Selling training is not just selling your service or training program. It should include perception and association.
Perception is the view and opinion of your target clientele according to their specifications and likes and association is simply like when Nike got Michael Jordan to be their model and spokesperson and there was a beeline for their products simply because they thought that Michael Jordan would not want to be associated with just any clothing or sports company.
You can ‘sell’ something just for the sake of selling, but by including the perception of the training itself then that is something else. You will be putting value into the selling act or the product. And in the field of selling training, this can be utilized in asking the opinions of the client; what exactly do they value most that they want to be trained about? How to they see their sales people? What is the selling language and atmosphere do they adhere to? What is stress for them? Will it be for the long-term plans of the company? Etc. etc. Questions like these will put the training into proper perspective and will eventually help immensely any client you wish to win over to your side.
Association as mentioned is likened very much to people like Michael Jordan. Everybody knows his discipline and dedication to the sport, his expertise, his passion, his style and his legacy. So when selling training; it is best to associate with figures like Elmer Wheeler who in the 1940’s espoused the adage “Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak”. Associate your selling training with thefollowing basic questions: What training does the customer/s actually want? Do they want “ease of work load” or “fringe benefits” which goes with working hard. Then that is only the time when selling training will be beneficial to the client and the client will really utilize what they learned in the training itself.
Profit also figures a lot in selling training. This reinforces any training that any employee would want or even plan to undergo. Even companies will surely want to know what selling training can do to boost their ‘kaching’ or profits. So if one will be selling training in any particular business or industry it is best to offer a training which will ultimately put more money in the cash register than what they will actually pay for the training itself.
Surely it has been said that consumers are now “wiser” in terms of buying and parting ways with their hard-earned money; but still, consumers or clients for selling training will not mind if you ask them what they think they need, when they need, how they need and up to what degree they need the training. Clients are always on the lookout for the ‘good deal’ and when they say ‘good deal’ this means higher profits, really! So having these arsenals in one’s portfolio of selling training will surely increase clients and ensure client satisfaction and in the end; bring other clients.