Building the Ideal Sales Curriculum | Sales Tips

I was interviewed by one of Canada’s national magazines on the University education for sales people, as well as why there weren’t many sales programs offered and what courses should be offered for people who want to pursue sales as a career.

Here's the thing: sales programs are actually not the answer.

The best thing we could be doing for our young students is to educate them on the skills they need to be good sales people. <-- Click to Tweet

So what are those skills?

First, you need conversation skills. You have to be able to engage in a conversation with a customer because let's face it: As long as you’re conversing and having dialog, you have a chance to make the sale.

Next, you need influence skills. What kind of courses would be good to teach how to influence people? Well, anything that involves any kind of debate or defense. So maybe a political science or a history course. Philosophy classes also work as you’re forced to render an opinion and defend that opinion.

A sales reps also needs to be able to communicate well in both in writing and in speaking. English courses not only gives you a great well-rounded education in terms of your conversation but also in your writing skills.

Lastly, good sales people have to have some grounding in psychology, so why not some basic human psychology to know the way people think and the way they behave?

Don’t worry about sales courses. Quite frankly, sales courses are only going to teach you a process that’s static and today's buyers have an incredibly dynamic buying process. You’re going to learn that when you’re back into business.

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