Sales Training Programs: Discover the Transformative Power of Archetype-Based Sales Training

Imagine if you could unlock the true potential of your salesforce by understanding their unique strengths and weaknesses, then tailoring your sales training program to fit each person perfectly. Any sales director can tell you that all salespeople are not created equal. Every team has high performers, mid-performers, and low performers, driving companies to invest billions annually in sales training. But here’s the catch: despite this massive spending, many organizations still see disappointing returns.

The root issue creating disappointing sales performance often lies not in a salesperson’s skill but instead their attitude and approach. Yet, most companies rely on one-size-fits-all sales training programs, ignoring the diverse needs of their salesforce. 

But what if there was a better way? A one-size-fits-many approach designed to help every member of the organization reach the next level of success. That approach is Sales Archetypes.

Understanding Sales Archetypes

What do I mean by sales archetypes? In my experience, you can categorize any sales force into four distinct archetype groups: Vending Machines, Grocery Stores, Websites, and, at the top of the hierarchy, Florists.

Vending Machines represent the most basic level. These salespeople simply take orders without creating demand or building relationships. They’re effective for well-known, high-demand products but struggle with new or less popular items.

Grocery Stores build and sustain customer relationships. They don’t generate initial purchase intent, but they excel at encouraging repeat business and upselling through price discounting and personal interactions.

Websites are more advanced. They use content and data to prospect, nurture, and close sales. Websites analyze customer behavior to make personalized recommendations and grow cart.

At the pinnacle, Florists blend the strengths of Grocery Stores and Websites. They establish deep trust with customers, often selling products sight unseen. Florists are the trusted advisors who not only maintain but also grow customer relationships, driving both repeat business and new sales.

Ideally, every company wants a sales force full of Florists. However, the reality is that most teams are a mix of these archetypes, with Florists being the smallest group. Most salespeople fall into the Grocery Store or Website categories, and inevitably, some act like Vending Machines.

Instead of using a one-size-fits-all approach to sales training, companies should evaluate their teams and classify each salesperson by archetype. This classification allows for targeted training and development plans tailored to each group’s strengths and needs. By focusing on archetype and coachability, companies can create more effective sales training programs and maximize their return on investment.

If you’re curious about what that would look like, keep reading. We’ll delve into each of the four salesforce archetypes and explore a process for developing tailored sales training programs based on the sales archetype approach to training your sales team.

Vending Machines

At the bottom of the sales effectiveness hierarchy are Vending Machines. This archetype represents a basic, transactional approach to sales, and it’s problematic for two main reasons.

First, Vending Machines don’t create the desire to buy. Think about it. You don’t walk by a vending machine and suddenly feel compelled to purchase something. Desire comes first, and only then does the vending machine fulfill that need. Placement is crucial for a vending machine’s success because it relies on being in the right place at the right time when the desire already exists.

Second, Vending Machines don’t influence your choice of purchase. They simply offer what’s available, leaving the decision entirely up to the buyer. This works for well-known, high-demand products, but it’s ineffective for new, niche, or lesser-known items. If the vending machine stocks a category leader alongside a startup product, the latter is likely to be overlooked.

Vending Machine salespeople operate the same way. They don’t generate demand or guide the customer’s choice. They’re just there to take the order. We’ve all encountered these salespeople – they’re transactional, impersonal, and instead of Selling Greatly, often leave us feeling like just another number. They don’t engage with the customer beyond the immediate transaction, missing opportunities to build relationships or provide additional value.

Imagine a scenario where a customer has specific needs or uncertainties about a product. A Vending Machine salesperson will not take the time to understand these needs or address concerns. They won’t offer recommendations, suggest complementary products, or provide insights that could enhance the customer’s experience. And given a choice between the easy sale (well known, established product) and a new, challenger brand, they’ll take the easy sale every time. This lack of engagement not only reduces the potential for upselling and cross-selling but also fails to build customer loyalty. Over time, this approach can harm a company’s reputation and lead to missed sales opportunities.

Ultimately, Vending Machine salespeople are order-takers, not relationship-builders. They might suffice for selling straightforward, high-demand items, but they fall short in environments that require a deeper understanding of customer needs and proactive engagement. Transforming these salespeople into more effective archetypes involves training them to create demand, influence purchasing decisions, and build lasting customer relationships.

