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| What Should Your
Sales Training Cost in Terms of Money, Time and Results?
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The
goal to increase sales is within the majority of all strategic plans.
Sales skill sets need to keep pace with this high-tech and global
economy. This is probably one reason why sales education and training
are so prevalent from the Internet to business journals.
If you as a small business owner or corporate executive are considering
some sales education and training, there are 3 simple factors. These are
money, time and results. Each factor needs to be reviewed separately and
collectively to determine the best sales training solution to increase
your sales. Remember: Any decision needs to be aligned to the short and
long term goals within your strategic plan.
1. Money - Much of the sales training ranges from the half day (4
hours), $200 seminars to the off site 3 day (18 hours) $1,500 workshops
to the onsite 5 day (30 hour), unlimited attendance sessions for
$3,000/day.
2. Time - Is the time invested enough for the results desired? As a
former corporate salesperson and now a business coach, I am continually
surprised that management believes a 4 hour seminar to a 3 day workshop
will change 10 to 30 years of previous experiences.
3. Results - What results do you desire from the sales education and
training? This is the desired end and should be weighted more than the
other 2 factors.
For example, local half day or full day workshops provide an opportunity
to get to know the sales training provider unless it is a national
seminar series. The lower investments of $100 to $200 allow the
participants to determine if this sales training information and
approach works for them and for their businesses. However, this solution
may not be viable if you are seeking sustainable results.
Off site 3-day workshops may provide a lot of content and may be
delivered by exceptional trainers or facilitators. However is the goal
content or retention? Research suggests multiple exposures to the same
learning objective increase cognitive retention up to at least 60%. One
time exposure to that same learning objective reduces long term
retention to just 2% after 16 days.
Weekly 2 hour to 3 hour long training sessions delivered over the course
of 10 to 12 weeks strengthen cognitive retention and performance
improvement by allowing opportunities for practice between sessions.
These sessions should also be aligned to your strategic plan and should
include ongoing reinforcement such as executive coaching.
Only after reviewing all factors separately and together can you as a
business owner, entrepreneur or corporate executive truly determine the
best cost. Remember the best cost should deliver the highest return on
investment and be sustainable so that you will not have to experience
those frequent and expensive Re-Dos.
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