Professional Development Advisory Seller

On this page you will find a guide to the elements suggested to develop a professional development plan aimed at achieving the appropriate level of competence for their commercial work results are effective.

According to the above in different parts of the site, the seller must be able relational manage sales processes in B2B markets, managing a portfolio of products and services that require high involvement sales processes apply relational through well-structured methodologies.

The purpose of this page is to provide you a guide in the form as suggested setting up a Professional Development Plan that allows you to acquire the necessary skills to achieve a high level of productivity and effectiveness in the field of professional sales relational type. This guide is most applicable to sales of products or services of high involvement, complex type for B2B markets. Notwithstanding this, the foundations of a professional development plan for other sales scenarios are the same, so if you run your sales efforts in a different setting, take it deems components suggested here can be applied practically to their training .

? Areas of professional development in the field of sales

According to the experience I had in my personal training and group training in relational selling, I believe that a sales professional career development should focus on three specific areas. These are: Skills for Sales Management, Knowledge in application areas and domains of the product. Let's look in more detail each of these areas:

Skills for Sales Management

Skills they possess for the development of the sales function and offer a high level of effectiveness in achieving the objective. These skills can be innate or can be developed through training and practice and are related to the set of activities to be carried out in a sales process. The seller will be more effective as having a high level of talent in each of the sales skills. The main skill set to develop a relational vendor are: Planning (includes Time Management), Communication, Analysis, Negotiation, Coordination and high creativity.

Knowledge in the areas of application

Development of the interrelationship of information, data and concrete concepts about a specific application field which develops the work of sales. It is critical that the vendor develops a knowledge base in the area of ​​application of the product portfolio and services offered to the market in order to interact properly with your target audience. To more easily illustrate the area of ​​knowledge, give you an example. You are a seller of investment portfolios in foreign currency. You should develop a good level of knowledge on issues related to international finance, investment funds, macroeconomics, financial risk analysis, financial and exchange law, and so on. If you as a seller of such product does not have a basis of complete and updated information and not mastered the concepts and practices of this activity can never develop a productive sales work and effectively. You can achieve high levels of talent in the sales skills as outlined in the preceding paragraph and may know very well the characteristics of the product, but if you do not have adequate knowledge of the area of ​​application of that product or service, your chances of success are low.

Product or service domain

I think this item does not require further explanation. You should be able to communicate properly all the features and benefits of the portfolio of products and services offered to the market and understand in depth as positioning your product or service over its competitors. But this is not the most important thing for a seller relational. The highly productive relational vendor is one who has the ability to view a correct solution to the customer's needs through the appropriate use or configuration of the product or service to the customer. To accomplish this you must know perfectly the capabilities, strengths, weaknesses and limitations possessed by each one of the products in its portfolio.

Professional Development Plan

These are tips for building your Professional Development Plan in each of the areas or topics mentioned above.

1. Skills for Sales Management

Define a training plan for each of the following (these are the minimum recommended for proper relational development as a salesman high level of productivity and effectiveness).

Planning: Skills to analyze the available resources to meet objectives, processes forward and ability to achieve an appropriate balance of each of these elements. Finite resources (time, people, money, etc..) And it is necessary to make use of them in the most efficient way for the fulfillment of the objectives of commercial work. One of the most important for a seller is the time. In planning the ability to weigh much the ability of the vendor to manage their time and resources that support the sales management best.

Suggested activities:

Courses on project management books or courses on Strategic Planning. One of the most useful tools for planning the work of sales, extracted from the strategic planning is the use of the SWOT matrix and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). There are many resources to consult when is SWOT and as applied. For now I leave an online resource for induction of the concept. Place him in SWOT. If you can bring a SWOT analysis methodology to assess and plan their strategy in each of the accounts that we serve, have earned enough in the ability of planning. Study of sales planning techniques. Perform an Internet search using any search engine like Google or Yahoo for the phrase "Sales Plan", "Sales Plan" or "Sales Planning", you will find several resources available, some free , others are free. Study Consultative Selling Methodologies. Normally any of the consultative selling methodologies include material specific to the sales planning process as one of its main modules. Some of the most popular methods are: Complex Solution Selling SPIN Selling Out Power Based Selling Miller Heiman There are many methodologies, these methodologies are actually more than I have studied and which have been implemented with settings and adjustments according to the Latin American markets .

