Somehow, “successful” sales training has become associated with a thick binder of material the salesperson lugs home from the class (never to open again). The classroom experience is based upon wrote memorization of facts. There is very little interaction, exercises, or meaningful conversation about the difficult “real-world” obstacles that need to be overcome. The training classes are pre-packaged sessions that are taught the same way over and over again regardless of the audience’s unique situation. The goal is get through the material, not to learn how and where to win (and the skills needed to do it). In essence, every training experience should be a one of kind unique experience because every company occupies a different position in the competitive landscape.

Perhaps most importantly, today’s customers are smarter and technology has become a way of life. Eighty percent of all homes in the United States have personal computers. Via the Internet, customers can research products, prices, and opinions. Conversely, our cars, appliances, and toys have become computerized tools. Collectively, this has raised the level of sophistication (and skepticism) of the customers we must converse with and sell to. However, the training programs available today assume customers are exactly the same as they were ten or twenty years ago. In reality, the balance of power is definitely in the hands of today’s buyer and the situation will only continue to get worse. For example, while I had to know how to change a spark plug, my children will never have to know what a spark plug is. Meanwhile, they are already experts on how to use cell phones, DVD recorders, and computers. Successful sales training understands and acknowledges the new generation of smart buyers.

The orientation of customers has also changed. They’re more self-accomplished and self-reliant. Not so long ago, the gas station attendant would pump your gas, the bank teller would handle your deposit, and you knew the owner of the corner bakery. Today, you pay by credit card at the pump and fill the tank yourself, bank online, and shop at gigantic warehouse superstores. Just a few years ago, you would have visited several computer stores to find the right personal computer. Now we can configure new computers online and have them shipped right to our front door. Times have changed and this generation of buyers is more sophisticated than the last rendering the traditional sales training programs obsolete.

Your competitors have not sat idly by either. They’ve educated themselves about your products and sales tactics, and they’re more focused on defeating you than ever. Fortunately, they usually believe in the use of brute force and think the best way to defeat the enemy is by frontal attack, when in reality, winning over the hearts and minds of customers carries the day. Finally, a new generation of sales training is needed to defeat your two biggest competitors; no decision and the relentless march of time.

Where can you go to receive the training you need to level the playing field again?

Read About Heavy Hitter Sales Training – The Next Generation of Sales Training