The document discusses the state of sales force development and provides an overview of effective learning systems to improve sales performance. It finds that a majority of sales training produces no long-term impact and that sales managers spend little time coaching and developing their teams. The author then outlines key components of effective learning systems, including building content based on top-performing salespeople, engaging managers, and developing a change plan. The focus should be on differentiating high performers, designing manager-focused content and coaching, and executing the plan with discipline.

1. Sales Force Development
Getting Results Through People
THE SALES INSTITUTE
Mike Kunkle
Sales Transformation Leader
Director, Product Development for Richardson
Creator of the Sales Performance Lever Methodology
July 2013

2. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Is
Sales Force Development
Broken?

3. State of Sales Force Development
3
 ES Research Group, Inc. estimates that 20 - 33% of salespeople do
not have the capabilities to be successful at their jobs
 ESR estimates that 80 - 85 % of sales training produces no long-
term impact (after 90 days)
 65% of top sales leaders surveyed by CSO Insights said their top
objective for the year was capturing new accounts – 67% of those
same leaders said that their team "needs improvement" in
generating leads
 In ASTD’s report The State of Sales Training, 2012, half the
respondents felt that 50% or less of the training they received
was relevant to their job.
Read more http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Key-Gaps-in-Our-Sales-Performance-Ecosystem

4. State of Sales Force Development
4
 A Nightingale-Conant study reported that 67.21% of managers are
not doing (or sporadically doing) sales coaching and 52.34% say
they are too busy to develop and coach their sales teams
 According to the Objective Management Group, only 15% of sales
managers spend 25% of their time on coaching (and the time they
do spend is generally ineffective)
 The Sales Management Association reported that front-line sales
managers spend only 26% of their time (average of 3
hours/rep/month), managing performance (includes expectation
setting, performance monitoring, coaching and development).
Read more http://blogs.richardson.com/2013/07/03/using-tailored-post-program-sales-coaching-to-get-results-from-sales-training

5. Over-arching Question
5
With the growing research, data, knowledge,
experience, science, process, methodology
and technology…
(and programs like this... kudos to you!)
Why are we not doing better?

6. 6
The Plan
 Reading assignments – your perspectives
 Those nagging questions from Willy
 Foundation for SFD
 The Sales Performance Ecosystem
 Effective Learning Systems
 The Big Three
Note: You’ll get the slides
Warning: Potential for bad comedy throughout
“Everybody's got plans... until they get hit.” Mike Tyson

7. Reading Assignments – Your Perspectives
7
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
 What did you take away from the articles?

8. Reading Assignments – Your Perspectives
8
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
 What did you take away from the articles?

9. Reading Assignments – Your Perspectives
9
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
 What did you take away from the articles?

10. Reading Assignments – Your Perspectives
10
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
 What did you take away from the articles?

11. The Willy Questions…
How can sales leaders:
 Use internal data to overcome the limitations of industry‐wide
“best practices?”
 Measure the effectiveness of salesperson development efforts?
 Inspect what they expect?
Sales Force Development
11
The Big
Three
Sales
Performance
Ecosystem
Learning
Systems
Foundation

12. Foundation for Sales Force Development
12
“If you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.”
Geary Rummler & Alan Brache, Improving Performance (1995)
 Companies don’t do things. People do.
 Company leaders must establish systems to enable their
people to succeed, which equals company success.
 Sales development is about:
 Getting the right people into the right roles
 Setting up the right systems to support them
 Managing those systems well
 Leading the people well.

