The document discusses the state of sales force development and provides an overview of effective learning systems to improve sales performance. It finds that a majority of sales training produces no long-term impact and that sales managers spend little time coaching and developing their teams. The author then outlines key components of effective learning systems, including building content based on top-performing salespeople, engaging managers, and developing a change plan. The focus should be on differentiating high performers, designing manager-focused content and coaching, and executing the plan with discipline.
1. Sales Force Development
Getting Results Through People
THE SALES INSTITUTE
Mike Kunkle
Sales Transformation Leader
Director, Product Development for Richardson
Creator of the Sales Performance Lever Methodology
July 2013
3. State of Sales Force Development
3
īˇ ES Research Group, Inc. estimates that 20 - 33% of salespeople do
not have the capabilities to be successful at their jobs
īˇ ESR estimates that 80 - 85 % of sales training produces no long-
term impact (after 90 days)
īˇ 65% of top sales leaders surveyed by CSO Insights said their top
objective for the year was capturing new accounts â 67% of those
same leaders said that their team "needs improvement" in
generating leads
īˇ In ASTDâs report The State of Sales Training, 2012, half the
respondents felt that 50% or less of the training they received
was relevant to their job.
Read more http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Key-Gaps-in-Our-Sales-Performance-Ecosystem
4. State of Sales Force Development
4
īˇ A Nightingale-Conant study reported that 67.21% of managers are
not doing (or sporadically doing) sales coaching and 52.34% say
they are too busy to develop and coach their sales teams
īˇ According to the Objective Management Group, only 15% of sales
managers spend 25% of their time on coaching (and the time they
do spend is generally ineffective)
īˇ The Sales Management Association reported that front-line sales
managers spend only 26% of their time (average of 3
hours/rep/month), managing performance (includes expectation
setting, performance monitoring, coaching and development).
Read more http://blogs.richardson.com/2013/07/03/using-tailored-post-program-sales-coaching-to-get-results-from-sales-training
5. Over-arching Question
5
With the growing research, data, knowledge,
experience, science, process, methodology
and technologyâĻ
(and programs like this... kudos to you!)
Why are we not doing better?
6. 6
The Plan
īˇ Reading assignments â your perspectives
īˇ Those nagging questions from Willy
īˇ Foundation for SFD
īˇ The Sales Performance Ecosystem
īˇ Effective Learning Systems
īˇ The Big Three
Note: Youâll get the slides
Warning: Potential for bad comedy throughout
âEverybody's got plans... until they get hit.â Mike Tyson
7. Reading Assignments â Your Perspectives
7
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
īˇ What did you take away from the articles?
8. Reading Assignments â Your Perspectives
8
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
īˇ What did you take away from the articles?
9. Reading Assignments â Your Perspectives
9
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
īˇ What did you take away from the articles?
10. Reading Assignments â Your Perspectives
10
Down with Best
Practices Evidence-based
Management
Building a
Learning Org. Maximizing Your
Return on People
īˇ What did you take away from the articles?
11. The Willy QuestionsâĻ
How can sales leaders:
īˇ Use internal data to overcome the limitations of industryâwide
âbest practices?â
īˇ Measure the effectiveness of salesperson development efforts?
īˇ Inspect what they expect?
Sales Force Development
11
The Big
Three
Sales
Performance
Ecosystem
Learning
Systems
Foundation
12. Foundation for Sales Force Development
12
âIf you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.â
Geary Rummler & Alan Brache, Improving Performance (1995)
īˇ Companies donât do things. People do.
īˇ Company leaders must establish systems to enable their
people to succeed, which equals company success.
īˇ Sales development is about:
īˇ Getting the right people into the right roles
īˇ Setting up the right systems to support them
īˇ Managing those systems well
īˇ Leading the people well.
13. âIf you pit a good performer against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.â
Geary Rummler & Alan Brache, Improving Performance (1995)
īˇ Companies donât do things. People do.
īˇ Company leaders must establish systems to enable their
people to succeed, which equals company success.
