Capable to Learn

I recently had a ‘classic experience’. One of my clients invited me to give a training session at their regional meeting. The objective of the training was to upgrade the skills of their sales staff as my client faces a particular challenge. They are very successful with small customers, however, not doing so well with their bigger, international clients.

In sales, relationships are always important. Though, when dealing with international clients the level of professionalism needs to go up as well e.g. powerful presenting skills, well-honed negotiation skills are required. And that was the focus of my training.

Interestingly enough, one meeting participant criticised me severely. His argument was that he could not use my formal sales approach in his country with his customers. Initially, he didn’t realise that I wasn’t going to share skills that would help to sell to his existing clients. Obviously, he has those skills already, otherwise, he wouldn't have sold to them. I wanted to train skills that would help him to sell to larger, international clients that were not yet his clients. In other words, he has not been successful with those types of clients.

Conclusion – Our knowledge and skills are perfectly suited to achieve what we have achieved so far. If we want to look at the next level of achievement, our current skill set may not be sufficient. We may need to learn something new, a different approach.

And that is how what we finally agreed upon. Of course, his current skill level was good; otherwise he wouldn’t be successful in the first place. For moving up we need more skills. That doesn’t mean necessarily discarding the old skills. We just need to learn alternatives and use them when appropriate. It is like one more weapon in the arsenal.

There is always I need to question your skill level regularly and be open to upgrade.