Assignment Grading

BBA3221 Sales Management

Columbia Southern University

Sales Training Process for YZ Software Solutions

The training process for the company is based on the six steps of the sales training process. The steps ensure that the sales objectives are specific, measurable and obtainable. Employees going through the process will receive training in different forms by different trainers, consultants and senior employees. The results of the training will also be evaluated followed by feedback, which will help with subsequent training programs. The training process flow for newly hired employees is as follows:

Assess sales training needs:

As the company has hired a new group of salespeople, the participating employees will understand the targets, needs and set objectives of the management. From the employer’s perspective, the sales team will also get training of behavioral changes if required, which will improve the communication and attitude of the employee when dealing with the clients. The focus of this first step is to analyze the training need of new employees. For the employees having a few months or years of experience, the company will conduct performance testing to analyze the potential of the sales representative. Similarly, future training needs will be evaluated after the frequent observations of the sales team and conducting salesforce surveys. The company already has a customer base in the area, which also allows the company to perform a customer survey and evaluate the experience with the previous sales force.

Training objectives:

The objective of sales training is to improve the efficiency of the sales team, which can result in:

• 20% growth in sales and profit in a single financial year,
• Prepare salespeople for new territory,
• Improved morale,
• Develop sales people for future needs,
• Teach administrative procedure, work culture and code of ethics,
• Teach legal liabilities and ethical work process.
• The sales objectives are defined after assessing sales training needs. The motive is to make the staff familiar of the expectations of the corporation, and provide defined set of target with a deadline. These objectives can be prioritize when needed based on the variables of the industry and market.

Evaluate training alternatives:

Sales representatives responsible for working in different geographical locations will be given additional training focusing on diversity, work culture, communication, and reporting. The training alternatives are driven by new technological advances and will be guided by professional sales trainers. The company personnel will also conduct monthly training programs of 5 hours with the objective of addressing the weak areas and concerns of the sales team. As the company sells software to local businesses, the cultural issues will be addressed by the consultants.

The mode of training will be classroom – live training lessons, training manuals, and practice scenarios. The learning platform will change with time as the company grows and the learning needs changes.

Design Sales Training program:

The training program consists of:

1. 10 hours of video training on storytelling, intentional pursuit strategy, and how to become a trusted seller.
2. 3 days of live training with the modules:

• Consultative telephone selling: Practice sets for improved telephonic skills.
• High stakes consultative dialogues: Script modified as per the local business’s requirement.
• Networking: 1 whole day program focusing on improving the networking skills which will provide long term buyers for the business.
• Territory Management: The module will cover on how to segment the territory and prioritize the customers.

1. Training manuals: The manual covers the functionality of the software in depth, which shall be used to influence the customers. The specification of the software, technology used, compatible platforms, etc. has been covered in the manual along with the description. Employees shall go through the training manual to understand the offerings of the company.

Perform sales training:

The sales training will be followed as the design of the program and during the process, the sales manager will monitor the progress of the trainees. As the new employees can be on a contract basis, the monitoring will allow selecting top performers for the permanent post. The sales manager will also ensure the quality of the training process by reviewing the training topics. Outperformers will be given a better rating, which will reflect in the annual appraisal meeting.

Conduct follow up and evaluation:

The follow up to evaluate the success of the training program will be conducted in two parts – Short Term and Long term. The short term result will be based on a comparison of the monthly reports, while the long term results will be based on the comparison of annual reports. Customer survey and follow up will further give reliable data to analyze the change in sales team behavior after the training.

The follow-up results will be used to establish the importance of the training program. It will be done by comparing the expenditure on the training with the change in revenue and profit. The research suggests that a salesperson loses 60 to 90 percent of the skills acquired in the training within 30 days (Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Williams, M. R., &Schwepker Jr, C. H., 2015). Therefore, the follow-up will also cover the evaluation of the skill set, which will help in guiding the subsequent training modules.

Reference

Ingram, T. N., LaForge, R. W., Williams, M. R., &Schwepker Jr, C. H. (2015). Sales management: Analysis and decision making. Routledge.