Best Way to Train Your Sales Team at Sales Meetings

One sales manager always includes a short, formal training session at her monthly sales meetings. She identifies the topic from analysing the checklists of the previous month’s field visits and from general observation of her sales team’s activities. She often invites one of her team to prepare and conduct the training. Those asked are usually people who require training in that particular subject and she will of course help them to prepare the session. She finds that this approach has many advantages:

• It promotes teamwork and participation.
• It helps to develop people to train others.

• Those invited to perform will invariably work hard to ensure that they put on a good show for their colleagues.
• It helps people to help themselves.
• It relieves the manager of the burden of training.

Planning the session

• Seek an appropriate topic.
• The session should be between 30 and 45 minutes, depending upon the amount of group participation.
• Prepare your own ‘prompt’ notes.
• Prepare visual aids such as OHP slides, flip charts and videos.
• Prepare exercises for group activity.
• When you have prepared all the material, rehearse the session.

Here is an example of a typical training session designed for inclusion in a sales meeting.

Topic: Dealing with objections

• Each delegate is given a sheet of paper containing ten typical objections. They are asked to identify each by type and to write down how they would handle it (5 mins).
• The trainer leads a discussion, taking each objection in turn and writing the correct answer on a flip chart (15 mins).

• Delegates are invited to put forward other objections that they have difficulty in dealing with. The group will discuss each one and offer solutions (10 mins).
• Trainer will summarise the session (3 mins).

This approach allows everyone to participate and use their experiences to help their colleagues. At the same time it puts the least strain upon the trainer and so is suitable to be run by a member of the sales team. Your sales people, particularly the more experienced ones, are more likely to respond positively to short, formal training sessions devoted to one topic, than they are to a full day of training.