Issue 2
Lack of Essential Skills, which Leads to Below Average Performance and Consequently Below Average Sales Results
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LESS TRAINING WITH HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
So, what’s going on here? How should Sales
Directors reconcile the fact that many corporations today provide less upfront training for their sales staff than in years past yet attach increasing importance to staff development? This is hardly a surprise, because the current stock market ethos creates a
powerful disincentive for firms to invest in their people.
A firm’s investment of human capital, in the form of training and other forms of education of staff, is not separable from the general expenditure of a corporation. It therefore appears as a cost on the
corporate balance sheet. To the investor it appears that companies that invest in their ‘intangible’ assets are being less cost efficient. This prevents investors from assessing the firm’s future earnings potential.
DIFFICULT TIMES
Alas, many Sales Directors, having concluded that their best strategy is to cut back on training, look instead to hire people who already possess all the talent and skills needed to do the job and
send them out to the field armed only with what they know. But many Sales Directors know how difficult it is to find skilled salespeople.
HUGE DEMANDS ON SALESPEOPLE
The fact is that selling in today’s climate is both an art and a science. Sales is a profession that demands a far wider range of skills than ever before (see Figure below) — skills that require
continual fine-tuning and constant practice. Take a look at the Nine Selling Knowledge Areas, produced by The United Professional Selling Association (UPSA), and you’ll see immediately how much development is required to produce top performing salespeople.
LACK OF ONGOING REINFORCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
The operative word here is "continual." Even if salespeople have undergone initial sales training, there’s no guarantee that they will be successful.
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