in such cases they tell me about the reluctance to denigrate competitors. I agree, there is no need to do this. It is enough to know how you differ from them and talk only about it. Otherwise, be prepared for sellers (especially newbies) to start complaining about high prices and get discounts for your clients. The logic is simple: when the client does not see the difference between two products, he chooses the cheaper one.
• What is the technology for selling our products/our offer. A question that, in my experience, baffles 80% of commercial directors. Failure to respond to this turns salespeople's work into a poorly managed black box.

Just a month ago I had the opportunity to participate in one wonderful project. The owner of a shopping and entertainment complex, as part of his advertising budget, ordered a series of master classes on improving business efficiency for his tenants. Speaking to store owners, I asked them a simple question: “Imagine that I am your new salesman who has just started work. What should I do? Sell? But as? What should my actions be? The answer was: establish contact, find out needs, make a presentation... And how? How to do all this? What to say, what specific questions to ask, how to build a presentation? And then silence reigned...

The same thing happens in corporate sales. IN best case scenario, they will tell me the sequence of stages of the manager’s work. But their filling is entirely at his discretion. As a result, when I begin to doubt the intelligence and rationality of Homo sapiens, it is when I observe how most managers make sales.

Sales is, first and foremost, a technology-driven profession. (To those managers who believe that sales is an art and a calling, I say that in this case they are not managing sales and their salespeople.) For example, the main technologies of retail sales are steaming, service, expert selling and impulse selling. It is necessary to decide on the choice of the most suitable technologies and, what is very important, adapt them to the company’s product and the specifics of sales. This means developing sales scenarios, necessary speech modules or scripts, developing answers to typical objections, etc. The presence of such a technological instruction (as a rule, it is called a Sales Book) greatly simplifies the training of new managers and increases the sales productivity and controllability of salespeople (examples of the work of Western companies - the best for that confirmation). From experience, newcomers working on technology sell more than old-timers acting on a whim - sometimes 1.5-2 times.

By the way, if we go further, we can consider the possibility manager specializations(if this has not already been done) when not one sales manager carries out the entire sales cycle, but several: some make cold calls, others sell to potential clients, and others serve regular customers. From recent experience, an example of such a division in retail: sellers carry out sales and payments, cool-center operators process incoming calls (which previously ended up on the sales floor, causing a large number of errors and creating very serious tension during the season), plus self-service machines where customers can Place your order yourself, no payment required. This specialization increases the overall productivity of the sales department and allows for more optimal management of the wage fund ( different types works also cost differently).

Thus, the training program for sales managers (newbies) could look like this (see Appendix 1). Returning to the example from the beginning of the article. Was not identified in that company the target audience(and there were no customer assessment tools), the company’s competitive advantages were not formulated (and this at a price above the market!), there was no UKP - there was only a price list with a retail price, from which individual discounts were then supposed to be given. The sales technology was not developed either. Only aggressive traders, who were not among the retail staff, could sell and not psychologically break under such conditions (by the way, already working managers from the corporate sales department in most cases either dumped, selling almost “to zero”, or worked according to kickback schemes). As you understand, in both cases the qualifications of the seller were something secondary).

How to teach

Training in a company, depending on its size, structure and established practice, can be carried out by a corporate university, internal trainers, external trainers, assigned mentors, line managers, colleagues. It can be carried out both in isolation from work (before taking office) and in parallel with it.

Since this material is not a review, and a universal approach given the existing variety of forms and methods of teaching is a utopia, I will allow myself to focus on several important, in my opinion, methodological points.

