1. Sales training:
development, execution & evaluation

2. RealWorld Sales Training
An Expert’s Viewpoint:
Whirlpool developed a sales training program that mirrored MTV’s The
Real World. National training manager Jackie Seib helped come up with
the idea of putting a dozen or so strangers (new salespeople) in a house
full of Whirlpool appliances. The new hires stay in the home for two
months, using the appliances and working with engineers to learn how
they work. Seib says “We really wanted them to understand the
appliances as a consumer would, so they can bring real-world stories
about the appliances to the sales floor.”
Action

3. RealWorld Sales Training
An Expert’s Viewpoint:
Of the first 40 salespeople to complete the program, 8 were
promoted—all attributing their success to the knowledge and
confidence they received as a result of the training. Even though the
program costs a bit more than the two-week classroom version,
Whirlpool believes that the investment is worth it.
Result

4. Introduction
■ Sales training is the effort an employer puts forth to provide
sales people job-related culture, skills, knowledge, & attitudes
that should result in improved performance in the selling
environments.
■ Main idea behind training is to extract the best out of a
candidate in terms of performance on the job.
■ Experience is the best teacher, undoubtedly.
■ But training cuts short the time required to learn. It also
supplements what one learns by experience & improves the
effectiveness of the sales personnel.

5. Cont’d
■ Though innate skills are present
in every sales man, appropriate
training refines these skills further.
■ Sales people both born and made , do benefit from sales
training.
■ Training is therefore a supplement to experience and not its
substitute.

6. Aimof Training
■ Sales Techniques:
Salespeople have an ongoing need to learn “how
to sell”
■ Product Knowledge:
Salespeople must know their product benefits,
applications, competitive strengths & limitations
■ Customer Knowledge:
Salespeople should know their customer needs,
buying motives, buying procedures &
personalities

7. Cont’d
■ Time and Territory Management:
Salespeople should learn to maximum
work efficiency.
■ Competitive Knowledge:
Salespeople must know competitive
offerings in terms of strengths &
weaknesses.
■ Company Knowledge

8. Importance of sales training program
Increasing customer satisfaction.
 Helping salespeople become managers.
 Orienting new salespeople to the job.
 Improving knowledge in areas such as product,
company, competitors, or selling skills.
 Lowering absenteeism and turnover.
 Positively influencing attitudes in such areas as job
satisfaction.
Improve morale

9. Cont’d
Obtaining feedback from salespeople.
 Increasing sales in a particular product or customer
category.
Lowering selling costs.
Increase productivity
Improve selling skills
Improve customer relations.

10. Obstacles To IntroducingTraining
■ 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

11. Microsoft Training Program

14. Sales Training Program

15. TrainingNeedAssessment
■ Determine desired skill set and levels of performance
■ Assess salesperson’s actual skill set and levels of
performance
■ Analyze gap between desired and actual to determine training
needs
G
A
P
Actual
Desired

16. Cont’d
■ Managers should review these aspects of a salesperson:
 background
 previous job experiences
 gaps between their qualifications and the required job
activities
 In the end need analysis should answer 3 questions
 Where in the organization training is needed?
 What should be the content of training program?
 Who needs the training?

17. ■ The key is to focus on performance
objectives in terms of achieving
successful results from training.
■ A primary objective of many training
programs is to teach the sales force &
distribution channel members how to
be more productive.
■ A contemporary philosophy is that
professional salespeople are advisers
or consultants, not mere product
pushers.
Determine Objectives

18. Determine Objectives
■ Increase sales or profits
■ Create positive attitudes and improve sales force morale
■ Assist in sales force socialization
■ Reduce role conflict and ambiguity
■ Introduce new products, markets, and promotional programs
■ Develop salespeople for future management positions

19. Cont’d
■ Teach administrative procedures
■ Ensure competence in the use of sales and sales support tools
■ Minimize sales force turnover rate
■ Prepare new salespeople for assignment to a sales territory
■ Improve teamwork & cooperative efforts
■ Ensure awareness of ethical and legal responsibilities

