Ten Reasons Why Our Sales Training Is Different

There are a lot of sales training organizations out there. Their blogs, tweets and LinkedIn posts may appear the same, but often there are some key differences between them.  That's the purpose behind us writing this blog post. We want to give those of you who haven't experienced a Force Management training some key reasons why it's different. 

Below are ten reasons why our sales training is different from others in the marketplace:

1. The content is customized

We have an engagement framework that serves as the base for all of our client roll-outs, but it's only that - a framework. We customize the content and every piece of the delivery, alongside our customers, to ensure it is relevant to what your account teams are doing every day and the conversations they're having with customers.

2. We've been salespeople, sales managers and sales executives

The people we put in front of your executives, your managers and your reps have sales experience. They know how to command a room and they know how to sell a million-dollar-plus deal. We are adamant about hiring salespeople for our delivery teams because they can speak the same language as your reps, managers and executives.

3. We make you do the work

Did this one get your attention? It usually strikes people as unusual. Honestly, though, that's how we differentiate ourselves from other sales effectiveness firms. Don't get us wrong, we do a lot of work for our clients, but we do it alongside your efforts. Experience tells us the only way your sales initiative will stick is if it has buy-in from leadership. The best way to demonstrate that buy-in to the rest of the organization is to lead from the front.

As a leader in your company, you need to be invested in the content, processes and tools we roll out. We need your input and involvement to ensure everything we're doing is relevant to your business and your buyers. Our clients take ownership during the development and the rollout of their sales transformation process, ensuring that the content developed for training is consumable and adaptable to their entire organization. Our initiatives aren't something you can delegate. That's the only way we can ensure your success.

4. The learning is in the struggle

This cliche is actually true in our engagements and it's related to #3 listed above. When we roll out Command of the Message to reps, we create exercises and activities that will make them feel uncomfortable. They need to do the necessary practice to make the methodology work for them. Our philosophy behind that tactic is that we'd rather have them practice with us than with their customers. They work with real live deals in our trainings so by the time they're in front of the customer, they're audible-ready to have a buyer-focused business conversation.

5. We drive alignment

From the start, we bring cross-functional leaders together, creating buy-in and alignment across your organization. They’re included in the workshop where the content around your value and differentiation is defined, created and vetted. Our methodology is sales focused, but we know it will not be successful if we don’t have buy-in from pivotal departments (e.g., marketing, product, technical services and customer success). We engage leaders early on in developing the content so when it is rolled out to reps, there’s buy-in throughout the company. This process creates consistency and helps to ensure adoption after the training.

6. We draft into your current sales initiatives

This is a big differentiator for Force Management. We don't rip out the previous investments you've made. Whether that's in a customer engagement process, a CRM integration, a branding initiative, etc..., we draft into your best practices and current initiatives. We specialize in helping your sales teams execute on those initiatives by creating practical and consumable content, processes and tools aligned with your strategic business efforts.

7. We are focused on practical application

We don't show up with a binder full of new processes and brochures to use with prospects. We are focused on enabling the sales rep to spend as much time possible selling. That focus requires consumable and practical content and tools that account teams can actually execute on, in the field and on the phone. If you're implementing a selling methodology, it will fall flat if you don't have a way to back up that methodology with practical application. Your reps can read a book, but how are they going to implement the teachings of that book in the field?

8. We determine a plan for adoption in advance

We are as focused on what happens the day after training as we are on the actual delivery of the methodology to your sales organization. What good is a sales initiative if it isn’t adopted and reinforced? We ensure that your entire leadership team has a plan to inspect, coach and reinforce on the new methodology. We use a five-letter acronym PRIMR to drive this plan.

• Your initiative has to be a Priority with leadership.
• It needs to be Relevant to your organization and the activities that your reps do every day.
• It needs to be Integrated into the existing tools and technology used to support the sales organization.
• The success Measurements of the training program need to be tied to the key performance indicators of the sales organization.
• There is widespread management involvement throughout the project which spawns a commitment to Reinforcement

9. We've learned from a repeatable process

Our methodologies and processes are repeatable, which means we've refined them over years of working with hundreds of sales organizations. The companies often have similar challenges and outcomes their leadership is trying to achieve. The good news is that we can use that knowledge to help set you up for the greatest success possible in your own organization. We know what's worked well in the past and we know the landmines to avoid.

10. We are focused on results

Our entire customer engagement process is focused on one thing - getting you the measurable results you expect. Our proof is in our clients' success.

We wrote an extension to this post, How We Approach Virtual Sales Training to Ensure Results. It shares how we’re helping clients move the needle in the remote environment.