Training and Development of

Sales Force
Developing a training program for sales typically involves defining the desired competencies
and then preparing materials to develop those skills and behaviors. Depending on the size of
your sales force, you might conduct monthly workshops, host annual events or produce self-
paced course materials that help participants enhance their selling skills. Comprehensive sales
training programs enable your small business to promote a consistent approach to selling your
products and services.

Analysis

Developing a training program for sales typically begins by defining the skills and knowledge
required to sell products and services at your company. For example, the American Society for
Training and Development publishes a sales competency model. This includes foundational
competencies related to partnering, providing insight, generating solutions and performing
effectively. During the analysis phase of your sales training development effort, assess all the
people in your sales force to determine their level of competency. To target your efforts, design
your training program to address the weaknesses in your sales force, such as handling
objections or selling comprehensive solutions.

Design

Designing course materials for a training program for sales usually starts by defining the
learning objectives for the program. These objectives should reflect specific, measurable,
attainable, realistic and time-constrained goals. Program goals typically involve increasing
productivity, improve morale, reducing turnover, improving customer relations and enhancing
selling skills for your products and services. Topics usually include market orientation,
company orientation, time and territory management, legal and ethical issues and competitive
analysis.

Development

To develop course materials, create presentations and other resources, such as charts and
checklists, that help sales people provide potential customers with the critical information about
your products. Then, customers can make buying decisions based on how your product is used
in solving problems, how your product compares to others based on price, performance, cost
of ownership and quality. Sales training development activities also usually include the creation
of multiple-choice tests. These ensure that participants can recall and apply their knowledge.

Implementation

Implementing your training program for sales usually involves training instructors to deliver
the course materials. You may use internal resources or hire external trainers. Sales training
program agendas typically allow time for role-playing exercises so that participants can
practice selling skills, such as making their sales pitch and overcoming objections. For
example, conduct role-playing exercises to help participants learn to use open questions when
gathering information. After your course is over, evaluate your training program to determine
the participator’s reactions, knowledge retention, observable behavior back on the job and
impact on operational metrics. By asking participants for their feedback on the training
program, you can incorporate their comments into subsequent offerings of your workshops to
improve overall effectiveness.