How to Approach IT Sales Training If You Have Never Sold Before

Moving from an IT role within an organization to going it alone as an IT consultant, or the owner of a small IT business, can be daunting. There are aspects of running your own business that you may never have had to do before. One of these is the sales role. If this is the case, you may want to consider some IT sales training to improve upon those specific skills.

There’s a vast array of IT sales courses out there that will help you to navigate putting together your IT sales strategies. They will also coach you to become the IT sales person that your business needs you to be.

Not all IT sales training courses are the same, and while making the decision about which ones to attend, you should consider the following factors:

The Learning Environment

What type of environment are you likely to learn best in? And what will stretch you to gain the new skills that you need? There are a few to choose from:

• A group course in public – possibly a weekly course or seminar.

• E-Learning – Is e-learning a better option for you? If you need to be taken out of your comfort zone, then self-study may not be the ideal option.

• One-to-one or small group coaching – This can be great for intensive training where you can develop a usable IT sales strategy.

The Course Content

You need to evaluate the skills that you already have and use within your business.

Try out a tool like the online sales assessment from Professional Strategies, Inc. to help judge what you need to work on. Once you know what your biggest weaknesses are, choose a course that focuses or can be tailored to focus on these.

The Training Provider

Research the quality of the course and look at their testimonials, but also dig deeper than that and reach out to your peers for their recommendations.

Make sure that any course you choose is cost-effective. It needs to provide you with a reasonable return on investment. Don’t just pay for a “guru” to teach you when you could get better value and training elsewhere.

Make sure your course provides added value. Also make sure that you choose a provider that has one-to-one support and/or ongoing support after the course if you are going to need it.

Some Final Thoughts to Consider

Don’t run before you can walk. You need to start with the basics and work your way up to more advanced techniques when taking IT sales training.

If you have never run your own business or carried out marketing/sales roles before, then I would personally suggest that you are better off starting with some IT marketing training. This will ensure that you know how to lay the foundations to make your follow-on sales process more efficient and productive.

(Editor’s Note: If you need to provide your own in-house training for a newly hired account manager, check out Top 10 Technology Sales Training Tips for Small Business VARs and MSPs.)

Have you taken any IT sales training? Which courses and providers do you recommend? Share your experiences and advice in the Comments section.

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