1. Availability is desirable studying programs, answering the question of what and to what extent to teach (for example, such as in Appendix 1). It makes the learning process more transparent and manageable. Even if the training is carried out by the newcomer’s colleagues, his manager, firstly, can split the program among several employees, and secondly, he can control its progress and quality at any time.
2. Ideal availability plans training sessions (see Appendix 2). They are drawn up by analogy with lesson plans at school. Everyone has this experience, so it doesn’t cause much difficulty. The main objective of the plan is to structure and simplify the learning process so that almost any employee can carry it out.
3. Great for simplifying learning demonstration materials- training videos that can be made by their own sellers, audio and video recordings of real sales and their fragments. As they say, it's better to see once. These records may also contain analysis and analysis of various sales nuances. By the way, today, when most people have the opportunity to watch videos on their phones, such recordings can be uploaded there for self-study.
4. Don't forget that selling is a skill that must be train. Therefore, you should not get carried away with interactive forms of learning - this is not very effective method form it. Training should include a large amount of practice, practice in role-playing situations (needless to say, practice should be carried out on the company’s assortment).
5. Necessary control the quality of knowledge and skills acquisition. And the question “Did you understand everything?” - not the most suitable tool for this. It is important that the student can demonstrate it in practice. In other words, the exam at the end of training should include not only theoretical questions, but also a practical task, and it is better for the beginner to demonstrate all the sales technology in action. It is recommended to use a checklist to assess sales skills (see Appendix 3).
6. Learning is a continuous process. It’s like in sports - you stop training, and the skill begins to disappear. And if we talk about training beginners, then at first the training should be constant. And the line manager plays a key role in this process. His main task in the first month of a newbie’s work is to teach, not to punish. Joint sales, sales supervision with checklist assessment and debriefing should be regular.
7. Preferably additionally stimulate employees training newcomers - the times when the opportunity to train others was equated with recognition of an employee's merits are becoming a thing of the past. You should not perceive such payments as additional costs. It is better to treat them as investments and make sure that they are as effective as possible. For example, tie them to learning outcomes.

Internal corporate training is not as complicated a process as it might seem at first glance. There is no point in drawing a direct parallel between it and trainings that are conducted in corporate and open formats. If appropriate training has been provided (see above), it can be carried out by most employees who already have personal experience sales and who themselves are proficient in customer service technologies. The main thing is that they do not have a persistent reluctance to teach others. In this regard, a highly professional turner comes to mind retirement age, during whose certification the main remark to him was that he did not prepare his shift (despite the large number of people attached to him different time trainees). It took a lot of effort to convince the commission that he would not teach anyone, because... he likes to be indispensable. The commission did not agree for a long time, until the turner himself told them the same thing - very clearly and expressively.

Annex 1

Example of a training program for sales managers

Themes	Number of hours	Responsible	form of control
Information about the company. Facts that inspire trust and interest in our company. Our unique competitive advantages. Why is it profitable to cooperate with us?
Range. Product information. How our product differs from others
Who are our clients? Segmentation of the customer base. Our UKP for various segments of design bureaus. How does our offer differ from competitors' offers?
Technology of selling our products.
Document flow, planning and reporting system in the work of a sales manager.

Appendix 2

Example lesson plan

Subject: Establishing contact on the sales floor

Goal: to teach how to effectively establish contact on the sales floor
Methods: lecture, video analysis, demonstration, role-playing game	Resources: corporate retail sales book, educational video “Establishing contact on the sales floor”
PLAN
I . Check of knowledge
1) 3 main technologies for working as a retail sales manager. Comparative review 2) Definition of sale	Methods: survey
II . New topic: establishing contact on the sales floor
Questions to be discussed	Methods
Manager's tasks at the stage of establishing contact. What makes it difficult to establish contact on the sales floor? Method of establishing contact "babushka" Main mistakes when using it	Lecture or interactive lecture. Demonstration by a trainer (or watching the “Making Contact” video).
Practical part. Practicing the skill of establishing contact in a “manager-client” pair
III . Conclusion. Summary. D/z

Control questions:

1. What fear does a buyer have when crossing the threshold of a sales floor, and what underlies it? Name the main tasks of a retail sales manager at the stage of establishing contact.
2. Describe the “babushka” technique. Name 10 phrases used during the rapport phase.
3. Describe the main mistakes a manager makes when establishing contact on the sales floor.

