Isn’t sales training more for “American-style” companies? Would this really work in the UK?

Some people have the misconception that sales training is not something commonly invested in by UK companies and is more of a recent American import. In fact, we have been working with UK companies to improve their sales technique for over 10 years and our approach is successful for businesses worldwide, not just those based in the US.

The 2011 UK Employer Skills Survey reported that UK companies spent 49 billion pounds during the year on training alone. Furthermore, 55% of sales and customer service staff received some kind of job training in 2011. From these statistics, it is clear that a significant proportion of businesses in the UK are recognising the value of training and investing in upskilling their sales people.

The importance of training in relation to wider business objectives should not be overlooked. The report also discussed how almost 1.5 million employees have a skills gap preventing them from achieving their maximum potential performance at work. 61% of companies surveyed reported that skill gaps impacted on performance and ultimately meeting their business objectives. Sales and customer service was one of the most common occupational areas to experience a skills gap.

Sales training in the UK is becoming an increasingly popular option for healthcare practices, as employers realise the positive impact that training has on their staff and business and how it offers an excellent return on investment.

The misconception that sales training is primarily aimed at “American-style” companies probably comes from the heavily marketed online sales training programmes and business books that can easily be found with a quick Google search.

Traditional, heavy-handed selling techniques can appear to have impressive results from the figures, but rarely help to build a long-term relationship with your customers that will result in repeat business and a loyal following of your brand.

Our sales training technique is not similar to what you might associate with the pushy sales people in car show rooms or the infamous door-to-door salesmen who used shady tactics to force a sale on an unsuspecting consumer.

At LiveseySolar, we prefer to think of our sales training programmes as a type of customer service training. Rather than making the sale the end goal, we teach our clients how they can get better business results by going above and beyond to serve their customers.