A book can be an incredible tool for educating your potential customers. Giving them valuable information can help you to build your own credibility, and put you at top of their mind as an expert who is willing and able to help.

Writing a book isn’t as daunting a task as it sounds. You don’t need to be Stephen King to make it happen, and you don’t need to strike up a complicated deal with a mega-publisher either. In fact, you don’t even have to print a single piece of paper to create or distribute your book.

"Training must not be controlled, but instead be completely free play...in a simulated environment in which [agents] can discover for themselves that [selling] is not a series of canned problems with a limited range of responses, but a human encounter where unexpected always happens and flexibility is key." — Col. David H. Hackworth, U. S. Army (Ret.)

“KASH”

The objective of sales training is to help salespeople develop Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits—KASH-- they need to meet their production goals.

To put it simply — Knowledge is what they need to know; Attitudes are their outlook about career and themselves; Skills are what they need to do, and Habits are behavior patterns they must develop to meet their performance standards. As philosopher Roethke, observed, "I learn by going where I have to go." So sales training must be a practical, hands-on learning experience, not an academic exercise. Salespeople, especially new producers and those in pre-contract training, must learn by doing; and they should be taught by demonstration, not just out of a book.

That’s why best sales trainers and sales managers are former producers who can show how it's done; who know what they're looking at when they observe trainees in action; who have solid opinions, and who can give meaningful feedback.