Boost Your Sales With Presentation Skills Training

Nov 23
06:19

2011

Milly Sonneman

Milly Sonneman

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Presentation skills training is critical to sales success. Whether you are new to sales or an experienced pro,Boost Your Sales With Presentation Skills Training Articles great communication unlocks doors. Learn 7 master keys to get faster sales, bigger sales, and build strong relationships with loyal customers.

 

Selling and presentation skills training are must-have elements of any successful sales organization. But in these days of ‘doing more with less’ many organizations are cutting official sales training. Standard entry training often was conducted over an intensive 2-3 week period. In these hands-on presentation skills programs, new reps learned exactly how to open a conversation, present value, share unique selling points, overcome objections, respond to questions and guide to a close.

 

But what can you do if your company has cut the budget and taken a do-more-with-less approach? It’s time to boost your sales and take personal development into your own hands.

 

1. Bring In The Pros

In many sales organizations, the founder or CEO initially delivered training. These epic training sessions are still talked about. Seasoned sales professionals tell tales of these trainings—and if you’re just joining the team, you really wish you’d been there.

 

If it’s just been years since the top guns joined in on a presentation training class, switch things up. Get your top leaders and top sales performers to join in and share best practices. You’ll boost sales across the entire team.

 

2. Hire For Performance

These days, you can afford to be choosy. Identify the core values, communication skills, and energy you’re looking for in your sales staff. Then, be rigorous. Hold one, two or more interviews. Test for performance in the interview.

 

For instance, if you are planning on using whiteboard presenting in your sales process, include a whiteboard pitch as part of hiring. This will help you start with a group of sales reps that are already a cut above.

 

3. Monitor Quality

Check in for ongoing feedback. Are training sessions providing the right information, skills practice and real-world simulation? If so, keep going. If not, investigate and upgrade to higher quality presentation skills training providers.

 

4. Engage Participants

Get people involved with lively training sessions that encourage reps to think on their feet. Practice skills. Test comfort levels with situational role-plays. Provide ample opportunity to try out new skills in a safe environment.

 

5. Build Buy-In From The Start

Involve participants by asking for and including input. New participants have new insights, skills and styles. Encourage lively discussion to continuously adapt, adjust and improve scripts, presentations and sales process.

 

The more people are involved in the process, the greater buy-in will be for using the process in the field.

 

6. Invite Peer Presentations

We all enjoy learning—especially from peers. There is a natural comfort and ease that occurs when you’re learning a skill from someone who just learned it a week ago.

 

Barriers dissolve. Obstacles disappear. Use peer presentations to create a dynamic and informal learning environment.

 

7. Recognition and Reward

Recognition and reward sound like big terms only for big organizations. Nothing could be further from the truth. Recognize people for their participation. Reward them by acknowledging how their contribution improved the training experience.

 

Reward and recognition is a critical dimension of success. Everyone enjoys knowing that his or her comment, action or idea made a positive difference.

 

Whether you are part of a global organization or a tiny start up, use these 7 keys to boost your sales results. Interested in presentation skills training? That’s smart. The right skills ignite sales performance.