Won't sell, can't sell
Featured in the Selling through Customer Service training manual
By Tony Gillen
Category: Sales Skills
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
Customer contact staff often fall into one of three categories: those who believe they should sell, and do; those who would sell if they were more skilled; and those who don’t want to sell for various reasons. This training activity is aimed at the second and third categories. It is an opportunity for them to realise that it is OK to be resistant to selling – as long as it is for the right reasons; idleness is not OK. Participants who can explore their resistance in a non-threatening environment (the training room) often work through their problems and change their minds. Unless an organisation dismisses all staff with sales resistance, it should offer the opportunity to help staff change their own minds. Without this kind of activity incentive scheme, ‘buddy’ systems (pairing off with a co-worker to offer mutual support), skills training and threats rarely produce long-term results. This training activity uses a mix of whole group work, syndicate discussion and feedback presentation.
To start this training activity, you create an informal atmosphere by beginning a conversation with the participants on famous people who began as failures. This progresses to a conversation on learning skills – everything is difficult until it becomes easy. At this point you introduce the obstacles to selling – why people don’t or can’t sell – and make a list of all the reasons or problems the group come up with. Choose and item on the list and carry out a T-chart analysis of it. This establishes all the reasons behind the problem, balanced by what could be done to improve. The exercise is then repeated in syndicate groups, each group working on a different selling obstacle. The syndicates present their ideas and participants commit themselves to carrying out two actions from their list. You then summarise their opinions about selling and how they have changed during the training activity. Finally, extrapolate the change in terms or increased sales.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to change sales-resistant participants into sales-motivated participants.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 6 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:30:00 |
| No of Pages: | 14 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training activity is intended for use by trainers with any group of customer contact staff whose personal sales levels are low and who motivation to sell is either waning or was never really there in the first place.
Download the training activity, Won't sell, can't sell as featured in the Fenman training manual; Selling through Customer Service