Training Practices Result$

CRC (Consultative Resources Corporation) helps organizations engaged in business-to-business sales distinguish themselves from their competition through their sales process. Our goal is to equip all levels of the organization with the skills that will allow them to develop relationships based on mutual trust with prospects, customers and clients…and, even their own employees.

Five Lessons We've Learned

CRC has been working with sales managers, sales professionals and partner/support teams since our first major engagement with Citibank in 1981. Since then, we've worked across a wide range of industries, with the veteran sales manager to the rookie and with all those groups inside the organization that partner with Sales. From this broad experience, we draw five critical lessons:

• Senior management support is absolutely critical. Without true support and buy-in from senior management, the best training money can buy will be like throwing seeds in the wind. Since the objective of training is to change behavior, there needs to be commitment to that training from Senior Management if the necessary motivation for behavioral change is to occur and you are to get the results expected.
• Practice is crucial for behaviors to change. For true behavior change to happen, people must have the chance to practice their new behavior, see how it looks and get feedback from others. Our unique way of working with videotape has been an integral part of our training programs from the start. It is the difference between getting it intellectually and getting it in the gut.
• We are fans of simple. Consultative selling is hard enough without complicating it needlessly with lots of complex models and hard to remember terminology. Our training programs are designed to be simple, coherent and memorable.
• Plan on making the training stick. We tell our clients to spend money to reinforce the training and support the desired behaviors. That is more productive than spending money to measure its impact. And it will get you a better return
• People change when they believe it will help them. Instilling belief in the trainees that the training will work is a necessary element in obtaining behavior change. Each program we conduct is designed to engender that confidence. The success of all your people who touch the customer comes down to their daily practices. Change at the personal level is the most direct way to get the results you are looking for.