Case Study

RESISTANCE TO TRAINING^*

A veteran sales force with an average of 18 years experience at the company, had grown resistant to new product introductions and innovations. Because of their longstanding relationships with clients, most felt that they "owned" their territories and any attempts to adjust compensation structure - to provide incentive for new product sales - were met with threats to take the business to a competitor.

Non-compete agreements are difficult to enforce in this industry, leaving the company with few options to drive business growth with new product sales.

Phase 1 - Assessment

When sales representatives were notified that they would be required to complete the PSS online assessment, less than 40% complied initially. After two week of prodding by regional and national sales leadership, a total of 67% had completed the assessment.

In a meeting with the Vice President of Sales and the CEO, both acknowledged that the lack of compliance was another symptom of their core problem: a sales force that had grown comfortable financially, and which perceived itself to have complete control of customer loyalty in the sales territory.

Phase 2 - Individual and Group Analysis

Analysis of the 67% who did complete the assessment (see graph below) was not surprising. Skill categories which are typically associated with sales growth were dramatically weak, while relationship-driven skill categories tended to be strong.

But the company was in a tough situation. Requiring a "comfortable" sales representative to complete training on prospecting, handling rejection, sales cycle management, etc. would not be likely to produce a positive outcome. In all likelihood the sales representative would refuse to attend, and even if he did, it probably wouldn't be a productive use of time (or a pleasant experience for the trainer). This did not leave the company with many standard options, so they decided on a different approach.

Phase 3 - Targeted Training

18 Territories were identified as having significant untapped account growth potential, and sales representatives whose current selling skills were not aligned with high growth activity.

Each of these sales representatives was given a choice to either attend a series of account growth training workshops (based upon content in the PSS Facilitator Guide) or the company offered to hire a "Sales Assistant" for the representative, who would attend the training and be responsible for nothing but new account growth for 1 year. The Territory Sales Representative would receive 70% of the standard commission rate on the new account, with the other 30% going to the "Sales Assistant."

Not surprisingly, 15 of the 18 Territory Sales Representative went with option to hire a Sales Assistant. While the PSS assessment is not a hiring instrument, the skill categories associated with aggressive sales growth were used to develop interview questions and ensure that the new Sales Assistants would have adequate skills to achieve the growth goals.

In addition each new Sales Assistant completed a 2-week "on boarding" training which included product and policy information, and a heavy emphasis on prospecting and account growth skills.

Phase 4 - Reinforcement

After initial training was complete and the new Sales Assistants began to actively work in the territories, Sales Managers were directed to focus 100% of their coaching activity on these individuals. They were provided with access to audio CDs and other skill reinforcement tools.

The group of 15 new Sales Assistants stayed connected with each other, even though they were in geographically disbursed areas. When one of them won a new account, they would have a conference call to debrief and celebrate (and model skills they had learned from the "self-coaching" training module).

The success of these new salespeople was also highlighted throughout the company, providing solid evidence that many stagnant territories did in fact have growth potential. Results after the first year were strong enough for the company to expand the approach to an additional 30 territories. The infusion of "new blood" into many territories actually began to energize some of the "old dogs" and the company began to see growth in some previously stalled areas.

The presence of the new "Sales Assistants," who of course had been building strong client relationships in the territories, made it easier for the company to force the retirement of some Sales Representatives, and take a stronger position with others in terms of requiring them to promote new product offerings.

Phase 5 - ROI Analysis

While the PSS assessment and training materials were only a minor part of this particular strategy, the initial assessment results were seen as a "wake up call" that the company needed to spur senior leadership to action.

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