5 Tips for Training your Sales Personnel

No matter the size of your brokerage, whether you are an STP broker or a market maker, the type of technology you use or whether you’ve been doing business for a month, a year or ten years, your sales department is the lifeblood of your brokerage.

Your state-of-the-art platform, your back-end systems, your creative marketing campaigns, your Regulation Regulation Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Like any other industry with a high net worth, the financial services industry is tightly regulated to help curb illicit behavior and manipulation. Each asset class has its own set of protocols put in place to combat their respective forms of abuse.In the foreign exchange space, regulation is assumed by authorities in multiple jurisdictions, though ultimately lacking a binding international order. Who are the Industry’s Leading Regulators?Regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ( Read this Term, they are all important, but without a great sales team, your business is going nowhere. Therefore, employing the aces of the industry when it comes to salespeople, is a determining factor in your success.

You may think of a great sales agent and picture a smooth talker with an answer to a client’s every question, even before the client can think of the question. Truth is, real great salespeople are not necessarily the smoothest talkers, but rather the best listeners. By listening to a client’s needs and wants, a great salesperson can find ways to meet those needs.

great salespeople are not necessarily the smoothest talkers, but rather the best listeners

Whether you find yourself hiring a natural-born salesperson or a diamond in the rough, great salespeople need to work on developing and improving their skills every single day. Here are a few tips to help you, as a broker, provide consistent sales training:

1. Take advantage of e-learning

For a Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term sales agents to do a good job at closing deals and feel confident in their pitch, they need to understand the product perfectly and be constantly updated on industry trends.

By knowing the product they sell like they know the back of their hand, a sales agent is able to better identify client issues and position the product as the perfect solution.

By keeping up to date with industry news, they can better recommend certain investments to their customers.

But how do you get your entire sales force in a room for training between constant sales calls? That’s where e-learning becomes so useful. E-learning tools give sales personnel the opportunity to brush up on their product knowledge at anytime, anywhere, through online videos and study modules. Additionally, there is a wealth of information available on the web that can allow salespeople to acquire knowledge that they can in turn share with their traders.

2. Create a buddy system

In a high employee turnover industry such as the forex industry, it is likely that the onboarding of new sales personnel will occur at various intervals. Creating a buddy system is a great way to give newbies a go-to person who they can ask as many questions as they want.

The salesperson who is two weeks in already has a lot more information than the 1-day-in sales person and can therefore help him get engaged in a non-intimidating way. By working with a peer, a new salesperson is encouraged to ask for help and the learning curve is accelerated.

3. Real-life training

As much as you can train your sales personnel, theory only takes them so far.

Field training is where the real talent is developed. Assign a competent leader to listen in on trainees’ sales calls or review call recordings, analyze performance and provide timely and concise feedback.

It is the feedback that a sales person receives soon after the call that resonates the most.

4. Share success stories

Did you know that employee attitude can affect between 40 and 80% of customer satisfaction according to a study conducted by the National Business Research Institute?

By sharing mutual successes, you’ll instill a sense of unity amongst your salespeople, encourage them to work harder, increase their morale and directly impact your bottom line.

A retail giant reported a $200,000 increase in monthly sales per store after increasing employee engagement by one point.

5. Allow time to analyze

We know, the more time your sales person spends on the phone, the better their chances of achieving their sales goal.

You have set a minimum number of calls per day and every minute they spend off the phone is a minute they are not selling, but it is important to allow your sales people the time to reflect and take something away from each conversation they have.

Get your sales people in the habit of booking time on their calendar to analyze their calls and reflect on what went right and what they can improve on.