I am desigining a training workshop / session as part of an induction for Sales Managers to introduce them to fundamental administration skills relating to company assets allocated to their team. I just wondered if anyone had any general tips for training sales managers who either think they know best or think they don't need to know! Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Maria
Maria Humphreys
4 Responses
Sales Mgrs
I train and coach Sales Mgrs regularly who feel that time would be better spent training their teams (although this has improved and I now get regular requests from SM’s for training for themselves!) one thing I have found that works is asking them collectivley as a group if a workshop were to be written and run, with them as attendees, in say Coaching for example what would they like to see covered, what would benefit them in their roles, and what would they like their objective/s of the day to be. By doing this I find they buy into the session, they help to support you in the content and you can relate it directly to their requests, also asking them how this type of session would benefit them and how they could start using it out in-field on leaving the workshop gets them thinking about how to transfer their learning.
Also is the workshop you are talking about a general Time Mgt:, Admin course etc..?
Please contact me directly via email if you would like to discuss this further at [email protected]
many thanks
Impact?
Dear Maria
What’s the impact on the organisation if they don’t do this well? Is there a scenario (NOT worst case, which they won’t believe) which will demonstrate how things fall apart if they don’t get the basics right? Is there a previous example of how not getting the admin right caused untold misery for other people? (Even better if it comes back to haunt them….)
Agree with Buffy that planning the session WITH them is helpful to buy in.
They DO know best!
It’s obvious really – as experienced sales managers, they do know best! They certainly know more about their jobs, their customers, their staff etc. than any trainer ever could. You can use their experience, as Buffy suggests, to create the training program. Then, when you have their foundation, you can build your new content on top of it. They may not want to be taught anything new, but every seasoned sales professional I’ve ever ‘trained’ has welcomed the opportunity to take time out and review what is working for them so that they can continually refine their approach and technique. After all, would you go on a basic trainer training course now? Have fun!
Sales Management
Dear Maria
Might you possibly find a copy of ‘The First-Time Sales Manager’ helpful?
I have to admit to being the author, but it is accessible for free from most public libraries.
Much more off-line if you wish!
Good luck with your workshop! My own lesson in this field is that ‘most people don’t know what they don’t know’, and getting them to see this as an enlightening rather than a damaging experience is more than half the battle! (I think you will know well what I mean from your request!)
Best wishes
Jeremy