Sales Force Management #

2. Training of Sales force

There is an old belief that “Salesmen are born and
not made.” Once in a while, we may come across
a salesman who is capable of selling a refrigerator
to an Eskimo, but this is rare. The salesman has to
educate the customers about products, sell the
same with benefit to the customer and profit for
the company. Therefore, he should have excellent
knowledge about products, competition, market
dynamics, buying motives, and selling skills.
 The Need for Training of Salesforce:
• The need of training salesman arises from the fact
that a newly appointed salesman does not have the
knowledge about the product he has to sell. He may
not have knowledge about customers and buying
motives. He may not know how to sell the product
or how to present them to the prospective buyers.
• Even old salesman need training to acquaint them
with the new products of the firm or those of the
competitors, to explain to them the improved sales
technique or simply as a refresher course.
 The extent of training will depend upon
following:
• 1. How difficult and complicated is the selling
job concern?
• 2. The level of education and previous training
the salesman possesses.
• 3. Previous selling experience of the salesmen.
• 4. The type of buyer to be approached. In case
of an expert buyer, more knowledge of the
product to be sold is the absolute necessity.
 Training Scheme # (1) Basic Principle of Salesmanship:

• Salesmen, to be effective in their sales efforts, should

know fully the buying motives of customers and the
selling points of the products. They should be well-
versed with the methods of approaching the
customers. They should know the effective way of
arousing the interest in the product and the art of
creating desire for it.
• They should be able to meet the objections raised by
the customers. The training programme should stress
on the AIDA formula to explain and build the sales
presentation.
• A – Attention – How to get it?
• I – Interest – How to arouse it?
• D – Desire – How to develop it?
• A – Action – How to bring about decision to
buy?
 Training Scheme # (2) Knowledge of the
Firm:
• The salesman should be well informed about the
company i.e., history of the company, its
organisational set up, the name it has earned,
achievement records, sales policies, distribution
policies, customer’s service provided by the
company, selling outlets, (channels) and so on.
Knowledge about the firm’s goodwill and its selling
policies goes a long way to inject a sense of pride
in the salesmen and enable them to do their job as
per the firm’s policy.
 Training Scheme # (3) Knowledge of the
Product:
• To be successful in increasing the sales volume of a
product, salesmen should possess the requisite
knowledge of the product. Good physical
appearance alone will not help him to sell the
product. Therefore, a salesman must have a
detailed knowledge regarding- nature of the
product, methods of production, materials used,
method of packing, uses of the product, etc. This
knowledge could be gained only out of properly
organised training by the company.
 Training Scheme # (4) Knowledge about
the Customers:
• A salesman must have a perfect knowledge of
customers to whom the products are to be
sold. Furthermore, consumers are human
beings and their behaviour would be different
from one another. Their buying motives would
be different from one another. Each customer
would be different as to the nature and type.
• Their modes may change and often their temperaments too.
Some of the types of customers are: silent and talkative
customers, and ill-mannered, suspicious, nervous, hesitant,
argumentative and ill-tempered customers.
• Buying motives include considerations of health, comfort and
convenience, such as sense of fear, fashion, recreation,
affection, hobbies, and habits.
• All these necessitate the salesman to acquire the knowledge of
‘customer psychology.’ The training is required to study at least
three factors- What motivates the buyer to buy? What is the
nature and requirement of the customer? How to deal with
different types of customers?
 Training Scheme # (5) Knowledge of
Competitors:
Apart from the knowledge regarding the firm
represented by the salesman and its products,
they must possess the knowledge relating to
their products and policies of the competing
firm.
Training Scheme # (6) Matters Pertaining to
the Day to Day Work:
• Salesman should also be given training to
know the following:
• (a) To draft periodical reports to the firm
• (b) Receipt of and replying letters
• (c) Preparation of orders and bills
• (d) Maintenance of accounts
• (e) Arrangements of display and
demonstration of products.
Advantages of Training the Salesforce:
• Advantage # 1. Greater Sales Volume:
• A scientifically designed training programme helps
to increase the sales volume.
• Advantage # 2. Reduces Cost of Production:
• Increased selling helps to reduce cost of production.
• Advantage # 3. Early Selling Maturity:
• Training reduces the time to be spent by the
salesman with each customer in convincing him
about the product.
• Advantage # 4. Lowers Supervision Cost:
• In the case of untrained salesmen, sales manager and the other supervisory
staff have to pay more visits than those needed in the case of trained salesmen
to keep a check on their work.
• Advantage # 5. Lowers Turnover of Salesforce:
• Proper training makes the salesman well-prepared for the field work. This
results in reduced number of salesmen leaving their job. This lower rate of
turnover gives the advantage of reduced costs of recruitment, selection and
training of salesmen.
• Advantage # 6. Better Customer Relations:
• A scientifically trained salesman knows how to deal with a particular sales
situation. He does not oversell, e.g., he does not sell the wrong quality or type
of goods. The salesman advises the customers in business also. Therefore, a
cordial pleasant personal relationship with the customer is established. This
makes frequent visits to book repeat orders possible.
 Other Advantages:
• (a) Items leaving higher margin of profit can be more easily sold.
• (b) Reduced losses due to bad debts.
• (c) Reduces selling cost.
• (d) Greater sales volume per call of the salesman.
• (e) Reduced number of complaints from customers.
• (f) Reduced number of calls per order.
• (g) Better demonstration and sales presentation.
• (h) Sale of complete line of products is possible.
• (i) The number of salesforce could be kept at the minimum.
• (j) Buyer’s demand for a better knowledge of the product could
be satisfied only by a trained salesman.