EDAC635 - Strategies for Teaching Adults

Commented on: Group 4

Introduction

There are two concerns when hiring salespeople. Some have a sales background, but not in furniture. Some have furniture experience, but they may have bad habits they have learned from a competitor. Still others have customer service experience and come with amazing people skills, but have little to no sales experience. With so many different types of trainees, with such varied backgrounds, it is important to create a sales training program that addresses each of these potential deficits. Further, it is important to consider ongoing training for existing staff to keep their skills fresh.

As the Human Resources Manager, I recently implemented a two-phase new employee orientation training program. With leadership staff, it was identified that there was also a need for training for current staff. Part one of the new hire orientation is for all staff and includes paperwork with HR, a visit with the owner, and a series of questions that can be answered by visiting the company website or reviewing the employee handbook. Part two is training for the division staff are entering – sales, warehouse, or administration. The syllabus here represents a new part three, a more advanced sales training piece, and it is designed to address all adult learning styles (audio, visual, kinesthetic). This will be an identified piece of the onboarding process, but will be rolled out to existing staff.

The purpose of the training is to provide a thoughtful, thorough onboarding for new staff that exposes them to the company culture, products, and history while increasing the trainee’s understanding of our high standards of customer service, how to close the sale, and other important skills that will help them be successful. This will also be ongoing training in a business that has previously outsourced training efforts.

Case Study Reviews:

Laura Davidson Public Relations (LDPR) has conducted sales training for some of the most recognized and innovative clients around. They train a “listen first, sell second” approach, crafting a series of probing questions for businesses to utilize with their clients or customers that helps them fully understand their needs before going into the hard sell. Here are a few examples:

1. American Express put out a challenge for reps to sign the top 100 companies who were not using their services. The sales trainer helped them create a story to match customer needs and Amex’s values. They met their challenge of closing those 100 companies because of the training.

2. The Harry Fox Agency, through the help of sales training, created key messaging and storyboarding to highlight key values for the company. They then boiled this down to what they believed to be the five key elements of the process. The team put this to use right away and began growing client relationships that did not exist before, and strengthening those already in place through changing the sales process itself.

3. Time Out New York created those probing questions that LDPR advocates. They state that asking these 10 questions up-front tells the client that their business is important and allows them to more quickly get at the crux of a client’s true need. (Giglio, Stephen. (Date unknown). Laura Davidson Public Relations. Retrieved from http://www.giglioco.com/case-studies-sales-training/)

Asher Strategies is a company that offers sales training. They have helped numerous companies improve their sales through their offerings. Some examples:

1. A large construction company in N.E. Ohio was struggling in a sluggish economy, with sales down 12%. They created a Sales Aptitude Assessment prior to rolling out a 2-day selling excellence seminar. Executives, Sales Managers, the marketing team, and salespeople attended and, as part of this event the group created goals, outlined major projects, and created action plans. The pre-survey identified needs, which informed the training and subsequent program planning. This has created a growth rate of 50%.\

2. An LED lighting installations company found themselves in a situation where only 8 of their 40 sales reps were effective. They created an overall growth strategy, with a goal of a 20% per year increase. They grew their business by 876% in one business segment by replacing poor performers and instituting sales training.

3. A government contractor was struggling. The company had no strategic plan, so they worked with Asher to create one. This has created a situation where everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. The company has since enjoyed a 60% growth rate after the addition of an assessment and training program created following the implementation of the strategic plan. (Asher Global Leaders in Growth Strategies. (Date unknown). Retrieved from https://www.asherstrategies.com/top-sales-training-programs/best-sales-training-program-case-studies.php)

Evidence to Support the Program Need:

CSO Insights, which is a group of analysts who provide performance and productivity best practices for the sales industry, conducted a study of 2,000 companies in 2013 to study performance and sales management optimization. The findings were quite clear. The bigger investment in sales training and coaching training for Sales Managers, the bigger yield in terms of sales growth and employee satisfaction, and a sharp decrease in employee turnover. Where employees rated their sales training as “exceeding expectations,” this was in direct alignment with the dollar amount invested in training. In addition, more salespeople in the “exceeds” category exceeded their sales quota. Turnover was 10% less for those who had invested more. (The TAS Group. (Date unknown). Evaluating Sales Training Programs White Paper. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/The_TAS_Group/white-paper-evaluating-sales-training-programs)

InsightSquared, a company focused on sales performance analytics, says, “You have to start at the bottom when building an effective sales training program. The first step is to outline a complete list of skills and competencies sales reps on your team need to succeed. Talk to your top reps, and try to categorize and identify what makes them stand out from the pack. Then, create a list of the skills every sales rep needs.” They suggest asking existing salespeople how they execute the sales process. (Marzinotto, Dan. (January, 29,2016). Ramp, the InsightSquared Blog. Retrieved from http://www.insightsquared.com/2016/01/how-to-build-an-effective-sales-training-program/)

How the Case Studies Inform the Syllabus and Program Design:

The idea of “listen first, sell second” place to start in helping salespeople understand the objective. The case studies contained many ideas that are appropriate to add to the agenda, including looking at company values and creating a story, creating messaging through storyboarding to determine the five key elements, and creating a set of probing questions to determine customer needs.

