Teaching Sales

The secret is in the teaching method

Most people don't realize that sales has been extensively researched, analyzed and studied for more than 30 years. Today there are proven, conclusive explanations for most of the conflicts between salespeople and their customers, and the solutions are known too.

A skilled salesperson knows exactly what to do to lead an ordinary customer from hesitation to decision. In most cases, the process he uses has nothing to do with the product or service itself. It has to do with the interaction between the (human) customer and the (human) salesperson, as each one tries to convince the other and change his mind. A professional salesperson knows exactly what to do when a customer says he's in a hurry (the "boomerang"), and won't be caught off guard when a customer says "I'll think it over..." (the "basic Nelson"), and so on.

The presence of an "advisor" alongside the customer won't surprise a skilled salesperson either. He'll know how to handle this unfavorable situation with ease.

These examples are only the tip of the iceberg, but they make the huge gap between an amateur and a pro easy to see.

When it comes to "institutional sales" (to technology plants, high-tech companies and the like), where the communication process is longer and more complicated (it can take years before a contract is signed), a whole range of additional skills is needed. For example: teamwork in dealing with the DMU (Decision Making Unit), methodical identification of business opportunities, telemarketing and phone appointment-setting skills, customer retention, sophisticated handling of the competition, writing bids properly and following up on them, negotiation skills and so on.

So there's a tremendous amount to learn in order to succeed in this complicated profession, but it isn't something you can learn through traditional lectures and memorizing "tips". One of the conditions for creating personal, emotional and cognitive involvement with the material is to involve the learner in the process.

That calls for an interactive workshop, where a clear, constructive attitude is built, along with unique professional solutions, both general ones and ones tailored to the participants' specific field. Participants take an active part in analyzing realistic scenarios and in a variety of exercises, including intensive use of closed-circuit TV.

But that isn't enough. Moving from an intuitive approach to a systematic selling approach means tackling at least three major challenges:

1. Moving from a purely declarative approach (statements, speeches, presentations and explanations) to one of listening, genuine care and matching the customer in every way.
2. Nurturing the drive to "close the deal", or to reach a concrete, predefined goal. (Avoiding the close is the most common mistake salespeople make.)
3. Completely changing normal behavior patterns in situations of conflict or resistance. (Our natural reactions are the exact opposite of what a professional salesperson would do.)

If these goals aren't reached in the workshop, they won't be reached anywhere else.

The "Peled Technique" tackles these challenges in a unique, original and pioneering way.

The first step in moving from focusing on yourself to focusing on the customer comes from learning and practicing "the Art of Matching" (originally developed as part of the Peled Technique). "The drive to close" is built through a combination of guided imagery exercises and other techniques, usually introduced early on the second day of the workshop. "Changing behavior patterns in conflict situations" is achieved by analyzing, studying and practicing Transactional Analysis, the groundbreaking work of Dr. Eric Berne.

A successful sales workshop therefore requires an instructor with:

1. Broad, deep knowledge of the sales profession.
2. Many years of practical, disciplined experience.
3. Academic degrees in psychology and sociology.
4. A structured, orderly teaching approach.

To make sure the learning is an enjoyable experience, the instructor also needs a fifth quality: a flair for drama and plenty of humor.

This combination of five elements is quite rare.

A workshop like this is only a first step, an entry ticket into the world of selling, and in no way enough on its own.

Since sales is all about skills, the workshop needs to include, especially in its later stages, practical exercises of various kinds: role-playing, team activities and, above all, simulations of realistic scenarios on closed-circuit TV.

Participants get prepared scripts for "role-playing" a salesperson and buyers (in their own specific field), facing each other. These scenes are recorded on video and later analyzed by the participants.

In most cases it's best to move from relatively simple scenarios to more advanced, complex ones.

Experience teaches us that becoming truly proficient in sales takes a long time. Most participants understand the material, most of them become attached to the ideas and techniques they've picked up, some "erase" mistakes and misconceptions they've accumulated over the years, and some even show astonishing ability to sell under difficult conditions. Even so, they need help applying the workshop material day to day. Some may need personal guidance with what they learned in the workshop. Only then are they ready to say: "Now I get it!"...

Turning the material into practice usually takes the form of personal coaching in the field, a method generally known as OJT, "On-the-Job Training".

This crucial step proves itself again and again.

Of course, relying on OJT alone would mean running a "personal workshop" for every single employee... and a communication gap between coach and trainee would also keep the goals out of reach. You can't expect a trainee with no sales training to know how to send "initiated closing signals" or use tools like NLP, "guided imagery" or "suggestive selling" if he's hearing about them for the first time during coaching...

That's why personal coaching can't be the only training tool.

How the coaching is done matters a great deal. I've known "coaches" who spent most of their energy trying to impress the trainee... they jump into his sale and show off impressive moves, but that's fundamentally wrong. A big success by the coach can hurt the trainee's self-confidence, while a failure may lead the trainee to doubt the coach and his recommendations and methods.

Of the three common coaching methods, the one I recommend in most cases is passive observation, with the trainee doing the analysis himself at the end of the interaction.

Preparing the trainee for the process is very important. A trainee who takes part enthusiastically will make the process more successful and more enjoyable.

During coaching, it's important to make the trainee aware of his mistakes. This is usually done by asking questions and drawing him out, not by indoctrinating, lecturing or preaching.

The know-how is maintained through refresher sessions held every quarter or twice a year. In these sessions, salespeople see verified data on their performance during the period, focus on recurring weak points, review the main rules they learned, and analyze realistic, complex scenarios from the field, along with more exercises and so on.

Reality (based on hundreds of training programs we've run) teaches us that building or improving sales skills takes a sophisticated mix of teaching methods.

Only this winning combination will produce the kind of results any sales organization would be proud of.