The problem with the quick-fix mentality.
Society today, is fast paced, with little time for everyday tasks let alone training for their executives and sales focused teams.
Coupled with this we are faced with the Global Ecomonic Downturn which has left the majority of companies focused on cutting costs rather than investing in skill sets to increase performance.
These days companies are looking for a 'quick fix' to solve problems and to improve their financial results.
The quick fix has affected personal expectations and business practices. Businesses are turning to this mentality for training and developing their sales and customer facing teams. They are providing training which is short and inexpensive yet expecting them to develop new skills to increase performance. Unfortuantely, quick fixes often sacrifice long-term progress.
Let's review some statistics from the recent Sales Benchmark Index on sales managers mentoring ...
- 52% sales managers say they don't have the time or are too busy to develop and coach their sales teams
- 90% say their salespeople struggle to keep a proper balance between prospecting, presenting, negotiating, closing and managing an account
- 67% are not doing individual sales coaching/development
"business coaching and mentoring are now widely recognised for their impact in leveraging personal and organisational development." Research by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) has shown that organisations that are able to offer their salespeople opportunities for ongoing development are ten times more likely to create more peak performing salespeople than those that don't.
It seems most companies treat sales training as an "a la carte" exercise where the hope is that attendees will get a few take away's from whatever training they attend. Often generic training (not customised to reflect the client's sales environment) will yield disappointing results. This coupled with the lack of senior management commitment this is a major reason training does not "stick". A great deal of sales training is a series of techniques for manipulating buyers. Many training programs don't offer a way to measure (or require) adoption.
Lack of senior management commitment is a major reason training does not "stick" (John Holland, CustomerCentric).
We need to help guide people to adapt realistic expectations, away from the quick fix mentality.
With it seemingly obvious that such a task requires time and money, why are people choosing the 'quick fix' option?
Previously, those wanting to learn had to travel to the expert / teacher to acquire the knowledge. Due to the advancements in technology, opportunities have been created to reach people in more ways than ever before. Today, it is possible to access those same experts online, via eLearning or distance learning.
But what is the learning experience like? What are we teaching, and what does the student (or executive) need to learn?
Different people learn in different ways, but for most people, your can't beat the skills that can be permanently instilled through personal instruction (seeing & doing), learning while doing, and working with others. You can acquire knowledge online. But acquiring the skills, experience and confidence needed to modify your behaviour is best done in a classroom setting. Practice transforms knowledge into changing behaviours and form new habits.
While eLearning and online tools can be very valuable as a refresher and in reinforcing the behaviour, it cannot replace the benefits of a classroom experience. (Mike Bosworth, CCS founder)
The difficulty with this quick fix approach to training is that it seldom yields sustainable results. Until training is integrated properly into a broader strategic approach, it will have only a minimal impact on productivity and will be unlikely to result in any long term changes in beharviour. Put simply, underlying causes and effects are left unexamined in the training solution so the result is little more that a poorly educated shot in the dark.
Productivity graphs, if they spike at all following this sort of training, will show only a breif improvement before things quietly return to normal until the next quarterly crisis. What is required is a commitment to a consistent, repeatable & measureable sales process that focuses on the customer business problems that the seller can help resolve. Once this process has been defined for your business and a commitment made to developing Sales Ready Messaging tools this will equip your sales team with the correct skills set.
A number of companies have seen a dramatic improvement in their results following this type of process and training commitment. This is what they have said:
Blackbaud Pacific Pty. Ltd
“I don’t understand how any company would not want to utilise this process”
"CCS is superb and within two weeks of the program we feel we have already generated outcomes = to the investment we made."
Kevin Sher
Sales & Marketing Manager
T.A.C Pacific
“A great way to refocus your customers input into the sales process and improve customer qualification as a real buyer with less sales force effort”
Brendan Walker
Energy Edge Account Manager
References:
- 2006 - When a quick fix isn't enough - an article by Wood Brown & Company.
- The Five Most Dangerous Issues Facing Sales Leaders Today and How to Guarantee a Permanent Improvement in Sales Results - PERFORMANCE PRACTICIONERS LIMITED, The Sales Activator® Results speak louder than words (written & produced by: Nikki Owen and Andy Miller - Vice President, Think Training Inc.)
- Read the Training Trends article.
- NKD Learning / Insight / 21st Century Leadership. 'Leadership Development'.