A Sales Aptitude Assessment is a great pre-survey to help inform the creation of the program and identify needs. It may also help group trainees for activities during the training events. Teaching Sales Managers to properly coach staff, as well as how to follow the disciplinary process, will allow supervisors to be unafraid of replacing poor performers, as necessary, and supporting others to make improvements. A review of the company’s strategic plan will help to ensure that all staff are on the same page.

Polling existing salespeople is a great tool in terms of program creation. It allows the ability to expand on the list of skills and competencies needed for the role, identified from those IN that role, not just from a supervisor or trainer.

Implementation:

Current staff will need to be trained to the new orientation standards to ensure a smooth rollout. This is a new way of thinking for staff who have only just recently acquired a human resource presence and have never had a trainer or instructional designer on staff to create such a program. The Human Resources Manager (me) will need to schedule time with existing staff to understand the process, why this is being implemented, and what their roles will be. This will also be a good chance to allow the sales staff to provide input on the curriculum and programming details for phase three.

Conclusion:

Multiple steps need to be created, which have been identified based on the research.

Phase I – New Employee Orientation for all staff (complete)

Phase II – New Employee Orientation for the specific roles (in progress)

Phase III – Training for existing core staff

Phase IV – Ongoing training based on identified needs

Sales Manager coaching training (complete)

Format:

Phase one is a combination of self-paced, individual learning coupled with group work with other trainees and/or staff members, and demonstration/discussion with salespeople and others. For phase two, trainees learn the internal computer system as well as work with vendors to learn more about some of our most popular product lines. Phase three will take on more of a lecture/discussion format, but will be conducted on the sales floor primarily, so products can be discussed and demonstrated. This will also be the most conducive to role plays.

Human Resources, Sales Managers, and the owner will facilitate and guide the learners through the different onboarding phases, as well as the ongoing training series. New staff will be assessed through their interaction with the other sales staff, designers, and customers. Additional assessment will be provided by way of the staff completing the demo exercises in our internal system, called Profit. For this ongoing training, success will be measured by sales numbers. Staff who have been struggling may have this become part of a performance improvement plan (PiP), with specific goals set for each employee.

Rationale

Foundation of the Syllabus/Structure to Meet the Objectives:

The syllabus structure allows staff to experience real-life scenarios through role plays and assessing real customer’s situations that did not have the best outcome so that they can determine what we could have done differently. There are opportunities to increase product knowledge, and for staff to learn how to talk to customers to help determine their needs and build rapport. All of this is designed with the idea that relationship-building, good customer service, and product knowledge will increase sales.

How the Syllabus is Designed/Structured to Meet Different Learning Styles:

The syllabus is designed with adult learning styles in mind. Phase one and two offer activities that are self-paced and designed for staff to do on their own. Phase three includes more group work, but also reading, writing, discussing, creating, and active work (role plays, etc.).

Theoretical Points from Practice Analysis/Case Studies:

The case studies and research have informed the creation of the agenda. New topics have been added as well as activities, above and beyond what I might have done without this step. The case studies themselves have utilized methods that have been proven to increase sales. Phase three will address adult learning styles as well. Much of this phase includes activities, and not just passive learning.

Interpretations of Rationale:

A syllabus should not simply provide a guide for students so they know what is coming, it should also get them excited about the learning/training. In addition, seeing that there are a variety of activities, reading, research, and interactions should help to alleviate any stress about the training. Some staff might consider that training is a way to weed out poor performers and they may feel like their job could be in jeopardy, which would obviously increase their stress level. But, through seeing the agenda, they should hopefully see training as a tool that is designed to help them be the best, to invest in their success, and to help them better serve their customers. As commissioned staff, increased sales also increase their pay, so it is not just a matter of increasing sales strictly for the company bottom line.

What Will the Learners Gain from This Design?

