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In this issue:

1. The Fear & Loathing of Sales Training 
2. Bad Hiring: What You Don't Screen Will Hurt You
3. Course Review: Successful Leadership and Management Series
4. New Marketing Theme: Passport to Knowledge



1. The Fear & Loathing of Sales Training
By Dave Stein
Article courtesy of one of our Lending Library Producer Partners - VisionPoint

Not enough companies have learned how to employ sales training as a strategic tool. Those that have are leaders in their industries.

Few VPs of sales use their own, differentiated sales methodology and strategic, ongoing sales training as a strategy to gain and maintain competitive advantage. There are a host of reasons for that, as you will see. You will also notice that the responsibility for employing this strategy effectively lies with both the companies seeking help as well as those providing it.

The Challenge ...

In a study conducted of VPs of sales, HR organizations, Chief Learning Officers, and training directors across a broad sampling of industries completed in the last quarter of 2005, ES Research Group (ESR) found that 41% of respondents said that their companies did not use any sales methodology at all or, alternatively, employed a "style" of selling rather than a proven set of processes (consultative selling or generic solution selling are examples).

Fourteen percent of respondents provided unique names of methodologies their companies used that no other respondents listed. Some of those "methodologies" were actually titles of popular and not-so-popular sales books. (We have observed that in some companies the number of sales approaches used was equal to the number of sales reps.)

This study, as well as a look at the leading (as defined by name recognition) twenty or so sales training/consulting providers, indicates that there is no real leader in the sales training provider market. Companies that were leaders in the past have been acquired or have shrunk in size due to a number of reasons, including their best talent leaving to form their own competitive companies, and an unwillingness to invest in product development, delivery mechanisms, channels, end-user technology and tools.

Our research shows that only 18% of those we interviewed had a formal process for ongoing assessment of their sales training requirements, and even fewer (8%) specifically measured the effectiveness of their sales training initiatives.

Read the entire article here >>

Need help developing your organization's sales training methodology? Check out VisionPoint's newest series - SalesSmarts - for Sales Managers, Sales Representatives, and Service and Support professionals. Contact your Account Manager today to preview these great additions to our Lending Library! Check out the SalesSmarts courses at our Sales & Marketing catalog.



2. Bad Hiring: What You Don't Screen Will Hurt You
By Jennifer Butsch

Lower employee morale and decreased productivity are the biggest consequences of bad hiring and promotion decisions, according to a recent survey by Right Management, a subsidiary of Manpower Inc. The survey also found that it costs an average of 2½ times an individual’s salary to replace an employee who doesn’t work out, including recruitment, training, and severance costs, and lost productivity.

Other negative consequences of bad hires include lost customers and market share, according to the survey of 444 organizations throughout North America. A Right Management executive noted that more workplaces are turning to formal assessment processes to provide a broader picture of candidates and more consistency in management development.

One way companies are incorporating formal assessment processes is by using staffing firms to prescreen candidates. ASA’s staffing customer survey showed that eight out of 10 staffing customers believe that staffing companies offer a good way to find people who can become permanent employees.

Staffing firms prequalify candidates through background and drug testing, interviewing, and assessment tools such as personality tests and skills evaluations. ASA’s most recent staffing company operations survey found that 42% of all temporary and contract workers placed on assignments were checked for criminal background and 44% were screened for drug use. One hiring manager observed in a recent New York Times article, “We end up with two strong candidates rather than 20 that have to be screened.” Now that’s a hiring decision that works for everyone. 


Jennifer Butsch works for The American Staffing Association. The American Staffing Association is the voice of the $82 billion U.S. staffing industry. The association’s member companies operate more than 15,000 offices across the nation and account for more than 85% of U.S. industry sales. ASA has been a partner of Business Training Library since 2002.

3. Course Review: Closing Executive-Level Sales Simulation

Course Group
Business & Professional Skills

Media
e-Learning

Course Overview
You are a regional account executive with DME Corporation, a national direct mail service provider. Your company recently made a large investment toward the goal of becoming a "one-stop" shop and now offers fulfillment services. You are responsible for selling these new services to your existing client base, as well as prospecting for new accounts. You have previously identified, researched, and analyzed a promising potential client, MicroGalaxy Inc. They currently use your company for their direct marketing efforts. MicroGalaxy's electronic component supply business is growing so fast that they're having trouble keeping up with fulfillment. Now you are close to closing the deal. This simulation requires you to negotiate the deal, manage your cross-functional account team effectively to provide good customer support and to ultimately move the relationship to the partnership stage.

Target Audience
Salespeople who sell at an executive level and obtain and maintain key accounts; salespeople who want to move into executive sales roles; and any sales managers with responsibility for coaching existing executive-level salespeople.

Expected Duration
30 minutes

Todd's Rating
 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Todd's Review
I found “Closing Executive-level Sales Simulation” to be an extremely relevant sales course, while demonstrating the characteristics of a good negotiator. It is one of 60 SkillSoft thirty-minute simulations, and offers a realistic look into the sales process of a high level sale. After finishing this course, I felt as though I had gained a better handle on how to control the negotiation process and overcome buyer tactics, by establishing preconditions necessary for a successful negotiation. The course also focuses on building customer loyalty and how to foster the knowledge of other account team members. This course is ideal for anyone who deals in a high level consultative sales environment.

Todd Wallis has been with Business Training Library since April 2006. He enjoys fishing and spending time with his family.



4. New e-Learning Marketing Theme: Passport to Knowledge

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