Grocery Stores

Moving up the hierarchy from Vending Machines, we find the Grocery Stores. Like Vending Machines, Grocery Stores don’t necessarily create initial purchase intent. You don’t suddenly feel compelled to “make groceries” just because you drive by your local grocery store. For those unfamiliar with New Orleans lingo, locals say “making groceries” when they refer to grocery shopping. Don’t ask me why, I’m a transplant 😊 but I have to admit, it’s a charming phrase.

However, unlike Vending Machines, Grocery Stores do influence what you buy once you’re inside. They strategically feature products on end-caps, use attractive displays, and have employees who might suggest items you hadn’t considered. For example, during Mother’s Day weekend, I was in a grocery store that had as many flower arrangements as food items, prompting folks to pick up a bouquet along with their groceries.

Grocery Stores also excel in building relationships. We often develop a preference for a particular grocery store, and as long as it continues to meet our needs, we remain loyal, even driving past competitors to shop there. This loyalty stems from the familiarity, convenience, and consistent experience the store provides.

This is why Grocery Store archetypes make effective salespeople. They are adept at maintaining and nurturing customer relationships, ensuring that customers keep coming back. They provide a personalized touch that Vending Machines lack. However, this loyalty has its limits. If a Grocery Store stops carrying a customer’s preferred products or if the salesperson leaves for another company, the customer may start looking for a new Grocery Store to patronize. And because they’re relationship sellers, they’re not often as skilled at convincing customers to buy new products, preferring instead to lean on their relationship with the customer to convince them to try something new resulting in fewer repeat purchases of new items. 

Websites

Building on the strengths of Grocery Stores, we arrive at the Websites archetype. I have a particular affinity for Websites because, like me, they leverage content to prospect, nurture, and close sales. However, companies favor Websites because, unlike Vending Machines and Grocery Stores, smart Websites are always striving to grow cart.

Consider your online shopping experiences. Every time you make a purchase, the website suggests additional products that complement your choice or items that others have also bought. The best websites track your search, shopping, and purchase behavior, using this data to create compelling offers or introduce you to products you didn’t even know you needed.

Websites build relationships in a more sophisticated and valuable way compared to Grocery Stores. While Grocery Stores excel at maintaining relationships based on convenience and comfort, Websites foster customer loyalty by providing continuous value beyond the transaction. Whether through personalized recommendations, insightful buying suggestions, or third-party reviews that boost our confidence in our purchase decisions, smart Websites earn our business and loyalty daily by effectively utilizing content and insights.

But as we all know, and AI is shining a glaring light on currently, information may be power, but it’s also relatively easy to replicate. So while I think Websites make incredible salespeople, the key to maximizing their effectiveness is empowering them with worldclass support systems and technology that gives them the edge over competitors. 

Which leads us to the king of the class, Florists. 

Florists

At the top of the sales hierarchy are Florists, the perfect blend of Grocery Stores and Websites. Florists excel at building and maintaining relationships with their customers, leveraging purchase history and customer insights to create a trust-based relationship. Imagine this: you can buy a dozen roses from a vending machine, in a grocery store, or via a website. In each of these scenarios, you see the product before you purchase it. Only with a florist do you buy the product sight unseen.

When you call a florist, you simply tell them what you want, when you need it, and where it should be delivered. You trust that the product will reflect well on you. This epitomizes the ultimate seller-buyer relationship, and it’s why companies should aim to cultivate salesforces composed entirely of Florists.

Florists are not just about growing the cart; they grow the company—your company. They keep the repeat orders coming, introduce new products, and, most importantly, they have an acute ability to identify invisible opportunities for your company to create new products and services. This keen sense of opportunity stems from what my pal Chris Brogan calls having “big ears.”

When your company solves problems that customers didn’t even know they had, or perhaps didn’t realize were solvable, customer loyalty naturally follows.

And there’s another compelling reason Florists are the best salespeople. Consider this: if you were buying a dozen roses, which purchase channel—vending machine, grocery store, website, or florist—would be the most expensive?

If Juliet was right, and a rose is just a rose regardless of its name, then why do you pay more to buy that rose from a florist versus a vending machine, grocery store, or website?

The answer is price insensitivity, the Florist’s superpower. This is the primary reason why companies with teams of Florists enjoy price premiums over their competitors, even in commodity product categories.