Training Day Need a sales trainer to whip your staff into shape? Here's how to find a winning coach.

If your sales force is foundering, it may be time to bring in asales trainer. A sales trainer can fire up your team by teachingreal-world ways to close more deals. Here are a few tips forfinding a superlative sales coach for your team and yourbudget:

Put together a list ofvendors. As you do with other major investments, askcolleagues in similar industries for referrals. Alex Ramsey,founder and president of LodeStarUniversal in Dallas, which provides executive coaching andsales strategies, advises entrepreneurs to check out the National SpeakersAssociation, the American Society for Training & Development, or tocontact the author of an admired book on sales.

Look for relevant experience.Make sure the trainer is a whiz in your field and will take thetime to customize a presentation to your needs. Paul DiModica,founder and president of DigitalHatch, an IT sales and marketingtraining company in Atlanta, warns that some trainers may be usingcanned content: "Many sales trainers are just re-marketers ofother people's materials."

Be clear about your needs. Inconducting due diligence with prospective trainers, make sure thetrainer understands what you want to accomplish. Does your salesteam need help with cold-calling? A confidence boost? Assistanceturning technical mumbo jumbo into real language? "Once youunderstand your goals and expectations, then you're more likelyto ask the right questions [and] set a realistic budget and amountof time to accomplish objectives," says Ramsey.

Don't focus on finding agenius. A highly successful salesperson isn'tnecessarily a great trainer. "It's not Tiger Woods, but[rather] his instructor [whom] you want to teach you golf,"clarifies Ramsey. "Tiger is going to be entirely too focusedon how he plays the game." Ramsey adds that a salesmanager should seek a trainer who listens and is willing to adaptthe sales training to fit the entrepreneur's world.

Know the costs. DiModicaoffers an on-site, one-day program with a 30-day follow-up startingat $5,000. Ramsey's programs range from $2,000 to $20,000,depending on length, objectives and the number of people andprograms. Training through a public class with a sales trainingcompany runs $600 to $1,500 per participant, though the class willlikely include attendees from several different companies and maynot be customized. (Some sales training companies include Dale CarnegieTraining, and the Sandler Sales Institute.) Mark Tewart, president ofsales and management training and professional speaking companyTewartEnterprises in Lebanon, Ohio, says his fees will vary widelyaccording to the scope of the training. According to Tewart, hisrange is $1,500 to $20,000 per day, plus expenses and materials,with an average around $3,000 per day. (Fees are per session,unless noted as "per participant.")

Set aside time. DiModicabelieves training should last one to two days, depending on yourneeds, with a refresher meeting including role-playing sessions onemonth after the initial session. Ramsey says that one hour willsuffice for a motivational speech, while full training can involvethree to 10 days over several months.

Tewart offers the following checklist for hiring a salestrainer:

Training should provide measurablehard and soft improvements. Hard improvements can bemeasured in sales, productivity and higher retention. Softimprovements include an increase in sales staff confidence andimproved team attitude.

Seek fresh and originalcurriculum. Salespeople are immediately turned off byold-school, warmed-over sales techniques that everyone has heard athousand times. Look for a unique trainer, material or method ofdelivery.

Avoid the "sunburneffect." Too many sales trainers promise the moon butdon't leave a game plan on what to do when they're nolonger there. Your sales force will experience the "sunburneffect" of training-the training fades, and the traineeshurt.

Kimberly L. Mccall ("Marketing Angel") is presidentof McCallMedia & Marketing Inc. and author of Sell It, Baby! Marketing Angel's 37Down-to-Earth & Practical How-To's on Marketing, Branding& Sales.