Running head: TRAINING PROGRAM PLAN

Training Program Plan: Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program

Ashlie Santini
AET 570: Program Development in Adult Education
January 9, 2017
Randy Howell

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The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program

The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program was designed and implemented with
the intention of providing agents with the tools, skills, and knowledge needed to be successful
salespeople in a very competitive real estate market. The training takes place in two hour
increments, twice weekly, for eight consecutive weeks. The premise of the training process is to
implement what has been learned slowly into an integrated business plan. Each week provides
more tools and skills for a personalized business, and by the end of the program, agents should
have the full business potential to be successful real estate entrepreneurs combined with the
determination and motivation to get out there and sell.
Part I. Training Program Description
Scope of Training
New agents to the Sellstate brokerage will benefit from the Career Acceleration Training
Program by learning strategies to build and grow a real estate business. The training curriculum
focuses on relevant business and real estate field training in a classroom setting. The training
also offers learners the opportunity to learn about the website technology that is available
through their contract with Sellstate. This provides the new agents with an opportunity to benefit
from a large group of online homebuyers. Though application of the skills and techniques
provided in the Career Acceleration Training Program, participants will become more productive
real estate professionals and increase their annual number of sales and overall earning potential.
Intended Audience
Real estate agents are independent sales contractors that work for one primary real estate
brokerage company such as Sellstate. The training program is designed to support all real estate
agents from tenured agents to new agents in the transition into the Sellstate brokerage. The

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Career Acceleration Training program is designed to increase agents abilities to drive sales and
create a functioning business plan. As the primary audience, real estate agents will improve
upon lead generation and interpersonal client skills. The training program also offers newly hired
agents an opportunity to develop business relationships with other agents to help support
individual business objections and answer any questions and concerns.
Program Goals
The primary goal for the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training program is to build and
maintain a successful real estate business. Other goals include building an online website and
professional image for individual real estate agents, building lasting client relationships and
referral based business, allowing agents to gain knowledge and resources through classroom and
field training, and successfully negotiating through the sale.
Program Objectives
The objectives for the primary goal of building and maintaining a successful real estate
business include:

Real estate agents will form and write a formal business plan

Real estate agents will learn how to build and maintain a formal website and personal
online presence.

Real estate agents will learn different methods of marketing, advertising, and prospecting
for new clients.

Real estate agents will learn how to utilize social selling and networking to their
advantage without going too far.

Real estate agents will learn techniques for engaging, listening, and triggering responses
from clients.

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Learn techniques in negotiation and building value.

Keep up to date on current laws and ethical practices.

In addition to the goals and objectives of the training program, this plan will outline the
needs analysis, budget, staffing plan, stakeholders, goals, communication plan, and program
evaluation. Each of the components outlined in the plan will provide the Career Acceleration
Training Program a process of moving forward and a method to determine success. The
implementation of the Career Acceleration Training Program will improve the brokerages agent
and sales capacity and improve the marketability and image of the brokerage to the community
and public.
Part II. Gap Analysis
The development of a gap analysis is essential in creating an effective training program.
The purpose of a gap analysis is to identify the present state of the new agents, find out what the
desired state of those agents preferred by the business, and assess the gap between the two and
address the information in the training secessions. Many different tools will be used to aid in the
development of a full gap analysis for the Career Acceleration Training Program. These tools
include questionnaires, documents, observations, interviews, and group discussions.
The use of a questionnaire for agents new to the brokerage will include questions that
help Sellstate to identify any gaps in training that an agent might need to succeed. Among other
professional documents or portfolios, Sellstate will require all new contracted agents to provide
the brokerage with a professional resume to ensure all training efforts are well focused on
educational and experience levels. The managing broker will also conduct one on one personal
interviews with each of the new agents prior to the training course. The interview will be a

