Training Salespeople

Sales Management
Overview Sales Environment

Supervising

Planning

Sales Managers
Motivating Recruiting

Personal Sales Reps

2) Developing current sales force

Managing

Training

1) New sales force training

a sales force involves recruiting, hiring, training, supervising, compensating salespeople, motivating them to become problem solvers, and providing the proper planning and backup support so they can perform their jobs properly.

Introduction Training should follow the recruiting and selection program Company must decide how to train and recruit efficiently and economically
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Objectives
Define training Why train? Learning principles Structure Content Planning the training program

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

(Source: Futrell)

Why train?
Decreased turnover Increase sales Enhanced customer relationships
Shortages, inflation, and/or intense competition, long term favorable and personal relationships with customers take on added importance Buyers market vs. Sellers market

Decreased costs
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Better Morale
Improved time and territory efficiency
(Source: Dalrymple et al)

Why train?
Orienting new salespeople to the job Improve knowledge Lowering absenteeism and turnover Informing salespeople Obtain feedback from salespeople
(Source: Futrell)

Planning the training program

Planning is the single most important ingredient for developing a successful training program The most effective learning takes place when the new salesperson: Has a predisposition about the importance of training.
Perceives a need to learn a particular skill, or perceives some form of personal reward for doing so Can practice and apply the new knowledge in a setting similar to the actual sales environment Can receive supervision, support, and reinforcement from someone respected for having sufficient expertise in that skill to assist in the learning process
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Building Sales Training Programmes.

Define training aims Determine the training needs Initial Continual Decide training contents Decide upon the trainer Timing the training Determine the training site Instructional methods and training aids Canned vs. flexible

Sources of Training needs Information:

Input from Sales Managers Job Incumbents Upper Management Training Personnel Customers.

Sources of Training needs Information

Performance Measures Sales Volumes Customers Service levels. Customer complaints. Turnover rates. No of sales calls conducted. Profitability.

Sources of Training needs Information

Organisational Objectives. Sales training Goals. Observations of salespersons skills.

Content
Product knowledge Company knowledge Market knowledge Selling techniques Customer motivation Non-selling activities

Content
Product knowledge
Is the salesperson familiar with the features of the products Can he/she express the benefits to the customers Does the salesperson have a complete knowledge of competing products

Company knowledge
What does the company do? What is the companies organization structure?
Who is responsible for what

What is the companies procedures? What does the company stand for?
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Content
Market knowledge
What are the general business conditions? Who and where are the industries involved? Who is the competition and how do they operate? Who are the customers and what are their needs? The customers buying process

Selling techniques
Prospect Gather relevant information Approach the prospect Develop a sales presentation Anticipate and answer objections Close the sale Maintain continuing good relations
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Content
Customer motivation
A salesperson needs to know how to develop enthusiasm within their prospects Enthusiasm will help built confidence in the product

Non-selling activities
Customer service- those activities that enhance or facilitate the sale and use of ones product and service
Stocking shelves, planning promotions, training salespeople, processing orders, delivering, maintaining and repairing products, answering complaints

Generating sales inquiries Time and territory management Paperwork

Planning the training program

Who trains and where?
Staff Specialists
Often centralized

Sales specialists prepares the materials and conducts the classes

Cons
Often times lack experience in realistic field-selling situations May cost small firms to much money

(Source: Dalrymple et al)

Planning the training program

Who trains and where?
Outside Specialists
Outside consultants may be entirely responsible for the training programs or brought to conduct specific sessions Often times tailor their training to specific needs of the firm or the industry

Cons
May be unfamiliar with a companys selling situation

(Source: Dalrymple et al)

Planning the training program

Who trains and where?
Line Executive (usually sales managers)
Lends credibility to the program because of their sales backgrounds May have better knowledge of how to sell, and they may better know what skills trainees need in order to perform will in the field More practical Cons
May not be trained to communicate the information to a group of people in a classroom setting May be preoccupied with current sales problems and do not have the time (Source: Dalrymple et al)

Planning the training program

When and how much? Many companies place new sales personal into the field after only a brief orientation. In this case, the salesperson is expected to struggles and learn for themselves
Pros of this approach
Only those who stay with the company will receive the more expensive training programs The salesperson will have a frame of reference for the material taught in the training sessions

(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

When and how much?

Waiting to train a salesperson has several disadvantages

Risking relationship with customers

Due to the risks, most companies will provide enough initial training so the salesperson can function at some minimum level in the field. Advance training will be added at a latter time.
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
Lectures Demonstrations
Primarily to disseminate information to groups

Group discussions/ Panels/ Role playing/ Simulations of games

Involve groups in participative interaction

Manuals/ Bulletins/ Correspondence courses

Individual instructional methods used to disseminate information

On-the-job training/ Personal conferences/ Programmed instruction/ Job rotation

Individual instructional courses that involve individual participation
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
Lectures Demonstrations
Primarily to disseminate information to groups One-way formal discourse delivered to a group of trainees, typically passive listeners Pros- large amounts of information can be conveyed in a short period of time Cons- lack of verbal feedback
May not be good for teaching selling techniques, time and territory management, and qualifying prospects (Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
Group discussions/ Panels/ Role playing/ Simulations or games
Involve groups in participative interaction Group discussions- best when the group is less then twenty
Discuss common problems under the guidance of a discussion leader Many points of view May be a problem with inexperienced people

Panels- three to six experts

Give a short presentation and answer questions with regards to the topic

Role playing Simulations or games (Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
Manuals/ Bulletins/ Correspondence courses
Individual instructional methods used to disseminate information Manuals Bulletins Correspondence courses
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
On-the-job training/ Personal conferences/ Programmed instruction/ Job rotation
Individual instructional courses that involve individual participation

On-the-job training
The quickest way to expose a new salesperson to the actual selling environment is through one-to-one, on-the-job training Exposing the trainee to a real-world sales environment where the techniques learned in a formal training sessions can be observed and tried Cons- objective of the sales call and the costs
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Planning the training program

Training methods
On-the-job training/ Personal conferences/ Programmed instruction/ Job rotation
Individual instructional courses that involve individual participation

Personal conferences
Provides two way communication Salespeople should have the chance to bring up problems and seek advice and counseling Chance for positive reinforcement

Programmed instruction- the subject matter is broken down into highly organized, logical sequences that demand continuous responding on the part of the new salesperson. If the answer is correct, the trainee proceeds to the next frame Job rotation
Pros- give the sales trainee many perspectives Cons- time it takes to implement the program
(Source: Hite and Johnston)

Training Delivery Method

Face to face Instructor Led training. OnLine Training. Webcast Webinar Podcasting Blended approaches OnDemand (self-paced ) Training.

Scheduling the training.

Whether Centralised or decentralized. Timing of the training.

Evaluation of Training
Trainee Feedback Supervisory Appraisal\Self appraisal Bottom line Measurement Customer appraisal Performance tests Course evaluations Coworker appraisal Knowledge tests.

Summary
The job description is the basic instrument for determining the training needs Well-designed training programs should follow basic learning principles Planning the training program is essential to success

(Source: Hite and Johnston)