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Case Assignment: Training Proposal

Introduction to Adult Novelty Wholesale Sales

Stacey Troup

Training & Development in Business/MGT-303

January 17, 2017

Dr. Michael Minaudo

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Training Proposal – Introduction to Adult Novelty Wholesale Sales

This Week Four midterm assignment will serve as a training proposal for the purposes of

acclimating a newly hired wholesale account manager to the company and job requirements prior

to attempting sales calls. A review of the organizational structure and how they affect the ability

to do business with specific customers as well as what types of customers we service will be

covered. We will discuss how you will be aligned with others in a “shadowing” capacity in

order to learn the ins and outs of the job at hand, how your progress will be tracked and feedback

given on performance goals as you train. All of these things lead up to you being ready to make

your first phone calls for the adult novelty wholesale business you are now a part of.

Entry Level Sales – Sales 101

At the conclusion of training, the student should have a better grasp of all concepts

covered including proper etiquette of sales calls and the issues that arise during the course of

sales.  Self-evaluations, as well as peer evaluations, will be reviewed with the student for growth

opportunities and specific honing of skills for review at three-month review period.  Telephone

calls reviewed to gauge confidence and mannerism which will help you open new leads going

forward.  Upon completion, you should be ready to take the bull by the horns in the world of

sales as you continue to learn the products which arrive weekly.

Objectives for Training (concise)

This list, while concise for the purposes of a training manual, will be expanded on during

the actual training process and include things such as leads, sales (new and existing), product

knowledge, customer service, trade shows, operations, training (product and operations specific),

trade show attendance and expectations, feedback (management and sr. level reps during

training), commission structure, spiffs and shadowing will all be covered in detail.

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Only when we understand fully how the company is structured and its mission/vision

statements can we fully understand what is expected of us in terms of our positions. Throughout

this training, we will ensure your full understanding of these things and acclimate you

accordingly prior to that first “live” phone call.

Training Outline & Methods

Several training methods will be employed during this training. The first of these

training is “shadowing”. The purpose of shadowing is to spend time with another rep or

department in order to see what a “day in the life” is like to better understand your own

expectations of this position. The world of telephone wholesale sales is highly competitive and

only through our successful understanding of customers needs and expedient handling of issues

do we establish ourselves as partners to our customers rather than just a place where they send

their orders.

In addition to shadowing, you will spend time with the marketing department to

understand how they feed the funnel of revenue into the sales department. They will review

training videos and product specific demonstration videos with you as well as show you how

someone goes from a “lead” to an established customer with a secure login to our product

offering website.

Following your time with marketing, you will begin spending 1-2 days with junior level

sales people who have been with the company 1 year or less. They will be experiencing the

same entry level frustrations and issues you will experience as you begin your journey into this

career path and we have determined this is a very good place for you to “cut your chops” on the

day to day happenings of an account manager.

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Once you have spent time with a minimum of three junior account managers, you will

move on to the senior account managers. Your initial “book” of business will begin with

customers they are handing over for you to acclimate yourself with as well as new leads which

come in through the marketing department. The senior account managers have significant time

in the industry and will deal with more complex issues surrounding the account management

operations including trade show meetings, client dinners, formal “resetting” of stores and more

advanced functions of their day to day life.

At the conclusion of your training, you will do a few “live” lead calls with the Sales

Manager utilizing a “script” so that your training can be analyzed for future fine tuning and to

evaluate your readiness to begin making sales calls on your own.

The total time for this training program will take approximately two weeks in total.

During that time you will be expected to acclimate yourself with the product offering through the

provided materials you will be given at the beginning of training. During your first three months

with the company you will work daily with the Sales Manager on questions and techniques to

help you close more effective sales and find your strength.

Training Materials Provided

Throughout the course of this training period, you will be given a plethora of items

designed to help you acclimate yourself with the product offering while learning in the best

possible style for your personality. We encourage you to sit with the Sales Manager at the

beginning of training to identify your learning style so that this training and subsequent materials

can be additionally catered for your particular learning style.

On the first day of training, you will be provided approximately 24 individual print

catalogs including the company’s in-house printed catalog which is sent to customers. The

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differences in these catalogs are that the company catalog contains products sorted by category

from all manufacturers and the other catalogs are printed by the manufacturers directly to help

people make informed decisions on their entire product offering. Both sets of print catalogs will

help you learn the different products offered while you create a list of questions to be asked of

reps during your shadowing time in training.

During your time with the marketing department, you will be given more video/auditory

aides for learning specific product offerings, mechanical specifications and the like. The

marketing department is not responsible for the individual training of items sold but for creating

the company catalog and driving the website (with video training series) and will answer

questions of their expertise during that time. They will also acclimate you with the company

secured website of products, help you learn how to search for items and find alternative products

for customers who need that assistance.

When shadowing begins, the entry level reps will show you what a lead sheet looks like

and acclimate you to the CRM system where you can track orders, communication and other

pertinent information for following up with potential customers. They will illustrate how to

disqualify a potential customer as well as when to turn it over to the fulfillment department rather

than servicing the account yourself.

