Helping sales reps when the typical attitude towards training is “I know everything”

If you were a manager or a sales trainer and tried to teach the technical aspects of the insurance policy or laptops, the rep is unlikely to retain the information without getting confused. If you have tried, you might have received a response to the tune of “I know everything”.

Helping sales reps when the typical attitude towards training is “I know everything”

Being a sales rep is not easy. With demanding customers, tough targets, limited support from managers and limited interaction with peers; reps do not always get enough support to help them close more deals. In such situations some sales reps survive and do well, most don’t. Sales skills and product training can help but most reps are unable to implement the learning while talking to the customers.

Imagine a sales rep trying to pitch an insurance policy to a customer. The rep would most likely be able to explain the premiums and coverage, maturity benefit, claim process, charges etc. But if the customer asks questions regarding the cash flows of the product throughout the life-time or details on the exclusions, the sales rep might be caught off-guard. How would you prepare a sales rep for such situations?


Let us take another example of a sales rep in an electronics store. The rep, while selling a laptop, is probably comfortable explaining the specifications, warranty, price and discounts. But If the customer needs information to compare some technical aspects of the products or functional difference between operating systems the rep might not be prepared. Further, if the same rep is selling mobile phones and televisions in the store, he is unlikely to be an expert for all the product categories.


This problem is common in companies selling financial products, insurance, pharmaceuticals or technology products. The sales reps find it difficult to understand the technical aspects of the product. If you were a manager or a sales trainer and tried to teach the technical aspects of the insurance policy or laptops, the rep is unlikely to retain the information without getting confused. If you have tried, you might have received a response to the tune of “I know everything”. After all, the sales rep is a sales rep, not an insurance or technology expert.In this scenario, what is the best way to help the reps?


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms have been designed to solve this particular problem. These platforms help the sales reps get quick and effective responses on common questions or objections without having to undergo an elaborate technical training. Sales Enablement platforms provide sales battlecards, FAQ responses, product comparisons in addition to marketing collateral and a variety of other sales tools. Having handy tools, which help during a sales conversation can make the rep come across as an expert and gain customer’s trust. This ability of a sales rep to answer the customer questions in the same meeting is the key to closing deals faster. 


The reasons why Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms are easily adopted by the reps are

  • Ease of use: these platforms are designed for the ease of use for the  sales reps specifically, and not for the customers or managers. In contrast to a CRM, where reps are required to input data for the sales funnel and generate reports, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms do not require data-entry. They are designed to help reps.
  • Just-in-time help: training, marketing collateral or hand-holding by manager can work before or after the customer conversation. A rep should not refer to them when they are sitting next to the customer to be more effective. Sales Enablement provides the necessary support during the conversation.
  • Need-specific tools: Sales Enablement platforms have specific tools like Need Analyzer or Lead Generation. In case the organization sells multiple products, the Need Analyzer can take inputs from customers and suggest the right product. Similarly, a Lead Generation tool can help generate Leads through the reps’ networks. These tools manage to do a lot of heavy-lifting for the reps. 
  • Interactive training: there is no doubt that training is important to improve the sales rep’s effectiveness. However, rather than having elaborate presentations, Sales Readiness tools provide self-paced training and bite-sized information which is easy to understand for the rep. Reps can take them as many times as required.
  • Mobile first: given that field sales reps do not have access to computers and great connectivity on the run, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms which are mobile-first and operate offline can come in handy. 


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms train the reps in a format and through a medium which is designed for them. Apart from this, the platforms also help in managing marketing collateral and engaging with the customers.


sharpsell equips sales reps with personalized content to engage with customers and customized presentations to share with customers as per their needs. All the content is accessible through a single source - the sharpsell platform. Companies using sharpsell have seen an increase in sales productivity with higher number of products sold, higher ticket size, increased visibility on prospecting, reduced content creation cost, reduced time to first sale, reduced costs of training, and uncovering insights on product feedback.

  • The “New Normal” for Pharma Sales post the lockdown
  • Why organizations look for Sales Enablement
  • How Sales Enablement is different from traditional LMS or CRM
  • The industry best practices for Sales Enablement
  • Implementation challenges and how to overcome them
  • Ensuring higher adoption

Arun Subramanian

Arun is the CBO and co-founder at sharpsell. An inveterate traveler and a technology maven, Arun draws his energy from understanding the pain points of clients and bringing data-driven insights to overcome them. Arun holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, as well as an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.

