WHY WAIT

I had a battle today with a few of my training buddies here in town. We were discussing the right time to give training to a rep that is lagging behind in sales.

There were 4 of us having coffee when this discussion stated and it quickly turned into a battle. As usual, I was one of the first to offer my opinion and I said that training should be given ongoing regardless of sales number. I told them that training helps the marginal get better and the good rise to stardom.

I was happy with this answer knowing that training should be routine and constant to everyone to help make all reps better. I didn’t think that there would be much push back from trainers about my reply. WAS I EVER WRONG!

The trainer that has the most experience, he has been a trainer for over 35 years immediately told me how wrong I was and that training should be given to reps that need it the most. He didn’t see why a rep that was at either end of the scale (the worst or the best) should be trained. The worst needed to be cut loose and the best needed to be left alone. To my utter shock the one woman with us agreed with him.

The third opinion that was given was by a trainer that has been training for over 15 years, once again a very experienced trainer. He said that only after a rep has had back to back sales periods on the decline should they be trained. (A sales period could be any length of time depending on the company. The point was to see a trend)

We got pretty involved in this discussion and also pretty loud as well. The Starbucks manager had to ask us to please keep it down. I laughed and told them I had never been thrown out of a Starbucks before.

When we were finished 3 of the 4 of us were in my corner, the only one that wasn’t was the most senior trainer with us.

Training isn’t a punishment anymore than it is a reward. Training is simply a good idea for every company and every rep. Mt tag line is “Taking People From Where They Are, To Where They Can Be”, this can only be done by delivering consistent, measurable and timely training to everyone.

If you haven’t received training from your company on a regular basis, ASK FOR IT! Don’t allow your company to let you get to the point where they think you need training. By then in many cases it is too late. Ask for and make sure you are given training. If your company doesn’t give it to you seek it out and get it on your own. Remember, you are the master of your own fate, the more you learn, the better you get at selling, the more money you will earn.

If you have an opinion as to when training should be given, leave a comment here on the blog. I would love to hear what you, the reps, think about it.

Lorin