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follow up to the questionnaire as the broker will ask the agent for details regarding question
responses, and report any useful information to the trainer.
The combination of the new agent questionnaire, resume and portfolio documents,
interviews, and group discussions provides Sellstate with valuable information that will aid in the
continuous development of the Career Acceleration Training Program. The agents will display
visible progress following the implementation of a training program with documented proof of a
starting point and an end goal. The questionnaire, resume, and interviews provide the present
state represented in the gap analysis. The group discussions, agent feedback, and observable
progress in business provide the future state represented in the gap analysis. As the trainings
progress throughout the year, this gap analysis will help the trainers to adapt the content of the
training program to be more effective and have a higher impact on incoming agents.
Part III. Budget
The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program budget includes cost estimates for
ten expense categories including: personnel, fringe benefits, external staff, training materials,
technical support, equipment, travel, supplies, and other miscellaneous expenses. The personnel
accounts for the trainer and the time of the managing broker. Fringe benefits include provided
lunches, snacks, and beverages. As the training program takes place during normal business
hours and uses the building and amenities, the training budget takes into consideration a
percentage of the cost of the facilities, technical support staff, cleaning crew, office equipment,
office materials and supplies, and other miscellaneous items such as coffee. Travel expenses
include field training exercises that take place at client homes or title companies.
The budget also provides information regarding the income estimates and income sources
for covering the training expenses. The income sources include the parent company, Sellstate,

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with the largest contribution to the budget, donations from the managing broker, participant fees
charged through the monthly expense plan, and miscellaneous contributions from the trainer,
other agents, and staff members. The following table provides a breakdown of the budget
expenses and budget contributions over one month and over a year.
Table I: Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program Budget 2017
Expense
Personnel
Fringe benefits
External staff
Materials
Technical support
Equipment
Travel
Facilities
Supplies
Miscellaneous
Total Expenses

1 Month Cost ($)

$ 7,500.00
$
575.00
$
500.00
$
250.00
$
250.00
$
250.00
$
250.00
$
525.00
$
225.00
$
125.00
$ 10,450.00

12 Month Program Cost ($)

$ 90,000.00
$
6,900.00
$
6,000.00
$
3,000.00
$
3,000.00
$
3,000.00
$
3,000.00
$
6,300.00
$
2,700.00
$
1,500.00
$ 125,400.00

Income

1 month ($)

12 Month Income ($)

Parent Company
Donations
Participant Fees
Miscellaneous
Total Income

$ 9,000.00
$
450.00
$
500.00
$
500.00
$ 10,450.00
Part IV. Staffing Plan

$ 108,000.00
$
5,400.00
$
6,000.00
$
6,000.00
$ 125,400.00

The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program will include a staff of corporate
employees and external partners to support the program success. The staff management will be
headed by the Managing broker and will encompass the regional director, trainer, contracted
agents, and external staff such as technological support and cleaning crew. The following
staffing model will benefit the training program and its participants through a combination of
classroom learning and field training exercises.
Staffing Requirements

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Internal Resources. The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program staffing model
leverages many existing employees within the brokerage. The training staff will include the
regional director, trainer, managing broker, business talent and development manager, and
contracted agents. The regional director is tasked with interviewing prospective new agents and
conducting the preliminary questionnaire prior to the start of the training. The regional director is
also a contributing source for training content and development. The trainer will be tasked with
the content and development of the training as well as the classroom delivery to the trainees. The
trainer is also in charge of administering the overall progress scores of each trainee. The
managing broker will be tasked with classroom training on particular topics. This person will
also be in charge of setting up live training events in the field such as open houses and closings.
The talent and development manager is tasked with recruiting agents to the brokerage and
ultimately the training program. This person must be able to convey the benefits from the
training and present the regional director with good candidates as training prospects. The
contracted agents will be asked to volunteer time and information to be a mentor for new training
agents. These agents will provide more field experience and personalized business practices.
External Resources. The effective delivery of the training program involves the learning
aspect of the online website and contact database. The training program requires training space
within the current facility. The external staffing resources include a percentage of both the office
technical support company and the office maintenance company. The program does not require
the use of any other sub-contractors to deliver classroom and computer based training as the
content is developed in house.
Additional Resources. The program is designed to make individual real estate agents
into successful business owners. However, the real estate field requires other business

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partnerships to be a successful entrepreneur. In an effort to ensure the agents effectiveness and

productivity post training, it is important to introduce them to other industry professionals such
as mortgage brokers, appraisers, contractors, title companies, and home stagers. The brokerage
will provide such resources to new agents, and have some of them come to the classroom for a
formal introduction.
Strategy to Fill Gaps. An important role of education and training in an organization is
to help address weaknesses, improve employee performance, increase consistency, and improve
employee satisfaction (Frost, 2010). As stated before in the Gap Analysis section, Sellstate will
use a variety of methods to gauge agents progress from before the training, during the training,
and after the training. The strategy is to use the data and information gathered from each agent,
and make necessary adjustments to the training program based upon results. This strategy to fill
training gaps is an ongoing process through each training class.
Staff Performance Evaluation. The evaluation of the staff is essential to the overall
evaluation of the training program. A model for evaluating training program is the Kirkpatrick
model which includes four components, evaluation of results, evaluation of behavior, evaluation
of learning, evaluation of reaction (Bhuyan, n.d.). A full training evaluation is included in the
following section. The evaluation of staff is addressed in the evaluation model and it includes
specific evaluation forms that will be handed out to the trainees once they have completed the
training program. These evaluations will grade mostly the trainer, with opportunities for agents
to provide other staff feedback as well. Sellstate will use the results to compare them to the
expected behaviors of the staff, and use the quality feedback to improve the program and staff for
the next set of participants.
Part V. Stakeholders and Goals

