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Bespoke Sales Training programmes have many different applications where generic sales training is not suitable and wouldn’t achieve the goals of the stakeholders. Whilst every event is different, here are the most common scenarios where companies require a bespoke training programme.
What does bespoke training mean? Bespoke training is where a training course is either created or customised so that it matches the needs of the business and attendees versus a generic programme which is a standard material provided for many companies. Bespoke training typically delivers a better user experience and a higher return on investment.
Don’t buy Sales Training until you’ve watched this video…
These tend to be 1 or 2 day events where Salespeople have come together from different locations.
We are happy to help you design the overall programme, however, from previous experience we recommend breaking the training content into the four main areas of sales training as follows:
This content would focus on the product or service and may include topics such as Value Proposition, Product Market Fit, Competitor Analysis, Specifications, Features & Benefits, Pricing, Go to Market plans, Campaign details and selling across different industries.
This would cover training specific to selling the product/service such as Prospect Profiles, Prospect Pains & Gains, Lead Generation, Selling Skills, Sales Process, Stalls & Objection Handling, Sales Battle Card Training, Sales Negotiation, Questioning Funnels and Calls to action, Case Studies, Role Play & Customer Stories.
This is what we want your sales professionals to go out and do after the training so should cover the planning, goals and activity that we want the sales team to do after the event.
This content would be dedicated to removing and fear or self doubt and should be inspiring, motivating and engaging so that the team go out and sell their socks off. For would normally be the last session of the event but can be split.
| Event Name | Give the Event an Inspiring and Engaging name or Theme and describe the purpose ie New Product Launch of XYZ Sales Campaign. |
| Sponsor | This could be the company’s own name, an outside sponsor or a senior stakeholder for the event. |
| Event Team | List all the people in the events team with their roles and contact details. |
| Budget | The event will need a budget and you should discuss this with the senior stakeholders as soon as possible. |
| Date | If you can’t pick a date because you are waiting on a venue confirming availability then start with an estimate. |
| Time | List the start and finish time for guests but also include the set up and breakdown time for the event. |
| Location | Remember you will want to create a good learning environment so make sure the venue is the best you can afford and the room is big enough so that delegates are not cramped. If you are using a Hotel as a rule of thumb take the numbers they say a room will hold and reduce it by 25% to avoid overcrowding. |
| Accommodation | If attendees or speakers are traveling to the venue you will need to arrange accommodation. Try and keep everyone at the same location to avoid splintering the group. |
| Learning Objectives Overview | Describe the event and the Learning Objectives. For example: After attending attendees with be able to use advanced questioning techniques to uncover the top 3 business pains our solution fixes. After attending attendees will be able to identify who in their existing customer set is most likely to buy our new widget and how to approach them. After attending attendees will leave with a 90 Day action plan that they will follow to ensure they undertake the activity the business requires. Learning Goals are important because they will help you demonstrate and measure the ROI of your event. |
| Draft Agenda for the Day | Create a draft timetable to share with the team and any external stakeholders. |
| Event Planning Timetable | This timetable will help you plan what needs to be done and when it should be done by and as an example: Event – T-90 Days, Planning complete and Venue, Accommodation and Speakers booked Event – T-60 days, Landing Page, Learning Objectives Agreed, Content creation started Event – T-60 days, Promotional Material & Communications plan Event – T-14 days, Agenda Confirmed, Review of Attendees Event – T-7 days, Confirm Numbers & Catering Event +1 Day Post Event follow up |
| PRE-TRAINING EVENT PLANNING | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event Planning Checklist Items | Yes | No | Not Required | Comments |
| Have the objectives and goals been identified for the event? Scorecard metrics? | ||||
| Has the agenda for the event been developed with times, speaking slots etc? | ||||
| Have we finalised the presentation, including any content/input from external parties? | ||||
| Where is the shared and secure location for the event PPT / Docs | ||||
| Have the agenda, objective, goals, etc., for the event been communicated to everyone involved? | ||||
| Have we created a list of all internal & external people involved with contact details and shared it? | ||||
| Have the event time and place been communicated to all parties involved? | ||||
| Have we booked a speaker, facilitator and Trainer? | ||||
| Have we booked a room and what size? | ||||
| Have we booked accommodation for everyone? | ||||
| Do we have the contact details including mobile of the room owner? | ||||
| What is the layout of the room eg: conference, classroom, u-shaped, boardroom? | ||||
| Logistics – Have we organized the projector, flipchart, screen and audio? | ||||
| Have we organized catering? | ||||
| Have we organized any handouts? |
Arguably the most important part of any training event is the follow up afterwards. It’s important to have the structure in place to record, manage and report on any activity connected to the Learning Goals. In addition you should provide online support via chat, email and conference calls and include dedicated 1-2-1 coaching from Sales Managers at least once every two weeks to reinforce the new sales activities.
