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Introduction
Sales training is a critical component contributing to the success of most
technology companies. For sales and training executives and managers,
assessing and selecting from among the many sales training and
methodology providers can be a daunting task. However, sales training is a
significant (and, from a financial reporting standpoint, often a "financially
material") investment. To get the best results, and to select the best
providers, developing a requirements definition and a request for proposal
(RFP) is the best route.
Sales Training as a Component of Success
In today’s hypercompetitive business environments, companies look for the
competitive edge. For many technology companies, it’s product-based.
These companies strive for the best quality, the most innovation, the lowest
price, the hottest technology, the greatest return on investment (ROI), or,
perhaps, outstanding brand recognition. Other companies depend on stellar
service or customer care to differentiate them from the competition.
Regardless of which of those advantages your company depends upon to
win, we believe that those organizations with a well-founded, pragmatic
sales methodology—a set of processes, procedures, and tools that provide
the sales organization with what it needs to convert qualified prospects to
customers—win business more often, at higher margins. Sales training is a
critical component contributing to the success of these organizations.
The total cost of training (TCT) is a significant and, for many companies, a
financially material expense. Well spent, sales training can boost the top line
of an enterprise by providing a competitive edge that mitigates minor
deficiencies in product, delivery, quality, price, or brand value. Poorly spent,
it is a waste of human resources and money, and can easily cost an
organization millions in lost business opportunity.
Sales executives don’t invest in sales training, per se, they invest in quota
attainment. Sales training is how they achieve that goal. Savvy companies,
that employ a sales methodology, invest in sales training strategically (as an
ongoing process to support the broad adoption of the methodology) or
tactically (to educate and train their teams on specific skills required to
adapt to changing market conditions, such as how to win against a specific,
tough competitor that introduces a new product). However, a sales training
company, (or effectiveness solutions provider (ESP), may not be the same
company that consulted with them on the installation of their methodology
or even provided the strategic training.
ESP Evaluation and Selection
With that in mind, once you determine that you need sales training for your
organization, the next step is to develop a set of requirements. These will
serve as a foundation from which you will select a sales ESP, or define a
curriculum for delivery by your internal sales training team.
Broadly, ESP evaluation process can be divided into three parts:
1. Requirements Definition: This is the process of defining your
organization's sales training needs, culminating in an RFP. Are you
currently using a methodology? If so, what are its characteristics? Is
the training strategic, or tactical, as described above? Do you need
basic, advanced, or sales management training? Do you need to
transfer product, industry, and service knowledge, or basic selling
skills? Do you know how to assess the training needs of your existing
sales personnel, or do you need an impartial, independent
assessment? Change management is a key part of the sales training
process. Do you have a program of continuous follow-up and
reinforcement to ensure that change is effected, or must that be part
of the procured program?
2. 2. Baseline assumptions
a. What methodology, processes, and procedures are you currently
using?
b. What does your sales force already know?
c. What are their individual and aggregate strengths and
weaknesses?
d. What areas require training
i. Employing the company’s sales methodology
ii. Product knowledge
iii. Selling process
iv. Communicating up and down the sales “chain of
command”
v. Prospecting
vi. Gaining and maintaining access to senior-levels
vii. Closing
viii. Getting to the “right buyer”
ix. Devising strategies and tactics to win against a specific
competitor?
3. Event Requirements
a. Geography
b. Dates and timing
c. Language—facilitation and materials
d. Learning objectives
e. Customization of workshops and case studies, training materials,
and specific content
f. Instrumentation, including what tools are left with the sales
representatives to reinforce or facilitate the adoption of the
training post-event
g. Existence of follow-up mechanisms, other than instrumentation,
to reinforce the training, both from the ESP and by your
organization
h. Preparation /customization cost
i. Delivery cost
j. Strategy for assessing results:
i. What will be measured?
ii. Over what time frame?
iii. What are the goals?
iv. How will the results be validated?
v. What improvements will be included in the ongoing
training process?
4. Cost/Benefit analysis
a. Anticipated sales achievement
b. Less delivery costs
c. Less assessment costs
d. Less internal event costs
e. Yield results