Appendix 3

Example of a checklist for retail sales

Checklist CORP. SALES DATE OF: ___________ MANAGER: __________________ CLIENT:			APPRAISER:_______________ Grand total(in points from): _______ Grand total(V %): ____________
											Point
	The manager established contact with the client, successfully using client discovery questions/compliment/ road history(Underline whatever applicable)
	The manager announced the scenario and rules of the meeting and agreed on them with the client
	The manager made a mini-presentation of the company
	The manager collected information about the client’s company (numbers, market sector, type of activity, clients, decision-making mechanism in the company on purchases, nomenclature and frequency of purchases, suppliers)
	The manager identified the client’s business needs (found out areas of dissatisfaction and/or challenges facing the client’s business)
	The manager identified the client’s intangible needs (which is important for him when choosing a supplier and product)
	The manager sold “cooperation with the company”, taking advantage of the client’s areas of dissatisfaction and the challenges facing his business
	The manager identified the current need for the product
	The manager prepared a proposal and proposed three options for cooperation (the “three boxes” rule)
	The manager maintained the structure of the CP
	During the presentation of the CP, the manager used the pendulum method, the HPV model
	The manager effectively overcame the client's objections
	When overcoming objections, the manager used the “Boomerang” and/or “Partial agreement” technique
	The manager did not make a single concession during negotiations without exchanging it for a concession from the client
	The manager once again voiced and recorded the agreements reached during the meeting with the client
	The manager conducted the meeting confidently and kindly
	The manager managed the meeting
	The manager was focused on the client, actively looking for areas where our offer might be interesting
	The manager received the order
TOTAL

I think you all know Arnold Schwarzenegger - famous actor, governor of California, businessman... And few people know that in 1967 Arnold became the youngest Mr. Universe in history. And even fewer know that the athlete trained for 4-5 hours per gym. And if the hall was closed, then he would break the glass and still get inside the hall.

I often tell this story at trainings for directors and managers of retail stores. Personnel training is like a sport - you can be an amateur and spend time playing football in the yard, or you can be a professional, play big sport and make money from it, gain fame and so on.

So, to become a champion, in sports or in sales, daily training is necessary. What are the rules for training salespeople in a retail store?

Today, many people understand the need for sales training. After the training, of course, everyone expects an increase in sales. And few people think about the fact that the ability to sell consists of individual skills - the ability to ask the right questions, the ability to speak the language of benefits, etc. It's like tying shoelaces. The baby can tie his shoelaces only after several unsuccessful attempts. The same goes for sales skills. The training lasts 2-3 days, and the skill, according to experts, is formed in 21 days. Sometimes the following situation occurs: during the training, participants received new information, tried to use new techniques and techniques. After entering the sales floor, the seller realizes that he cannot use the phrases he spoke yesterday, and the new skill has not yet been developed. And here it is very important to support and consolidate the skill in practice, otherwise the seller returns to the old experience: “Well, I used to sell and it worked!”

So, there are two main areas of study in retail store– this is a product (what we sell) and a sales technique (how we sell it). And first you need to teach the product. Stage 3 is the presentation of the product and if the seller does not know the product, then all the efforts of the trainer will be in vain. In order to learn how to present in the client’s language, you need to know the characteristics and properties of the product.

You can build the following structure for training salespeople in a retail store:

1. Daily. Of course, we all understand that our employees cannot train for 3-4 hours every day, like professional athletes, because they also need to sell. What is included in daily training? These are five-minute morning planning meetings. In addition to setting goals for the day at planning meetings, you need to repeat those phrases that sellers will use when selling, for example, on current promotions, how to offer Additional services etc. Such repetition of “chants” in the morning gives the right mood - during the sale, the seller will definitely remember about this promotion.
2. Weekly. This is training on the product - distance courses, webinars, videos on the product, study of materials for self-study. Today many companies use various systems distance learning, which makes it possible to constantly train employees remotely.

Sales is one of the most controversial and promising professions in the world. People are engaged in sales, as if without higher education, and with three formations and scientific degree. Sales is carried out by salespeople behind the counter and managers large companies in large spacious offices.