Learners will gain the ability to recognize customer’s needs and steer them to the correct solutions. They will learn how to thoughtfully move to close a sale, and how to build ongoing relationships that will increase repeat business. Learners will learn about the company’s strategic plan and will be able to work with this in mind. They will learn more about the competition and learn how to differentiate a customer’s experience from one they might have elsewhere. They will be able to identify their own shortcomings, and identify opportunities to build their knowledge/skill on their own moving forward.

Syllabus

Location, Date(s), Time of Class:

Garrison’s Home Furnishings, Store 1 – 6435 Crater Lake Hwy., Central Point, OR 97502

Mattress Gallery – 6425 Crater Lake Hwy., Central Point, OR 97502

Garrison’s OC – 4149 S. Pacific Hwy., Medford, OR 97501

Mattress Gallery B – 4149 S. Pacific Hwy. Unit B, Medford, OR 97501

Phase two training will occur primarily at store 1, regardless of the new employee’s final assignment. Phase three may occur in groupings at the individual stores. Eventually the goal will be to cross-train and utilize all stores for training.

7am start (2 hour blocks of training before the store opens) x 7 sessions

Dates: Rollout begins in June, dates TBD

Course Description:

Sales Training

Objectives:

To increase sales through improving customer relationships and to increase understanding of the culture and strategic plan of the company.

Reading/Learning Materials:

Customer case studies, Internet research

Assignments and Due Dates:

1) Existing sales staff will be trained to the new orientation standards so that they may provide feedback and so that they will also identify their role with new hires.

2) Current staff will be provided with a Sales Attitude Assessment at least a month before the scheduled class.

3) For phase three:

a. Competition research

b. Storyboarding

c. Review of strategic plan

d. Analyzing negative situations

Due dates will be determined once class dates are decided.

Learning Tools, Methods:

Videos, demonstration/observation, lecture, small group work

Schedules, Topics:

· Sales Aptitude Assessment

· Relationship building

· Differentiating us from the competition

· Needs analysis

· Aligning the solution to the customer’s needs

· Customer prioritization

· Handling objections

· Purchase justification

· Customer service

· Role plays (w/peer evaluation)

· Case studies, analyzing negative scenarios

· Strategic plan

· Phone calls

· Storyboarding, five key elements

· Probing questions

· Closing the sale

Two-hour blocks will be put together to begin at 7am, so that training can take place prior to the store opening. Topics will be grouped as follows:

Pre-work: new employee orientation rollout, Sales Aptitude Assessment

1) Strategic plan, differentiating us from the competition, 4 steps to selling

2) Needs analysis, probing questions

3) Role plays, case studies

4) Handling objections, purchase justification

5) Customer service, customer prioritization, phone calls

6) Relationship building, aligning the solution to customer’s needs

7) Storyboarding, five key elements, closing the sale

Grading Criteria, Standards:

Trainees must attend every class. They are expected to complete any pre-work and participate in discussions and activities. If they do not, this will be discussed with the supervisor during the next month’s one-on-one session.

Success will be determined by customer comments and sales increases. Lack of long-term success may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

Class Schedule, Activity Content:

Two-hour blocks with activities throughout. See the agenda below for more information on the activity content.

Attendance Policies:

Attendance is required at every session. Multiple sessions will likely be needed to accommodate schedules, so staff should be able to get into whichever class(es) work for them.

Agenda:

Activities in red, video content in blue.

Session 1: Strategic Plan, Competition, 4 Steps

Pre-work	Competition Research	Trainees research a local competitor and come prepared to discuss what is working, and what is not, with competitors.
7-7:15	Icebreaker – Get-to-Know-You-Bingo	Led by Human Resources Manager - Staff each have a bingo card with different characteristics (has a tattoo, has been to Las Vegas, drives a black car, etc.). They are to find someone in the room who can initial their square. The first person to get a bingo gets a prize.
7:15-7:45	Discussion - differentiating us from the competition	Employees discuss what they learned in their research, and the owner shares his thoughts. The goal is to come up with some fresh ideas to try, and/or to determine what ideas would not work for us.
7:45-8:15	Strategic Plan	Owner leads a discussion about the strategic plan – what is it, and what role does the staff play in achieving it?
8:15-8:45	The 4 Steps to Selling	Owner and Sales Manager introduce this concept to staff and discuss how to accomplish each step. This will serve as a jumping off point to future discussion.
8:45-9	Wrap up, evals	HR to discuss future programming and schedule, and hand out class evaluations.

