Colin sales training approach is based on a firm belief that sales results are delivered by a combination of the Quality, Direction and Quantity of a sales person’s effort. The better an individual or an organisation is at managing these three elements in conjunction which each other the better the results will be.

Quality of effort is defined as “Getting it right in front of the customer”. Development areas for this are the ability to make positive first impressions, questioning, listening, presenting, dealing with price and closing skills.

Direction of effort is “Getting in front of the right customer with the right product”, i.e. the best possible combination of customer mix and product mix. Key Account Management and sales strategies are therefore key in this area.

Quantity of effort is the number of sales interactions with existing and potential customers that the sales person has. Clearly, such things are measurable and therefore manageable, it is simply a matter of doing them often enough to achieve the desired result.

Colin has designed and developed a three-part sales development process, “Professional Selling Skills”.

This programme is designed to give Sales people the knowledge and skills to sell their products and services as effectively as possible. The programme is divided into three parts, each with a duration of three days and a one-day final implementation workshop.

An interval between the final part of the programme and the implementation workshop of three months is recommended to allow time for the newly developed skills to be put into practice.

Part 1 (Face to face selling skills)

Gives the selling skills required to conduct an effective sales meeting, and covers in detail the various stages of such meetings. Participants are given the tools to carry out a professional face-to-face sales visit with a clear, simple, and effective structure that works.

Part 2 (Developing and Implementing Sales Strategies)

Reviews and reinforces Part 1 and gives those additional skills which are required by professional sales people before and after sales visits. Planning, Communication, Effective use of Time and maintaining a clear focus when selling are emphasised.

Part 3 Strategic Selling and Key Account Management

This programme gives the participants an understanding of the importance of gathering and managing the information in the Database, and the ability to prepare strategy plans for each Key Account as well as tactical plans to achieve pre-targeted objectives. Understanding the decision making process is a key element in this programme, and this subject is addressed through an extensive case study.

Implementation Workshop

The objective of the implementation workshop is to measure the impact of the training programme in terms of business results. This provides the client with an opportunity to measure the return it has gained on its investment. Participants make a formal report on their progress, and are asked to detail the successes that they have achieved as well as the challenges that they faced.

Other programmes that become relevant for sales people and sales leaders are:

Managing and Motivating a Sales Team

This programme focuses on the sales leadership skills that are required to lead and motivate a team of sales people. The subjects covered include various leadership and motivation models, delegation, coaching, counselling and target setting.

Negotiation Skills

This is a highly interactive programme that looks at all of the beliefs and behaviours that are encountered during negotiations. Extensive role play exercises and case studies give the participants the opportunity to practice and improve their own negotiations.