10 Ways to Make Sales Training More Interesting

1. The steps in a sale are attention, interest, desire, and action. A Distributive Education instructor in Texas presents this information in an interesting way. He likens the steps to the courses in a meal.
“A colorful fruit cocktail gets your attention the moment you’re seated for dinner. A salad follows. This gets your interest in a big way. It really whets your appetite. Then comes the entree. You look at it and gleefully inhale the aroma. Your desire is at its peak! After the entree, you take final action by eating dessert.” Pictures of the four courses were pasted on flocking material and used with a slap board. It made a very effective presentation. The steps in a sale were more easily learned because they were related to something the learners already knew.

2. A furniture store owner made a list of questions most frequently asked by prospective customers. He put each question on a separate 3″ x 5″ index card.
In a training session, he shuffled the cards and dealt them to his salespeople. “They got a big kick out of trying to answer the questions,” he reported. “Also, a lecture would not have caused half as much learning.”

3. Enthusiasm has been dramatized in many ways. When teaching people to “bubble over,” you can make it interesting by dropping a couple of bromos in a full glass of water. Your audience will remember it. So will the janitor!
This may not prompt enthusiasm before the prospect, however. So give each man a card. The presentation I’m about to make is backed by a twenty-million-dollar organization. Our product line is the finest in the world! When I see my next prospect, I’ll be red hot-sizzling! Do I have enthusiasm? Watch my smoke!!! Ask your men to read this card before each call. While enthusiasm is intangible, it can be taught.

4. A professional sales trainer in Minnesota has a unique method of teaching persistence. He used a jack-in-the-box. “Your prospect doesn’t buy. So what?” The trainer released the jack and said, “You call on him again.” “He still doesn’t buy.” Again he released the jack, stating, “So you turn up at his office again.” “He turns you down another time.” The jack is released. “But you pop up again.”
“One of you finally gives up.” The jack is released. “Let it be the prospect-not you!”
Application of the teaching point is difficult in a meeting. However, it can easily be made in the field. Some firms give a persistence award. It goes to the salesman who makes the greatest number of calls on a single prospect without getting an order. The purpose is not to commend failure, but to commend effort. Without effort there can be no achievement.

5. The motive for buying is a significant part of salesmanship. When a salesman can detect the buying motive, he appeals to it. He magnifies it, elaborates on it. This produces sales-but fast! An appliance dealer determined that his merchandise was purchased for four reasons: pride of ownership, economy, pleasure, and utility. He uses role playing to teach the recognition of these motives. The dealer acts as a prospect. He makes statements and asks questions that are clues to buying motives. Example: “Is this like the one you sold Mrs. Astor on Park Row?” The buying motive is pride of ownership-keeping up with the Joneses. The first salesman to recognize a motive is called upon to explain his opinion. This results in participation, recognition, and solid training.

6. The close of a sale begins at the beginning of a sales presentation. While the first step in a sale is to get attention, this step is also the first part of the close. All steps in a sale must lead toward the close. Unless they do, there will be no close. They so directly lead into the close that they’re actually a part of the closing. An interesting method of presenting this is to hold up a snake. “The close of a sale is like a snake’s tail. It begins at the head.” If a live snake is to be used, salesmen with weak hearts should not be seated in the front row!

7. Trial closes must be taught. Most companies have standard trial closes, such as. “Does this look like the one you want?” Or, “We can install that for you tomorrow.” Balloons filled with natural gas have been used as “trial balloons.” A marketing firm executive released a balloon each time he demonstrated a trial close. “When the prospect appears ready to buy, you send up a trial balloon. For instance, you could ask if the prospect wants his purchase gift wrapped.” At this point the executive released a balloon which floated to the ceiling. He continued with additional trial closes, each time lofting a “trial balloon.” This made the trial closes stand out. During the application part of the training session, each salesman was given an opportunity to send up “trial balloons.”

8. A personnel trainer was teaching the various methods of closing a sale. He made his presentation more effective by using a clothes line, strung across the front of the room. Using clothes pins, he attached placards to the line, each with a word printed on it. One contained the word “ASK,” representing always ask for the order. “ALTERNATIVE” covered a choice between something and something, not between something and nothing.

“MINOR” stood for closing on a minor issue. In all, there were seven placards as visuals. More was accomplished here: After the placards were explained, they were distributed to seven of the salesmen. Demonstrations were then conducted. When one of the closing techniques was demonstrated, the salesman holding the pertinent placard pinned it to the clothes line. The cards were frequently redistributed, keeping everyone on his toes.

9. It’s difficult to teach salespeople when to stop talking. Some supervisors say, “Get the order and get out.” Others say, “Leave within two minutes after the order is signed.” But there’s usually more to it than that. The purchase of additional items usually should be suggested. Then too, every sales situation is different. So it’s difficult to apply rigid rules. But a general warning is certainly in order. A manufacturer in Virginia begins his warning with a casket. The salesmen are asked to guess the identity of the corpse. “The casket contains the corpse of a sale. It’s a sale that was killed by a man who couldn’t stop talking!” This bizarre method of getting across the point has been remembered by all who have seen it. Men have commented on it ten years later. But that isn’t all. Transcripts of actual closes are distributed and read. Each is discussed. Questions are asked. “Did the salesman in this script know when to stop talking? If he talked too much, where did the surplus yakking begin? What can each of you do to avoid the same mistake?”

10. People selling over the counter must continuously be trained in suggestion selling. Any clerk can sell what the customer wants. A good salesperson suggests the purchase of additional items.

Here’s how a department store buyer demonstrated the power of suggestion . . . She obtained a new perfume atomizer and filled it with colored water. In a training session she gingerly sprayed the room. The spray had absolutely no scent. “That’s a delicate scent. What is it? Can anyone say? I’ll give you a clue. It’s either lilac or rose. Which is it?” The audience of 22 people sniffed for several seconds. Someone voiced his decision. Then others. There was divided opinion. Nine decided on lilac, another nine on rose. Only four could not smell anything! Having proved that suggestion is powerful, the buyer then conducted an effective training session on suggestion selling.

Keywords: Sales, Marketing, Business, Sales Training

Tags: sales meeting

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