1. Building a World-Class Sales University:
How Sales Education Systems Drive Behavioral Change and Results
William L. MacDonald
President & CEO
PleinAire Strategies, LLC

2. The Sales Process Random Formal Informal Dynamic Level 1 Level 2

3. Strategic Contributor
The Sales Process +
Level 1
Approved Vendor
Level 2
Preferred Supplier
Level 3
Solutions Consultant
Level 4
Strategic Contributor
Level 5
Trusted Partner

4. A Sales Process: Critical to Success
Source: CSO Insights

5. Sales Performance Comparison
Proof in the Numbers
Sales Performance Comparison
Level 1 Performance
Level 2 Performance
Level 3 Performance
% Reps Making Quota
53%
58%
64%
% of Company Plan Attainment
76%
84%
89%
% Forecast - Wins
39%
44%
51%
% Forecast - Losses
37%
31%
28%
% Forecast – No Decisions
26%
25%
21%
% Sales Force Turnover
16%
12%
Source: CSO Insights

6. Sales Training Falls Short
90% of Sales Training: No Lasting Impact After 120 Days1
1/3rd Sales Executives Report:
Majority of Reps Without Skills to Perform Job
“billions of dollars wasted on sales training every year, with little to show for it beyond short-term, short-lived gains.”
WHY?
1 ES Research Group

7. 7 Reasons Sales Training Fails
Failure to . . .
Define Business and Learning Needs (SWOT)
Build Sales Knowledge
Assess Attributes of Everyone on Team
Put a Sales Process in Place
Deliver Training that Engages
Reinforce Training and Make it Stick
Evaluate, Hold Reps Accountable, Continue to Improve
Source: Adapted from The Rain Group

8. When It Works, It’s Worth It
Sales Reps With Effective Training Without It
Make Quota
64.9 %
60 %
Higher Win Rate
54.3%
44%
Lost Fewer Sales to
No Decision
20.5%
26%
Turnover Rate
15.7%
25.6%

9. Exceeding Expectations
Where Sales Training Exceeds Expectations,
Sellers are 56% More Likely To Differentiate From the Competition

10. Fragile State of Sales Training
Research Supports Sales Training Often Fails
Sellers Need to Improve Skills and Knowledge
When It Suceeds, Training Makes a Direct and Quantifiable Impact on Sales Effectiveness and Revenue Growth

11. Must drive real behavioral change and results
Time for a New Approach
Change How Sales Training is:
Conceived
Designed
Executed Long Term
Must drive real behavioral change and results

12. View Your Training Differently
Selling is Not a Basic Task
Sales Training Requires Behavior Change of Adults Set in Their Ways
Sales Training is Not an Event
Leading Firms View Sales Training as an Ongoing Process

13. Treat Sales Training Like a University Experience
Build Your Own Sales University
Treat Sales Training Like a
University Experience
World-Class Companies
Build Their Own Universities

14. How Do You Begin? Define Goals, Objectives, & Success Metrics
Develop Tested Curriculum
Deliver Platform, Modules, Experience
Enable Execution
Measure, Adjust, Continue to Improve

15. Typical Sales Training
Category
Typical Sales Training
Sales University
Approach to sales training
Flavor of the month, jumbled
Focused, organized, logical, long-term view
Staying power
Learning forgotten, not applied
Learned, internalized, applied
New hire ramp-up
Time-consuming, ineffective
Efficient, repeatable, effective
Delivery method and components
Limited
Live & online, blended learning, multiple modalities, testing & certification
Customization
If done, lots of effort, little use
Maximum use for sales enablement
Sales approach (method)
Aging, limited, jumbled mix
Research-based, current, field-tested, comprehensive
Ramp-up
Slow, inefficient process to get new hires to full capacity
Fast, effective, well-planned ramp-up
Effectiveness
Not remembered, not connected to daily work
Internalized, integrated with sales performance environment, behaviors applied on the job
Source: The Rain Group

16. Welcome Your Questions
William L. MacDonald
President & CEO
PleinAire Strategies, LLC