CHAPTER 8 TRAINING THE SALESFORCE SALES TRAINING AND

CHAPTER 8 TRAINING THE SALESFORCE

SALES TRAINING AND THE CORPORATE MISSION 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Identifying the sales mission Establishing criteria for training objectives Understanding the SF Sharing organization information Setting short-range objectives Enlisting SF participation Controlling objectives for results

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM Identifying the gaps between the SF’s skills and the firm’s objectives and then developing programs to fill these gaps. Two types of sales training programs – – – Initial sales training program Continuing sales training program (refresher training)

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 1. Training objectives Overall objective - To increase the SF’s performance Primary objectives– – To To teach SF how to be more productive aid in decrease the turnover rate show the importance of selling functions teach to continually seek self-improvement

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 1. Training objectives Objective of initial sales training program is to assimilate new salespeople into the organization and should be determined by examining the requirements of the sales jobs. Objectives of refresher training program are to keep the entire SF informed of any changes and to retrain salespeople for new duties or responsibilities.

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 2. Contents of the training program • Company knowledge (Organization's policies and specific selling policies) • Product knowledge (Organization’s product and how they are used by consumers, product’s usefulness, competitive products)

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 2. Contents of the training program • Knowledge of competitors and the industry (Industry trends and competitive tactics and their effects on the demand for the company’s product) • Customer and market knowledge (How to overcome customer objections and to create cooperative partnerships)

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 2. Contents of the training program • Knowledge of the selling process Prospecting Planning the call Approaching the prospect Making the sales presentation Meeting objections Closing the sales (4 strategies) Following up

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 3. Methods of group training » » » » Lectures Group discussions Role playing Teletraining Videotapes Audiocassettes Slide presentation Simulation games

DESIGNING THE SALES TRAINING PROGRAM 3. Methods of individual training » » On-the-job training Personal conferences Correspondence courses Interactive videodiscs