Sales training. No company can afford to ignore it, and thankfully few do. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, companies spend $1 trillion globally on sales training each year. Yes, that's "trillion" with a "T."

But are they really getting their money's worth? It depends. Are they doing it correctly?

In other words, is the training focused on the product (incorrect) or the people (correct)?

Companies that focus their sales training on hyping their products (or solutions) don't fare as well as those who teach their sales staff to explicitly communicate an understanding of their prospective customers' problems – and how the product or solution can solve those problems.

And there is proof.

Look at these statistics culled from a recent best practices study conducted by CSO Insights. According to the study, companies that focus on customer aligned sales training achieve impressive results:

• 25 percent higher quota attainment
• 20 percent higher win rates
• 5 times less discounting
• 3 times the competitive win rate

Exciting. Eye-opening. Reason enough to ensure that your sales training is customer aligned. Here are 10 ways to do just that.

1) Know thy prospective customer

A buyer-aligned sales strategy is only as good as the leads (and information about the leads) with which your sales team is armed. Make sure your salespeople have good information, and make sure they study it thoroughly.

2) Talk about problems, not products

Your salespeople know the products. They can talk about them in their sleep (and probably do). So enough about what makes your products so great; spend time in sales training helping your staff understand how to identify and understand the problems customers are facing.

3) Focus on one simple question

All your sales team has to do is ask one simple question: "How do we _________ so that ________?" This simple question is the key to a buyer-aligned sales strategy.

4) Put cause before solution

Teaching your sales team to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the underlying causes of problems on the front end makes your sales team more believable when they start talking about solutions on the tail end.

5) Know the difference between a "generic value" and a "differentiated value"

A product's generic value is how it addresses a specific problem. A product's differentiated value is how it solves a specific problem better than the competition does. Customers care about generic value, but they care a lot more about differentiated value.

6) Invite your marketing team

Your marketing team better know about it – and start talking about it, too. If marketing and sales are not aligned in the buyer-aligned sales process, it's less likely to work.

7) Meet your sales staff where it thinks

Transitioning to a sales strategy that puts customers first is a major paradigm shift. But if you understand how your salespeople see the world and tailor materials to fit their thought processes, you'll be successful.

8) Know it's not always about the numbers

Quotas and stretch goals are necessary, but the quality of customer interactions is every bit as important. Understanding customer trends plays a big role in conversion and retention.

9) Consider developing a "Net Promoter Score" of your own

Net Promoter Scores measure the level of delight your sales team brings to customers. It tells you how well you've solved problems and where you need to improve.

10) Never forget to listen

Teaching your team new ways of doing business involves listening to your team. Even if you know how your employees process and use information, you – the trainer – can still learn from their actions and continue to refine and improve your training.