Sales training professionals need to make sure that their sales force stays on topic when doing cold calling or when in the sales process in personal meetings. All too often we see salespeople stray from the subject of the products or services they are selling.

It is good to developer relationship with the prospect, but if you keep talking on all kinds of issues then you're liable to disagree on something and you'll kill the sale because you started talking about religion or politics. Sales training professionals need to make sure that the salespeople stay on topic and remember why you're calling in the first place; to offer their goods or services to the prospect or potential client.

Sales managers and sales training professionals need to make sure that the salespeople understand that they should not waste time and should move the sales process along forward for the betterment of their commission base, the prospect and the company profits. Salespeople are in business to make sales not to shoot the breeze.

It therefore make sense that the salesperson should be taught by the sales trainer and monitored by the sales manager to make sure that they stay focused and do not deviate into full-on off topic conversations. This only wastes the time of the prospect and the salesperson. Please consider this in 2006.