General Sales
Why Learn?
By Robert DeGroot
Sep 22, 2003, 19:31

1. The half-life of a Sales Professional is 3-5 years. That means that in 3-5 years, half of what the person knows about selling is obsolete. Sales technology is advancing at a radical pace.

2. Experience alone will not be enough to keep up with the changing market. What would you do if the physician said, "I haven't read a book or been to a seminar in medicine since I graduated from med school 20 years ago." Sales technology is helping professionals keep their skills state of the art.

3. Why do the very best of every profession spend so much time in training?

4. Top sales producers spend approximately two weeks per year in training.

5. "The success of current business strategies and the development of innovations frequently hinge on the skills of the sales force. Customer Service strategies are impossible unless the sales force is well-trained in this arena."
- ASTD, Annual Research Report.

6. A new salesperson's enthusiasm will carry them for the first 90 days, then selling skills must be in place or a dramatic drop (or total failure) in productivity will occur. Without skill reinforcement, in 12 to 18 months another drop (approximately 20%) will occur.

7. 80% of first year sales people develop fears of selling and fail because they lack the basic skills of selling.

8. Past experience and formal education have no correlation to success in selling.

9. Make your sales calls count. "Companies with less than ten salespeople report an average sales call cost of $336.00."
- McGraw-Hill Research

10. "Sales people completing a selling skills intensive training program show increases in productivity ranging from 35% to 1665%. Yet, an estimated 70% of companies provide no selling skills development at all."
- ASTD, Annual Research Report.

11. Companies often lump product knowledge, motivational "rah rah" sessions and technical skills development under the heading of "sales training." Yet none of these actually help the person sell skillfully.

12. We see training as insurance on our biggest asset - human resources. Find me a company without that insurance, that has stopped training its salespeople, and I'll target that market and that company and have its business by year's end. David Barcusee of Bergen-Brunswig.
- Sales & Marketing Management Magazine, January 1990.

13. "95% of the training that's done on the job is done so poorly that the job suffers measurably. And both the trainer and the trainee agree that it's the trainee's fault, but it isn't."
- Training Magazine June 1993

14. "Great salespeople have an edge because they are able to let go of obsolete ideas..."
- Donald Trump - Personal Selling Power, September, 1993

15. After one year on the job, it costs approximately $125,000 to replace a Sales Professional.

16. After the first 90 days, the enthusiasm of a new job wears off and reality sets in. Without skill development, 80% of "new to sales" people will wash out of selling within the year.

17. How important is contact management? Industrial Distribution's study found that neglect and/or an attitude of indifference are the causes for 82% of customers to go over to the competition.

About Sales Training International:
Sales Training International handles many of the onsite sales training inquiries www.salestrainingcamp.com receives. They have one of the most comprehensive tools to diagnose sales peoples’ strengths and weaknesses. In addition they have one of the best and most comprehensive programs to learn selling online. To learn more visit their website at www.saleshelp.com.

Contact Information:
David Foster
Sales Training International
2204 Timberloch Place, Suite 150
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(800) 551-SELL (7355) / (281) 367-5599
http://www.SalesHelp.com




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