How to choose sales training courses

by Alice Alessandri and Alberto Aleo

In a world packed with sales training courses, some advice may be useful on how to choose the right one, the course that will best suit your particular needs. In Passodue we provide sales training courses to companies and professionals based on the method of Sales Ethics, focusing on the centrality of the human actors and on the exchange of value and on trust. Regardless of our specific offer, we dedicate this article to all those who wish to make the right choice when looking for a sales course. How can you choose wisely when faced with generous promises, the latest gurus and ground-shaking slogans?

The origins of sales

Many of the techniques for communication and negotiation that the different sales training courses have in common, are based on a discipline called NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) developed in California in the ’70s by a psychologist and a linguist, respectively Bandler and Grinder. NLP is an approach to communications used not only by sellers but also by life coaches and motivators. The latter are concerned with an individual’s empowerment while salespeople are obviously interested in selling; there is a substantial difference and hence, before between different sales training courses, you should check to which category the trainer you plan to contact belongs.

---

If you are interested in sales techniques make sure that anyone teaching the course has specific expertise, for example, that they have worked in sales within a company and are therefore able to give you concrete advice that can be put into practice in your profession.

---

The instruction manual

Our work has given us the opportunity to meet many successful people. What we have discovered from meeting such people is the certainty that there is no magic formula to achieve results and well-being.

---

We each have different talents, passions and skills that require a customized approach if they are to be fully exploited.

---

You have to be aware that there are no shortcuts to reach the finish line successfully. Instead, you will need to engage and work hard. So beware of those who offer magic formulas and swift results. A myth that needs to be debunked is the mechanistic vision of success: “if it worked for him, then it will work for me”. Markets differ and situations change over time, meaning that what worked “there, yesterday” will not work “here, today”. Moreover, when people tell the story of their success they often omit the difficult moments and the mistakes along the way because these would make the story less appealing, and frequently our memory deletes the unpleasant bits.

---

Look for sales training courses that will enhance your unique skills and abilities, not one based on an imaginary “perfect salesperson”.

---

Avoid the traps

There are some warning signs that should encourage you to check out the institution or the professional trainer with whom you are considering doing sales training courses. When you come across someone who promises “guaranteed results immediately” you should try to understand the foundations for such a promise:

---

Guaranteeing results is in fact a very effective marketing technique to attract customers, but rarely will your sales performance improve to the extent promised once the sales course is over.

---

For sure, you have seen adverts on social networks or received mails saying, “Do you want to make €10,000 from home? Click here!” and on the next page you have to give the number of your credit card. Some people sell sales training courses using this priming technique, capturing your interest  with questions that you can only answer by purchasing another sales course at a very high price.

Watch out for those who make promises they cannot keep or continually shift the finishing line so you must carry on paying to receive the answers you need.

More generally when selecting sales training courses, analyze carefully the communication style of those offering it to check that it reflects your own thinking and your values.

At Passodue we are convinced that selling is not a form of magic, but a profession where motivation is not enough to achieve thrilling results: it takes commitment, skills and competence.

---

Real success is built over time, indeed there is a directly proportional relationship between the time that it takes to achieve success and the length it lasts.

---

Using the internet metaphor once again, if you buy “likes” for your site or your video you will likely achieve a seemingly striking impact in a short time, and just as quickly your results will fade and you will disappear from the scene.

Selling today has changed, and in the most advanced markets it has ceased to be an activity dominated by aggressive and unscrupulous professionals. When you are in the classroom with your fellow students look around; if you see you are in the midst of people who believe in values such as ethics, trust, transparency and respect , then you can be sure you are in the right place.

| partem claram semper aspice |