Likewise, you can perform an Internet search for the phrase "sales methodology" and you will find several interesting results. Books and lectures on Time Management

Scripts face or telephone conversation to first contact interviews to gather information on the client Professional presentations using audio visual media to convey ideas, concepts and proposals Meetings to discuss issues related to ongoing business written communications such as letters, emails, proposals, contracts, product sheets, etc.. Development of permanent reading habits. To the extent that one reads, learns the art of verbal communication, enrich their knowledge base and develops talent to read and write properly. Try combining professional issues of general topics and current, but always keep the habit of reading. To the extent that use a lot of oral communication, take courses or practice diction and vocal techniques. If you are aware that has any problem with communication, define a plan of action to remedy any deficiencies. The schools of drama and theater are a good source such workshops and practical courses and books Presentation Skills Training. This is a key element to a relational vendor. A seller who is not able to design and successfully execute a professional presentation, it is best to think of another job.

A couple of books on the topic in detail: Presentation Techniques - Methods and tools to achieve the best presentations - Author: Francoise Laure and Technical Presentation Skills - Author: Steve Mandel. Courses and Workshops on Technical Writing and Spelling. Written communication is widely used and is very important to write the ideas correctly. Many times a poorly worded email can have a very different interpretation to the author wanted to give. Many businesses are damaged due to poor written communication. Keep in mind that what is written is sacred in business, so put much interest in developing the talent to write and write well. Needless to mention the subject of spelling. So as you look bad by showing bad habits or customs to the table, in the same way, one gets a picture of a person when you see the way you type and if your spelling leaves much to be desired, you finish with your image. Include courses, lectures or workshops on this topic in its professional development plan workshops or lectures on Telephone Answering. One of the channels used by sales people is the telephone.

Unfortunately not everyone knows how to properly handle a phone conversation or simply find a business deal a successful call. For this reason it is important to hear from experts in the field guides, hints and "tips" that can help us to better exploit the telephone channel training in assistive technology to communications (courses in the use of electronic mail, Internet, Text Word Processor type, cell phones, PDAs, etc.).. It is highly recommended that the relational vendor master the use of several of these technologies that enable it to maintain direct communication channels with your customers and potential buyers. A sales process can not suffer a setback just because the seller does not know how to use some of these technologies or have to rely on third parties to use them. Courses or workshops Etiquette and Good Manners. I mentioned the importance of social activities and cultural work that may impact the seller's relational. If a significant amount of interaction with customers and prospects occur in social settings and cultural, will be better then to refine their abilities to function properly is these situations. Communication channel is a very valid and very effective if managed properly.

Courses and lectures on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP). Readings related to planning and strategy. Some recommended reading: The Art of War Sun-Tzu's author (this is a book of strategy that has versions specific to your business application) The strategy is a successful author Constantinos C. Markides difficult decisions the author Orfelia G. Leon Effective Decision Peter F. Drucker taking courses and reading material of any of the consultative selling methodologies set forth in paragraph planning. These methodologies include phases of analysis in which they carry out a full assessment of every business opportunity Reading Developing Intelligence book called Chess by author José Maria Olias (ISBN 8482397710) Reading material negotiation as follows: Eight strategies to deal positively with a difficult client the author Thomas C. Keiser, When consultants and clients clash of the authors Adalene F. Kesner and Sally Fowler, The Art of Negotiation author Roger Dawson (ISBN 9706433368), Si .. Agree. How to negotiate without giving the author Roger Fisher (ISBN 9580425078) Take courses or workshops on negotiation, for this check in your city or country by the availability of these courses take courses and reading material of any of the consultative selling methodologies exposed in number of planning.