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Table II: Stakeholders and Goals Worksheet

Stakeholders

Partnership goal

Ways to build support

Sellstate Colorado Regional

Director

The Sellstate Colorado

Regional Director partnership
goal is to receive input from
the director regarding training
materials, and to provide the
director with information
regarding the program
effectiveness.

All trainees will interview

with the regional director
prior to beginning the training
program. The regional
director will attend a portion
of the weekly trainings and
provide input and feedback to
the classroom. The regional
director is also responsible for
training program content.

Sellstate Colorado Managing

Broker

The Sellstate Colorado

Managing Broker partnership
goal is to receive real time
field training opportunities
from the managing broker,
and to provide feedback to the
trainees regarding questions
and concerns.

All trainees will interview

with the managing broker
prior to the beginning of the
training program. The
managing broker is
responsible for scheduling
field training days to
correspond real time business
events.

Sellstate Colorado Corporate

Trainer

The corporate trainer will be

compensated from the
The Sellstate Colorado
individual success of each
Corporate Trainer partnership
agents first three
goal is to provide the trainees
transactions. The trainer is
with instruction in the
also involved in the gap
classroom and support outside
analysis for each training
of the classroom. The trainer
class, and will use the
will be a successful real estate
information provided as
business entrepreneur who
feedback to make adjustments
has successfully used the
to the training materials. The
training guidelines in his or
trainer will coordinate with
her career.
the regional director for
training materials.

Sellstate Colorado Contracted

Agents and Brokers

The Sellstate contracted

agents and brokers
partnership goal is to provide
trainees with seasoned

The contracted agents and

brokers will be asked to
volunteer time and relevant
business information to assist

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Sellstate Colorado Talent and

Business Development
Manager

10

mentors who can assist with

post training development.

trainees through different

processes within the training.
These agents and brokers will
be compensated for
mentoring new agents.

The Sellstate talent and

business development
manager partnership goal is to
provide the business with new
agent prospects to join
Sellstate.

The support of the other

stakeholders is key for the
role of the talent development
manager to ensure he/she is
recruiting relevant new agents
to the training program.

Part VI. Communication Plan

Marketing Message

Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program, Live the dream and own your company,
with a retirement plan, and a 98/2% split? Sellstate has it all and more! The Sellstate Career
Acceleration Training Program is designed to help agents who are new to Sellstate increase their
sales through a comprehensive business strategy. The training program will provide agents with
diverse methods of instruction and field experience to help them achieve maximum business
benefit. The objective Sellstate is to provide new agents with the tools and information
necessary to help them peruse the opportunity to achieve their business dreams of being a
successful entrepreneur in real estate. The end goal is to develop a group of successful business
owners. The delivery of this training program will show agents how to build their businesses
from the ground up and provide them with the skills necessary to be successful client fiduciaries.
Delivery Methods and Learning Materials

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The training program will include various forms of delivery methods including classroom
instruction led by the trainer, on the job training monitored by the managing broker, and online
self-paced learning exploring the website and social media image. The program will include all
necessary learning materials that will be customized to the position of the agent audience based
upon the gap analysis information. Agents will use the training materials during the program for
learning and may keep the materials and use them after the program as a field resource.
Training Schedule
The eight-week training will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two hour sessions
from 10:00 AM 12:00 PM. The schedule includes the following program courses:

Week 1: Create a business plan and budget, learn the market, and build your AAD
program, MLS, CTMone, and contracts.

Week 2: Sellstate Power suite and application breakdown, Homes.com,

Zillow.com profiles, and web presences.

Week 3: Field Training, Open Houses.

Week 4: Prospecting, referrals, networking, and working your leads.

Week 5: Field Training, showings and listings.

Week 6: Online prospecting, continuous contact, door knocking, and cultivating

your network.

Week 7: Field Training, contracts, closings, documents, and procedures.

