You’re the Boss Blog: How Much Training Do Sales Representatives Need?

She Owns It

Portraits of women entrepreneurs.

Earl Wilson for The New York Times Beth Shaw: Why aren’t you performing?

During the last She Owns It business group meeting, Beth Shaw, who owns YogaFit, wondered why her new sales representative wasn’t selling what she was brought on to sell — YogaFit conference sponsorships, and the company’s branded merchandise, which includes clothing, yoga mats and DVDs. Initially, the conversation focused on compensation and learning curves. But as the discussion continued, a group member, Alexandra Mayzler, the owner of Thinking Caps Tutoring, raised the issue of training.

Specifically, she asked whether YogaFit had trained its new salesperson.

“If you’re a salesperson, I’m assuming …” Ms. Shaw began to answer.

“Uh uh,” said Deirdre Lord, who owns the Megawatt Hour.

“You’re shaking your head,” Ms. Shaw said to Ms. Mayzler, who replied that she makes no assumptions regarding the ability of new people to sell Thinking Caps’ services. She said sales at her company were relationship-driven. In fact, Thinking Caps doesn’t even use the term “sales.” Instead it describes that function as “networking and outreach.”

“We have a sales deck, we have a whole sponsor proposal,” Ms. Shaw said, protesting.

“So do we,” Ms. Mayzler said, adding that that’s not enough. For example, Thinking Caps just opened a Dallas office, which will be run by a clinical psychologist who has worked within schools. “She knows how to talk about this stuff,” Ms. Mayzler said. Still, the Dallas employee will go through extensive training designed to teach her how to have conversations that sell Thinking Caps’ services in a style consistent with its mission.

“Do you train her?” asked Susan Parker, the group member who owns Bari Jay.

“I’m not doing everything,” Ms. Mayzler said, adding, “I’m finally focusing on delegating.” One aspect of training involves learning the information in the Thinking Caps manual. Next, come conversations with three different Thinking Caps staff members. These include extensive role-playing and direction on points that must be hit when talking about Thinking Caps. Ms. Mayzler holds the final conversation with the trainee, who then shadows an experienced Thinking Caps staff member during meetings with potential clients.

“There’s a difference in how you sell sponsorships and how you sell merchandise,” said Jessica Johnson, who owns Johnson Security Bureau. For example, a deck may help YogaFit’s sales representative sell sponsorships, she said, but not apparel or videos.

But, said Ms. Shaw, the salesperson received leads for pro shops locating within health clubs and offering YogaFit trainings. “It’s not too much of a stretch to be like, ‘Hey, you’re carrying yoga mats, we’ve got yoga mats. Hey, you’ve got workout pants, we’ve got great workout pants,’” Ms. Shaw said.

Ms. Johnson said that, while Ms. Shaw’s suggestions were valid, she had to be sure the sales rep understood YogaFit’s “unique selling proposition.” A new salesperson must establish relationships with pro shops, while recognizing that they may already sell “29 different yoga mats,” she added.

“I understand your frustration because you’re responsible for your entire business,” Ms. Johnson said. Additionally she said, “You’re incenting this woman and giving her good compensation, and she’s come to you with what you think is credible experience, and you’re like, ‘Why are you not performing and what’s not working?’”

“Exactly,” said Ms. Shaw.

In terms of training, Ms. Shaw said the sales representative attended a YogaFit conference where she learned about YogaFit’s products and met several instructors. Additionally, she attended some of the company’s yoga trainings.

Ms. Johnson suggested that it might be beneficial to have the new salesperson make weekly or monthly presentations to YogaFit’s staff. These could take the form of a sales call, with role-playing.

“We’ve actually tried to get her to do that, and for some reason she’s been reluctant to even make a sales call in front of the sales team that she’s trying to train,” Ms. Shaw said.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Lord agreed this was a bad sign. Still, Ms. Johnson wasn’t giving up. “My next suggestion would be to model to her an example sales call,” she said. “This is what a cold call looks like, this is what a warm call looks like, this is what a warm letter looks like, this is what a face-to-face looks like,” she continued. After a certain amount of repetition, Ms. Shaw could accompany the salesperson on a call to see how she does.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Ms. Shaw, who is no longer sure anything will work. “I now have given her a month and a week and the training period is up,” she said. Instead of continuing to bang her head against a wall, Ms. Shaw is ready to simply assign her salesperson to the customer service department for the duration of her contract, which is up on Feb. 18.

“Why not take until Feb. 18 to try to make her a better salesperson?” asked Ms. Parker. “Then either you have, hopefully, a good salesperson on Feb. 18, or you cut your losses,” she said.

“I agree with that,” Ms. Lord said.

As Ms. Shaw considered this, Ms. Johnson pointed out that the more important issue is, how she handles the issue going forward.

You can follow Adriana Gardella on Twitter.

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/how-much-training-do-sales-representatives-need/?partner=rss&emc=rss