The
evaluation of results is very important in sales training. Some organization
neglect it till the end of the training programme but provision should be made
for regular and systematic appraisals of each individual salesman’s progress
and improvement (Yoder at al 1985 -10-12) critical evaluation will provide
management answers to the following questions (Mcgeker and Thayer: 1961:251)
(1)
Are the moneys
being spend on training provide the results needed by the organization.
(2)
What improvement
can be made in training procedures which will result in greater return on the
money invested on training
(3)
It training
necessary in this area to improve effectiveness in the company or should the
money spent on training be used in some other activity which will contribute
more efficiently to the attainment of the company’s goals?
There is no one best way of
evaluating sales training whatever method that is used, the training department
should try to connect as much date as possible on changes that have taken place
in trainees and the reorganizations as a result of the training. Training is
expected to affect the sales forces knowledge skills, and attitudes.
These changes that have taken place
in the sales force can be measured in terms of
(1)
sales force
turn-over
(2)
sales volume
(3)
absenteeism
(4)
arrange sales
size
(5)
calls to close
ratio
(6)
customer complaints
and complements
(7)
new account per time
units and
(8)
volume of
returned merchandize (Kotler 1970.556).
The
result of sales training evaluation is important for planning the next training
programme. It is way of persuading management to increase budget. The result of
the evaluation will enable the organization or trainers to know where to make
changes in the next training programme. Sales training cannot be static.
Greater changes are taking place in the environment in which business exists.
Business must evaluate its presents training programme in order to better adapt
to meet the needs of the society through its salesmen and products.
OBJECTIVES OF SALES TRAINING
According
to Nebo (2001:158) the main aim of sales training include:
(1)
To increase sales
productivity and profits.
(2)
To improve sales
person’s morale, job, satisfaction and orientations towards selling jobs.
(3)
To increase sales
force turnover and reduce absenteeism
(4)
To improve
customer relations
(5)
To improve better
management of time, territory and helping sales persons to become better
managers.
(6)
To reduce selling
costs
(7)
To inform
salesmen about new changes and obtain feedback from them.
INCREASE SALES PRODUCTIVITY AND
PROFITS
The
primary objective of sales training programme is to teach the salesmen on how
to be more productive in acquiring necessary skills and competence required in
salesmanship. The outcome of those exercise are higher productivity, sales and
profits.
IMPROVEMENT OF SALESPERSON’S MORALE JOB
SATISFACTION AND SALES ORIENTATIONS
Many salesmen are frustrated and turned down because
they do not have answers to customers objectives on the cause of their selling
activities. This results in low moral and job dissatisfaction but when the
salesperson are adequately trained thereby giving them job satisfaction and improves
their morale.
INCREASE SALESPERSONS TURNOVER AND
REDUCE ABSENTEEISM: A satisfied and well trained
salesperson is likely to stay with the job of selling than untrained person
that lack purpose and is more likely to get discourage and quit their jobs.
IMPROVING CUSTOMER RELATIONS
Sales
persons who understands their job are more likely to understand customer
problems than their untrained counterparts. Sales training tries to inculcate
into the salesmen the ideas and abilities that will enable them solve customer
problems. Untrained persons usually use high pressure selling tactics and offer
bribes to obtain order obtained through the means usually does not last because
customer feel cheated and coaxed. The salesperson that stays long in their business
tend to have good relations with their customers they some repeatedly.
Customers sometimes find it difficult to transfer loyalty to other
salesperson once the relationship has
been built.
IMPROVING BETTER MANAGEMENT OF TIME AND
TERRITORY
One
of the main objectives of sales training is to tack salespersons on how to be
better managers of time and sales territories. They are taught on hw to devote
their time to different classes of account (customers) a the most effective route to
follow in covering their territories within the limited time available for
sales job.
REDUCING SALES COST
Another
objective of the sales training is to teach salesperson how to reduce selling
costs. Again enough training reduces sales force turnover thereby saving the
cost that would have been used in replacing the sales force that quit their
jobs.
THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAINING THE
SALESMEN
To
develop and implement a sales training that is effective and efficient, the
management should decided those that will be responsible in conducing the sales
training. Sales training are usually alone by line executives staff executive
or outside consultants. Any one used in training the sales force has its own
problems advantages and disadvantages. Line executives are the sales managers
senior sales representatives, field supervisor, general sales manager,
divisional or regional sales managers when training responsibilities are
entrusted in their hands those to be trained have more respect for them as the
trainees tries to comply with all training directives. Line managers are in a
better position in evaluating salesmen who they trained. The major problem of
using line executives is lack of time resulting from, other functions facing
them. Staff executives can be used in training the sales force. These are staff
in other departments like personnel, production, engineering and accounts, they
can be selected to conduct training for the sales recruits. The staff in other
department because they are not sales personnel, may not be able to teach
effectively sales functions, when an organization has a unit whose
responsibility is to conduct sales training. They do better because the
executives that work in such units have the time teaching skills and materials
necessary for sales training. One problem of using staff in training the small
organization do not have equal respect like the line managers.
Consultants can equally be used in
training the sales force. Okafor (1996:43) the staff executive can effectively
handle all the areas to be covered in the training such as the benefits,
promotions, demotions firing of workers and company polices can best be handled
by the personnel department. Other aspects like the movement of products t
depots and stock records are best taught by distribution managers, while such
things as the selling process are best taught by sales mangers.
Sales
are made to generate revenue needed for the survival and growth of an
organization. The success of failure in generating sales in an organization
depends on the quality of its sales force as we are now faced with competitive
economy for a salesman or sales-manager to function effectively and improve, he
must be trained of the sales personnel is important it has to be carefully
planned and conducted in order to ensure that the desired objective are
achieved. This entails the formulation
of sales training policy identification of the training needs of all
categories of the sales force, selection of trainers and training methods, and
seeing to it that things are conducted in accordance with the laid down plan.
THE IMPORTANCE OF SALES TRAINING
Sales
training in an important part of sales management job. In the past, when
competition was not as it is today, sale training was not budgeted for, then
management believes that selecting and recruiting goods and experience
salespeople is the answer to their problems some others equally believe that
salesperson are born not made with this belief management looks at training the
salesmen as a waste of their time and money but in doing that they forgot that
good characteristics necessary for the sales success can be developed and
improved through a well designed training programme in today’s competitive
environment, organization have realized the importance or developing and
implementory sales training prgoramme for bottle the newly recruited and
experience sales people. Service organization like banks, churches hospitals
and other non-profit making organization now engage seriously in sales,
training of their workers. This is to develop their human inputs into a
successful productive part of marketing team.
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