Week 8: Wrap up, review, questions, concerns, and individual progress

evaluations.

Corporate Contacts
Program Coordinator: Ashlie Santini, ashliesantini@gmail.com

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Broker Manager: John Werkmeister, jwerkmeister@sellstateadvisor.com,

Enrollment: Kaithy, call the office.
Feedback: Bret Felz, bfelz@sellstateadvisor.com
Training Program Benefits
This training program provides new agents for Sellstate with the skills necessary to build
their business, improve their sales performance, and achieve their goals of being a successful
entrepreneur. The program provides agents with three primary benefits including writing a
business and financial plan, key information for being a successful real estate agent, and
technology tools to enhance marketing and visibility. The delivery of the program through a
combination of online learning, classroom learning, and field training helps reinforce the agents
real estate sales success.
The benefits of the training program also prove to be beneficial to the organization.
Sellstate benefits from having the Career Acceleration Training Program through increasing new
agents to the brokerage, thus increasing market share, sales, visibility, and overall profits. The
additional benefits of a sales training include fostering a company wide sales culture, establish a
company-wide language, bridge relationships, and align departments (Brooks, 2015). The
development of a sales culture is curtail to the success of Sellstate and its agents. The agents
experience an overall positive result in their personal and professional related development upon
completion of the program.
Promotional Channels and Materials
Communication of the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training program to new and
prospective agents is vital to increase participation and ensure program success. The

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promotional channels for Sellstate to get the word out include job boards, agent recruiting, and
industry communications.
The job boards are fundamental for prospecting new and seasoned agents who are
looking for a change. The job boards include the positing of contract position available, the
required skills and licenses, and an overview of the training program. Professional job boards for
posting communications include Craigslist.org, Indeed.com, and Monster.com. The posting will
also be included on other member website classified boards such as the National Association of
Realtors.
The agent recruiting method involves a part time recruiter calling lists of active agents
retrieved from the State of Colorado website. These agents will be recruited via phone calls, in
person interviews, and written communication via email. The recruiter will use a needs analysis
to identify any potential need for a new contract brokerage or the need to increase business sales
through the help of training.
Industry communication of the training program includes emails and postings to external
business partners, professional real estate organizations, and word of mouth through existing
agent and client relationships. Regional professional real estate organizations offer a vast
resource of agents, as do external industry business partnerships. Agents are always in the field,
and through the mentorship program, they too can identify recruiting opportunities and benefit
from the new agent completing the training program.
Part VII. Program Evaluation
Program Evaluation Rubric: The Sellstate Career Acceleration Program
This rubric is designed to formally evaluate the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training
Program and determine the overall success of the program for both the trainees success and the

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business return on its training investment. The Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program is
provided to all of the new agents for the brokerage. These agents are new to the brokerage, so
they will vary in experience and tenor in the real estate field. Some may be fresh out of real
estate school and working on their first sale and others may have been working in the field for
years, but have a need to freshen up on some skills.
This program evaluation rubric has been designed using the premise of Kirkpatricks
Four Levels of Evaluation model. Kirkpatrick developed the four levels of evaluation to measure
human relations for supervisors. The four elements for this model include: reaction, learning,
behavior, and results.
Kirkpatrick (2008) describes his four levels of evaluation as follows:

Reaction: A measure of the satisfaction of the participants who attended the

program

Learning: The extent to which participants increased their knowledge, learned or

improved present skills, or changed their attitudes

Behavior: The extent to which participants applied what they learned when they
returned to their jobs

Results: The improvement of morale, the increase in sales or production, the

reduction in turnover, the increase in customer satisfaction, the return-oninvestment (ROI), and any other benefits that came from attending the program
(p. 486).

Although the general consensus is that this training program is successful, this evaluation
will provide feedback for areas of improvements and areas of success. These determinations will
be made based on how the training scores overall using this rubric designed with Kirkpatricks

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four levels of evaluation. The following rubric has been designed to evaluate the Sellstate Career
Acceleration Training Program, determine the areas for improvement, the areas of success, and
the overall business improvements for all stakeholders.
Table III: The following metrics will apply to the evaluation:
Kirkpatrick
Evaluation
Model
Level I.
Does Not Meet
Training
Expectations
Design,
Content,
Delivery,
Instructor,
Exercises,
Application,
and Logistics
100%
Level II.
Does Not Meet
Expectations: Test
Learning
Scores Below 70%

