1. Part IV SALES FORCE COMPETENCIES
Chapter 8:
Sales Training
Teachers open
the door.
 You enter
by yourself.
Chinese Proverb

2. SALES TRAINING PROCESS
Assess Setting Setting
Training Objectives Budget
Needs
Planning for
Sales Training
What Where Training Trainers?
Topics? to Train? Methods?
Developing the
Training Program
Evaluating Training
Follow-Up Training

3. SALES TRAINING OBJECTIVES
Why Train Salespeople?
Increase sales or profits
Create positive attitudes/improve morale
Improved customer relations
Reduce role conflict and ambiguity (turnover)
Improve efficiencies (time and territory)
Introduce new products, markets, or programs

4. CONVERSATIONS Sales Manager Says: Salesperson Says:
Sales Manager Thinks:
“Do you think the customer will buy from us? What are the next steps?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you leave without at least scheduling a
follow-up call?”
“You pushed the buyer pretty hard.”
“I closed the deal, didn’t I?”
“It may be the last sale you get with this customer. What happened to building relationships?”
“I noticed that 20% of your calls were on C accounts.”
“I was in the area and they like to see me, so I call on them.”
“The profits from these accounts
don’t even pay for
the calls. You need
to target better.”

5. Table 8-1 Cross-Tabulations from Company Records
Experience
Less than 2 year
2-5 years
5-10 years
Over 10 years
Regions
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
West
Average Order
Size per Salesperson
New Customers
Per Salesperson
Total Customers
Per Salesperson

6. DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS*
Judgment of:
Top Management
Sales Management
Training Department
Interview With:
Salespeople
Customers
68%
73%
60%
59%
25%
* Percent of firms indicating they often use these assessments to determine training needs.

7. DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS*
Performance Measures:
Sales Volume
Customer Service
Other Measures:
Observation of Salespeople
Attitude Surveys
56%
51%
38%
28%
* Percent of firms indicating they often use these assessments to determine training needs.

8. STEPS IN PERFORMING A TRAINING ANALYSIS
Interviewed key members or management to find out what changes are needed in performance of the sales force.
Sent an anonymous questionnaire to customers and prospects asking:
What do you expect of a salesperson in this industry?
How do salespeople disappoint you?
Which company in this industry does the best selling job?
In what ways are its salespersons better?
Sent a confidential questionnaire to each salesperson asking:
What information do most of our salespersons need?
What information do you want to learn better?
What skills do most of our salespersons need to improve?

9. STEPS IN PERFORMING A TRAINING ANALYSIS
Did field audits (making sales calls) with 20% of the sales force?
Interviewed sales supervisors.
Discussed and agreed on training priorities with management.
Determined trainable topics from information gathered in Steps 1-5.

10. Table 8-2 Average Cost and Training Period for Sales Trainees
Consumer
Industrial
Service
$5,354
$9,893
$9,060
Consumer
Industrial
Service
3.40 Months
3.80 Months
3.80 Months

11. Table 8-3 Average Cost of Training for Veteran Salespeople
$5,365
$4,824
$3,947
$3,902
$3,752
Median Spending
Under $5 $5-$25 $25-$100 $100-$250 Over $250
Million Million Million Million Million
Company Size

12. ALLOCATING TRAINING TIME
Average
Product knowledge %
Market/Industry Information 15
Company Orientation
Selling Techniques
Other topics
Total %

13. INDUSTRY JARGON “What does HCFA say?” “DRG’s are killing us.”
“Is this level II in the POL regs?”
“The LTC market’s future looks good.”
“The HME industry is changing rapidly.”
How about:
Reflotrons
Spirometry
Holters

14. ON-THE-JOB SALES TRAINING
80% of a new field salesperson’s training should be focused on developing customer profiles, digging out account survey data, and building working relationships in the field.
15% of time can then be invested in learning about how your product or service is used by existing customers. The field is the place to gain product knowledge, not from an engineer or home office instructor.

15. ON-THE-JOB SALES TRAINING
Only 5% of a new field salesperson’s time, then, should be spent on developing selling skills.
Again, the place to do this is face-to-face with real customers:
setting and testing real precall objectives
asking for real opportunities to do business.
Understanding what has to be done to build selling skills can be mastered in 15 minutes. Doing it takes years of actual, not simulated practice.

16. Media Used in Sales Training
Table 8-4
Media Used in Sales Training
Classroom with Instructor
Workbooks/Manuals
Role Plays
CD-ROM
Audiocassettes
Internet
77%
54%
44%
39%
34%
32%

17. EVALUATING SALES TRAINING
Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
When to
Reactions: “Are trainees satisfied?”
Perceptions of training
Course evaluation
Instructor evaluation
Survey
Interview
At the completion of training
Learning: “Did the training have its intended effect?”
Knowledge of course content
Exams
Self-assessment
At the completion of training and at points in the future

18. EVALUATING SALES TRAINING
Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
When to
Behavior: “Are the salespeople on the job using their knowledge and skills on the job?”
Skills
Job performance
Absenteeism
Turnover
Performance indicators
Observation
Managerial assessment
Self-assessment
Over the first year after training

19. EVALUATING SALES TRAINING
Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
When to
Results: “What effect does training have on the company?”
Job satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
Sales
Profits
ROI
Survey
Experiments
Managerial assessment
A year after the training

20. EVALUATING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS*
Reactions:
Trainees
Supervisors
Learning:
Performance
Pre-vs. Post-Training
Behaviors:
Supervisor’s Appraisal
Customer Appraisal
Results:
Bottom Line
86%
68%
63%
31%
64%
41%
40%
*Percent of firms indicating they often use these evaluations to measure training results.

21. Sales Training Evaluation Practices
Table 8-5
Sales Training Evaluation Practices
Measure Criteria Type Importance Rank
Trainee Feedback Reaction 1
Supervisory Appraisal Behavior 2
Self-Appraisal Behavior 3
Bottom-Line Measures Results 4
Customer Appraisal Behavior 5

22. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Notation O1 = Results before sales training
X1 = Sales training
O2 = Results after sales training
O2 – O1 = Difference in results
Experimental Group
O1 X1 O2
Control Group
O3 O4
Sales Training Effect
(O2 – O1) – (O4 – O3)

23. BUILDING A SALES TRAINING PROGRAM
Treat all employees as potential career employees.
Require regular re-training.
Spend time and money generously.
Salespeople and sales managers must take the lead in developing what goes into the program.
In times of crisis, increase, rather than decrease, the training program.