As you move to the experienced account managers, they will dive into handling returns

for customers, how the guaranteed sale program works, the “galley” program, entering orders,

call tags, and credit holds of customer accounts. With shadowing time, you will spend time with

a rep whose style most is like your own based on conversations at the end of each day with the

sales manager. This pairing of styles is key to your grasping all that is going to be required of

you during your career with the company.

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The final two stages of training relate to operational policies as well as closing the loop

on training. During the operational stage, you will spend time with accounting, credit, and

purchasing departments to learn how the company works and how it interacts with your ability to

fill orders and provide credit terms to potential customers.

All of these methods are designed to help you understand us as a company as well as the

procedural things you should understand before making that first sale. The use of these methods

comes from our time in the business as well as feedback from employees as to how better

improve the training for future employees through trial and error methods of the past (Needs

Analysis: How to Determine Training Needs, N.D.).

Training for Learning Styles

As you sit with the sales manager for the first time, you will be given a short test to

determine what your learning style is (pictures, spiritual or aural understanding). By this, we are

referring to what style you learn best under to best provivde the training that fits your particular

style (Videos). The sales manager will adjust the training to accommodate your learning style to

the best of his/her ability but your success will still depend on your ability to grasp the concepts

of the training as well as the products we offer.

Importance of Training on Success

While this training is given to all new employees coming into a firm, we have altered it

over the years to help you get the most out of your future success through solicitation of the

various models of training outlined. In addition, it is important to understand why we stress so

much importance on how to close a sale during your training. You will notice that you are given

call plans, a customer list, audio tapes of your calls during feedback with the sales manager as

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well as feedback from the other reps as to your understanding of the job and products, overall.

These are all techniques deployed in order to help you learn the products and close the sale.

Closing the sale is one of the most important things you can do. As you hone your own

style of selling, as your confidence grows, you will be able to research emerging markets and

stores we do not service and take business away from competitors in a respectful manner,

through charismatic sales and attention to the customer's needs (Brooks, N.D.).

As a company, we have embraced the need for technology on your individual success

through our internet ordering process, which takes the focus away from hand written orders in

80% of the business setting. These technologies and their use will be reviewed in detail with the

marketing department during that training stage so that you may offer that value added benefit to

your potential customers. This commitment to technological advances sets us apart from

competitors who refuse to embrace this technology (Leung, 2015). This commitment to our

technological advancements does not stop with the website ordering system but continues on

through the training of our customer service representatives so that they are familiar with this

technology and able to help customers in your absence.

While some more established reps live a 9 to 5 lifestyle, you will likely be “living” your

job through 24/7 access for your newly acquired customer base as you grow your book of

business. In a highly competitive sales market whereby you are paid on a 100% commission

base as you are here, the ability to become available at a moments notice for customers is pivitol

to how they view your partnership with their companies. People want to feel that they know and

understand their reps and that their reps have their best interests at heart when they engage in

busienss and grow their loyalty to a particular rep. It is for this reason that we provide mobile

phones and email access while out of the office as well (Leung, 2015)

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Conclusion

This training is designed to help you take your first steps into the world of wholesale

phone sales and will give you the basis of your success here at the company. As you sit with

individuals, you will find that training is adjusted according to the area of expertise of each

individual on the team. By this I mean, some reps are better on the phone closing new sales,

some are better at tradeshows, some are better versed in products, etc. Each of the traininers

provided will give you lessons in their specific area of expertise.

As training concludes, the feedback you provide to the Sales Manager will be key to

altering the training program for others as well as working on specific areas of trouble for you

going forward as we wish to have no stone unturned in your educational training.

Feedback is key to the success of the program and as we have shown, we alter the

training to specific learning styles to more appropriately allow the materials to adhere to the

thought process. Realizing this is a lot to take in, we keep an open door policy for questions of

any kind.

Teamwork is the basis of the success of any account manager. We have to rely on our

team to help us through areas of trouble or we mite as well not be part of a team at all. This

training will hopefully open not only your knowledge of the job and its parameters, but also help

begin the first stages of communication and teamwork with your colleagues during the

shadowing process. Remembering that your success is our success will help you stay on track as

you grow. We wish you the best of luck in your new career!

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References

Brooks, M. (N.D.). Close More Sales with this Technique. Retrieved from Sales Gravy: https://www.salesgravy.com/sales-articles/closing-techniques/close-more-sales-with-this-one-technique.html

Leung, S. (2015, 01 22). Wholesale Sales Needs Wholesale Change. Retrieved from Handshake: https://www.handshake.com/blog/wholesale-sales-needs-wholesale-change/

Needs Analysis: How to Determine Training Needs. (N.D.). Retrieved from HR-Guide: http://www.hr-guide.com/data/G510.htm

Videos, C. (Director). (n.d.). What are the Different Learning Styles and How Should You Adjust Your Training [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApKHn78twWA&feature=youtu.be