Sales Force Training

Sales force training is multifaceted process that covers many different areas of expertise,
and therefore, should be performed from multiple sources of information and models of
excellence. The success of the training is dependent upon the performance of the entire team, as
one individual cannot properly convey the training utilities of an entire organization. While one
representative from Human Resources may be responsible for the completion of the training, it is
very important that the trainee be well knowledgeable in the organization or industry's program
as a whole. This can be done through various techniques such as provisional shadowing and
repetitive testing of the material that has been presented to them. There are also new tricks to
getting the trainee to take in vital information in the technological age today. Through this, the
trainee should be able to carry out the job duties to the expectations of the company.
For the past ten years or so, the way that we communicate has changed vastly due to
technology. Increased levels of competition, rapidly changing technology, and a renewed focus
on customer retention and relationships are but a few of the reasons why sales managers
increasingly seek sales force training and development activities that lead to increased sales force
productivity (Attia, 2013). Instead of mailing letters, we send emails, instead of having a faceto-face conversation; we convert to phone calls or even worse; texting. Even though this
technological age has somewhat changed the way we socialize, there are still some pros to this
vast change, especially for businesses. With the onset of social media, such as Facebook and
Instagram, businesses have a way of communicating with their customers outside of work, and
getting immediate feedback from them. This could be extremely helpful in the field of
pharmaceutical sales, but also extremely hurtful if they do not use it in the correct manner.

In order to be a successful sales representative you must strive for personalized

interaction with every customer that you come across. The conversation is no longer just the
representative giving product information to the customer, but now a two way street of
communication. In order to achieve this personal two way road of communication, the
representative must realize that they are no longer selling through a one-way brand message, but
are now able to sell the product and what it brings to the table based on each unique customer
and their perspective of the product. The representative must know how to sell the product as the
pathway of treatment to every customer, and be able to fill in any questions that they might have
immediately. In order to fulfill all of these duties, it would be beneficial for the company to
endorse a new external technological approach to their training.
It all begins with looking at traditional training and finding the errors in that. Traditional
sales force training has been focused on training the representatives based on visual and auditory
skills. This is due to the fact that most training was done via presentation to the trainee. However,
because of the new two way road of communication, trainees can now ask questions, discuss
topics, and teach back what they have learned in order to engage in the content being learned.
This two way road of communication works in the companies favor for both training new
employees and engaging with consumers via social media outlets. This is a modern way of
getting consumers to interact with the brand on their own time. Recently, they have found that
information given through interactive web, mobile, and other technology is more likely to be
remembered than being given face-to-face. If interactive, technological information sharing is
sticking in the minds of others, it would be highly beneficial to use in sales force and sales force
training.

In order to change sales force training in order to benefit everyone, you must focus on
three different things. The first being sales training planning, then sales training implementation,
and lastly, sales training evaluation (Guenzi, 2011). In order to plan the sales training, you must
first figure out the sales training needs of that company. To figure this out, the company must
make an assessment of the sales force currently happening and if it meets the objectives of the
company. If it does not, you then need to figure out what needs to be changed. Once you have
figured out what needs to be changed, you need to change your focus to who needs to change by
doing an assessment on each individual worker. A couple of ways to do this would be through
basic observation and through a survey handed out to the salespeople so that they can express
how they feel. A couple more ways of calculating who needs training would be to turn to the
customers and see how they feel about the workers and what they are doing right and wrong.
After figuring out what and who need to be changed during training, you need to then figure out
the training objectives. The main objectives that companies search for is just an increase in sales
volume or productivity (Guenzi, 2011). After figuring exactly what goals that you want to attain
through this training, you need to go on to figure out how much the training is going to cost and
how long it will last. Sales training programs on average cost about one hundred thousand dollars
(Guenzi, 2011). On average, merchants invested over two thousand dollars in a new sales
persona and over thirteen hundred dollars on training an experienced sales person (El-Ansary,
2013). This seems like so much money to be spending on just training, but it is all worth it in the
end. It is also important to think about the time that you are going to put in to training these
employees because they will be out of work the time that they are putting into the training.
The second stage would be sales training implementation (Guenzi, 2011). After figuring
out who to train, what to change, and the budget for the training, it is time to shape and