Session 2: Needs Analysis, Probing Questions

Pre-work	How Can I Help You?	Trainees will complete a worksheet highlighting their own style and what they know about uncovering a customer’s needs.
7-7:15	Icebreaker – thumb ball	HR throws a play ball to a staff member that has been created with different topics (favorite movie, favorite food, etc.). Wherever their right thumb lands, they have to answer that question. They then throw it to someone else until everyone has had a turn.
7:15-7:45	Needs Analysis	Sales Manager facilitates this discussion sharing their own tips and tricks for uncovering customer’s needs. What happens when the customer doesn’t KNOW what they need?
7:45-8:30	Needs Analysis – Group Work	Trainees discuss in pairs or small groups their techniques as uncovered during the pre-work. They determine together what the best practices are from what is shared and then present to the group.
8:30-8:55	Probing Questions	In same groups, employees will come up with 3 probing questions that will help them better understand a customer’s needs, keeping in mind that questions NOT relating to the sale may also be appropriate. HR will compile and share this list with everyone by email after class.
8:55-9	Evals

Session 3: Role Plays, Case Studies

7-7:15	Teambuilding – Play-Doh	Led by Human Resources Manager - Each person has a tube of Play-Doh. They have 1.5 minutes to create something on their secret card. They then have to move to the next station, with no communication and try to continue to build on what the other person has started without knowing what that person was working on. Allow them the opportunity to guess and move them to other stations as time allows. The lesson here is to show that you can’t work as a team without communication, everyone has a different interpretation of something, etc.
7:15-7:55	Case Study Review	In pairs or small groups, employees will discuss the case study they are given and then share with the class what we could have done different to change the experience. Discussion facilitated by Sales Manager.
7:55-8:55	Role Plays	Administrative staff (and other employees not in sales) will role play on the sales floor as a customer. Salespeople will take turns handling the customer scenario. Peers will provide feedback.
8:55-9	Evals

Session 4: Handling Objections, Purchase Justification

7-7:15	Teambuilding -Find Your Match	Led by Human Resources Manager - Each person has a name on an index card taped to their back that has a match somewhere in the room (peanut butter/jelly, Tarzan/Jane, etc.). They have to find their match only by asking yes/no questions about what is on their back.
7:15-8	Last Person Standing	Employees are given a pad of Post-It Notes. They have 2 minutes to come up with as many ways to handle objections as possible (one on each sticky). One at a time they will stick up their solution. No one can repeat a solution. The person with the last original sticky note wins a prize. This allows employees to share their own experience and best practices, and allows them to learn from one another, without the influence of a facilitator.
8-8:30	Purchase Justification	How do you get a customer to justify their purchase when they are on the fence? Sales Managers lead the discussion and share their own tips and tricks.
8:30-8:55	Teambuilding – I Appreciate You	HR puts staff in a circle and, wrapping the end of a bolt of yarn around their finger, tosses it to an employee and states why they are appreciated. This continues with each employee doing the same, but holding onto a piece of the yarn. This shows that we are all in this together and that we have an amazing team to be proud of.
8:55-9	Evals

Session 5: Customer Service, Customer Prioritization, Phone Calls

7-7:15	Teambuilding -Association Alliteration	HR leads this activity designed to help salespeople remember names. They will do this by introducing themselves with something they like, using the same letter as the initial in their name (i.e., My name is Amy, and I like apples.). The next person would then have to say Amy’s name and interest as well as their own, and so on, and so on.
7:15-7:35	What is Customer Service? Videos: Seinfeld, Starbucks	Find out who our customers are, and how to shine with all of them by choosing your attitude.
7:35-8:05	Why is Customer Service Important? 8 Steps, Thought for the Day Video – Johnny the Bagger	Learn the 8 steps to better customer communications and learn how to earn a standing ovation for your customer service skills. We’ll also talk a little about customer service by phone.
8:05-8:30	Escalated Issues Choose Your Response Video - MadTV	Understand how issues get escalated and how to diffuse difficult customers. Also, learn when to send complex issues on to someone else. Learn how to tactfully tell someone “no,” keep from antagonizing a customer more, pick your battles, and ultimately seek resolution.
8:30-8:40	Stress	Learn how to recognize your personal stressors and how to manage them.
8:40-8:55	Professionalism	Dealing with chit chat, complaints, and gossip while maintaining your personal integrity. Learn how to work with more urgency and ask for help when needed.
8:55-9	Evals

