Learning the basics, without the fancy waffle, or false promises
I’ve been bombarded lately by a number of different businesses trying to sell things to me. From IT services to training products and everything in between, they have been emailing and phoning.
I don’t mind being cold called at all. I prefer the caller to know my name, but I am happy to be called. What I don’t like is being sold to. Like most people, I find being sold to unpleasant.
As a sales trainer, I am often asked how I can say that. And, my answer is simple. I teach a simple system for selling, a consultative, soft process. A style that never feels to your client like they are being sold to.
I believe in a personal approach, based on providing value and benefiting my client. Its certainly not rocket science, that’s for sure. Putting yourself in the client’s position, and understanding their needs before providing a potential solution is not something you need a special talent to be able to do. Well, I don’t think so anyway.
If it sounds too good to be true….
More than being sold to though, the thing I really find difficult to put up with is being sold something “completely new” or a “secrets revealed” approach that just isn’t. You know what they say “if it sounds too good to be true….”
The latest was a competitor of mine who was professing to have completely re-invented consultant training, and being able to promise that “75% of attendees will experience a massive improvement in performance”.
Only 75%? So, a quarter of those put through this “new and improved’ training, won’t improve massively? That doesn’t feel like good value to me.
Getting the basics right
In all walks of life and work, in order to be able to progress a skill set, it is important to establish sound basics. These foundation skills need to be well learned, and then become second nature so that further skills can be built on top. Imagine being asked to write an essay but not being able to write. It’s that sort of thing.
Foundation training in any area needs to be straightforward, easy to understand and easy put in to practice, as well as well taught. It needs to be taught in a way that allows everyone attending to learn at the same rate, and in a way that works for him or her individually.
In my foundation level courses, I don’t profess to be teaching anything other that the solid basics that you need to progress. Solid basic training. Building solid foundations to grow from. Simple, straightforward and useful.