Anyone that has sold for any length of time has developed comfortable sales habits. So, when a trainer or manager comes in and offers a new way to increase sales… well, they may not see the sales training value. They start into a diatribe of exception examples of why the new training idea won’t work for them. Irritating and short sighted.

What they don’t realize is that this sales training session isn’t all about them. Someone in the room may find tremendous value in the material. By discussing the “faults” of the sales training, others start to feel less than interested in the subject matter. The message gets diluted and so does the training. Also, in their self absorbed mindset they miss information that could have been useful to their own sales career.

“There is nothing weak about valuing the opinions of others and asking for advice from time to time.” -Chris Lott

Are you that salesperson, sales manager? Candidly, I have been. Here’s what I learned that helped me get to a “next level” in my sales career by becoming trainable.

What does it take to be trainable?

Humility

To become trainable you must have humility, an acceptance that you don’t know everything. You should…

1. Look for nuggets not issues with the training.
2. Add to the conversation – not the opposite.
3. Keep from proving points to show your brilliance.

Humility is a tough pill to swallow for many. Especially in sales. We are taught to be self-confident, in control, at all times. But it is imperative that we are in a trainable state of mind.

State of Mind

Here are some questions to ponder to make sure you have the correct state of mind for sales training:

1. When you see an invitation to participate do you look for excuses to not attend?
2. Do you ask the trainer what this is about to validate that you don’t need the sales training?
3. Do you look at the material when you arrive to see if there’s anything of “value” to you?
4. Do you talk with people, text message, leave for cell calls, during the training?
5. Do you feel you’re too old to be trained anymore?
6. Are you opened minded enough to understand the benefits of the training?

Understand the Benefits of Sales Training

A fact of life is that life and circumstances are always changing. Change is hard. Training is always going to ask for a certain amount of change. That’s just how it works. This is not a bad thing however. The power of gained new knowledge, or changed new knowledge, is the possibility offered to accelerate your sales success.

The added value to all this is when employers see you respect the knowledge of those around, they’ll be more inclined to promote you. You will stay excited and motivated and a new (or existing) potential customer will feel and see this. A good thing.

Don’t sell your career short by not being humble enough, bringing the correct mindset to learn, and the understanding of how training will benefit you in the long term. Knowledge is sales power.

Chris Lott

Chris has over 15 year’s Sales Management experience including Business Ownership, Product Management and Web Design/Marketing. He’s a national sales team strategist and trainer. Chris is the designer of the popular totallysales™ sales playbook with thousands of copies downloaded. He’s a nationally syndicated author with his articles on SalesBlog! rated as a “top must-read” on consultative selling.