implement the program. In order to do this, the trainers must figure out which topics need to be
covered in the training. A typical sales training usually covers product knowledge, market and
industry knowledge, company knowledge, sales techniques and other various topics. In order to
be successful, sales people must be fully trained on the product and/or service that they are
presenting (Guenzi, 2011). They must know the strengths and weaknesses of not only their
product but also competitors products. This is done through continuous training. It is also
important to be trained on market or industry knowledge. This consists of their customers are,
where they are located, what products they want, their buying habits, and their financial status. A
big part of training would be sales technique. It is important that each sales person learn all
stages of the selling process (prospecting, preparation, approach, presentation, handling of
objections, closing a sale, and after-sale service) (Guenzi, 2011). Other important topics to
consider for training would be modern day techniques to bring through a sell. As mentioned
about earlier, technology has changed a lot of communication and sales people need to use this to
their advantage in and outside of training. Next you need to look at sales training methods. This
is something that the trainer must figure out. They must consider many different factors when
choosing the best method for training because not one method can cover everything that needs to
be covered. In order to figure out the best method, many trainers look at the experiential learning
theory and can then decide which method is best for the trainee (Guenzi, 2011). These
methodologies are broken into two different group by the American Society for Training and
Development; self-study and workshop. Self-study methodologies are those of someone who is
studying any program with a self-instructional approach teaching themselves at their own pace,
without supervision (Guenzi, 2011). Trainers used to believe that this sort of training did not
have any benefits until lately when they are seeing how they can attribute to the program.

Workshop methodologies consist of lectures, discussions, on-the-job training and role-play

(Guenzi, 2011). Next, you should figure out who will actually implement the training. Who
chooses the trainer usually consists on the size of the company, what they are trying to sell and
where training will take place. The trainers that are usually involved are specialized training
staff, firm sales executives, and special trainers outside of the company. Specialized training staff
are those that specialize in the training material and preparing the training program. The only
disadvantages would be that they do not train for real life situations and the large amount of
money that they cost. Firm sales executives can be either top sales executives or middle ranking
sales managers. These sales managers are very experienced in the field that the training would be
done in, making them great for the job. The only disadvantage is that they might not have the
training abilities to communicate to the trainee the way an actual trainer would. Special trainers
from outside of the company may do the whole training program, or just organize and leave it to
others to teach. The only disadvantage to using them would be their lack of knowledge to the
specific company. Location of the training can either be centralized or decentralized (Guenzi,
2011). If it is centralized, it will be taking place in the companys central location, while if it is
decentralized, it will be happening in branch offices.
In order to evaluate your sales force training, there are four steps to measuring
effectiveness. The first step is reaction. Reaction defines how trainers felt about the learning
experience (Guenzi, 2011). You can measure reaction through feedback forms, post-training
surveys, or questionnaires. Some questions that might be asked are did you enjoy the training?
Do you think it was useful? The following step is known as learning. Learning is defined as the
increase in knowledge, before and after. This can be done by assessments before and after
training, which can come in the form of hard copy, online, electronic, or interview-style (Guenzi,

2011). A couple of examples of questions that might be asked would be what principles were
learned and what attitudes were changed? The third step would be Behavior. Behavior is
defined as the extent that someone used what they have learned when they are back on the job.
There are many different ways to measure this such as observations and interviews over time
along with evaluations by colleagues, supervisor, and customers. A couple of the questions that
might be asked would be if the individual is using the skills learned during training and if there is
measurable change in the performance of the individual when they are on the job. The last step to
measuring training effectiveness would be to look at the results. Results are defined as the effect
on the company or business by the trainee. Ways that this is measured is through general key
performance indicators and other indicators such as customer complaints, failures, and
achievements (Guenzi, 2011). Some questions that might be asked to determine this would be it
the department in a better place after training and what are the tangible results.
If all of this is followed through when coming up with a training program, then the
company that you are training for is headed towards success. Each step that is implemented in
this program is what will help the company pick a program that is customized for them and what
they need to get done. It is also important to keep in mind technology and how you can use that
to your advantage both in training and through your sales.

References
Attia, A. (2013). The journal of personal selling & sales management. New York.

El-Ansary, A. (2013). Person selling & Sales Management (Vol. 13). Taylor & Francis.

Guenzi, P. (2011). Sales Force Training. In Sales management: A multinational perspective.

Houndmills, Basingstoke Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.