13. “If you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.”
Geary Rummler & Alan Brache, Improving Performance (1995)
 Companies don’t do things. People do.
 Company leaders must establish systems to enable their
people to succeed, which equals company success.
 Sales development is about:
 Getting the right people into the right roles
 Setting up the right systems to support them
 Managing those systems well
 Leading the people well
Foundation for Sales Force Development
Questions
13
Reading

14. Setting Up the Right Systems
14
Sales Force Effectiveness
 Sales Process
 Sales Methodology
 Sales Coaching
 Opportunity Management
 Key Account Management
 Performance Management
Sales Force Strategy
 Quota Setting
 Sales Force Sizing
 Sales Force Structure
 Sales Compensation
 Channel Management
Marketing Alignment
 Products | Pricing
 Lead Generation
 SEO/SEM
 Campaigns | Promotions
 Marketing Automation
 Social Media
 Content Marketing
Sales Operations
 CRM/SFA
 Sales Analytics
 Reporting
 Resource Allocation
 Deal Analysis
 Win/Loss Analysis
Sales Talent Management
 Selection
 Onboarding
 Product Training
 Sales Training
 Business and Financial Acumen
 Professional Development
Sales Enablement
 Customer Experience Management
 Buyer Profiling
 Sales Messaging
 Sales Support
 Other Technology Tools
Sales Performance Ecosystem

15. Setting Up the Right Systems
15
Sales Force Effectiveness
 Sales Process
 Sales Methodology
 Sales Coaching
 Opportunity Management
 Key Account Management
 Performance Management
Sales Force Strategy
 Quota Setting
 Sales Force Sizing
 Sales Force Structure
 Sales Compensation
 Channel Management
Marketing Alignment
 Products | Pricing
 Lead Generation
 SEO/SEM
 Campaigns | Promotions
 Marketing Automation
 Social Media
 Content Marketing
Sales Operations
 CRM/SFA
 Sales Analytics
 Reporting
 Resource Allocation
 Deal Analysis
 Win/Loss Analysis
Sales Talent Management
 Selection
 Onboarding
 Product Training
 Sales Training
 Business and Financial Acumen
 Professional Development
Sales Enablement
 Customer Experience Management
 Buyer Profiling
 Sales Messaging
 Sales Support
 Other Technology Tools
Sales Performance Ecosystem
Holy cow!

16. Why Sales Leaders Paralyze
16
Holy Cow! Where to start?
 How to prioritize?
 How to get results?

17. Holy $#)+!
Why Sales Leaders Paralyze
17
 Where to start?
 How to prioritize?
 How to get results?
The average tenure of a
senior sales leader is
18 to 24 months.

18. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
A Starting Point for
Sales Force Development

19. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Overview
19
Framework
 Effective learning
systems
 Business integration,
alignment & change
planning
Content
Design
Managers
Transfer
Coaching
Measures
Perf. Mgt.
Integration
Alignment
Change

20. “Top-Producer Practices” not “Best Practices”
 Internal approach, considers “Sales Nuances”
 Evidence-based approach with Performance
Levers *
 Can Include relevant benchmarking
 Gap analysis – compare top to middle (goal:
move the middle)
 Continue | Stop | Start fuels training,
development, coaching
 Build learning systems, avoid “events”
 Build a learning culture – beyond formal with
informal/social
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
*My performance lever methodology for later reading: http://slidesha.re/PerfLevers082011
Learning Systems: Content
20

21.  Process, not events
 Chunk, sequence, layer
 Separate knowledge and skill
 Elearning, vILT, ILT blends
 Learning support
 Performance support
 Build in accountability.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Solution Design
21

22.  Involve in rep program design; gain buy-in
 Assess top manager performers
 Manager gap analysis | Differentiators
 Develop very-specific coaching programs
 Diagnose: to form hypothesis
 Dialogue + Observe: to confirm performance
gaps
 Develop: solutions based on gap type
 Do: implement solutions to improve
performance.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Manager Engagement
22

23.  Design transfer plans into learning
process
 Assess at various stages
 Use performance support
 Build social/community reinforcement
 Consider mobile & gamification
 Connect reps & managers before,
during and after.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Planned Transfer
23

24.  Train managers first on rep programs &
sales coaching
 Managers monitor rep progress through
learning
 Managers attend ILT with their reps as
an in-class coach
 Managers guide reps, post-curriculum
 Managers reinforce, train and coach as
taught.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Coaching Excellence
24