Helping sales reps when the typical attitude towards training is “I know everything”

Helping sales reps when the typical attitude towards training is “I know everything”

If you were a manager or a sales trainer and tried to teach the technical aspects of the insurance policy or laptops, the rep is unlikely to retain the information without getting confused. If you have tried, you might have received a response to the tune of “I know everything”.
Arun Subramanian
September 30, 2021

Being a sales rep is not easy. With demanding customers, tough targets, limited support from managers and limited interaction with peers; reps do not always get enough support to help them close more deals. In such situations some sales reps survive and do well, most don’t. Sales skills and product training can help but most reps are unable to implement the learning while talking to the customers.

Imagine a sales rep trying to pitch an insurance policy to a customer. The rep would most likely be able to explain the premiums and coverage, maturity benefit, claim process, charges etc. But if the customer asks questions regarding the cash flows of the product throughout the life-time or details on the exclusions, the sales rep might be caught off-guard. How would you prepare a sales rep for such situations?


Let us take another example of a sales rep in an electronics store. The rep, while selling a laptop, is probably comfortable explaining the specifications, warranty, price and discounts. But If the customer needs information to compare some technical aspects of the products or functional difference between operating systems the rep might not be prepared. Further, if the same rep is selling mobile phones and televisions in the store, he is unlikely to be an expert for all the product categories.


This problem is common in companies selling financial products, insurance, pharmaceuticals or technology products. The sales reps find it difficult to understand the technical aspects of the product. If you were a manager or a sales trainer and tried to teach the technical aspects of the insurance policy or laptops, the rep is unlikely to retain the information without getting confused. If you have tried, you might have received a response to the tune of “I know everything”. After all, the sales rep is a sales rep, not an insurance or technology expert.In this scenario, what is the best way to help the reps?


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms have been designed to solve this particular problem. These platforms help the sales reps get quick and effective responses on common questions or objections without having to undergo an elaborate technical training. Sales Enablement platforms provide sales battlecards, FAQ responses, product comparisons in addition to marketing collateral and a variety of other sales tools. Having handy tools, which help during a sales conversation can make the rep come across as an expert and gain customer’s trust. This ability of a sales rep to answer the customer questions in the same meeting is the key to closing deals faster. 


The reasons why Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms are easily adopted by the reps are

  • Ease of use: these platforms are designed for the ease of use for the  sales reps specifically, and not for the customers or managers. In contrast to a CRM, where reps are required to input data for the sales funnel and generate reports, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms do not require data-entry. They are designed to help reps.
  • Just-in-time help: training, marketing collateral or hand-holding by manager can work before or after the customer conversation. A rep should not refer to them when they are sitting next to the customer to be more effective. Sales Enablement provides the necessary support during the conversation.
  • Need-specific tools: Sales Enablement platforms have specific tools like Need Analyzer or Lead Generation. In case the organization sells multiple products, the Need Analyzer can take inputs from customers and suggest the right product. Similarly, a Lead Generation tool can help generate Leads through the reps’ networks. These tools manage to do a lot of heavy-lifting for the reps. 
  • Interactive training: there is no doubt that training is important to improve the sales rep’s effectiveness. However, rather than having elaborate presentations, Sales Readiness tools provide self-paced training and bite-sized information which is easy to understand for the rep. Reps can take them as many times as required.
  • Mobile first: given that field sales reps do not have access to computers and great connectivity on the run, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms which are mobile-first and operate offline can come in handy. 


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms train the reps in a format and through a medium which is designed for them. Apart from this, the platforms also help in managing marketing collateral and engaging with the customers.


sharpsell equips sales reps with personalized content to engage with customers and customized presentations to share with customers as per their needs. All the content is accessible through a single source - the sharpsell platform. Companies using sharpsell have seen an increase in sales productivity with higher number of products sold, higher ticket size, increased visibility on prospecting, reduced content creation cost, reduced time to first sale, reduced costs of training, and uncovering insights on product feedback.

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Static and dynamic content editing

A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!

