The major product that independent sales representatives sell is selling. Remember agents are professional salespeople. They spend 100 percent of their time and effort selling products manufactured by their principals.

The question about the quality of selling by the agency’s salespeople is very relevant. How good is the product that they sell?

There is little question that most of the more senior people in agencies are good — if not great — salespeople. People who have lived by their selling wits for 20-30 years selling in whatever industry the agency is in are generally pretty good salespeople.

Could they be better? Yes, they probably could be better. But are they good by comparison to all other available salespeople in their industry. The answer has to be yes. The leadership of the firms in general provides a good example of sales ability.

But, one level down, how good are the salespeople? If the average firm has four non-partner salespeople, there are thousands of salespeople working for firms that are not necessarily excellent salespeople.

Why is this true? Basically, I see it as a time and money issue. Salespeople are brought into firms and put to work immediately. There is often specific product training that ranges from excellent to mediocre. Many of the principals offer excellent training on their products.

Grading Training Programs

At times these training programs are not particularly inspiring or well done, but overall they get the job done.

The rookie salesperson gets sent off for two to three days or more to the factory where he or she is introduced to the product line, sees how the product is made, sometimes gets to help make the product, and generally is introduced to the basics about the product.

The manufacturer’s training very seldom includes training on selling. Manufacturers assume a salesperson provided by the independent agency is a trained salesperson. But, most of the time the rookie is a total rookie.

There are no data on the background of most new salespeople working for agencies, but my experience shows that most of the salespeople hired by them across the spectrum of industries are somewhat technically versed in the products that they are now being asked to sell. In most cases, even if they have some sales experience, they do not have sales training.

Too many times, I’ve met agency salespeople who claim to have “x” years of sales experience. In reality, they have one year’s worth of experience repeated “x” times. They’re still lightweights as salespeople because they’ve never been properly and professionally trained.

In several discussions with agency sales teams I ask, “Who has had formal sales training?” Less than 10 percent respond positively.

Why Sales Training

What will sales training add to the salespeople that are employed by independent agencies?

The introduction of formal sales training for salespeople at agencies can add substantial skills, expertise and income to a sales force.

Four Big Additions

1. Discipline

This is the biggest addition to salespeople that comes from sales training. My favorite statement about sales is, “When selling becomes a procedure, it ceases to be a problem. If it’s not a procedure, it will always be a problem.”

This comment from Roy Chitwood, president of Max Sacks International (a sales training company with more than 50 years of experience and 250,000 salespeople trained) sets the tone for any sales training.

Ron Holm, a senior trainer and instructor with Max Sacks, ([email protected]) has helped me many times by providing my clients a sales process called the Track Selling System^TM. Holm provides training for companies to adopt the science and psychology of selling and then adapt it to their own products, services and sales cycle.

According to Holm, “It’s no secret that the past several years have been economically challenging for most rep firms. Yet even in tough times, sales professionals succeed. How? By forming the habit of doing all the things necessary, even those things they may dislike doing. It’s a discipline that comes from their commitment to a sales ‘calling,’ and seeking the training, education and expertise an amateur does not have.”

2. Organization

This is a critical skill that most salespeople lack. The introduction of sales training adds the necessary organizational requirements that make a salesperson effective.

Holm added, “Time and territory management are daunting for most salespeople. They confuse sales activities with sales results. Without knowing which activities contribute most to selling success, reps run faster and faster and get further and further behind. Eventually they burn out and quit or are fired. Before getting to that dire point, they need sales training to intervene to improve organizational skills.”

3. Motivation

Salespeople need motivation from themselves and from their agencies. The right sales training motivates people and boosts self-confidence, born of stronger selling skills.

Many people are afraid to sell, especially to close the sale. They are afraid of the moment of truth and rejection. Trained salespeople are not afraid of anything. They know they are trained, their professionalism is a cut above competitors and they are ready to serve their markets and manufacturers.

How do sales professionals distinguish themselves?

They understand the science and psychology of selling; they know how people buy — five buying decisions, and why people buy — six buying motives. This knowledge, fine-tuned by training, provides an inner motivation to push on through to success and reward their rep firm.

4. Planning and Forecasting

Salespeople who are trained are given an overview of their position at the top line of the company’s profit and loss statement. These salespeople know that they lead the company to market and that they provide the revenue that is absolutely necessary if the company is going to be profitable and survive and prosper.

Trained salespeople understand the numbers in the sales business. Trained salespeople understand gross profit. They understand costs vary by customer, product and product line. Not all incoming sales dollars have the same rate of return. Trained salespeople are ideally positioned to provide a look at the future revenue the agency can expect to develop for each of its principals with each of its customers.

Forecasting is a basic skill and basic requirement that trained salespeople know is expected of them.

Knowledge is power. When salespeople have a blueprint for selling — such as that provided by the Track Selling System^TM — they know precisely where they are with each opportunity in a pipeline forecast.

Their agencies enjoy a liberating freedom that comes from providing client forecasts with confidence. Their rep firms grow in reputation by being accurate with sales projections — and what principals and manufacturers wouldn’t love to commit to independent representative firms with that assurance?

Summary

The above comments are the tip of the iceberg as we look at sales training for the salespeople who work for agencies. If agencies expect to be paid large commissions, they must provide an excellent sales force. Just getting people out calling on customers and end users is not enough. The salespeople who work for agencies must be the best in the business.

Sales training is a must for our salespeople if we are to perpetuate the independent representative model of selling. If manufacturers can hire anyone off the street and call them a salesperson, we are in trouble. Demonstrably superior salespeople are the keys to successfully backselling the services of our agencies.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].