A lot of people love to sell, and a lot of people hate doing it. But sales can help you always have interesting job, generous bonuses for your efforts, and opportunities for self-development that you won't get in any other profession.

Salespeople are not born; every person, man or woman, young or old, with an economic or technical education, can learn to sell.

Here are 17 rules of success that will help you learn how to sell:

1. Set yourself a goal.

Until you tell yourself the following phrases, state your intention, and believe in your own abilities, you will not be successful in sales. Phrases for self-motivation for sales training:

- “Yes, I want to learn how to sell!”

- “It’s important for me to learn how to sell!”

- “I take responsibility for my development and my successes”

“I promise myself to achieve my goals”

2. Imagine the future.

Imagine yourself in a year, you know how to sell perfectly and earn several times more than now. Imagine what you would like to achieve in a year, what to buy, where to go, where to live. Imagine it all in such a way that you want to achieve it. Do you really need this? Why are you going to learn to sell? It's worth it! Then go ahead!

Think about what you do best when communicating with people. What is most difficult for you? Choose one of yours every day strong point and one of your weaknesses and set yourself tasks to make them stronger and stronger. Strengthen what is given and tighten up what is weak. For example, if it is difficult for you to work with client objections, then devote time to this every day (write down the most important ones, and look for information on how to respond to them, so that you always have convincing answers to “Expensive”, “I’ll think about it”, “I I’m just looking”, “I don’t need anything”, “You haven’t convinced me”, etc.)

4. Study your product and competitors' products.

Find out everything about your product, ask customers what they especially like and why they buy. What did you compare it to when you chose it? You will soon become an expert and will be consulted.

5. Watch other sellers.

Notice what you like about the behavior of other sellers and try to do the same. The most interesting finds include your seller's arsenal. Look at other people's mistakes. Think about how you could serve the customer differently.

6. Ask buyers for advice.

Never argue with a buyer. It’s better to find out why he thinks this way, what he will advise, what he thinks is better in this or that situation. If the Buyer has refused the purchase, ask if he can give you advice for the future as a seller.

7. Find a mentor.

8. Read 2 books on sales per month.

Yes. Two books a month. You already know everything, there is nothing new in them. Sales books are for beginners. It is precisely because you think so that you now have such results. Look for diamonds, don't reinvent the wheel. Download the materials from the book “111 Tips for Sellers. How to Become a Better Seller” (link to Google Drive)

9. Analyze your work.

At the end of each day, ask yourself what you did best and worst in sales that day. Analyze your work and draw conclusions. No conclusions - no development.

10. Work for the future.

Do your job 10% better than what is required of you. And in a year you will receive 50% more than you expected. To receive, you must first invest.

11. Show persistence, confidence and patience.

Try to help the person as much as possible; at the moment of communication with the buyer this is the most important person in the world. Listen, clarify, demonstrate confidence and a desire to help. Take as much time as you need. It may seem to you that this buyer will never buy, but if you analyze 100 of your buyers, you will see that they made the largest purchases thanks to your attention, and you could not always imagine that they would buy so much from you.

12. Create loyal customers.

Think ahead, offer something that the buyer will only think about tomorrow, help him see the future, take advantage of new opportunities and get rid of problems. Incorporate personal touch, charm, and invite customers to come back for more. Exchange contacts with buyers, sell to friends and friends of their friends.

13. Be a good listener.

Ask questions, ask more and talk less. Successful salespeople know how to make the client tell everything about himself, and even sell to himself what you wanted to tell him. Learn to be doubly attentive listeners on the phone, be sure to develop your phone sales skills at!

14. Never give up.

There will always be failures. Enjoy them - they develop you. What did this failure teach you? What will you do differently next time?

15. Attend sales training.

Each sales training gives you the same amount of experience and practice as you get in half a year of successful sales work. Trainings develop you instantly, trainings save your time, trainings help you improve what is difficult for you to develop in yourself without other people. Attend all the trainings that you can attend in the company, and if there are none, then go to a good open training in your city. Invest in yourself, this investment pays off the fastest! This is the quality of your life!

16. Create your environment.

Connect more with people who believe in you, support you, and inspire you.

