A FOOL WITH A TOOL IS STILL A FOOL

I saw this quote the other day somewhere on social media (you know, that place where all of us spend way too much time?)

Anyway, it smacked me in the face as I was just chatting with a sales director of a large home improvement company, and we were discussing how he was contemplating buying this fancy new presentation software for his sales team.

And after I spent quite a bit of time basically trying to tell him that new software is great, new technology is amazing (think AI here), and investing in anything that will make a sales rep better at selling, I realized that I could have summed it up in this one sentence:

𝗔 π—™π—’π—’π—Ÿ π—ͺπ—œπ—§π—› 𝗔 π—§π—’π—’π—Ÿ π—œπ—¦ π—¦π—§π—œπ—Ÿπ—Ÿ 𝗔 π—™π—’π—’π—Ÿ.

You see, the best software on the planet, the best AI tools ever invented, the best CRM under the sun and moon, are completely worthless if:

  1. The sales rep isn't trained how to use them properly. - translation: they use them WRONG

  2. The sales rep isn't motivated to use them.

I'll give you a great example...Email.

Email is a TOOL.

But used incorrectly, it will do more to alienate and piss off a prospect than it will to engage one.

How many bad, terribly-worded, annoying emails have YOU received, just today?

What about AI?

Raise your hand if you have received an unsolicited, pathetically bad message or inmail on LinkedIn today from a salesperson who suddenly wants to know how your surfing trip turned out, and "here's the link to my calendar" to set up a chat? πŸ™‹β€β™‚οΈ

I rest my case.

My point here is simple...

Yes, invest in tools and products and software that could help your company grow, help your reps sell more and sell better.

But don't do any of this without making sure the two items above are not addressed.

  1. Train them how to use it THE RIGHT WAY.

  2. Make sure they understand how it will improve their jobs and their lives, and increase their sales.

And finally, monitor what your sales reps are sending out, or how they are using the software you bought for them.

Remember, they not only represent themselves, they represent YOU and YOUR COMPANY.

That fact alone should make you ensure that you don't have a bunch of fools using your tools, to sell.

Allan Langerallanlanger, the7secrets, sales, selling, #SalestechniquesComment