What trainers should learn from sales professionals

My mom and stepdad are two of the best sales professionals on the planet. Both have decades of experience across multiple industries and countless stories to share. This weekend we were comparing notes about what I do as a trainer and what they do that is key to closing the deal. Over Aunt Rose's stuffed cabbage (it was delicious), we came to the same conclusion - it all comes down to motivation.

Yeah, okay. Everyone knows that. ChatGPT can tell you that in 20 seconds. But how do you motivate customers to buy and learners to learn?

Unless you're in a position of influence over the person (say, a parent taking away a cell phone until the grades improve, or a supervisor promising a promotion if certain goals are met), it's tough to motivate someone in a tangible way. Inspire? Sure. But inspiration is that life changing idea you have in the shower that you forget by the time your K-cup is ready to drink. Inspiration is that self-promoting TikTok influencer with 390249 followers telling you to change your life so you can be cool like them and live in a cottage you build yourself off the grid with 16 perfect children and a garden that never needs weeding, but never showing you how. Inspiration is the siren song of hope - seductive and alluring, but for most, rarely materializing.

Motivation is different. Motivation grabs the keys and says, "Get in the car. We're going to the gym. Right now."

So how do you get motivation to show up to your training and take your participants where they need to go?

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If you can't motivate someone to buy or to learn, you have to uncover what motivates them, and work from there.

My stepdad goes to a customer's office and just notices things. A photo of their family on vacation. A set of golf clubs. Before he ever tries to sell anything, he starts with the human being in front of him and gets a sense of who they are. He talks to them about their hobbies, their family. He listens more than he talks. That sounds simple but it's not how a lot of sales reps are taught - and it absolutely isn't how trainers or instructional designers are told to deliver their content.

But this is something I also know from being a therapist: we need better listeners in our lives. Being listened to is increasingly rare (thanks, iPhone) and it can be a transformative experience. It is 99% of how and why therapy works. That's because listening requires focused attention, and being attentive to people is the foundation of relationship formation.

And that relationship is the context where learning (and buying) becomes possible.

So here are some quick tips for doing this in your training. Of course, depending on how/where/when you train, your mileage will vary with these. (These are written with in-person training in mind, but the basic principles work just fine for virtual, too.)

Greet people individually when they come into your session. Make casual conversation. About what? Figure it out. Start by noticing stuff about them. They have a Disney cell-phone case? Didn't you love that trip to Disney in 2019? What's their favorite park? They're wearing a t-shirt with a dog? Don't you have a dog? Notice things, but don't be a stalker. That's creepy.
Share a slide show with pictures of your life - family, pets, vacations - as people are coming in so they can see you as a whole person, not just a mannequin or a suit there to tell them stuff they may or may not want to know.
Learn people's names. Use nametags and table tents in your session so you can learn their names. Always use their names when you call on them in the session. This is more important than most trainers realize.
Use openers that include "fun facts" or personal (not too personal though) details about people so they can get to know each other and develop a learning community in your training. We are social creatures - capitalize on that fact.
Put people in small groups or pairs and give them quick, easy challenges where they can get to know each other a little. Puzzles to solve, quiz shows to compete in, a poster to create, etc.

Another A-ha! for today - the relationship that nets the most benefit in training isn't between you and the learner, but among the learners themselves. So use activities that give them an easy, fun challenge where they can develop those connections.

Because when it comes to learning, those connections are everything.