17. Always continue your development.

Life is an escalator - which goes down, as soon as you stop your development, there will be a lot of temptations to waste your strength, time and energy. Think about the future. Live in the moment. Sell ​​with pleasure. Be sincere. With your help, every day the world becomes more joyful and happy people! The buyer is your friend, show concern, help him in his situation and he will come back again and again.

Have you decided to improve your sales level?

Ask your manager if your company plans to soon train you and your colleagues in sales training!

Tell me what's the best quick way to increase sales is to invite a sales trainer directly to your office so that he can conduct training for all sales department employees at once!

We can offer your company the following assistance:

Analysis commercial offers and letters by email (do you want to know how competent and attractive what you send to them looks?)

Ask a sales question!

Previously, we looked at four principles for designing a training program. Now let's talk in more detail about the structure of the training program mentioned in the first principle.

As a sample, let's look at some sections of such a training program that have been used repeatedly in my practice.

Corporate ethics and culture

I don't know why, but many managers are skeptical about the topic of corporate ethics and culture in sales training. In my opinion, it is with this topic that it is necessary to begin training. Sellers must clearly understand what can and cannot be done, how to behave correctly within the company and outside it. It is important to understand that the seller is outside world represents not himself, but the company. Such ethical and cultural standards include, for example, dress code, norms of behavior and relationships with colleagues and management, ethics of relationships with clients and business partners, and so on.

As an example, I would like to give a few interesting corporate ethical rules that are cultivated in companies:

• refuse to cooperate with legal and individuals with a dubious reputation;
• do not show your colleagues your Bad mood;
• do not use foul language, do not show intemperance and aggression;
• know the leaders by sight and name. :)

Corporate structure

It is necessary to clearly outline the structure of the company, the principles of interaction between departments, subordination within the department, and the like. An employee must have a clear idea of ​​where his “territory” is, how he is “embedded” in his department and in the company as a whole, with whom and in what cases he will come into contact outside his department. An overall picture of the company's structure also helps to realize that an employee is an important part of the company's mechanism, that the quality of his work affects the work of other departments, and vice versa.

Often, for example, employees of the logistics department believe that they work independently from the sales department, since they have their own area of ​​work. But a situation of interest in the result can be instilled in the logistics department if, for example, the head of the department (in case of unjustified delays in delivery times) together with the sellers is involved in “showdowns” with the client. After several such “involvements”, the entire logistics department will try to fulfill the company’s delivery obligations in order to avoid such meetings with angry customers.

Product training

A sales manager must know the product well - this is obvious. Moreover, it is important to know not only specifications and product features, but also production technology, compliance with quality standards, as well as warranty conditions and the possibility of post-warranty service for the product. When a seller, without sufficient knowledge about his product, tries to convince a buyer of the quality of the product who knows more about the product than the seller himself, it looks unprofessional and ridiculous. And worst of all, such an unprepared seller signals to the buyer not about his personal incompetence, but about the unprofessionalism of the entire company.

Marketing preparation

This section should provide a clear understanding of the world around the company. Here are just a few aspects that need to be covered in the process of preparing sellers:

• what is the market for this product, supply and demand, price segments of the market, seasonality of demand, and so on;
• product positioning on the market;
• competing products - their pros and cons;
• Competing companies - their strengths and weaknesses.

This part of training is very often omitted, although it is extremely necessary for the seller to negotiate with clients, especially those who have been on the market for a long time. Very often, in order to get the maximum possible discount, customers take advantage of the seller's poor knowledge of what is outside the company. For example, here are some typical buyer-seller leverage:

• “Company A offered me your product at an X% discount (more than the seller gives).” And if the seller does not have information about what discounts company A can give, then, naturally, in order to retain the client, he will “fall” until he offers a price that suits the buyer (and not the seller).
• “Company B offered me a similar product from manufacturer Y, and this product is cheaper than yours.” Here it is extremely important to know in what parameters your product is better and what its disadvantages are in comparison with the product of manufacturer Y.

