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Sales Training: Objectives, Techniques, and Evaluation

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1 Sales Training: Objectives, Techniques, and Evaluation
10 Sales Training: Objectives, Techniques, and Evaluation McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2 Military Training and Sales Careers
What skills Can be trained? Must be trained? Are a pre-hire requirement? What previous training has transferability and value? Managers must focus on critical success competencies Source: HR Chally Group (2007).

3 Identify key issues in sales training
Understand objectives of sales training Discuss development of sales training programs Understand training of new sales recruits and experienced salespeople Define topics covered in a sales training program Understand various methods for conducting sales training Discuss how to measure costs and benefits of sales training

4 10.1 Training Magazine’s Top Training Companies
Source: Source: Manage smarter.com October, 2007.

5 Sales Training Issues Who should be trained?
What should be the training primary emphasis? How should the training process be structured? On-the-job training and experience? Formal and more consistent centralized program? Web-based? Instructor-based?

6 Sales Training Objectives
Increase productivity Improve morale Lower turnover Improve customer relations Improve selling skills

7 10.1 Challenge of Effective Training: Follow-Up
Salespeople are a tough audience Salespeople retain about 50% after five weeks Management issues Poor training implementation Lack of measureable results Lack of refresher courses/materials Source: “Half Life of Sales Training,” American Salesman 49, no. 1 (2004), p. 23.

8 10.1 Effectiveness of Follow-Up Strategies
Incentive compensation for new behaviors Manager statement detailing expectations Follow-up classes Coaching by manager Sharing experiences/practices among team % Respondents Identifying Strategies as Effective Source: “Half Life of Sales Training,” American Salesman 49, no. 1 (2004), p. 23.

9 Obstacles to Introducing Training
Top management not dedicated to sales training Lack of buy-in from frontline sales managers and salespeople Salespeople’s lack of understanding of what training is supposed to accomplish Salespeople’s lack of understanding regarding application of training to everyday tasks

10 10.2 Failure – Causes and Cures
Delivering “fad” vs. “function” Off the shelf delivery Unreasonable time constraints Little reinforcement Source: Heather Baldwin, “Rethinking Sales Training,” SellingPower.com, August 2006 online issue.

11 Shifts in Training New Sales Recruits
Companies with less than $5 million in annual sales are spending more on sales training per new hire - $5,500 worth of training per salesperson. Training in smaller companies has increased from 3.3 months to 4.4 months. Smaller companies are placing more emphasis on training than several years ago. Companies are spending time and money on training experienced salespeople Companies with more than $5 million in annual sales, are spending less money on training Source: Christen P. Heide, Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey: (Chicago: Dartnell Corp., 1999)

12 Shifts in Training Experienced Sales Recruits
Experienced sales reps are given, on average, 32.5 hours of ongoing training per year at a cost of $4,032 per rep Continuing increasing amounts of training reflects a commitment to provide ongoing learning opportunities for senior salespeople Companies are spending an increasing amount of time on product training and less on training in selling skills Source: Christen P. Heide, Dartnell’s 30th Sales Force Compensation Survey: (Chicago: Dartnell Corp., 1999)

13 Sales Training Topics Product or service knowledge
Market/Industry orientation Company orientation Selling skills Time and territory management Legal and ethical issues Technology Specialized topics

14 Product Knowledge Topics
Critical information for rational decision-making Company’s product specifications Common product uses/misuses Competitive products comparison on Price Construction Performance Compatibility Technical products require more time on product knowledge training

15 Market/Industry Orientation Topics
Industry fit into overall economy Knowledge of industry and economy Economic fluctuations that affect buying behavior and require adaptive selling techniques Customers' buying policies, patterns and preferences in light of competition Customers' customers needs Wholesaler and retailer needs

16 Company Orientation Topics
Company polices that affect their selling activities Personnel Structure Benefits Handling customer requests for price adjustments, product modifications, faster delivery, different credit terms Sales manuals Hard copy, online Product information Company policy information

17 Time and Territory Management
Sales trainees need to learn to manage time and territories Time spent training out of the field is costly 80/20 rule applies: 20% of the customers account for 80% of the business and Require the same proportion of time and attention

18 Legal/Ethical Issues Federal law dictates corporate action or avoidance of action in areas of marketing, sales and pricing Sales personnel need to understand the federal, state and local laws that constrain their selling activities Statements made by salespeople carry both legal and ethical implications Lapses in ethical conduct often lead to legal problems

19 Technology Notebook computers
Presentations Connecting to company intranet or extranet Delivering documentation quickly and accurately Home offices eliminate the need to go to another office Salesperson can be almost totally self-sufficient with High-speed network connection Computer Printer Cell phone Effective computer use affords sales personnel more face-to-face customer contact time Effective use requires training

20 10.4 Internet Training Increased control over content Less costly
Comprises 15-20% of all training today Expected to be 50% within 5 years

21 Specialized Training Topics
Specialized, job-tailored training most effective Sample topics Price negotiations Trade show effectiveness Reading body language Addressing SCA

22 10.5 Common instruction methods

23 10.5 Creative Sales Training
Effective training can take place beyond the classroom or computer Requirements Focus on knowledge, selling skills for success Understand deliverables Examples Boot camps Product “immersion” Cooking classes

24 Keys for Effective OJT Teaming - bring together people with different skills Meetings - set aside times when employees can get together Customer interaction - include customer feedback as part of learning process Mentoring - provide informal mechanism for new salespeople to learn from more experienced ones Peer-to-peer communication - create opportunities for mutual learning among salespeople Source: The Education Development Center (

25 Classroom Training Advantages Disadvantages
Standard briefings in Product knowledge Company polices Customer and market characteristics Selling skills Formal training sessions save executive time Interaction among salespeople builds camaraderie Disadvantages Expensive Time-consuming Too much material = less retention Role playing a popular technique

26 Electronic Training Methods
Online training $18billion industry (2006) Makes J-I-T information possible IBM plans 35% sales training to be over Internet CD-ROM currently #1 delivery method 30% of server-based training over intranets Effectiveness not well-documented Not likely to eliminate one-on-one training

27 Measuring the Costs and Benefits
Sales training consumes substantial time, budget and support resources Relationship between sales training and revenue is difficult to measure Relationship between sales training and other broad objectives difficult to measure

28 10.6 Training Road Blocks Training can’t solve the problem
Busy, jaded salespeople are not open to learning new skills Conflicting methods and philosophies are taught at each session The training isn’t relevant to the company’s pressing needs The training format doesn’t fit the need E-learning is overused, or used in wrong situations There’s no follow-up after training The trainer can’t relate to the sales team

29 Sales Training Costs Training funds are often allocated with little regard for results Results and benefits are difficult to measure Difficult to isolate training impact from Economic conditions Environmental changes Seasonal trends Competitive activity Etc.

30 10.7 Evaluation options matrix
Source: Thomas Atkinson and Theodore L. Higgins, “Evaluation Obstacles and Opportunities,” Forum Issues, February 1988, p. 22.

31 10.8 Overall ranking of evaluation measures


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