As businesspersons selling our services (training, coaching and consulting) we are often faced with a dilemma. Our existing and potential customers want to add value, motivate and support their teams. This is a critical time for all corporations in the world. They need their sales teams to deliver results. Often our typical contact is a leader in a sales organization.

They lead a sales team comprised of salespersons and managers who are broken into three groups. They are divided by the very successful (a few), the average (many) and finally the failing salespersons and managers (too many)! We call them A’s, B’s and C’s.

A - category salespersons/managers are doing most things they should be doing and are succeeding.

B - category salespersons/managers are working hard but not really succeeding yet!

C - category salespersons/managers have given up and have stopped working.

The leaders of these teams have limited budgets and limited time to find ways to add value, motivate, and support to these various categories of salespersons/managers. So where should they invest their limited budgets. As you would expect, we have an opinion.

First we recommend they spend nothing, no time or money on the C category salesperson or manager. It is too late. These persons have adopted a culture of failure.

Second, our feeling is that motivational trips or events only reward a limited number of people and often it is the same people each time. They are fun and I qualified for a number of these events as a salesperson, then as a manager. They did not have a lasting effect upon my effort or my results.

Third, we believe your A category individuals represent your present reality. The C category represent your past and the B category represent your future.

The top companies in the world, regardless of the industry, invest heavily in their future. How do they do that. They train for excellence. They focus on their B categories. Many of these B people can become A’s if they receive the right training, at the right time.

If I am a salesperson or manager on your team and I qualify for a trip or a special event, attend that event, then I probably have a good feeling about your company for a limited amount of time.

If I become even more successful as a manager or salesperson because you have provided ongoing and just-in-time training (I receive the right training at the right time in my career) then I will have a great feeling about your company for a long time.

We believe salespersons or managers who are well-trained and earn a great income, will produce and perform above your minimum requirements, stay with your company and add great value in the future.

We know the economy is weak at this moment, but we also know this is the best time to give your salespersons and managers the systems, processes and tools so they can survive and thrive in this economy.

Even though we are in tough times, choosing not to invest in training will lead to unacceptable results. We are currently working with companies who in previous years stopped training and are now losing far too many salespersons and managers and not meeting their sales objectives. The lack of on-going professional training does have dire consequences.

We, at Professional Sales Plus, can help for we have a solid track record of improving results in many companies around the world. Please contact us at jimheidema@gmail.com or titus.peride@gmail.com so we can begin the process.

If your salespersons or managers don’t survive, then neither will you or your company.