Working with catalogues, price lists. Pricing and discount system

It seems that there is nothing to talk about here, and it is clear that this is taught in the first place. However, in sales there are often cases when a client requests a price for a product that is not from the standard price list. And here the seller must be able to contrive and quickly find the required technical information and price.

I have repeatedly encountered companies that refuse to sell products that are not included in the standard price list. But within the standard range, such companies often serve customers very quickly. The trouble is that clients increasingly want “something different” - for example, a non-standard color or size.

Logistics preparation

It would be useful for the seller to know how the goods arrive at the warehouse and what happens to them from the moment of production until the moment of shipment to the client:

• delivery time
• how the goods are packaged;
• how it is loaded and unloaded;
• how many goods are on the pallet;
• how much product fits into a truck/container;
• transportation features;
• size customs duties for goods;
• how the goods are stored in the warehouse, the features of its storage;
• and so on.

For example, sales managers of one of the European manufacturers of sanitary ware, after training, should know that in the case of deliveries from the factory in whole trucks, customers are offered two options:

• if the client takes the goods on pallets, then the manufacturer is financially responsible for damage during transportation (that is, all damage will be compensated);
• if the client takes the goods without pallets, then there will be no compensation, but 30% more goods will fit into the truck, which will reduce the cost.

Knowing such information, the client is able to make the best decision for him.

Presentation preparation

Teach salespeople to communicate in the language of customer benefits. The customer must understand why he will be better off if he purchases the product from you. Give sellers clear statements and have them learn them by heart.

I recently watched a buyer ask a salesperson in a household goods hypermarket why one drill is better than another. The seller replied (as he was taught) that one has a power of 500 watts, and the other has 800 watts. The buyer was left with two drills in his hands and in thought. But the seller could answer in the language of the buyer’s benefits: to make a hole in a concrete wall with a more powerful drill, the client will spend about five seconds, and with a less powerful one – about 40.

I have repeatedly noticed that wholesale companies do not pay attention to emphasizing the benefits of the partner. Standard presentations give an idea of ​​the quality of the product, price and commercial conditions. But for some reason they don’t talk about why a partner needs your product if he already has a similar one. Here it would be necessary to emphasize that cooperation with you, for example, will allow the client:

• keep a higher markup;
• avoid price competition for your product with your other customers;
• keep your own stock of your goods, as they are in large quantities in your warehouse;
• get better commercial conditions than the market average;
• receive marketing support, which will help reduce the cost of servicing customers (for example, installing working product samples, as well as the work of promoters provided by suppliers).

Computer training

Knowledge computer programs are weakness many companies. And if some time is still devoted to training 1C: Enterprise (or analogues), then work in MS Excel often remains unattended. Don't skimp on this, give your employees the basics, because this will ultimately allow them to become more efficient in their daily activities and reduce the time they spend on routine tasks.

Sellers in a ceramic tile showroom, for example, calculate for each buyer how much square meters tiles will “go” to the bathroom using a calculator (!!!). Such a calculation occurs in several stages, contains intermediate calculations and requires concentration. At the end of all calculations, the result must be double-checked, that is, the entire procedure must be performed at least one more time. But such a calculation can easily be at least partially automated using MS Excel, a formula once written does not require constant rechecking.

Procedural and documentary preparation

It is much easier for a seller to “join” the working rhythm of an enterprise if its work process is algorithmic. This implies that the seller understands what stages his activity consists of and what documents accompany each stage. Following a detailed algorithm will save the employee from unnecessary hassle and “putting out fires,” and the company from unnecessary costs.

For example, there are often situations when the seller does not inform the client that in order to receive the cargo, the client’s representative must have a power of attorney with him. As a result, the client sends a driver to pick up the goods at the supplier's warehouse without providing him with a power of attorney, and the warehouseman, naturally, does not release the goods. As a result, the driver calls the client, who calls the seller, and the seller calls the storekeeper. Everyone is tense and nervous. All this could have been avoided if the seller had followed a clearly defined algorithm.

