Commercial managers are in charge of a team of people, and their greatest challenge is to increase that team’s sales. Training makes it possible to achieve better results in the medium and short term.
Unquestionably, developing a salesperson’s soft skills, emotional intelligence, and communication and problem-solving abilities, among many other skills, is highly valuable in the short term and even more so in the medium term. On the other hand, if commercial management wants to achieve results quickly, then it’s more advisable to train the team so they can improve their everyday work. In this case, training can focus on:
- Improving knowledge, use, and application of the company’s products or services
- Training on technical aspects
- Practicing the verbal and non-verbal communication of the sales pitch (until mastering it)
- Applying new policies or legal provisions
If, for example, a company sells through distributors and needs to train its salespeople, their training might address subjects such as:
- Learning about the business and its brands
- The business’s products and their technical features
- Benefits products can provide clients
- Manufacturing processes
- Quality control in processes and products
- Techniques for product observation
- How to compare the company’s products and the competition’s products
- Instructions for use, care, and maintenance, as well as guarantees
- The company’s value and additional benefits for its distributors
One important aspect to consider is that training means more than just communicating aspects of products with videos or pamphlets, even if these have very engaging designs. It is important to differentiate between communication as a commercial strategy and training: These are two different resources, even when they complement each other.
Well-designed training focused on improving daily performance has a great advantage in that its cost-effectiveness can be measured. A positive return on investment can be achieved when investment in training is lower than the benefits achieved through training, and this is generally reflected in increased sales, lower costs, less employee turnover, avoidance of fines by complying with legal requirements, increased repurchase rates, and increased employee productivity, among other benefits.
In order to achieve positive short-term results, the content of training and instructional design should be custom-made, and the right technology should be chosen for each particular project.
Some commercial managers don’t see training as a task that falls within their purview. However, training and talent development is actually a privileged means of achieving the professionalization of a salesforce that creates better results for a manager’s area. For this reason, it’s increasingly important to develop a culture of business training with the help of experts who guarantee that every program is completely focused on achieving the desired objectives.
About the author:
René Mena Seifert is the creator, founder, and CEO of IDESAA, TRUE e-Learning, and Foro Pro-Talento Empresarial. He specializes in the design and implementation of business solutions based on training and talent development projects that are customized for companies.
