如果您只有一个可靠的测量工具将销售人员的技能和知识与其他公司的众多销售代表进行比较，那么您对销售人员的品质，如何看呢？

That obviously would require an enormous database—“big data,” in common parlance. What if you had so much data about sales skills that you could measure your salespeople not just against the “universe” of companies, but against firms your own size, or in your own industry?

显然，这需要一个庞大的数据库 - “大数据”，用同样的说法。 如果您掌握了大量关于销售技巧的数据，那么您可以衡量销售人员，不仅仅是针对公司的“领域”，而是针与您同规模的公司或相同的行业？

A pipe dream? Not anymore. For instance, how would you like to know how the Fortune 500 stack up against smaller companies when it comes to sales skills? Please read on.

不再是梦。例如，在销售技巧方面，您想了解财富500强企业如何与小公司相抗衡？ 请继续阅读。

We are committed to your professional success.

我们致力于您的事业成功。

Duane Sparks杜南•斯巴克斯

Author of Action Selling行动销售作者

SALES SKILLS SUBPAR IN THE FORTUNE 500.

销售技能在财富500强中脱颖而出

How can you know if a sales training program actually delivers on its promise of improvements in skills and knowledge? And how can you know that trained salespeople are actually using their new skills to generate new revenue and other measurable evidence of better performance?

您如何知道销售培训计划是否真正实现了其技能和知识改进的承诺？ 你如何知道训练有素的销售人员实际上正在利用他们的新技能来产生新的收入和其他可衡量的更好表现的证据？

As I have explained in previous editions of eCoach, my company, The Sales Board, has been using a validated instrument to reliably measure factors pertaining to Action Selling training since 1995. Those factors include how much knowledge a salesperson has about each of the five Critical Selling Skills that Action Selling teaches; how much that knowledge level improves after training; and how well the person is able to use the knowledge on the job.

正如我在之前版本的eCoach中所解释的那样，我的公司，销售委员会，自1995年以来一直使用经过验证的工具来可靠地测量与行动销售相关的因素。这些因素包括销售人员对五个关键中的每一个知识点。 销售行动销售的技巧; 训练后知识水平提高了多少; 以及这个人如何能够在工作中使用这些知识。

That last point—measuring the application of skills and knowledge on the job—has always been the missing link in proving a direct connection between sales training and a subsequent increase in sales revenue.

最后一点（衡量技能和知识在工作中的应用）一直是证明销售培训与随后销售收入增加之间直接联系的不可缺失环节。

Over the course of two decades and counting, we have compiled data on 400,000 salespeople from more than 3,500 companies in a broad range of industries. Our SQL relational database contains about 78 million data points. We have so much “big data” on the impact of sales training that we can report results not only for the whole “universe” of salespeople, but for salespeople within particular industries.

在过去的二十年中，我们已经汇集了来自各行各业的3,500多家公司的400,000名销售人员的数据。 我们的SQL关系数据库包含大约7800万个数据点。 我们有很多关于影响销售培训的“大数据”，我们不仅可以报告销售人员的整个“领域”，而且可以报告特定行业内的销售人员的结果。

We also can look at companies in different size categories, regardless of their industries. When we isolate our findings about salespeople in Fortune 500 companies and compare them with the “universe” at large, some curious findings jump out.

我们还可以查看不同规模类别的公司，无论其行业如何。 当我们将我们关于财富500强公司销售人员的调查结果与大众的“宇宙”进行比较时，一些奇怪的发现就会突然爆发。

IN THE FORTUNE 500, SALESPEOPLE HAVE FURTHER TO CLIMB.

在“财富”杂志500强中，SALESPEOPLE还在进一步攀登。

Our data shows that prior to training, salespeople in the Fortune 500 tend to have less knowledge about sales skills—and to apply less of what they do know—than their counterparts in smaller companies.

我们的数据显示，在培训之前，财富500强中的销售人员往往对销售技能的了解较少，而且与较小公司的同行相比，他们应用的知识较少。

That means there is more room for improvement via training in the Fortune 500 than in the universe at large.

这意味着通过“财富”500强中的培训比在整个领域中有更多的改进空间。

If we look at post-training results for all five critical skills combined, Fortune 500 salespeople posted a 53% improvement in Knowledge (vs. 43% for the universe) and a whopping 106% boost in Application (vs. 86% for the universe).

如果我们看一下所有五项关键技能的培训结果，财富500强销售人员的知识水平提高了53％（对比领域的43％）和应用程序提升了106％（对比领域的86％）。

The reason for that is simple: Before training, Fortune 500 reps begin with lower scores. Thus, they have more room to grow.

原因很简单：在培训之前，财富500强的代表以较低的分数开始。 因此，他们有更大的成长空间。

The trend is illustrated dramatically if we focus on Critical Skill No. 5, Gaining Commitment. This refers to the salesperson’s ability to get a customer to agree to take an action that will move the sales process forward—a “next step” on the path toward a completed sale.

如果我们专注于关键技能行动5，获得承诺，这一趋势将得到极大的体现。 这是指销售人员让客户同意采取行动推动销售流程的能力 - 在完成销售的道路上“进一步”。

Here is what the training data shows for salespeople in the Fortune 500, vs. the broader universe of companies, when we isolate the skill of Gaining Commitment:

以下是当我们分离获得承诺的技能时，财富500强中的销售人员与更广泛的公司之间的培训数据显示的内容：

IMPROVEMENT IN CRITICAL SALES SKILL #5: GAINING COMMITMENT

重要销售技巧的提升＃5：获得承诺

Notice that the pre-training scores for both Knowledge and Application are significantly lower in the Fortune 500 than in the broader universe. Therefore, even though the post-training scores are nearly identical, the skill gain for Fortune 500 salespeople is much greater: 69% in Knowledge (vs. 56%), and 181% in Application (vs. 120%). The Fortune 500 reps simply had farther to go in order to reach the same skill levels.

请注意，财富500强中知识和应用的预训练分数显然低于更广泛的范围。 因此，即使培训后得分几乎相同，财富500强销售人员的技能收益也要大得多：知识中的69％（56％）和应用程序中的181％（120％）。 为了达到相同的技能水平，财富500强代表需要更长的距离。

Why is it that salespeople in big, brand-name companes appear to be less skillful (before training) than others? Our hypothesis is that salespeople in the Fortune 500 tend to get less training than their counterparts because of an assumption that brand recognition, rather than sales skills, can be relied upon to sway customers.

为什么大型品牌公司的销售人员（在培训之前）的技能水平似乎低于其他公司？ 我们的假设是，财富500强中的销售人员往往比同行的销售人员受到更少的培训，因为他们认为可以依靠品牌识别而不是销售技巧来影响客户。

To some degree, that may be true. But the enormous post-training gains in both Knowledge and, especially, Application, suggest that an investment in sales training can pay spectacular dividends for the Fortune 500.

在某种程度上，这可能是真的。 但知识特别是大量培训后收益表明，对销售培训的投资可以为财富500强带来惊人的收益。