Selecting an Effective Sales Training Method

In the last few years an increasing amount of money has been invested in providing training and re-training for sales people. The use of modern electronic communication systems has also become a part of their training. Now is therefore a good time for trainers and sales managers to ask themselves how effective their sales training programmes are. Should they be orientated towards the old, tried and tested training methods, or should they be replaced altogether by modern, high tech methods.

A group of professors and sales trainers examined this question in 203 companies. The study centerd on a comparison of traditional sales training methods and four higher tech methods.

The traditional training methods included:

• Discussions
• Conferences/lecture type training
• Case studies
• Televised lectures
• Films and video
• Role play & simulation

The higher tech training methods were: Computer-based training in which the salesperson trains alone with the help of a special computer-based training programme. Some of these programmes try to increase participation by including practical exercises or simulations.

Computer-led training, where the salesperson is tested on their training progress on a computer. The computer then analyses the test and makes additional training suggestions.

Teletraining: an electronic training session but with participants in various different locations linked by conference call to the trainer.

Interactive video training: A problem or case study is presented by video, which is then “solved” by the salesperson on computer.

According to the businesses asked, discussion based training is right up at the top of their preferred training methods, both today and in the future. Most of those asked thought that lectures/conferences alone would continue to decrease in importance because they are the only training method in which the salespeople remain totally passive.

According to the results of the survey, higher tech training methods are still seldom used. Computer-based and computer-led sales training methods were expected, however, to become increasingly important, although teletraining as a training method was expected to remain relatively low down on the list of preferred training methods.

The businesses asked believed that the traditional method of role playing was the most effective training method for developing sales people.

One of the most striking results of the study was the discrepancy between the frequency of use of a method and its predicted effectiveness.

The training methods of lecture/conference, televised lecture and film and video, the frequency of use was considerably higher than the effectiveness. On the other hand, those asked thought that interactive video, computer-based, computer-led and teletraining methods had a greater effectiveness than frequency of use.

The case study training method, according to those asked, more appropriate for developing interpersonal communication skills in sales people than it is for transmitting basic sales information knowledge.

Additional differences were shown for the training goal of “changing attitudes”. In this case, computer-based and computer-led training methods were judged to be the worse training methods to achieve the goal.

In summary, although high tech training methods tended to be perceived as effective, they were not as yet in widespread use. Training methods that were particularly effective were those that included intensive involvement and participation on the salesperson's part, such as role play, and similar trainer-led training methods.

On the other hand, passive training methods such as lectures, sales conferences, films and videos, were judged by those businesses asked as not particularly effective. It is perhaps surprising that many sales managers continue to use these less effective sales training methods to train their teams, perhaps this simply reflects the lower cost of these training methods and a lack of focus on ROI.

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