How to customize formatting for each rich text

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

zdxfhgfg

  1. sdnslk,xdv
  2. SDlknjsdv
  3. SDvlknj
  • sdgdf v
Sharpsell.ai Raises Funds From Mistry Ventures, Others
Close Icon White

Helping sales reps when the typical attitude towards training is “I know everything”

September 11, 2024
4 minutes
Arun Subramanian
Arun Subramanian
Get the best insights from the playbook right in your inbox every month!
Thank you! You have been added to our subscriber list!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Share it on:

Being a sales rep is not easy. With demanding customers, tough targets, limited support from managers and limited interaction with peers; reps do not always get enough support to help them close more deals. In such situations some sales reps survive and do well, most don’t. Sales skills and product training can help but most reps are unable to implement the learning while talking to the customers.

Imagine a sales rep trying to pitch an insurance policy to a customer. The rep would most likely be able to explain the premiums and coverage, maturity benefit, claim process, charges etc. But if the customer asks questions regarding the cash flows of the product throughout the life-time or details on the exclusions, the sales rep might be caught off-guard. How would you prepare a sales rep for such situations?


Let us take another example of a sales rep in an electronics store. The rep, while selling a laptop, is probably comfortable explaining the specifications, warranty, price and discounts. But If the customer needs information to compare some technical aspects of the products or functional difference between operating systems the rep might not be prepared. Further, if the same rep is selling mobile phones and televisions in the store, he is unlikely to be an expert for all the product categories.


This problem is common in companies selling financial products, insurance, pharmaceuticals or technology products. The sales reps find it difficult to understand the technical aspects of the product. If you were a manager or a sales trainer and tried to teach the technical aspects of the insurance policy or laptops, the rep is unlikely to retain the information without getting confused. If you have tried, you might have received a response to the tune of “I know everything”. After all, the sales rep is a sales rep, not an insurance or technology expert.In this scenario, what is the best way to help the reps?


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms have been designed to solve this particular problem. These platforms help the sales reps get quick and effective responses on common questions or objections without having to undergo an elaborate technical training. Sales Enablement platforms provide sales battlecards, FAQ responses, product comparisons in addition to marketing collateral and a variety of other sales tools. Having handy tools, which help during a sales conversation can make the rep come across as an expert and gain customer’s trust. This ability of a sales rep to answer the customer questions in the same meeting is the key to closing deals faster. 


The reasons why Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms are easily adopted by the reps are

  • Ease of use: these platforms are designed for the ease of use for the  sales reps specifically, and not for the customers or managers. In contrast to a CRM, where reps are required to input data for the sales funnel and generate reports, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms do not require data-entry. They are designed to help reps.
  • Just-in-time help: training, marketing collateral or hand-holding by manager can work before or after the customer conversation. A rep should not refer to them when they are sitting next to the customer to be more effective. Sales Enablement provides the necessary support during the conversation.
  • Need-specific tools: Sales Enablement platforms have specific tools like Need Analyzer or Lead Generation. In case the organization sells multiple products, the Need Analyzer can take inputs from customers and suggest the right product. Similarly, a Lead Generation tool can help generate Leads through the reps’ networks. These tools manage to do a lot of heavy-lifting for the reps. 
  • Interactive training: there is no doubt that training is important to improve the sales rep’s effectiveness. However, rather than having elaborate presentations, Sales Readiness tools provide self-paced training and bite-sized information which is easy to understand for the rep. Reps can take them as many times as required.
  • Mobile first: given that field sales reps do not have access to computers and great connectivity on the run, Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms which are mobile-first and operate offline can come in handy. 


Sales Enablement and Readiness platforms train the reps in a format and through a medium which is designed for them. Apart from this, the platforms also help in managing marketing collateral and engaging with the customers.


sharpsell equips sales reps with personalized content to engage with customers and customized presentations to share with customers as per their needs. All the content is accessible through a single source - the sharpsell platform. Companies using sharpsell have seen an increase in sales productivity with higher number of products sold, higher ticket size, increased visibility on prospecting, reduced content creation cost, reduced time to first sale, reduced costs of training, and uncovering insights on product feedback.

Readers also liked

5 min
Mansi Mishra
Mansi Mishra
6 min
Abhijit Paul
Abhijit Paul
8 min
Rohan Sabnis
Rohan Sabnis
6 min
Jai Thakkar
Jai Thakkar

Are you ready to unleash the power of Sales Playbooks for your team?

Thank you! You have been added to our subscriber list!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.