IBM
0129 IBM Dummy Calls
Specific sales training represented only about a quarter of IBM's training programme, with three-quarters given over to knowledge training in the products, technical and business areas - but (as these were seen as the key elements of sales training) still under the supervision of, and largely taught by, the sales training staff. There was no distinction between these elements: all was sales training, with the aim of producing the well-rounded sales professional.
Even the specific sales training in IBM was not wedded to techniques. It was deliberately designed to allow each sales professional to develop his own well-rounded style - a theme that, you will have noted, pervaded much of my books. Thus, the core of the IBM sales training programme was a series of dummy calls. The principle was simple: it was to simulate real calls (in every respect possible), for the trainees to learn by experience.
The practice was, inevitably, rather more complex. Some time in advance of making the dummy (or practice) call, the trainee was given a `brief', which gave the general background to the call he was about to make. It typically gave the sort of information he could expect to have available before approaching a prospect. The trainee was expected to undertake the research he would carry out before a real call; finding out the suitable products, details of the market, and suitable references (which had to be real, since the instructors checked them out).
The instructor, who was to role-play the prospect, was given a much more detailed brief, simulating the real-life prospect situation. This instructor brief included some possible scenarios, but the skill of the instructor (for which he was carefully trained) lay in playing the role of prospect, so that the trainee could experience the whole range of calling situations.
The dummy call itself lasted around half an hour. It took place in front of five or six other trainees and, at the end of the call, both they and the instructor commented on what had happened, although it was really only the instructor's comments that carried weight. The involvement of the other trainees was as much to ensure that they also learnt. This way each trainee made perhaps 20 to 30 calls himself, and saw another 100 or so made by his fellows.
In this way the trainees learnt their skills by experience. They had the best
possible opportunity to learn from the things they did wrong, and most did, before they made them – much more expensively for IBM – in the field.
I initially found it a nightmare. I had no confidence. I thought I would never make a salesman, and to an extent I was right in that – although I became one of IBM’s top salesmen - I did this by very idiosyncratic methods!
I eventually pulled myself together, though. This happened when I went into what looked like an easy dummy call – only to find it was full of problems. My immediate reaction, correct as it turned out, was to apologise profusely. I got an excellent rating for it and never really looked back. Later on I saw many others fail the same call by trying to argue their way out of the problems. Always apologise. If it really is your company’s fault you had better do this as soon as possible. If it isn’t, the customer will be so embarrassed he will ‘owe you one’.
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