25.  Agree on lead and lag indicators for
learning & performance
 Report progress throughout training
 Develop post-learning reporting
 Establish regular cadence with sales
leaders and manager/coaches
 Do level 2 testing over time (retention
checks) and level 3 surveys (usage)
 Communicate success stories.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Measures
25

26.  Beyond manager support for learning,
training & coaching
 Establish a cadence of Check-Ins
 Review of activity plans, results, and
dialogue / observation / coaching
 Managers counsel and manage
performance as needed, holding reps
accountable
 Senior sales leaders hold managers
accountable.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Performance Mgt.
26

27.  Who’s on first? (Responsible for managing sales methodology & processes?)
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Integration & Alignment
27

28.  Link training to business strategy
 Ask for top-down support
 Establish clear roles & responsibilities
 Communicate plans, rationales, goals,
risks, metrics, and impact
 Establish regular and open
communication with sales and
leadership teams – share success
stories
 Find and address issues quickly.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Integration & Alignment
28

29. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Need More Focus? Use
The Big Three…

30. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline

31. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline

32. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline

33. Differentiating Top-Producer Practices
33
 Determine who to study (sales performer analysis)
 Determine what to study (while collecting data)
 Capture Top-Producer practices (and others)
 Conduct comparative analysis (differentiating practices)
 … Produces your “Content”
 Continue | Stop | Start

34. Who to Study: Sales Performer Analysis
34
Example of Analysis – Sales Reps
Low
High
4th Quartile
Mean Avg.
Median
Sort Descending
Highlight 4th Quartile
Apply Weighting
Repeat & Total
Highlight 4th Quartile

35. What to Study: Performance Levers
35
Survey Design
• Rate the statement provided.
• How much do you agree it’s a
Performance Lever?
• If rated 1-2, next question.
• If rated 3-5:
• Importance & Difficulty
• If rated 3-5:
 Frequency: Actual & Should
• In addition, you should ask what you missed, by Lever, and a handful of other
questions – such as normal demographics & Continue | Start | Stop.
Using empathy statements to acknowledge a prospect’s situation/feelings

36. Practices Capture
36
Next Phase Data Collection Methods
 Interviews
 In-person, phone, webinar
 Focus Groups
 In-person, webinar
 Field Observation
 X top performers (4%)
 3X top performers (16%)
 2X above average
 2X average
 X below average
 Or more (pending time, resources & budget)
Getting the Straight Scoop
 What really happens “out there”
 Account for the Hawthorne effect
 Trust, truth and strict confidentiality
 Autonomy, mastery and purpose *
* Thank you, Daniel Pink (author of Drive)

37. Content
Design
Managers
Transfer
Coaching
Measures
Perf. Mgt.
Integration
Alignment
Change
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Build Your Learning System…
37
 Around the content
 As fully as possible
 With a focus on the
rest of The Big Three
 Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
 Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline

38. Coaching Focus | Type
38
Top 4%
Bottom 20%
Top 4%
Rest of Top 20%
(16%)
Bottom 20%
Middle 60%
Above Average
Below Average
Support15% of time
Support / Tweak20% of time
10% of time
Depends:
• New – up
• Old - out
Move up45% of time
Move up (Mostly New)10% of time
Average
80%
20%
Pareto Line

39. Change Leadership and Management
39
Change leadership involves creating vision, strategy, and tactics and
communicating reasons, rationale, and urgency.
Change management is a set of processes, systems and tools
designed to support and control the change efforts.
“Anatomy” of Change:
 Leadership is the brains, vision, and heart
 Management is the guts, bones, and muscle
Recommended Reading:
Change Leadership
 http://blogs.richardson.com/tag/change-leadership/
 http://bit.ly/KotterOnForbes-ChangeLeadvsManage
Change Management
 http://blogs.richardson.com/tag/change-management/
 http://bit.ly/McK-TruthAboutChangeManagement

40. Sales Force Development
Comments?
Questions?
Answers?
40
Thanks for your:
 Time!
 Attention!
 Engagement!
What’s on
your mind?
40

