9 Sales Training

Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales Leaders

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.9-1Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Training and Developing the Sales Force

Chapter 9

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.9-2

How Important Is Sales Training?

Trained reps are more knowledgeable about products and services

Understand markets in which they operate and the selling process

Able to better understand customers and deliver better service

Achieve higher sales and incomes Greater job satisfaction because they’re successful

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Sales Force Training

1. Who Needs It??

2. Why do it??

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Sales training—the effort an employer puts forth to provide salespeople job-related culture, skills, knowledge and attitudes that should result in improved performance.

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Sales culture—the set of key values, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, customs and other capabilities & habits shared or acquired as a sales group member. It defines what is important in an organization and is the combination of attitudes and behaviors to which most members of an organization subscribe.

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As product life cycles become shorter and relationships with customers have become more complex, training for sales forces has become increasingly important

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Sales Force Training-Issues

Despite the proven relationship between sales training and sales productivity, studies report that only 30% of firms provide real sales training


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Further studies indicate that at the average company, 9 out of 10 salespeople who have been through training have been disappointed !!

In addition, customers often feel that salespeople who serve them are not very effective

Question: Are sales training programs any good?


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1. Many companies design training programs without thoroughly assessing the training needs

2. Customer needs/evaluations of salespeople are often ignored in program design

3. Management does not reinforce the training

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4. Training used to attempt to solve corporate problems which are actually systemic, strategic, etc.


The Training Process: 4-Stage Training Cycle


The Training Process: 4-Stage Training Cycle-(1.) Identify Needs


Determine Objectives

Assessment of Training Needs at Different Levels


Identifying Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

Sources of Training Needs Information


Determine Who Needs Training

Training needs may vary depending upon rep’s experience level and the needs of the markets

Training needs may be identified from: Quantifiable performance appraisal data Customer satisfaction or CRM data Training needs surveys taken by sales managers and reps

After identifying needs, create training and development plan for reps Plan should include courses rep should take at career

milestones, training from outside vendors, job rotations exposure, etc.

Common Sales Training Topics

1. Product/service knowledge

2. Market/Industry orientation

3. Company orientation

4. Selling skills

5. Time and territory management

6. Legal and ethical issues

7. Technology

8. Specialized topics

What Content Is Needed?


Topics Commonly Covered

Product Knowledge

Companies that produce technical products spend a greater amount of time on product knowledge

KSA’s?

Product Knowledge

KSA’s = knowledge, skills & abilities Task-related KSA’s: essential elements to sell Growth-related KSA’s: adaptive, creative,

attitude, etc. Meta KSA’s: salesperson’s self-development &

self-management


Self-Assessment Library

Go to http://www.prenhall.com/sal/ Access code came with your book

Click the following Assessments

II. Working With OthersA. Communication Styles

1. What’s My Face-to-Face Communication Style?


The Training Process: 4-Stage Training Cycle-(2.) Develop the Program

Content Will Vary Based on Target Group

Programs for new hires

Company orientation

Product and market information

Selling processes

Technology skills

Programs for more experienced reps

Advanced sales skills

Communication and presentation skills

Technology skills



On-the-Job Training

Exposes new reps to practices, products, and customers immediately New hire will learn to model the behavior of the more

experienced rep

Refresher courses for more experienced reps cover advanced sales skills How to work with larger or more complicated customers

or advanced products and services


Integrating Technology

Keys to successful sales technology training include

Ensuring that reps see benefits of technology so they will accept and use it

Thoroughly training reps to use technology both in the field and out

Providing adequate tech support and follow-up training


Professional Development Activities

Professional speaking/role-playing Account management Team selling Negotiating contracts Category management Other advanced training conducted as part of an

industry-wide seminar Summer institutes or graduate courses offered by

colleges, universities, and professional associations


Staffing the Training Program: Internal vs. External

Generally, internal trainer will have more credibility Exception: new technology, training offered by

developer

Dedicated sales training team within the firm? Large number of people needing immediate

training? Outside technology partner to facilitate delivery?


Staffing the Training Program: Time

How frequently is the training needed? Recurring program offered at regular intervals, it may

warrant in-house development

Is the program needed on a regular basis or is it only needed once?

Can it be rolled out gradually or is it needed immediately?

How involved do sales managers need to be?


Staffing the Training Program: Costs

How does outsourced training compare price-wise to internal training?

If internal, will there be extra costs for researching content or creating materials

Additional staffing costs required?

Travel to training site?