Session 6: Relationship Building, Providing Solutions

7-7:15	Teambuilding – Blind Puzzle	Led by Human Resources Manager - In teams, one person is blindfolded and their partner must help them put together a child’s puzzle. This is about teamwork and trust. The first team to finish their puzzle wins a prize.
7:15-7:45	Relationship Building	Assistant Sales Managers talk about their best practices in terms of relationship building.
7:45-8:30	Knock Their Socks Off	In pairs, employees create short skits that illustrate ways to build relationships that will knock a customer’s socks off. They will then present to the class.
8:30-8:55	Providing Solutions	Owner discusses how to provide the best solutions to the customer, using the “listen first, sell second” technique.
8:55-9	Evals

Session 7: Storyboarding, Five Elements, Closing

7-7:15	Icebreaker – Candy Colors	Led by Human Resources Manage - Staff reveal information about themselves based on which candies they choose.
7:15-7:55	Storyboarding	Start to finish, staff create a storyboard of the steps to taking care of a customer – from the time they walk in to taking care of them after the sale. They will create multi-media artwork from provided materials which will be displayed in the breakroom at their location.
7:55-8:20	Five Elements	Based on the storyboarding, the Sales Manager will help the team agree on the five key elements to taking care of a customer. HR will create flyers to put up at the locations that outline these five elements.
8:20-8:50	Closing	Sales Managers and Assistant Sales Managers share their best practices and lead a discussion regarding how best to close the sale, outlining the different types of closes (presumptive, etc.).
8:50-9	Wrap up, evals	Owner to wrap up the training series, HR to distribute evaluations.

Reflection

Highlights:

Dr. Chang had some concerns about me working alone and not having the benefit of the input from my group, but I enjoyed the solitary process of putting this together. As it is something I will use, it allowed me to proceed in a way that was appropriate based on my understanding of my workplace and what I know to be the need. The research and focus on adult learning styles allowed me to dig deeper than I may have otherwise in creating this training, which has given me some great additions to the agenda.

I was excited to find such great references. I believe that, although I didn’t specifically use “learning styles” terms every step of the way, it is hopefully obvious that they informed my syllabus design. I am excited to work on the Final Demonstration and roll out this program to staff.

Process:

I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted to accomplish with the syllabus/agenda. As this is going to be something that I not only use for my Final Demonstration, but I will also be implementing it in my workplace, it meant I was very close to the process itself.

The first thing I did was review the examples that Dr. Change shared. Next, I created the blog (as I am now working on my own). I then created the Word doc with all of the recommended headings, adding additional headings that resonated with me based on the shared examples. I started with writing the Introduction, which turned out to be very revealing, as it actually helped me understand that I was going to be building something bigger than I had initially thought, initially thinking the class would be a one-time event. My research at that point helped me to realize I was heading in the right direction.

I went searching specifically for case studies after reading one of the shared examples. This impacted how I built the syllabus and how I will ultimately build the training. Again, it moved forward in a way I was not expecting, but that made things very interesting.

I wrote about the case studies and simultaneously began working on the agenda, as reading these case studies gave me some ideas on how to proceed, adding topics I hadn’t considered. I was also able to run some of my ideas through one of our Sales Managers to get his input, and he is very excited about how this is coming together.

Next, I filled in this Reflection section and then slowly began to fill in the other parts. The chart will be one of the last things, which may be backwards, but it will serve as a double-check for me to make sure I have included everything in the document.

From there it will be double-checking APA style guidelines, as it relates to citing my references. Then I will upload to the blog and complete my self-evaluation.

Table:

Learners	Salespeople
Purposes	To build relationships, make them more confident in their understanding of the organization, and grow product knowledge.
Objectives	To increase sales for the company, and commissions for the individual.
Rationale	Research shows that sales training increases sales, makes employees more satisfied, decreases turnover, and allows more staff to meet their sales quota.
Syllabus Highlights	Activities and topics address different adult learning style preferences.
Ideas from Literature	“Listen first, sell second”
Features from Practical Cases	Sales Aptitude Assessment, storyboarding, key elements, probing questions.

References

Asher Global Leaders in Growth Strategies. (Date unknown). Retrieved from https://www.asherstrategies.com/top-sales-training-programs/best-sales-training-program-case-studies.php

Giglio, Stephen. (Date unknown). Laura Davidson Public Relations. Retrieved from http://www.giglioco.com/case-studies-sales-training/

Marzinotto, Dan. (January, 29,2016). Ramp, the InsightSquared Blog. Retrieved from http://www.insightsquared.com/2016/01/how-to-build-an-effective-sales-training-program/

The TAS Group. (Date unknown). Evaluating Sales Training Programs White Paper. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/The_TAS_Group/white-paper-evaluating-sales-training-programs

EDAC635 - Strategies for Teaching Adults

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Final Presentation

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Syllabus