Approaches
Expectations

Meets
Expectations

Exceeds
Expectations

Approaches
Expectations: Test
Scores 70% - 79%

Meets
Expectations: Test
Scores 80% - 89%

Exceeds
Expectations: Test
Scores 90% 100%

100%

Level III.
Behavior
Skills
application,
Performance
environment
, and Direct
Observation.
100%

Does Not Meet

Expectations

Approaches
Expectations

Meets
Expectations

Exceeds
Expectations

Level IV:
Results
Business
Metrics
25% (Based
on current
Denver

Does Not Meet

Expectations: 0-1
Home Sales in six
Months

Approaches
Expectations: 2-3
Home Sales in six
Months

Meets
Expectations: 4-5
Home Sales in six
Months

Exceeds
Expectations: 6+
Home sales in six
Months

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Market)

Comments:
Level One Evaluation: Reaction
The purpose of the level one evaluation is to measure the reaction of the attendees. It is
important to get a sense of how the attendees feel about the training program. For the Sellstate
Career Acceleration Training Program it is essential that the participants have a high level of
satisfaction with the training program. They are all new to the Ace Sellstate Realty business, and
this training program is making a first impression on the agents as to what they can expect from
the business and their future with the brokerage. The following rubric will be handed out to the
participants prior to completion of the training program. This feedback is essential to ensuring
future trainings are meeting participant expectations. Always solicit comments from trainees.
Level Two: Learning
The purpose of the level two evaluation is to measure the learning of the attendees. Learning
consists of what knowledge was learned, what skills were developed or improved, and what
attitudes were changed (Kirkpatrick, 2008). For the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training
Program it is essential that the participants demonstrate a high level of learning of the training
program objectives. Most of the agents who are new to the Ace Sellstate Realty business, are
depending on this training program to provide them with the knowledge, skills, and information
needed to build a successful real estate business. The following rubric will be used by the trainer
upon completion of the training program. This feedback is essential to ensuring future trainings
are meeting learning and knowledge expectations. Solicit comments from trainers if necessary.

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Level Three: Behavior

The purpose of the level three evaluation is to measure the behavior of the attendees post
training. It is important to get a sense of the attitudes of the attendees regarding using what they
have learned from training program. For the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program it is
essential that the participants have positive behaviors in utilizing the tools of the training. They
are all new to the Ace Sellstate Realty Brokerage, but recall that not all trainees will be new to
the real estate field. Through evaluating the behavior of all the trainees post training, Ace
Sellstate Realty can determine if theres any need to address behavioral changes in the training.
The following rubric will be used by the managers and trainers after the completion of the
training program. This feedback is essential to ensuring future trainings are meeting both
participant expectations and business expectations. Always solicit comments from managers and
attendees.
Level Four: Results
The purpose of the level four evaluation is to measure the results of the attendees. It is
important to get a sense of how the attendees are using what was learned in the training program
on the job. For the Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program it is essential that the
participants have a high level of results upon completion the training program. It is desirable for
both the agents and the brokerage to have high success and sales ratings. The following rubric
will be handed out to the managers and trainers over the first six months after the completion of
the training program. This feedback is essential to ensuring future trainings are meeting
participant and business expectations of increased sales. Always solicit comments from the
managers.
Conclusion

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The development of Sellstate Career Acceleration Training Program for new agents to the
Sellstate family is key for enhancing the effectiveness each agents career. This training program
plan provides a description of the program, including the program objectives, and goals. It also
includes an estimated budget and staffing plan for Sellstate to review regarding the
implementation of the program. Finally, the communication plan and program evaluation
provides insight to how the program will be promoted, measured, and updated. Each of the
components covered in the training program review will provide positive impact on adult
learning, resulting in higher earning agents, and higher profits for the brokerage. By
continuously reviewing, collecting feedback, and researching relevant information in adult
learning and real estate will contribute to the overall success of the individual agents and the
brokerage.

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Coscarelli, W., & Shrock, S. (2008). Chapter 29: Level 2: Learning-Five Essential Steps for
Creating Your Tests and Two Cautionary Tales ASTD handbook for workplace learning
professionals. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Kirkpatrick, D. L. (2008). Section VI: Measuring and Evaluating Impact - Luminary Perspective:
Evaluating Training Programs ASTD handbook for workplace learning professionals.
Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Kristiansen, N. (2008). Chapter 28: Level 1: Reaction Evaluation ASTD handbook for workplace
learning professionals. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press
McCain, D. V. (2008). Chapter 31: Level 4: Results ASTD handbook for workplace learning
professionals. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.