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Letter from the Editor
by Renie McClay, SMT Trainer Talk Editor
Good day to you.
My 15 year old son has started taking driver’s education. It is a major milestone in his life and I am amazed by two things. First, when did this child become old enough to drive. And second, how quickly he was able to sit behind the wheel and legally drive a car.
He went to two driver’s ed classes and passed the written test to get his learner’s permit and now he can drive with an adult in the car. That’s it? Learn the laws and signs, pass a test, drive a car. I think about this from a training perspective. (Of course, I annoyingly think about everything from a training perspective.)
The knowledge he learned has nothing to do with the mechanics of driving a car. It has to do with driving a car within the law. He knows the speed limits, because he catches me over the speed limit every time. He knows who has the right away, because he points it out to me 20 times a day. He learned the signs (at least he memorized them for a test). He corrects how I hold the steering wheel (I learned to hold the wheel at clock positions 10:00 and 2:00. Because of air bag injuries that has changed to 9:00 and 3:00. Who knew?). I can’t help asking, is he ready to sit behind a steering wheel on an open, public road? He has the knowledge, now he is ready to learn the skills.
There is a defining moment in training. For my teen, it will be when he is sitting by himself driving a car. For our sales people, it is when they are in front of the customer by themselves. No binders, no team members, no sales manager. And they need to DO something. Maybe they will need to handle an irate customer, or answer a tough question, or quote a price, or offer a solution. It will be the time they need to integrate all they have learned about products, systems, communication, knowledge of the client and industry. Are we giving them what they need to be successful in that moment?
I’ll leave you to answer that question. And encourage you to find some compassion when you are following a beginning driver who is trying to integrate everything they have learned and actually drive a car safely.
I hope you find something educational in this issue of Trainer Talk. And hope to see you at the upcoming conference. It promises to be educational for corporate and independent trainers alike.
Renie McClay
www.salestrainingutopia.com
[PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION]
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September 2007
Give Your Sales Training a Second Life!
There Is No Place Like Work: Seven Leadership Insights For Creating a Workplace to Call Home
Authors: Dr. Sheila L. Margolis and Dr. Ava S. Wilensky
By Book Reviewer: Robert Klein
Stop Acting like a Seller and Start Thinking Like a Buyer
Authors: Jerry Acuff, with Wally Wood
By Book Reviewer: Renie McClay
SMT Annual Conference
November 12 - 14, 2007
Fairview Park Marriott
Falls Church, VA
Click Here to Join the SMT Family
SMT Welcomes Our New Members
Acclivus Corporation
Arrow International, Inc.
Express Scripts
Sales Momentum
Sony Electronics, Inc.
WellPoint
"Being a member of SMT provides me with an invaluable network of sales and marketing training professionals that have an incredible amount of experience and knowledge to share... I rely on this prestigious group to support me in dealing with business challenges unique to our profession...
SMT members are my peers, my mentors, my friends... SMT is the only professional organization I belong to..."
Mary Elliott Bassett, Worldwide Director, Sales and Customer Training, Entertainment Imaging, Eastman Kodak Company
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