41. Mike Kunkle
Sales Transformation Leader
Director, Product Development for Richardson
Creator of the Sales Performance Lever Methodology
July 2013
Sales Force Development
Getting Results Through People
Appendix
THE SALES INSTITUTE

42. Mike Kunkle is a training and organization effectiveness leader with special
expertise in sales force transformation.
 After his initial years on the frontline in sales and sales management, Mike spent the past
16 years as a corporate director or consultant, leading departments and projects with one
purpose – improve sales results. And through sales training, organization effectiveness
practices, leadership development, aligning performance levers and leading change efforts
he's done just that.
o At one company, as a result of six projects, he and his team delivered an accretive $398MM in revenue,
year-over-year.
o At another, within 9 months, newly-hired sales reps with 120 days on the job were outperforming
incumbent reps with 5 years with the company.
 As of January 2013, Mike is the Director of Product Development for Richardson. In this
role, he is responsible for managing the development of new products, solutions and
partnerships to help Richardson meet the emerging needs of our evolving marketplace.
Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, Mike plans to integrate the latest thinking and
technology from learning and development and sales force effectiveness to better serve
Richardson's clients. If you're not familiar with Richardson:
o They are a global sales training and strategy execution company that partners with leading
organizations to increase their sales effectiveness and drive business results.
o For the fifth consecutive year, Richardson has been named to the Top Sales Training Companies list
from Training Industry, Inc.
o See: http://www.richardson.com and http://blogs.richardson.com.
 Mike freely shares his personal sales transformation methodology at conferences and
online at http://slidesha.re/PerfLevers082011 and can be reached through his blog or on
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.
 Connect with Mike easily at http://www.mikekunkle.com/connect/
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems 42
Let’s get
connected!
About Mike

43. 43
 ASTD: Key Gaps in Our Sales Performance Ecosystem
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Key-Gaps-in-Our-Sales-Performance-Ecosystem/
 Richardson:
http://blogs.richardson.com/2013/07/03/using-tailored-post-program-sales-coaching-to-get-results-from-sales-training/
 Transforming Sales Results:
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/31/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-1/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/04/02/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-2/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/04/03/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-3/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/17/how-to-increase-sales-with-top-producer-practices-part1/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/20/how-to-increase-sales-with-top-producer-research-part-2/
Sales Force Development
Appendix: Related Sales Development Articles by Mike

44. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Analysis
 http://amzn.to/AnalyzingPerformanceProblems
 http://amzn.to/AnalysisImprovingPerformance
 http://bit.ly/FirstThingsFast
 http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/analysis/analysis.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_performance_technology
 http://www.pignc-ispi.com/articles/Vol42_05_08.pdf
 http://www.ue295.com/xtranet/html/timeline/harless.html

45. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Selection
For those interested in exploring assessments, here are some unbiased educational resources:
 http://www.uniformguidelines.com/index.html
 http://wdr.doleta.gov/opr/FULLTEXT/99-testassess.pdf
 http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/Documents/assessment_methods.pdf
And some companies to research:
 http://rocket-hire.com – Dr. Charles Handler objectively evaluates vendors
 http://www.chally.com – well-validated competency-based approach; a respected favorite
 http://www.profilesinternational.com/
 http://www.ttiassessments.com/
 http://www.selfmgmt.com/en/default.aspx
 http://www.peopleanswers.com
 http://www.objectivemanagementgroup.com

46. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Performance Improvement
 http://bit.ly/Wallace6Pack
 http://bit.ly/BusinessProcessChange
 http://bit.ly/PerformanceConsultantsFieldbook
 http://amzn.to/HandbookImprovingPerformance
 http://amzn.to/HumanCompetence
 http://amzn.to/WhiteSpaceRevisited
 http://amzn.to/CompensatingTheSalesForce
 http://amzn.to/MgtPerformanceImprovementPlans
 http://amzn.to/TrainingAintPerformance
 http://amzn.to/FundamentalsPerformanceTechnology
 http://amzn.to/HandbookHPT
 http://amzn.to/HandbookHPT2
 http://amzn.to/SeriousPerformanceConsulting
 http://amzn.to/PerformanceArchitecture
46

47. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Best Practices
 http://my.brainshark.com/The-Roadmap-To-Scalable-Sustainable-Sales-Transformation-
327652659
 http://bit.ly/RichardsonSalesTransformation
 http://amzn.to/MakingTheNumber ~ http://www.makingthenumber.com
 http://bit.ly/BestPracticeKnowledgeManagement
 http://bit.ly/IdentifyingOrgBestPractices
 http://www.csoinsights.com/sales-research-data
 http://www.csoinsights.com/Topics/Sales-Process-Best-Practices
 http://slidesha.re/BestPracticesWorldClassSales
Sales Best Practices Research
 http://www.achieveglobal.com/resources/?cat=1
 http://www.millerheiman.com/research_center/sales_best_practices_study/index.html
 http://www.huthwaite.com/en/Resource%20Center/Whitepapers.aspx
 https://sec.executiveboard.com/Public/Default.aspx
 http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com
 http://salesmanagement.org
47
47

48. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Sales & Sales Management Training
 http://bit.ly/TrainingRole-SalesInitiatives
 http://www.esresearch.com
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/46526471/Basic-Instructional-Design-Principles
 http://bit.ly/MagerSixPack
 http://bit.ly/EvidencedBasedTraining
 http://bit.ly/JobAidsPerformanceSupport
 http://amzn.to/BeyondTransfer
 http://amzn.to/TheFourLevels
 http://amzn.to/MeasureTrainingResults
 http://www.ecsellinstitute.com/6-pillars-philosophy
48
48

49. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Some basic examples and thoughts on:
• Pipeline Diagnosis
• Training
• Coaching

50. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
Leads Contacts Explores Proposals Sales
56 41 6 5 3
111 81 12 11 6
148 108 16 14 8
167 122 18 16 9
185 135 20 18 10
73% 15% 88% 56%
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis

51. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
 Identify stages
 Calculate average conversion ratios
 Even “as is” without improvement, you understand how much top-funnel
activity is required to reach a goal.
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis

52. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
Leads 73% Contacts 15% Explores 88% Proposals 56% Sales
• What is the number of Leads?
• What are the sources (marketing demand gen or sales prospecting)?
• Are the prospects the right ones? (buyer personas / account selection)
Ask Yourself…
• What does it mean if the number of leads is far lower than average?
• What does it mean if the number is far higher?
Look Here First
Looking at Symptoms – Start Left; Work Right
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis

53. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
Leads 73% Contacts 15% Explores 88% Proposal 56% Sales
Leads 37% Contacts Explores Proposal Sales
Possible Causes
• ?
• ?
• ?
Average:
Actual:
Note: We’ll stop here for now, but you get the point. You would continue with analytics,
discussion, observation, and possible client feedback until you have a clear diagnostic
hypothesis.
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis

54. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching for Skills & Behaviors
A Simple Method That Works:
 Tell
 Show
 Do
 Review
1
2
3
4




54
# Process Order
Understanding Check
Tell
Show
Do
Review
1
2
3




4

55. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching Skills & Behaviors
Extending the Review Phase with Check-Ins
 Office: I Tell them  They Tell me
 Office/Car: I Show them  They Show me (roleplay)
 Field: I Do & they observe  They Do & I observe
 Office/Car: We Review their performance together
Review
Check-In
Check-In
Check-In
55

56. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching Skills & Behaviors
Extending the Review Phase:
Conducting Rep Check-Ins
Who Coach (Sales Manager) and Sales Rep
What
 Phone call or face-to-face meeting
 Review of Rep’s Activity, Results and Methods
 Set Goals, Develop Solutions, Create an Action Plan
Why Even the best players need a good coach to improve
How
 Review Activity
 Review Results
 Discuss Methods
 Set Goals
 Explore Possible Solutions
 Select the Best Solutions
 Create an Action Plan
56