These methodologies include negotiation tactics to take courses in administration or project management. Highly recommended to take these courses for the vendor relationships, as this helps develop skills, not only coordination but also in other areas. Each sales process should be seen as a project and to the extent that the vendor master the project management techniques, more control can have on each of the sales opportunities of books and reading material on project management processes detailed induction company where she works and all mechanisms and protocols for internal communication. It is necessary that the seller knows very well the organization for which they work, understand very well the processes to be followed (if the company is a certified quality standard as ISO, this is even more important) and you know how to "navigate" within the organization to develop coordination. You as a professional salesperson should your organization require a thorough training in all aspects of processes, resources, communications, and in general all the elements necessary to coordinate all the elements necessary for its sales efforts and to comply with policies and procedures Clearly identify the organization which areas of knowledge you should develop to be able to function properly with prospects or customers.

Note that this is not product training, this training is another issue to be discussed later Prioritize the issues identified in the previous step. For it select which with the greatest impact can have a relationship with the client identify sources that enable them to acquire this knowledge (courses, seminars, university graduates, self-study, distance education, etc..) Identify associations, guilds, professional groups specialize in the topic of interest and research for courses and training programs available publications Research professionals who specialize in the topic of interest and subscribe to Internet Research at specialized sites on the topic of interest and subscribe to their newsletters (newsletters) to be aware of developments in this area Identify specialized books on the topic of interest, please read the minimum target of one per quarter Find a mentor or tutor who has good knowledge on the subject of interest and set him or her an induction plan . There are even options to acquire this knowledge with a client with whom the relationship is very good and is willing to invest time to help with their training Develop a training plan per quarter with each of the issues and identified sources of education and submit it to your supervisor or human resources department and explain why the need to acquire this knowledge of English courses.

I think this topic needs no further explanation or justification. It is practically a requirement for employment in most firms in a highly specialized sales force course or workshop and readings in financial evaluation of investment or financial fundamentals. There is much material about it, my initial recommendation is to read the book Financial Mathematics and Evaluation of the author Javier Serrano Rodriguez (ISBN9586822346) Courses and workshops in sales methodologies and processes specific sales held by the company. It is worth noting here that, as mentioned above, sales are high relational subjectivity derived from the human relationship that exists (even though the selling process can be highly rational and concrete can eventually turn into something very emotional and diffuse), you must have training in psychological aspects of the field, mostly related to the analysis of the profiles of those involved in procurement processes and situations that occur. There are specialized courses and materials on these topics (remember a course called The Seller Versatile Wilson Learning) that provide interesting ways to develop this knowledge develop detailed knowledge of all the features of the product or service (functional, technical, options, variations, packings or groups of products or services, after sales services, etc.)..

Talk to customers already using the product or service to identify how they use it, because he was selected, if they would recommend and what are the weaknesses they see in it. To know in detail all the supporting documentation which expose in detail the characteristics of the product or service. If you're not adequate or complete, suggest to your supervisor or the area of ​​sales and marketing material changes develop thorough knowledge of the positioning of the product or service marketing. This requires that you know in detail: competitors, compare their portfolio with that of its competitors, market preferences, pricing, marketing strategies, etc.. Ask the company competitive analysis sheets and if possible try to have an inventory handling customer objections when we talk about competitive products

Communication: Ability to receive and transmit information, ideas, concepts and verify that it has clearly and completely the message. I well remember one of the major relational vendor skills is to listen to key information for developing a business strategy. The seller relational widely used communication skills to understand and grasp key information from his client and the environment. You have to establish a training plan that allows you to properly manage communication and properly handle the various communication channels that are handled in the business relationships. Typically, today, the seller must be able to properly handle the written and oral communication. In a scenario of relational sales business, the seller must use tools like these as vehicles of communication: In communication skills include not only issues but also professional field of social and cultural. The relational seller is a person who will interact at many levels within an organization and may be in contact from the operator of the plant to the President of the company and the Board of Partners.

The development of a high involvement business is not unique in the workplace and business. In many instances there may be games in social spaces (restaurants, social clubs or sports, parties, meetings, unions, etc..) Or by means of culture (theater, conferences, etc.).. Therefore the relational vendor should be able to properly handle oral communication in this type of event and this requires mastery of non-business issues and the proper handling of this type of communication. We must therefore bear in mind that you must be a good communicator (both ways), for both business issues specific to the scenarios described above. For a development of communication skills suggest the following:

Analysis: A person's capacity to be able to disaggregate the components of a whole, understand their relationships and understand in detail a given situation. In relational sales capacity analysis is essential to understand the need to generate a potential purchase, the scenario in which this takes place, build a vision of the solution and generate a competitive winner.