20. ContentOf The Program
1.
Company
knowledge
3.
Knowledge of industry
and competitors
2.
Product
knowledge
Sales training
program content
• What is the product?
• Why do people buy it?
• Who participates in
the buying process?
• How do I differentiate
the product?
• Who are the major
competitors?
• What are strengths/
weaknesses of our
product & competitors’
products?
• What are the product’s
price and terms of
sale?
• company’s policies
• company benefits
• office protocol
• payment methods
• expense accounts
• communication
channels
• industry trends and
competitive tactics
• competitors’ product
knowledge enables
salespeople to compare
brands, highlight
advantages of their own
products, and
overcome customer
objections

21. 4.
Customer and
market knowledge
6.
Technology
training
5.
Selling skills
knowledge
Sales training
program content
(1) prospecting
(2) planning the call
(3) approaching the
prospect
(4) making the sales
presentation
(5) meeting objections
(6) closing the sale
(7) following up
1. knowledge about using
the latest sales force
automation (SFA)
technology for better
customer relationship
management
1. To understand the
company’s products
thoroughly
2. To know the
customers’ markets
3. To relate to customers’
requirements
4. To become team
coordinators
5. To stay in close contact
with customers

22. MakingTraining Delivery Decisions
■ Making training delivery decisions
encompasses the following:
 Who will conduct the training?
 Will it be for individuals or a
group?
 What method of delivery should
be used?
 Where and when will the
training take place?

23. WhoIs GoingTo Be Trained?
1.
Initial sales
training program
2.
Continuing sales
training program
Types of
sales training
programs
Designed for
experienced
salespeople, these
programs are shorter,
but more intensive in
their coverage of
specialized topics.
Designed for newly
hired salespeople,
it is comprehensive
and usually lasts
three to six months.
There are four basic criteria:
1. Reward for good performance,
2. Punishment for poor performance,
3. Convenience (of trainee & trainer), &
4. Seniority (greater the seniority, greater the opportunity for added
training)

24. Who WillGiveTraining?
Initial sales training:
■ Top sales executive because of selling expertise
■ The personnel director because of training expertise
Continuing sales training:
■ Top sales executive – introduction of new products, adoption
of revised sales policies, perfection of improved selling
techniques, etc.

25. Cont’d
Sales training staff:
■ Large sales organizations often have a sales training director,
reporting to the Top sales executive
■ In smaller organizations, some top sales executives handle
some training themselves & also rely upon others s/a assistant
sales managers
Training the sales trainers:
■ Identification of the subjects that trainers should know
thoroughly- the company & its policies, the products, the
customers & their

26. Cont’d
Problems, the salesperson’s job and sales technique
■ Sales trainers must be effective teachers
“if the trainee hasn’t learned. The trainer hasn’t taught”
Outside experts:
■ Many companies hire outside experts to conduct portions of
sales training programs, generally relating to sales techniques

27. WhenTraining WillHappen?
■ Timing initial sales training programs:
- It depends upon the number of personnel trained each year,
size of the sales force, sales personnel turnover &
management’s plans for changing sales force size
- In case of large number, programs are scheduled several
times a year
- In company with small sales force, these programs held
infrequently

28. Cont’d
■ Timing continuing sale training programs:
- Training & learning must be continuous- new information must
be assimilated & older concepts modified in the light of new
developments
- New products, new refinements of selling techniques, new
product applications & uses, etc. required continuous training
- Many companies integrate retraining programs into a series of
sales meetings or a single sales convention

29. LocationOf Training?
1.
Centralized
training
2.
Decentralized
training
Location of
sales training
Decentralized training includes
office instruction, use of
experienced salespeople, on-
the-job training, podcasts,
blogs, webinars, and other e-
learning approaches.
Centralized training includes
organized training schools,
periodic conventions, or
seminars held in a central
location such as the home
office.

30. Instructional Materials& TrainingAids
■ Manuals: contains outlines of the main presentations, related
reading materials, statements of learning objectives for each
session, etc.
■ Other Printed Materials: includes company bulletins, sales &
product handbooks, information bulletins, standard text, etc. in
order to furnish field sales personnel with up-to-date and needed
information
■ Training Aids: like use of black/white boards with chalk or marker,
projector screen, tape recording, playback equipment, etc.
■ Advance Assignments: includes preparing some written
assignment, case study observations, role-playing activities, etc in
order to save time outside formal sessions & to understand the
purpose of training