As companies grow and move along the Sales Maturity Model there comes a time when they require a full learning & development strategy specific to the Sales function of the business. This is much more than Sales Training and Coaching as it ties into Employee Reviews, Development Plans and the organisations Talent Development programme.
Introducing a Long Term Sales Development plan to any organisation that has never had one will in most cases fail without adopting the principles of change management. Salespeople can be fiercely resistant to change and may derail your programme before it has got off the ground.
Where possible this should be aligned with the wider organisation and follow these 6 steps:
Based on the objectives laid out in the Sales Strategy the learning goals should match both the objectives and the milestones in the sales plan. For example if the new Sales Strategy requires moving the salespeople away from talking to existing channel partners and focussed on developing larger end user deals they may require support to do this.
If the salespeople have traditionally sold to SMEs and small mid market accounts they may require support if the Sales Strategy requires then to open new Enterprise accounts. Both these scenarios would require the creation of Learning Goals.
Once you understand and have prioritised the learning goals you need to match the sales competencies that would enable the learner to achieve the goals.
Competencies are made up from the crafts, habits, activities, results and expectations. We call this the C.HA.R.G.E. Success Framework and you can download a copy of this tool via the Sales Tools page.
Whilst every item in the C.H.A.R.G.E list is important depending on the competency and context some will be more important than others.
It’s important to know and understand your starting point so you will need to evaluate the sales team and measure their current competencies. This is often a mixture of objective measurements based on past performance and subjective measurements based on the line managers knowledge of the individuals. Some records may already exist such as HR and employee reviews however in most instances these are not specific enough to sales to be sufficient.
Create a tiered programme that all salespeople can work towards in terms of their personal development. The Tiers must be linked to their financial reward such as salary increases, bonuses or commissions. For most organisations we recommend a 5 tier system however this may need refining depending on the size and complexity of the organisation. Once the levels have been set it’s possible to map the goals, competencies and and learning and development needs against this as shown below.
Introduce a fair and objective Scorecard system where employees and managers can track and record sales relevant sales KPI’s. The scorecards should be reviewed weekly and tied into the monthly Performance reviews of the Sales Reps and the Sales Managers.
Personal Development Plans should include personal goals and be reviewed by the Line Manager. Some people will be happy in their existing role and have no desire to progress others will want to progress but need direction.
Offer training to employees who want to progress, however, for employees who don’t want to progress and don’t want training this can cause a problem as more often than nought these same sales people don’t hit their sales targets and simply stuck in their ways.
These people should have been identified at the start of the project when evaluating your Change Management plan and dealt with.
Allowing these sales reps to go unchecked will derail your programme and their own performance will not improve.
The new ABC of sales is not Always be Closing but Always be Coaching. Introduce a structured Coaching programme starting with the Manager to make sure they know how to coach before rolling this out to the wider team.
Please use the “Book a call” function below to speak to one of our coaches.
As every business and its people are unique, it’s not unusual for people to still have questions. You can book a no obligation call with one of our coaches who can answer any questions you have.
Iain has helped me; reduce my sales cycle, increase my selling time and set myself aside from the competition by approaching business that works against the tried/tested Features and Benefits system. Would highly recommend to experienced sales professionals who think they can’t improve any further – you can with Iain’s guidance! Brace yourself for some uncomfortable techniques that become instinctive but highly effective!
From my initial enquiry, Klozers were exceptionally responsive and helpful. They listened and understood our SaaS and sales development needs clearly and worked with us to develop a comprehensive learning programme which is now starting to deliver excellent results for our business already. Throughout the programme, Klozers continued to provide added value and develop new ideas with us. I cannot recommend them highly enough and would be pleased to work with them again.
Klozers
107a High Street
Dalkeith
EH22 1AX
United Kingdom
