I was asked last week about weekly ad sales training. One of my clients has a veteran sales team and felt that training was no longer needed. Like everything else, sales requires practice. As professional sales people we get so busy with everything else that we forget about the basics. Chet Homes, in his bestselling book the Ultimate Sales Machines, considers weekly sales training fundamental to your success as a business. So, what can you do each week that will keep the sales team strong and not offend the sensitive nature of the veteran sales rep?  

1. Keep it simple. Nothing says I hate you like a 60 minute sales meetings. Training is the same way.
2. Use a book to guide the conversation. Try reading and then sharing each week from Jerry Acuff’s book the Relationship Edge or Jill Konrath’s Snap Selling book.
3. Discuss web site stats and banner ad reports
4. Ask each rep to share a critical sales question that they plan to ask this week.
5. Ask each rep what they plan to do different this week than they did last week.  
6. Share from a great sales article you found online.  
7. Play one of my monthly or weekly sales videos on the projector and then discuss.

All in all, keep bringing new ideas to the table each week. Weekly ad sales training is a simple way to keep the conversation current and a way to let the team know that you feel training is important.

Don’t give up. Veteran sales reps will say they hate this until you either tell them to stop the hate or until you resign. Trust me on that. So, keep the faith and keep trying.