Was your Sales Training Seminar Successful?

Sales training seminars are indispensable for any sales organization, even one full of seasoned pros. Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, you can teach an old dog new tricks if you motivate it enough. Not to associate canines with salespeople, but you get the idea – everyone benefits from continued education in their craft.

However, sometimes it’s fuzzy whether the investment in training has provided the best return possible.

Here are 9 questions to ask to decide if your last sales training seminar was great — and what to fix if it wasn’t.

1. Did it energize the team?

Are your salespeople pumped up? If not, perhaps a curriculum tweak or a bringing in a motivational speaker can help.

2. Did it include role play?

Simulation should be part of all every sales training seminars. If the trainers didn’t include it in your last one, then set aside time at your sales meetings to get some practice in.

3. Did it cover modern selling (ABM, CRM, social media, data analytics, emotional intelligence)?

There is a lot of science and technology involved in selling these days. The basics from Carnegie, Nightingale, and others still apply, since they deal with basic human nature, and they are supplemented by decades of new information. If your training seminar was weak in any new process or technology, consider a follow-up session with a specialist which delves directly into the topic missed.

4. Did it cover best practices specific to your business?

Some industries have unique challenges, such as objections which come up over and over. Were these covered? If not, survey your sales staff for the most common objections and snafus they encounter and have the trainers cover some best practices to handle them next time.

5. Did it teach closes?

Closing is where the money is. If closing wasn’t covered, the trainees are handicapped to some degree. Remedy this as soon as possible through self-study assignments, in-house role play, or coaching.

6. Are more salespeople hitting quota?

Quota measures basic productivity. It’s not a perfect metric, but it serves as a good gauge. If production is not improving after sales training seminars, its time to ask salespeople why, in order to discover if refresher courses are needed or the training curriculum should be adjusted.

7. Is our retention rate better?

Paying for sales training seminars for salespeople is a value-add as an employer.

8. Did our revenue increase?

Having a better trained sales staff should have synergistic effects across the enterprise. This results in greater bottom line revenue through an increased presence in the market thanks to these salespeople’s efforts. If revenue stalls, consider hiring a coach or consultant to address weaknesses and reinforce the training.

9. Do your salespeople want to continue their training?

Probably the best indicator that sales training seminars are working is if your salespeople want to continue training. If they don’t, perhaps it’s time to find another training service.

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