Training: why do we do it and what do we expect to get from it? All too often, the objectives for what will be gained from training are not clearly defined.

"New Product Training," "Application Training" and "Advanced Training" are sessions that we have all attended. Were the objectives of this training clear to you before the session? Were they clear after the session? The unwritten objective of any training session is for attendees to leave armed with information that will assist them in making more sales. It really is that simple.

We spend a great deal of time training our sales force to understand and apply our latest tooling developments. As manufacturers, we'll invite our distributors to send their sales force to our facilities for training. But the one area that we seem to have avoided is training our sales force in the art of "professional selling."

For years, I thought selling cutting tools was so unique that professional selling seminars pertinent to our industry did not exist. I was wrong.

Mercuri International designed a professional selling skills program that met our requirements and exceeded expectations. The training began with three-day sessions for our sales force and key support personnel from customer service and engineering. We identified some glaring weaknesses that we were almost totally unaware of. We also reinforced the fact that we do many things very well, and our instructor, Stephane Malouin, came away with a much better understanding of the carbide world.

We brought our sales force through the sessions that focused on role-playing and reviewed our results. We learned many things—how to use a RAC model ("Results, Activities, Competencies"), and how to build "brick walls" around our customers to protect our business. But most importantly, we defined the steps in the process of making a sale.

Armed with all this information, we wanted to share it. We then brought Mercuri in for a session that gave our distributors a peek at what we were so excited about.

Professional sales training within our technical business was strange to them as well. But soon the benefits started to become clear.

We've found a new wrinkle in our business, and have seen our sales grow because of it. We have testimonials from our salesmen and some distributor partners that verified the fact that honed professional selling skills, when linked to a highly competent technically trained sales force, separated us from the rest.

A major partner of ours, Western Tool & Supply in Livermore, Calif., sent its sales force and branch managers for the Mercuri training. To attend, each person contributed a Saturday from their schedule. Combined with a Friday session, a comprehensive two-day program was held on two separate weekends.

This was the first step in our effort to share with our business partners a new approach toward selling. We are committed to raising the skills of our sales force and we are excited about offering these skills to our distributor network. We believe it is a new look at our partnerships, and an enhanced value that we bring to the relationship.