September 2002 Track Selling Times World Class Sales Management
 World Class Sales Management:
Selling non-sales professionals on selling
by Ron Holm
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(From August 2001 Track Selling Times)
Ron Holm is owner and president of Business Application Software, a St. Paul, Minn.-based software reseller. He is also an authorized distributor of, and a certified trainer for, the Track Selling System. Ron has had much success training traditionally non-salespeople such as CPA's and software developers, to sell successfully. For more information please call (651) 633-2044 or visit www.basoftware.com.
In a sluggish economy that's experiencing rising global competition, more and more non-sales professionals are being called upon to help sell their company's products and services. And more so now than ever before, these traditionally non-salespeople are realizing the impact their efforts can have on their companies. The line between success and failure is becoming so thin that it's sometimes the contributions made by these employees that determines a company's survival.
With this in mind, it's important to highlight several specific steps that management can take to help "sell" these key employees on the importance of selling and of the value their contributions can make.
First, if your company offers a technical product or service, it's imperative to acknowledge that technical professionals are often process oriented.
This is why my firm has had great success teaching technical professionals to use the Track Selling System - because it's a process. For instance, in most technical professions, the people have learned to follow a process going from step one to step end. They know that if they're faithful to the process, they'll be successful. The Track Selling System allows the same, which helps to increase their confidence and their enjoyment of selling.
Second, more companies are recognizing that everyone within a company sells.
From the secretary to the technical field staff, these companies are realizing that many after-market or cross-selling opportunities exist that their field salespeople don't uncover. Left to untrained people, any resulting sales will occur merely by chance.
For example, after a contract is signed, many times it's the field technician who has the first encounter with the customer. And it's naÏve to believe that every installation, setup, deployment, etc. is going to be 100 percent smooth. This reality can lead to customer concerns and discontent. This is why it's so important that these employees have the sales and/or communication background to interact with these customers and alleviate their concerns. Without the proper training, these people often offer up knee-jerk reactions that refute or rebut the customer's concerns, souring the relationship from the onset.
With the proper sales and communication training, however, these occurrences are limited. Even better, the field team will become more skilled at identifying and capitalizing on after-market sales opportunities that otherwise would have gone unnoticed. This can create a surprising revenue pipeline that can become the difference maker during tough economic conditions.
And third, in most organizations, someone is in a supervisory or a coaching capacity.
It's important that this person have a set communication process like the Track Selling System that he or she can train his or her non-salespeople in. Much as an architect uses a blueprint to build a house, this manager should use a blueprint for sales and communication success. Once these non-salespeople realize that by just following a proven, duplicable process, they too can be successful, the odds of their adopting the process increase, thereby increasing the odds of the success of the company as a whole.
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