Relational selling is high subjective aspects that the seller must learn to analyze and define them based on their strategy. Aspects such as organizational culture (both the company you work for and their clients), and political aspects of power, positions and interests of participants in a purchase and even personal financial interests (very delicate ethical issue which must be confronted the seller) make the ability to analyze and correct reading of each of these components is of vital importance for the development of every business. Good analytical skills seller should be allowed to follow a sequence of steps on which to establish the quality of business opportunity which it faces. This includes, gather information, assess the situation and stage of business development, visualize a potential solution, evaluating its competitive position, continually assess and if so can display a winning strategy.

Negotiation: Skill that allows the seller to try to persuade, under a consistent set of arguments, the counterpart for this to do what the seller wants, trying not to affect the interests of each party. A loyal negotiating attitude is one in which to find a win-win for the parties. Negotiation involves the resolution of a conflict in which two or more parties involved, each of which has specific interests. The seller should prepare for relational face a negotiation process, which will surely come in one instance the development of a sale. Negotiation skills are needed in the handling of objections. Also, must be negotiated internally within your organization for support items such as resources, commercial conditions, improvements in products, etc..

Coordination: The seller must act as the relational manager of a virtual organization in each business. This is because usually sold in B2B environments, including products or services of high involvement, it is necessary to establish a team to achieve success in the sales process. For this it is necessary that the seller acts as a leader and have the skills to coordinate all the resources of the case.

2. Knowledge in the areas of application

The relational vendor operates in a specific application field or economic sector (financial, technological, manufacturing, public, etc.).. In order to establish proper communication with the customer and to apply their analytical skills and visualize possible scenarios of successful sales, the seller must know very well the sector in which it operates. For this you need to define a training plan in the specific field of application. Ongoing activities will depend on the field. To illustrate this in more detail I'll give an example of a relational vendor who serves as business consultant for a software company. If the seller works in marketing CRM software projects, the seller must have a high level of knowledge on topics such as: Sales, marketing, customer service, CRM strategies, customer centricity, customer loyalty, automation sales forces, customer satisfaction measurement, marketing one to one, and so on. If the seller does not have a clear dominance of these issues will be very difficult to achieve proper communication with your prospects or customers and will generate low confidence in the business relationship, which can cause loss of business.

Even the strategy of many companies is to hire professionals in application of the product or service to ensure you have the knowledge base in the area of ​​application (ejm, a company that sells software to the financial sector for sales force hires professionals trained in management financial expert in finance and product training, so ensuring that the knowledge in the area of ​​application there). In addition to the specific aspects of the work area is essential in the domain knowledge of English. Finally on the subject recommend the formation of knowledge in financial matters, no matter the application area in which you develop your sales efforts, it is necessary to understand and justify an investment in a purchase from a financial standpoint. For this you need to dominate with some level of depth the aspects of financial justification of investments. In many business opportunities will have to meet and talk with the CFO and the CEO should talk Quine them in financial terms.

3. Product or service domain

This is the easiest part, since it is assumed that if you work for a company, this will be in charge of providing training to learn deep enough all the features of the product or service you sell and how it is positioned in the market . Keep in mind the following suggestions to validate their training on the product or service is effective and complete:

Final recommendation: With the guidance suggested in this blog about the topics and activities include training to develop its plan for a year, setting goals per quarter. Quantify the number of hours you are able and available to assign to the training issue and set a quarterly goal in terms of hours devoted to training. Example, you can spend you quantify a total of 120 hours per quarter for training. Set priorities by topic, and once selected the formation mechanism (lectures, courses, workshops, etc..) And knowing the length of each quarter pro schedule activities. I suggest you define a validation mechanism brew acquired for this set which is the best way to validate the usefulness of the study. The success of the training plan is that it implemented as soon as possible topics learned.

For more information about this topic or related topics please contact us or visit culturacliente.com informacion@mind.com.co