teachmeprint.com has been developed by Jo Lloyd, who runs Cotmandene Training & Development Ltd. 
Jo has considerable experience in running sales training courses, especially in her role as a consultant on the Canon European Business Builder Program and has found a common theme runs through them all. At the beginning of each day she poses the question – “How many of you have had any formal sales training?” 

Rarely do any hands go up.  It appears that many employers are failing to recognise the benefits of training their sales staff.  

On a personal level, Jo considers herself fortunate in that she completed some comprehensive and well recognised training programmes from the very start of her career.  The thorough and extensive training she received from Thomson Newspapers, Reed Business Publishing and EMAP has benefited her throughout her career in the printing and publishing arena.

In an effort to redress this apparent lack of investment in formal training – she decided to develop some short, informal, online training courses that are designed to teach students some of the basic sales techniques. Techniques that once understood, will not be easily forgotten, and should help them become more effective and ultimately more successful in their chosen career.  And if the salespeople as individuals excel, then their employers will also reap the benefit.

Why train my people?

As an employer, if you question the benefit of staff training, put simply, the answer is – can you afford not to? The printing world is a tough one, and getting tougher. Rising costs, pressure on margins and cut throat competitors are giving most company owners sleepless nights. It is increasingly difficult to find equipment that can give you the edge these days – so the only way to differentiate yourselves is in your approach. The first experience that many customers have with your business, is via their receipt of some form of sales approach – whether this be via a telephone call or visit, or a marketing led promotion. The more innovative and professional this communication is, the more chance of it not only being noticed, but more crucially, of being acted on.

Sales staff are an expensive element of your business. When you employ unskilled staff, these costs can start to spiral upwards. So investing a little time and money in training salespeople in some of the basic skills can pay dividends in terms of results. Whether your people are hunters or farmers, a grasp of the fundamentals of selling techniques can only improve their performance.