Investing in Sales Development & The Importance of Training

With NAA later this week, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect a bit on the importance of training in our industry. My father was, at one point in his career, the VP of Education and Training at the American Society of Travel Agents, essentially the NAA of the travel agency industry (interesting side note: he worked with former head of NAA Doug Culkin and Doug’s wife, Liz, at ASTA back in the 1980s).

As in all industries, it was at times difficult to get business executives to invest in training. The direct, tangible cost of the investment often overpowered the less tangible, more general notion of improving employee performance through better training. One of his favorite sayings was, “if you can’t afford education and training, try ignorance!”

In the spirit of this, and as we pass the midway point of the sales season, we asked our sales subject matter expert to present 13 Sales Tips for Leasing Associated to Connect Faster. Just click on this link to watch, and feel free to share it with your leasing team.

Here’s just a taste of the subjects we’ll cover: 

1. The importance of focusing on a conversation rather than interrogation. 

This may sound obvious, but how often does our desire to get all the information for a guest card turn the initial conversation into a series of dry questions? The more our associates engage in authentic conversations, the better they connect with prospects thus improving the likelihood of success. 

2. Be prospect focused rather than process focused.

We’ve reviewed dozens of sales models and sales training programs in this industry. They all mean well, but they also tend to focus on what we want out of the conversation. At their worst, they require associates to “ask for the lease” whether or not it’s contextually appropriate at the time; and they threaten associates if they fail to do so during a secret shop. Instead of focusing on how to make the sale, we advocate learning how prospects make decision. Instead of “always be closing,” we advocate “always be helping.” Associates who help prospects make good decisions do a better job of establishing value and will win their “unfair share” of the business. 

3. Peel the onion.

Every salesperson’s goal should be to get past the clichés and facts of an initial conversation and into the opinions and feelings that truly drive prospects’ decisions. Associates can’t do that by advocating their product. They do that by asking questions that authentically show their interest in the prospects’ journey. They have a “best friend” style conversation rather than a “sales” conversation. By asking follow up questions, they move a prospect from their natural initial distrust to a place where they open up more as they realize the associate can teach them something about their search. This peeling of the proverbial onion maximizes our associates’ opportunities to connect and come to a mutually successful conclusion.

So, as we all descend on San Diego for the biggest education program of the year, take a moment to think how you can (and should) invest more in your sales team’s development. I hope the above helps a bit, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like more.