31. Preparing,Motivating& CoachingTrainees
1.
Preparing trainees
for training
3.
Conducting
post-training
reinforcement
2.
Motivating trainees
during training
Preparing,
motivating,
and coaching
trainees
To motivate, trainers
can follow these steps:
• use positive
reinforcement
• use active training
formats and variety
• encourage social
interaction
• facilitate expertise
sharing situations
• encourage goal setting
• A pre-training
briefing tells
participants the
training’s purpose
and objectives, why
they were selected
to attend, and the
business need the
sales manager
hopes to meet.
• Use coaching
(developmental
feedback) via informal,
give-and-take
discussions between
sales managers and
salespeople for the
purpose of reinforcing
training concepts.

32. It is always difficult to measure the effectiveness of sales training.
Nevertheless, a reasonable attempt must be made to assess whether
current training expenditures are worthwhile and whether future
modification is required.
1. Determine what should be measured.
2. Determine the information collection method.
3. Determine the measurement methods.
4. Analyze the data, determine the results, and draw conclusions for
making recommendations.
StepsIn The Evaluation

33. Methods OfSales Training
■ On-the-job training (OJT)
■ Class room training
■ Role-playing
■ Electronic training methods

34. OnThe JobTraining
■ Teaming - Bringing together people with different skills to
address issues.
■ Meetings - Setting aside times when employees at different
levels and positions can get together and share thoughts on
various topics.
■ Customer interaction - Including customer feedback as part of
the learning process.
■ Mentoring - Providing an informal mechanism for new
salespeople to interact and learn from more experienced
ones.
■ Peer-to-peer communication - Creating opportunities for
salespeople to interact together for mutual learning.

35. Classroom Training
■ Trainee receives standard briefings in
 product knowledge
 company polices
 customer and market characteristics
 selling skills
■ Formal training sessions avoid wasting executive time
■ Classroom sessions permit use of audio-visual materials
and technical resources

36. Role Playing
■ Salesperson act out the part of a sales rep in a simulated
buying session.
■ Buyer may be either a sales instructor or another trainee.
■ Role playing is widely used to developing skills but it can also
be used to determine whether the trainee can apply knowledge
taught via other methods of instruction.

37. ElectronicTraining Methods
■ It uses internet for delivering quality learning experiences.
■ This method isn’t only effective but also very efficient.
At IBM , new representatives receive extensive initial training and spend 15% of their
time each year in additional training. IBM has now switched 25% of their training from
classroom to e-learning, saving a great deal of money in the process. It uses a self
study system called INFO-WINDOW that combines a personal computer and a laser
videodisc. A trainee can practice sales calls with an on screen actor who portrays a
buying executive in a particular industry. The actor buyer responds differently
depending on what the trainee says.

38. Cost &Benefit AnalysisOf Training
According to American Society For Training & Development
(ASTD) US organizations (475)
• $164.2 billion spent on learning & development
• Employees averages 30.3 hours of training
• Top three areas of training were: managerial & supervisory,
mandatory & compliance, processes, procedures & business
practices
With this amount of money & time involved in training it become
absolutely necessary to compare the costs incurred & benefits
produced.
www.astd.org

39. Measuring Broad Benefits
■ Measuring improved morale and lower turnover.
■ Morale is measured partially by studies of job satisfaction.
■ Also includes measuring reactions & learning by asking the
trainees to complete an evaluation form either immediately
after the session or several weeks later.

41. MeasuringSpecificBenefits
■ Specific measures include measuring behavior changes &
using results to assess the effectiveness.
■ If effectiveness of training program is aimed at securing more
new customers.
■ Results are measured by tracking new account sales to see
whether they have increased.
■ If specific objective is to reduce customer complaints, then the
appropriate specific measure is whether customer complaints
decreased.

42. ALTERA
ALTERA makes chips that customers can continually reprogram, offering
an alternative to custom designs in the computing, car manufacturing &
consumer electronic industries. Over 5 year period beginning in 2002,
Altera spent nearly $11 million on empathy training. Reps went through
series of exercises to help put themselves in their customer shoes. One
method the “HOT SEAT” asked salespeople to imagine stepping up behind
a person & looking at the world through their eyes.. An empathy trainer
playing the role of customer would give the salesperson 10 minutes to ask
as many questions as he could to uncover what problems the customer
faced.