Learning to sell

Some people think that it’s impossible to learn to sell, that you’re born a salesman, that you’re not an innate salesman, that it’s better to look for another profession. Of course, some personality types are more inclined than others, but the good news is that sales can be learned, and is accessible to everyone. I’m […]

Some people think that it’s impossible to learn to sell, that you’re born a salesman, that you’re not an innate salesman, that it’s better to look for another profession.

Of course, some personality types are more inclined than others, but the good news is that sales can be learned, and is accessible to everyone.

I’m going to outline the different ways you can choose your training course, their advantages and disadvantages.

Learning by doing

The advantage of learning on the job is that you don’t have to invest in training, the disadvantage is that you’ll spend years trying to discover what you could have learned in a few hours. The loss of income will far outweigh the savings.

By learning on the job, you have no chance of beating the best. Sales is a sport, requiring technique, training and perseverance. You’ll never be able to rediscover for yourself all the sales techniques experienced and perfected by generations of exceptional salespeople.

Learning from an experienced salesperson

It’s a better solution than the previous one, but imperfect.

The experienced salesperson will show you his tricks, but what works for him won’t necessarily work for you.

Some sales techniques work with certain personalities and customers, not with others, so maybe not with you, who have a different personality and different customers.

You can, however, learn some of the key phrases and benefits that work with your customers. It’s a hands-on course, and doesn’t give you a comprehensive understanding of sales principles and methods.

Learn from a sales book

This solution allows you to acquire the theory, understand the principles and improve, but lacks the practical side.

The literature in this field is quite extensive, in French and especially in English, and some of the works are quite substantial, like bricks.

This type of learning is becoming less and less popular, overtaken by more dynamic methods such as videos and online courses.

The videos

There are hundreds of free videos on YouTube, and they provide a more pleasant and lively introduction than a book, although there are a number of drawbacks. Trainers are very uneven, and anyone can call themselves a sales whiz and talk nonsense. Since you’re not a specialist, you can’t tell the difference between what’s true and what’s false, and a connoisseur knows that there’s a lot of ridiculous advice on YouTube.

Online sales courses

Online sales courses have a huge advantage over videos: because they’re paid for, they’re more serious and include a number of teaching tools that promote learning and memorization:

Videos, ideally a series of 10 to 15 with 8 to 12 minute sequences, available for several months so that you can assimilate the concepts.
Downloadable PDF content
Lesson plan with hyperlinks to websites to clarify certain words
Quizzes or tests to assess knowledge acquisition
Everything is placed in an LMS (learning management system)
Learners can follow the course at their own pace and track their progress.
A manager can register his sales team and monitor individual results

You have two choices: take a generic sales course to learn the techniques and principles, or acquire a specific sales course to discover the techniques of top salespeople in your field of activity, for example :

You’ll then be able to assimilate techniques and sales tricks that are immediately applicable to your sector. You can also learn at your own pace, wherever you like.

Face-to-face sales courses

It’s probably the best method, because there’s no substitute for human contact, especially when it comes to learning a relational profession.

The disadvantage is the cost, so it’s best to have your company organize the session and schedule registrations.

For a face-to-face acquisition to be optimal, a certain number of conditions must be met:

A trainer who is himself a salesman
A preliminary observation in the field to understand your type of sale
Adapted content with arguments specific to your business
Maximum student participation during the course
Role-playing
An individual action plan for participants at the end of the session

The ideal sales apprenticeship

The ideal apprenticeship combines several of these solutions:

An adapted face-to-face course
Creating a sales pitch
Coaching in the field
An online support course
Sales meetings to share best practices

Jean-Pierre Mercier

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