Sales Tips: The Payback on Learning to Do It Right

By Gary Walker, EVP of Channel Sales & Operations, CustomerCentric Selling®

Return on Purchase InvestmentPayback is just one of the factors that your prospects consider when contemplating the purchase of your offering. It’s also one of the things I would like you to consider when considering investing in yourself, or if you’re a sales manager, investing in improving the performance of an underperforming sales organization. After all, someone is going to want justification for the expenditure in sales training. So let’s work out the math and put this in numbers.

Let’s consider these three (3) variables:

  1. Average transaction size expressed in dollars. For this example, let’s say $100,000.

  2. Cost for a salesperson to attend a CustomerCentric Selling® public workshop. $2,700.

  3. Probability of that salesperson closing one (1) additional piece of business in the next twelve (12) months. Rather than being overly optimistic, let’s risk adjust that probability to 50%; factor 50. Let’s assume an average salesperson may or may not get better.

Now, let’s do the math based on these three (3) variables:

        $100,000 ÷ $2,700 x 50 = 1,852% return on your sales training investment.

Not being a math major, I have resorted to very simple math. The golfers looking at this return on investment would call this a short putt!

Work Out Your Own Numbers

  • What is your average transaction size?
  • What do you think the probability is that a trained salesperson could close one, just one, additional piece of business in the next twelve (12) months?
  • Better yet, what if HALF of the sales team closed just one (1) additional piece of business as a result of implementing a defined sales process and applying new skills and techniques?

What would that be worth to you and your company?

They say: “People make emotional decisions for logical reasons.” I think any way you calculate it, an investment in CustomerCentric Selling® logically is an investment in your individual or sales team’s success.

If you would like to see what one of our clients has accomplished using a defined sales process, check out this two (2) minute video produced by Joey Gauthier of Watch Systems.

How Watch Systems Achieved Sales Success

 Closing Thoughts
If I’ve caused you to take pause and reconsider if you’re capable of learning to do it right, becoming the professional salesperson your employer is paying you for, or improving the performance of your sales team, I would appreciate you sharing this article with someone you feel would benefit from reading it.

In my next available open workshop in Golden, Colorado Sept 12-15, we will cover how to:

  • determine the payback variables
  • obtain them from your prospect
  • use them to prepare a simple cost-benefit analysis to provide your prospect with the logic they need to purchase your offering

Why don’t you register now and plan on joining me? It could make the difference in your performance for the entire year!

Sales Training Workshops