I learned more sales training and prospects techniques from watching a window fitter at work than I have on any course I have ever attended. Now I share them with you.

I wrote this article some time ago and since it has been picked up by many websites and Blogs I’ve had some great feedback from sales people and small business owners who have put the techniques into practice...

Sales Training and Prospecting Techniques

These people wanted prices and information, and they wanted the benefit of the professional knowledge the window fitters could give.

For a salesman these passing sales prospects, because that’s what they are, would have been like winning the lottery.

To actually have sales prospects queuing up to talk to you is every sales person’s dream. To the window guys these people were just getting in the way.

Forget classroom sales training, this was a perfect selling situation that attracted prospects and it happened by accident.

I have to admit I cringed as I listened to the window guys responding to these passing sales prospects. They were excellent window fitters but they had no idea how to sell.

What I learned was the marketing power this situation created. This was far more effective than expensive T.V. or newspaper advertising. It triggered a reaction from anyone passing that had the slightest need for the guy's services. This was a sales person's dream, prospects queuing up to talk to someone. It got to the point where it was stopping the guys from working and they didn't have the time to deal with all these people.

What a waste of sales opportunities, I bet there are home improvement direct sales people that work all month to get that many prospects.

Why Were People Stopping

There are several reasons why these prospects stopped and talked to the working window fitters, and within these reasons we can find valuable sales training and prospecting ideas.

1. The main reason people felt comfortable was that the window fitters were doing work for someone else. They took it as a recommendation that someone else had selected them and they were happy to do the same.

2. Another reason is that these were working tradesmen not salesmen. When a windows salesman knocks on your door they are doing it for their benefit. When you stop a working guy in the street you are doing it for your benefit.

3. Buyers will always take the easiest actions. Ask yourself which is easiest, searching through adverts, directories, and the internet and having to make a decision on which company to contact. Then speaking to someone on a sales line and waiting to be ambushed into agreeing to a sales appointment or even a sale. Or, stopping for a casual chat with a working guy that you can see actually knows what he's talking about?

4. If you wanted information and advice about having new windows fitted who would you talk to, a guy in overalls that fits windows every day or a smart suited salesperson that knows more about the credit agreement than the windows?

Sales Training Lessons to Put Into Action

So what sales training lessons can we learn from the actions of the passing sales prospects and my window fitters?

Without knowing your line of business it's difficult to give precise sales tips. But consider the following ideas and think how you could adapt them for your sales role:

If you were a sales person for the company my window fitters worked for how about getting your hands dirty and spending some time with the guys fitting the windows. How about putting on some overalls and talking to all the passing prospects that want information. From what I saw outside my home I guarantee you would fill your sales diary.

Small business sales can be boosted by making all your staff sales motivated.

Put a reward scheme in place and supply every one of your staff with sales and information literature, you could even give them all sales training.

Give them a prospect pad to take details of any potential sales opportunities, and reward them for every sale that they generate.

Sales people are perceived as doing their job and contacting people for their own benefit, which is to sell something.

Working people in non-sales roles are viewed as being able to offer information that will benefit the buyer. If you're a sales person how do your prospects perceive you? What can you do to be seen as someone that can benefit the buyer, and how will you get a queue of prospects wanting to talk to you.

For more sales training tips that are more than just the usual classroom techniques take a look at Sales and Training Solutions…

I'm Stephen Craine from the website Sales-Training-Sales-Tips.com

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