Part IV
SALES FORCE COMPETENCIES
Teachers open
the door.

You enter
by yourself.
Chinese Proverb
Chapter 8:
Sales Training

SHOULD IT BE CALLED
TRAINING OR EDUCATION?
• Learning is a relatively permanent change
in behavior occurring as a result of
experience.
• Training is included in one’s experiences.
Thus, training is part of an individual’s
total learning experience.

What goes on in
Sales Training?

SALES TRAINING PROCESS
Follow-Up Training
Planning for
Sales Training
Developing the
Training Program
Evaluating Training
What Where Training Trainers?
Topics? to Train? Methods?
Assess Setting Setting
Training Objectives Budget
Needs

SALES TRAINING OBJECTIVES
 Increase productivity
 Create positive attitudes/improve morale
 Improved customer relations
 Reduce role conflict and ambiguity (turnover)
 Improve efficiencies (time and territory)
 Introduce new products, markets, or
programs
Why Train Salespeople?

Experience
Less than 2 year 392 21 86
2-5 years 593 29 145
5-10 years 565 5 152
Over 10 years 470 8 139
Regions
Northeast 528 6 140
Southeast 520 8 161
Midwest 512 18 107
Southwest 421 26 111
West 544 21 131
Table 8-1
Cross-Tabulations from Company Records
Average Order
Size per Salesperson
New Customers
Per Salesperson
Total Customers
Per Salesperson

Planning For Sales Training
1. Assessing sales training needs
2. Establishing specific objectives for the
training program
3. Setting a budget for the program

Judgment of:
Top Management
Sales Management
Training Department
Interview With:
Salespeople
Customers
68%
73%
60%
59%
25%
DETERMINING TRAINING NEEDS*
* Percent of firms indicating they often use these assessments to determine training needs.

1. Interviewed key members or management to
find out what changes are needed in
performance of the sales force.
2. Sent an anonymous questionnaire to customers
and prospects asking:
 What do you expect of a salesperson in this industry?
 How do salespeople disappoint you?
 Which company in this industry does the best selling job?
 In what ways are its salespersons better?
3. Sent a confidential questionnaire to each
salesperson asking:
 What information do most of our salespersons need?
 What information do you want to learn better?
 What skills do most of our salespersons need to improve?
STEPS IN PERFORMING A TRAINING ANALYSIS

4. Did field audits (making sales calls) with
20% of the sales force?
5. Interviewed sales supervisors.
6. Discussed and agreed on training priorities
with management.
7. Determined trainable topics from
information gathered in Steps 1-5.
STEPS IN PERFORMING A
TRAINING ANALYSIS

How much should it cost?

Table 8-2
Average Cost and Training Period
for Sales Trainees
Consumer
Industrial
Service
Consumer
Industrial
Service
$5,354
$9,893
$9,060
3.40 Months
3.80
Months
3.80
Months

Table 8-3
Average Cost of Training for Veteran Salespeople
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
$5,000
$6,000
Under $5 $5-$25 $25-$100 $100-$250 Over $250
Million Million Million Million Million
Median
Spending
Company Size
$3,752
$3,947 $3,902
$5,365
$4,824

What do you train on?

ALLOCATING TRAINING TIME
Average
Product knowledge 35%
Market/Industry Information 15
Company Orientation 10
Selling Techniques 30
Other topics 10
Total 100%

Where do you train?
1. Centralized versus Decentralized
2. Field Training

 80% of a new field salesperson’s training should be
focused on developing customer profiles, digging out
account survey data, and building working
relationships in the field.
 15% of time can then be invested in learning about
how your product or service is used by existing
customers. The field is the place to gain product
knowledge, not from an engineer or home office
instructor.
ON-THE-JOB SALES TRAINING

 Only 5% of a new field salesperson’s time, then,
should be spent on developing selling skills.
 Again, the place to do this is face-to-face with real
customers:
– setting and testing real precall objectives
– asking for real opportunities to do business.
 Understanding what has to be done to build selling
skills can be mastered in 15 minutes. Doing it takes
years of actual, not simulated practice.
ON-THE-JOB SALES TRAINING

Training Media

Table 8-4
Media Used in Sales Training
77%
Classroom with Instructor
Workbooks/Manuals
Role Plays
CD-ROM
Audiocassettes
Internet
44%
34%
32%
39%
54%

EVALUATING SALES TRAINING
Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
Measure:
When to
Measure:
 Reactions:
“Are trainees
satisfied?”
 Perceptions
of training
 Course
evaluation
 Instructor
evaluation
 Survey
 Interview
 At the
completion
of training
 Learning:
“Did the
training
have its
intended
effect?”
 Knowledge
of course
content
 Exams
 Self-
assessment
 Interview
 At the
completion
of training
and at points
in the future

Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
Measure:
When to
Measure:
 Behavior:
“Are the
salespeople
on the job
using their
knowledge
and skills on
the job?”
 Skills
 Job
performance
 Absenteeism
 Turnover
 Performance
indicators
 Observation
 Managerial
assessment
 Self-
assessment
 Over the
first year
after
training
EVALUATING SALES TRAINING

Level of
Evaluation:
What to
Measure:
How to
Measure:
When to
Measure:
 Results:
“What effect
does training
have on the
company?”
 Job
satisfaction
 Customer
satisfaction
 Sales
 Profits
 ROI
 Survey
 Experiments
 Managerial
assessment
 A year after
the training
EVALUATING SALES TRAINING

Reactions:
Trainees
Supervisors
Learning:
Performance
Pre-vs. Post-Training
Behaviors:
Supervisor’s Appraisal
Customer Appraisal
Results:
Bottom Line
*Percent of firms indicating they often use these evaluations to measure training results.
EVALUATING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS*
86%
68%
63%
31%
64%
41%
40%

Table 8-5
Sales Training Evaluation Practices
Measure Criteria Type Importance Rank
Trainee Feedback Reaction 1
Supervisory Appraisal Behavior 2
Self-Appraisal Behavior 3
Bottom-Line Measures Results 4
Customer Appraisal Behavior 5

 Treat all employees as potential career
employees.
 Require regular re-training.
 Spend time and money generously.
 Salespeople and sales managers must take the
lead in developing what goes into the
program.
 In times of crisis, increase, rather than
decrease, the training program.
BUILDING A SALES
TRAINING PROGRAM