Need Consultative Sales Training? Implement a Sales PlayBook

Just like sales cycles, sales training comes in all different shapes and sizes. The longer the sales cycle and more complex the product or service, the longer and more complex the training.

With that said, if you’re in need of consultative sales training, you’ve got a lot on your plate. Not only do your sales reps need training in lead generation and prospecting, they also need training in handling objections, solving problems, and more!

A consultative sell requires much more strategy than a transactional sale. And, unfortunately, regular sales training doesn’t always cut it. In order for consultative sales training to be successful, you’ll need to do a lot of planning and preparation. You’ll also need to keep the ball rolling once training events have already taken place.

Why is this?

Well, first off, the excitement of a sales training event typically wears off after about a week or two. Your sales reps are starting to fall back into the typical habits. Maybe they’ve implemented a few key methods that resonated with them, but they are moving away from the big picture.

All of that planning and preparation you, the sales leader, did was in vain. And, unless you’re micromanaging your team members, you can’t force them to use the new methods learned. They’re also struggling because, unless they were able to write everything from the trainings down, they have nowhere to go back to for the key breakthroughs accomplished at the training.

This is why having a Sales PlayBook is so important when investing your time, effort, (and money!) in consultative sales training. When done correctly, a Sales PlayBook takes all of your team’s unique breakthroughs, success stories, training materials, and more, and makes them available for everyone to benefit from.

Here’s how to start when implementing a Sales PlayBook to enhance training:

1. Have a strategic planning session

If you’re building out a Sales PlayBook for a new training program, you will want to start with the basics.

Bring together all of your sales managers, sales leaders, or even team members to figure out what your current sales process it, what your prospect’s common problems are, how you solve your prospect’s common problems, and more.

Don’t forget: this is where you will notice discrepancies in your current process or methods. Use these as opportunities to align your team on a common practice and idea.

For more details on building out a Sales PlayBook and everything that goes into it, check out our eBook below:

2. Align on order of trainings:

Remember, consultative sales training is not transactional sales training. And with that, the training will be similar to the type of sell: longer and more strategic.

With this said, you will want to have more than one training to cover each important aspect of the consultative sell. According to HubSpot, there are six principles of the consultative sales process. These are:

• Research
• Ask
• Listen
• Teach
• Qualify
• Close

Each of these principles should have a corresponding training. Otherwise, your sales reps will fall short at some point of the sales process, and you won’t reach the close stage. And, believe it or not, you should incorporate consultative sales training for how to close!

This is when you schedule the trainings as well. The more in-advance, the better!

3. Update your PlayBook as you go

As you go through each training, you and your team will uncover new things. Make sure you add these breakthroughs and discoveries to your Sales PlayBook!

The whole point of this it to keep your team using the PlayBook and thus, keep the training material at top of mind. It’s possible that you may discover something about another training topic during one training. Take this as an opportunity to put this information in your Sales PlayBook. This way, whether or not the topic was already covered, you won’t forget your breakthrough!

Want more information on keeping your PlayBook moving? Download our eBook below!

At the end of the day, consultative sales training is a great way to completely define and scope out your sales process. At Criteria for Success, we love helping our clients through powerful consultative selling trainings across all different types of industries.

Interested in training or a Sales PlayBook? Let us know! Or, request information by clicking below: