Is There a Doctor in the House?

If you expect to go into sales training to get cured, think again. Many of you may have had the pleasure of going to a two-day training session and I expect it had good content and was delivered professionally. You probably went back to your job with great enthusiasm, pumped and ready to apply the things you learned. Good for you. However, if you’re like most people, the job and life didn’t give you time to fully apply what you learned. Customers need to be taken care of, the boss wants a report and then there are demands at home. In all fairness, how much of the learning can you recall and use after a few weeks?

To be proficient at any endeavor takes a lifelong learning approach. Professionals in every field know it takes more than two days of training to develop successful skills, attitudes and behaviors. Take doctors for example – they get their undergrad, their medical degree and then do years of residency – and it doesn’t end there. Throughout their career, they are upgrading their skills, learning new techniques, attending conferences on medical advancements, learning about new products and procedures – all to be at the top of their game and best serve their patients.

Why should salespeople be any different?

To be the best, you have to be constantly working on your craft – that way, you have the best tools and skills to effectively diagnose your prospect’s issues and recommend solutions. Effective training is not just a prescription you follow to get better it involves changing your attitude toward yourself and what you do, and changing behaviors that defeat you to behaviors that support success. That’s why the best training is based on ongoing reinforcement.

Behaviors won’t change overnight. You have to evaluate where you are now, develop a plan to get you where you want to be, and work within that plan every day, on every call. And, as your career develops, your plan may change.

True success comes from applying what you have learned but there is a process that people go through. First they become aware of what they don’t know. They we gain knowledge. Next we start to adapt the knowledge to our business situations and finally we develop the skills to the point that they are second nature. Think of learning to walk, ride a bicycle or playing tennis, how long was the cycle of learning before you did it automatically.

Learning is ongoing and a lifelong endeavor if you plan to be the best.