Reporting

Every employee must know how the results and effectiveness of his work are measured, as well as how and to whom he reports. If there are corporate norms and standards for reporting, then they need to be notified in advance, because at the employee’s previous place of work the reporting form could have been completely different. It is very useful to give a report from one of the sales managers as a sample; this will greatly simplify the writing of the first reports.

Recently I witnessed a “misunderstanding” between a new sales manager and the head of the sales department. The manager prepared a report on his sales for the month, and the manager “wrapped” it. Due to the fact that sales data is the basis for calculating bonuses, the seller decided to defend his numbers, a verbal altercation ensued, and as a result they went to the director to sort it out. There it turned out that for the company's reports, data on sales without VAT is taken, while in the seller's previous places of work they always operated with amounts including VAT.

Far from it full list sections that should be covered in the process training. Of course, each company has its own specifics, but the main thing that I wanted to convey with this article is that the more knowledge the seller receives during the training process, the fewer bumps he will have to hit before and the faster he will produce results for your company. Don’t let the process of training salespeople take its course; it needs to be turned into a system that will work autonomously.

The Institute of Business Technologies and Valery Glubochenko conducted a master class on the topic: “Implementing a standard for negotiations.” The purpose of the master class was to develop an action plan to implement the Negotiation Standard in the company and, thus, increase sales in the company. Read more in our journalist's report.

Your speech Valery Glubochenko I started with the fact that companies often have a poorly structured or no sales training system at all. Usually in such companies there are three key roles:

• - Supervisor. He is always busy, has no knowledge transfer method, and is not involved in approving sales training material.
• - Internal trainer. It is very difficult to evaluate his work, the company management knows little about what he does and how he does it, he does not have a comprehensive system of training and post-training work, and besides, he lacks authority.
• - Mentoring. It works extremely situationally, as it gets into difficult situations.

The presenter then shared horrifying statistics about why customers actually leave the company. It turns out that only 14% of customers leave because they are not satisfied with the product or work standards. And 68% of buyers go to competing companies because they are unhappy with how they were treated!

From this, Valery concluded: it is necessary to improve the quality of customer service and negotiations with them. To do this, he developed a whole system of training and monitoring sellers, which helps increase sales. The main thing that sales department managers need to remember is that all sales performance indicators need to be measured.

“68% of customers leave a competitor because they are dissatisfied with how they were treated.”

The presenter offers several measurement methods:

1) Minutes after the meeting;

2) A tool for measuring the quality of the exercise - the Observation Checklist (OCL).

And it all starts, of course, from the moment hiring a new salesperson and inducting him into position. In this case, Valery recommends using the following scheme:

1. Training on company products/services

2. Product examination testing

3. Permission to work with answers to 80% of questions

4. 5–6 follow-up calls/meetings

5. Protocol after the call/meeting

6. Admission if the score based on the protocol assessment is more than 80 points

7. Dependence of salary on the number of points

8. Setting an individual goal

Once the salesperson has successfully passed the first “test,” it is important to properly guide him in his development, helping him improve his negotiating skills with clients. Valery focused the attention of the master class participants on the fact that there are so-called “moments of truth” in negotiations, that is, those situations in which deals most often fail.

In this regard, the presenter suggests, firstly, identifying these “moments of truth” for the company (they are different in different businesses). Secondly, develop scripts for all “moments of truth”. And thirdly, adapt the scripts to the specifics of the product, sales channel, purchase goals for the client, etc.

A script is a tool for mastering ideas and techniques. It is especially important for the skill to begin to develop. After all, as the speaker assured, mastery is developed through constant training.

What can they be? "moments of truth"? Here are some examples:

• - starting a conversation and the client’s disposition to communicate
• - the question “how much does it cost?”
• - stimulating the client's interest in purchasing an expensive product
• - how to ask the client for the necessary information?
• - how to justify the high cost of a product?
• - client’s request to “give a discount”
• - any objections from the client.

For each of these situations, as well as for a number of other common “moments of truth,” it is necessary to develop a script according to which salespeople will practice communicating with clients.

