One of the first questions I am asked by a person or company interested in sales training is “How much does it cost?” Let’s face it, most companies don’t think of “sales training” as a line item on their P&L. So rarely does a budget exist - or for that matter very much knowledge about how much it should cost because there can be (and are) so many variables. Different companies have different philosophies and respective programs. Also, it’s not like the typical sales training companies are going to put it out on a price sheet for the world to see, much less for their competition to browse.
I thought I would break the silence about cost and give some insight into how it gets priced. I suspect I will have some of my colleagues upset with me, and/or some potential clients who see this and immediately go the other direction because they want something cheaper or just want to shop around. That’s okay. Our philosophy has always been to be disarmingly honest to our clients, prospects, and with our team.
The first step is to always consider what results you are trying to accomplish; “Begin with the end in mind.” What are current challenges (not closing enough new business, excessive discounting, long sales cycles, high turnover, etc.) costing your business based upon continuing the status quo? It is important to self-reflect or have a professional walk you through the process. The reason it matters is because any type of sales training needs to be an investment, in terms of what you want to accomplish and/or what you want to avoid in the future. An ROI has to exist or the smallest amount of money spent will feel like an expense and something you can do without, especially when times get tough.
Here are some key decision factors to think about when looking into and selecting your sales training company. These are not all encompassing but hopefully will give some insight on the basis for the cost.
1. Do you want a one-time event or a long-term relationship? Some schools of thought promote a reinforcement program to ensure the best chance of behavioral change. If you are not a believer in this philosophy, then you are really only subject to a daily rate + materials (may be listed as one price). This can range from $5,000/day - $15,000/day in most cases depending upon the company and experience of trainer. This can also be priced on a per person basis (ex: $100/person/hour or roughly $2,000 per person/two-day training event). The second option tends to come into play when large groups (> 20) are trained or there are diverse groups of companies in the same audience such as a public sales boot-camp.
2. In a long-term partnership, the sales training company tends to help with some or all aspects of business development (ex: help with interviewing, sales training/coaching, leadership training, sales process implementation, executive coaching, assessments, etc.). In these cases, pricing is generally a retainer type agreement and is based upon factors such as time of engagement, days of total training expected, number of assessments needed, number of people, and type of electronic/written materials. It can vary from as little as $800/month (for one person) to $10,000/month for groups of 20 people or more (generally tends be higher with more people/divisions/locations added to program).
3. Do you want to try to get your results in a shorter period of time or engage the sales training company on a much longer multi-year basis? This can greatly affect the amount of money you invest because of the amount of resources needed in a compressed time frame to get the same results as the longer time frame would yield.
4. Do you want to start smaller with an assessment and pilot program? Companies can generally invest a few thousand dollars or less for an assessment of the team and a typical daily rate for a pilot program to test out the company before investing in a more retainer type program going forward.
All of the above depends upon your budget and what you are comfortable with in terms of money you are willing and able to invest for training.
Thinking about the ROI will help justify any amount of money you invest for professional development of your people. We suggest a belief in a minimum of 10x return on your investment or don’t do it. Also, we would suggest that if you sign a long term agreement that you get a cancellation clause of no more than 60 days. If the sales training company is providing value, then it is rarely an issue for either side.
No matter who you go with, always see them in action and ask yourself “Could I see myself and my team benefitting from this? Can I see my investment multiplied times ten in the long run?” If not, either don’t engage or find another potential partner.
Investing in your people is a big decision for most companies especially when it comes to higher priced training such as sales training. It’s often difficult to quantify objectively and see the future tangible value. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that if you train your people then they will just leave and possibly go to a competitor. First, if you train them, it’s proven that their loyalty tends to be higher. Second, it costs much less to train a good salesperson and get some success before they leave vs. the worse option of not training a mediocre salesperson and they stay.