Selecting Delivery Method

Web/ConferenceCalls

Presenter delivers info remotely to trainees’ individual computers

On-Demand(Self-Paced)

Access similar information online when and where needed

Instructor-Led Face-to-face training

Webcast /Webinar

One-way flow of communication Two-way flow of communication including feedback

Podcasting Delivering info to rep’s iPod™ or similar device

“Wikis” Web sites individual reps can put up on short notice

and post to


Frequency of Training Methods Used


Role-Playing and Avatars

Role-playing exercises Requires rep to present information to a “client” (usually a

sales trainer or another sales trainee) Overcome sales challenges in real time

Avatars: computer representations of humans Provides consistent experience

with a coach who does not tire Available any time of the day

or night Can be used to train reps

individually or in groups Can be repeated until mastery

is achieved


The Training Process: 4-Stage Training Cycle-(3.) Deliver Training


Scheduling the Training

Location Travel, lodging costs Lost selling time

Psychological “readiness” of the trainees Timing of the training in the sales cycle Time to complete pretraining assignments


Facilitate Learning Transfer

Training and field conditions similar1

Provide opportunities to practice2

Variety of situations to apply new material3

Identify important features of the task4

Opportunity to practice in the field5


The Training Process: 4-Stage Training Cycle-(4.) Assess Training


Assessing the Results

WOW!..only 28% of sales trainers have a definitive method for measuring the value of their sales training

Reaction

Learning

Behaviors

Results


Learning

Measuring the amount of information participants mastered during the program

Doesn’t necessarily reflect if material can be applied productively back in the field

Reaction

Trainee feedback, training staff comments, supervisory feedback

Most frequently used method Don’t show if anything was really learned and

applied

Value to Individual


Value to Organization

Behaviors

Identifies to what degree trainees applied training principles and techniques to their jobs (learning transfer)

Research shows this level of evaluation has only a few shortcomings and is particularly useful

Results

Whether or not an organization achieved objectives it sought by conducting training

More sales, fewer complaints, higher svc rating? Difficult to tell if results are because of training or

other factors Utility analysis: looking at economic impact the

training had by examining cost-benefit trade-offs of training program


Completing the Sales Training Cycle

Compare training results with initial objectives Objectives met, program is considered a success

Often program will go forward with only minor modifications and updates

Objectives not met Majority did not systematically set specific objectives for

their training programs Without objectives to guide development of training,

properly implementing and evaluating will be difficult

Award-Winning Sales Training Programs

Companies that have received awards for their training programs share several characteristics: Include a front-end analysis of the performance, skills,

and knowledge gaps of a firm’s employees using both internal and external metrics, such as customer satisfaction

Conduct analyses, surveys, and interviews of clients, customers, internal business leaders, and employees to identify the learning needs and desired outcomes at the corporate, business-unit, and individual levels

Link a corporation’s strategic objectives to the individual objectives of its employees


Award-Winning Sales Training Programs (continued)

Incorporate learning objectives in employee performance evaluations and promotional decisions

Use career management systems to align the competencies of the firm’s employees with its functions, track the degree of employee learning, support performance reviews, and enhance productivity

Hold managers accountable for complying with the individual development plans of their employees

Use corporate universities to provide a variety of learning models in creative and dedicated learning environments


Best Practices for Sales Trainers

Needs Assessment Is the training tied to the organization’s mission and vision? Can you understand the true nature of the problem/issue at hand, and

what is needed to correct the problem? Is training the appropriate solution, or can the problem be corrected by

other solutions, such as changing the firm’s procedures, developing job aids, or modifying jobs?

Have you determined the learning objectives that will result in the desired changes?

Have you identified the knowledge and skills that will produce the desired new behaviors?

Can you determine the cost/budget constraints and develop suggested solutions within these constraints?

Can you identify the learning styles and needs of participants and incorporate them into the program’s design?


Best Practices for Sales Trainers (continued)

Content Development

Does the program incorporate adult learning principles into all aspects of the training?

Does the content emphasize the essentials, not every possible detail?

Does the program provide participants with the materials they need without overwhelming them?



Technological Proficiency

Is the instructor up to date in the use of most current technology? Is the instructor able to utilize the technology that best fits the

learning situation, rather than using technology for the sake of appearances?

Can the instructor bring the course material “alive” via an effective presentation regardless of the technology used?



Personal Professional Development

Does the instructor have an interest in participants’ personal growth and learning?

Evaluation

Does the instructor seek feedback to improve the program? Does the program include an evaluation process to capture

information on the training’s effectiveness, learning retention by participants, and the use of learning related to the firm’s day-to-day business practices?



Sales Manager’s Workshop: Promedia

You are district sales mgr for Promedia One major responsibility is to make sure all reps are trained and able to

sell complete portfolio of software

Your boss emails concern about lack of field support for Financial Project Tracking software

Reps fired up about software at first, received training Newsletter for about 3 months, nothing for 18 months

Harder to sell than anticipated Complexity, high cost, competition

Reps would appreciate additional training, but they don’t want the training program – they want to know how to overcome specific issues related to selling the product

Conduct opportunity analysis to identify where in the sales cycle reps need extra training

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Training: Examples

“Don’t Wing It !” (14:20)

Sales Management: Shaping Future Sales Leaders

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.9-50Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Training and Developing the Sales Force

Chapter 9

9 Sales Training

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