“In negotiations, there are so-called “moments of truth” - those situations in which deals most often break down.”

Returning to the system of training and monitoring sellers, Valery Glubochenko noted that the success of such a project depends on several important factors. For example, from the participation of the first person in the preparation of training material; formal approval of the standard; compliance with the standard corporate culture; time for employee adaptation, etc.

In addition, it is very important to create a system for supporting and monitoring the use of the standard, as well as choosing the right internal trainer, the presenter noted.

Educational material. Must include theoretical material, script, description of exercises, perfect/wrong example video, video exam and assessment using KLN.

Workout. Multiple repetitions of training are necessary so that employees can improve their KLN scores. For example, a trainer or head of a department with the functions of a trainer gathers salespeople 2-3 times a week (for an hour) and trains them on a specific topic.

Video shooting. This method allows sellers to look at themselves from the outside and find their mistakes using KLN. Companies need to accumulate videos of correct and incorrect exercises.

Motivation system. Valery advises developing a motivation system for salespeople so that they try to perform the exercises efficiently.

Minutes of the meeting. After each meeting, the seller fills out the meeting minutes, evaluates his negotiations in points and writes a summary of the meeting (here the difference between the actual and the desired situation is visible).

Mentor. In the proposed sales training system, the role of the mentor could not be more important. Moreover, according to Valery, the best mentor in the company is the first person.

“The script is a tool for mastering ideas and techniques. It is especially important for sellers to begin to develop negotiation skills.”

What does a mentor do? He:

• - Monitors the completion of protocols and writing of summaries after the meeting
• - Reviews resume
• - Writes a resolution on the summary (what was done correctly, what was missed, what should have been done in this situation)
• - Replenishes the standard: systematizes and conveys successful experience to others

At the same time, as the participants of the master class correctly noted, and the presenter supported them, the mentor must have the motivation and time to perform the actions described above. It is also critical that there is a place where all this information will be stored.

Interaction between Mentor and Trainer. Based on the results of the analysis of the meeting minutes, the mentor refers the seller to the trainer for correction. The seller must complete part of the course, individual topics, theory and practice, and increase his score. The mentor must see progress in the following protocols and in income.

“Mastery is formed through constant training”

A natural question arises: how can maintain this entire system in the present tense? Here Valery also has several key recommendations:

1. The Mentor and Trainer should keep records of the most successful and unsuccessful meeting minutes.

2. When training a new employee, he must watch success and failure videos, as well as read correct and incorrect protocols.

3. An existing employee should be periodically tasked with reviewing new successful activities.

4. It is also necessary to update the scripts as soon as a new situation appears - for example, New Product or service.

OPINIONS OF EVENT PARTICIPANTS

Alexander Sobokar, director, IVT Today I found myself in in the right place and in right time. At the master class, several useful points were discussed, which we are also going to implement in the company later. What I liked most was the idea of ​​creating scripts and a video archive that would allow managers to both work on mistakes and further train new managers and develop dealers in the regions. Our company sells industrial equipment. You have to face various difficulties in your work. Most current problem- This is economic instability in general. The issue of price is acute; clients are not always ready to pay the asking price. Therefore, we are now looking for ways to overcome this problem, looking for new directions, new clients. In the future, we plan to build a sales system similar to the one that Valery Glubochenko spoke about. The shared vision is already there. Ksenia Ostapyuk, Head of Projects Department, FIGARO-CATETERING I have recently been working as a department head, so most of the ideas voiced by Valery Glubochenko are very interesting to me. The idea that you need to invest a lot in the development of your sales managers, right down to delivering speeches, preparing scripts, and so on, was very useful. Our company provides catering services. If we talk about the sales system, we have a mentoring system for new employees. Now we also want to develop a training and development system for all sales department employees. The main difficulties our managers face are related to the fact that our positioning changed some time ago. We moved to another segment, began to place higher demands on quality, and accordingly, the pricing policy changed somewhat. And it turned out that not all clients are ready for such changes. Therefore, we are now paying great attention to working with clients, looking for ways to increase the efficiency of the sales department.