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.
Connecting with my network for sales managers a recurring theme transpired. Managers of sales teams all over the country were frustrated with the reaction and response their team members were having to the economic challenges. In almost all cases their salespeople were not making any real changes – participating in new ideas and/or offerings – but were actually “hunkering down” to weather the financial storm. They had offered their groups new types of training as well as new offerings to broaden their appeal and success. Most didn’t take them up on the offer. Why? Maybe they didn’t lead by example?