Choosing a Training Program to Improve Sales Performance
For most companies, sales performance is directly related to increased net revenue and sustained growth. Less than impressive performance in sales means stalled growth. The top three things that most companies implement to help them improve sales performance are:
1. Finding and hiring the best people that can deliver the required sales outputs. Some people, based on a number of factors like experience, temperament, training and attitude, deliver better sales performance than others. It’s the company’s job to find these people and to encourage them to stay on with the company.
2. The company and its leaders also need to communicate the sales goals clearly to the sales staff. These goals should be communicated well and it should be seen as in alignment with the main goals or objectives of the company.
3. Planning and implementing an effective training program that will help set goals, monitor performance and provide continuous feedback.
Effective training programs are typically part of a well planned incentive program. This incentive program to improve sales performance should the employees and the teams or units to achieve individual and team sales goals. The incentive program should address the behaviors that are important to the company and that drive sales growth. Once these behaviors are identified, the company should plan a program that will reward these behaviors.
The training program should have goals that are measurable and based on quotas or specific figures. Quota-based programs, according to the study “Incentives, Motivation and Workplace Performance: Research & Best Practices,” are more effective.
It is important that the training program is seen as a way to improve skills and gain more knowledge. Focusing on the education aspect helps employees feel a sense of ownership in achieving his or her goals. Keep employees engaged by spreading the right messages about the training program: that it is objective, fair, transparent and consistent, and that it has a support and feedback component that can help empower the sales staff to further improve their performance.
An online training program that incorporates all the key components of the incentive strategy – including training, feedback, monitoring and rewards – would be very useful. Having all these components in a single platform makes it easier to prepare feedback, set new goals and track accomplishments on the individual and team level. In most cases, the platform also helps keep employees emotionally engaged.
Most online training programs also have real time reports that can help in assessing if the incentive program is achieving its goals.
Choose online training programs that are easy to customize to fit your company’s motivation strategy. And also, make sure the training program offers a variety of training modules.
There should be activities to celebrate the improved sales performance of the teams and individual participants of the incentive program. They don’t have to be expensive events. The focus should be conveying that the employees and the company are all on the same team working on achieving goals that can benefit both parties.
Resource:
Amia Trevisan is a HR specialist that manages employee incentive programs to increase sales performance. We help reward employees and render online training programs for companies in Australia, US and UK.
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