I recently had a meeting with some of my friendly sales training competitors. We spoke about the economy, how our business has changed, what we might be able to do together (YES, we are collaborating and doing a seminar) and then we (or maybe it was mostly me) whined a bit about how many companies feel that they can’t “afford” sales training.

My answer: you can’t afford to not train your staff.

Sales is fundamental to the success of a business. It’s a tough job and the folks tasked with doing it deserve the appropriate skills training and reinforcement….and I don’t just mean the newbies; I’m talking about the sales veterans as well.

Think about it. Did anyone ever tell Wayne Gretzky that he didn’t have to practice because he was, well, just about the best player in the league?  Does anyone tell Serena Williams to forget about her practice because she kicks ass on the courts? How about Itzhak Perlman?  Think he wings it when he takes the stage?

Of course not, so why do we think that veteran sales reps don’t need continual skills refreshers; why do so many companies think they can’t “afford” sales training?

The real question is “can you afford to NOT train your sales reps?”