īˇ Sales development is about:
īˇ Getting the right people into the right roles
īˇ Setting up the right systems to support them
īˇ Managing those systems well
īˇ Leading the people well
Foundation for Sales Force Development
Questions
13
Reading
14. Setting Up the Right Systems
14
Sales Force Effectiveness
īˇ Sales Process
īˇ Sales Methodology
īˇ Sales Coaching
īˇ Opportunity Management
īˇ Key Account Management
īˇ Performance Management
Sales Force Strategy
īˇ Quota Setting
īˇ Sales Force Sizing
īˇ Sales Force Structure
īˇ Sales Compensation
īˇ Channel Management
Marketing Alignment
īˇ Products | Pricing
īˇ Lead Generation
īˇ SEO/SEM
īˇ Campaigns | Promotions
īˇ Marketing Automation
īˇ Social Media
īˇ Content Marketing
Sales Operations
īˇ CRM/SFA
īˇ Sales Analytics
īˇ Reporting
īˇ Resource Allocation
īˇ Deal Analysis
īˇ Win/Loss Analysis
Sales Talent Management
īˇ Selection
īˇ Onboarding
īˇ Product Training
īˇ Sales Training
īˇ Business and Financial Acumen
īˇ Professional Development
Sales Enablement
īˇ Customer Experience Management
īˇ Buyer Profiling
īˇ Sales Messaging
īˇ Sales Support
īˇ Other Technology Tools
Sales Performance Ecosystem
15. Setting Up the Right Systems
15
Sales Force Effectiveness
īˇ Sales Process
īˇ Sales Methodology
īˇ Sales Coaching
īˇ Opportunity Management
īˇ Key Account Management
īˇ Performance Management
Sales Force Strategy
īˇ Quota Setting
īˇ Sales Force Sizing
īˇ Sales Force Structure
īˇ Sales Compensation
īˇ Channel Management
Marketing Alignment
īˇ Products | Pricing
īˇ Lead Generation
īˇ SEO/SEM
īˇ Campaigns | Promotions
īˇ Marketing Automation
īˇ Social Media
īˇ Content Marketing
Sales Operations
īˇ CRM/SFA
īˇ Sales Analytics
īˇ Reporting
īˇ Resource Allocation
īˇ Deal Analysis
īˇ Win/Loss Analysis
Sales Talent Management
īˇ Selection
īˇ Onboarding
īˇ Product Training
īˇ Sales Training
īˇ Business and Financial Acumen
īˇ Professional Development
Sales Enablement
īˇ Customer Experience Management
īˇ Buyer Profiling
īˇ Sales Messaging
īˇ Sales Support
īˇ Other Technology Tools
Sales Performance Ecosystem
Holy cow!
16. Why Sales Leaders Paralyze
16
Holy Cow!īˇ Where to start?
īˇ How to prioritize?
īˇ How to get results?
17. Holy $#)+!
Why Sales Leaders Paralyze
17
īˇ Where to start?
īˇ How to prioritize?
īˇ How to get results?
The average tenure of a
senior sales leader is
18 to 24 months.
18. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
A Starting Point for
Sales Force Development
19. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Overview
19
Framework
īˇ Effective learning
systems
īˇ Business integration,
alignment & change
planning
Content
Design
Managers
Transfer
Coaching
Measures
Perf. Mgt.
Integration
Alignment
Change
20. âTop-Producer Practicesâ not âBest Practicesâ
īˇ Internal approach, considers âSales Nuancesâ
īˇ Evidence-based approach with Performance
Levers *
īˇ Can Include relevant benchmarking
īˇ Gap analysis â compare top to middle (goal:
move the middle)
īˇ Continue | Stop | Start fuels training,
development, coaching
īˇ Build learning systems, avoid âeventsâ
īˇ Build a learning culture â beyond formal with
informal/social
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
*My performance lever methodology for later reading: http://slidesha.re/PerfLevers082011
Learning Systems: Content
20
21. īˇ Process, not events
īˇ Chunk, sequence, layer
īˇ Separate knowledge and skill
īˇ Elearning, vILT, ILT blends
īˇ Learning support
īˇ Performance support
īˇ Build in accountability.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Solution Design
21
22. īˇ Involve in rep program design; gain buy-in
īˇ Assess top manager performers
īˇ Manager gap analysis | Differentiators
īˇ Develop very-specific coaching programs
īˇ Diagnose: to form hypothesis
īˇ Dialogue + Observe: to confirm performance
gaps
īˇ Develop: solutions based on gap type
īˇ Do: implement solutions to improve
performance.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Manager Engagement
22
23. īˇ Design transfer plans into learning
process
īˇ Assess at various stages
īˇ Use performance support
īˇ Build social/community reinforcement
īˇ Consider mobile & gamification
īˇ Connect reps & managers before,
during and after.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Planned Transfer
23
24. īˇ Train managers first on rep programs &
sales coaching
īˇ Managers monitor rep progress through
learning
īˇ Managers attend ILT with their reps as
an in-class coach
īˇ Managers guide reps, post-curriculum
īˇ Managers reinforce, train and coach as
taught.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Coaching Excellence
24
25. īˇ Agree on lead and lag indicators for
learning & performance
īˇ Report progress throughout training
īˇ Develop post-learning reporting
īˇ Establish regular cadence with sales
leaders and manager/coaches
īˇ Do level 2 testing over time (retention
checks) and level 3 surveys (usage)
īˇ Communicate success stories.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Measures
25
26. īˇ Beyond manager support for learning,
training & coaching
īˇ Establish a cadence of Check-Ins
īˇ Review of activity plans, results, and
dialogue / observation / coaching
īˇ Managers counsel and manage
performance as needed, holding reps
accountable
īˇ Senior sales leaders hold managers
accountable.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Performance Mgt.
26
27. īˇ Whoâs on first? (Responsible for managing sales methodology & processes?)
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Integration & Alignment
27
28. īˇ Link training to business strategy
īˇ Ask for top-down support
īˇ Establish clear roles & responsibilities
īˇ Communicate plans, rationales, goals,
risks, metrics, and impact
īˇ Establish regular and open
communication with sales and
leadership teams â share success
stories
īˇ Find and address issues quickly.
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Learning Systems: Integration & Alignment
28
30. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline
31. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline
32. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
1. Build content based on
differentiating top-producer
practices
2. Engage managers in content,
training, coaching and
performance management
3. Develop a change plan and
execute it with discipline
33. Differentiating Top-Producer Practices
33
īˇ Determine who to study (sales performer analysis)
īˇ Determine what to study (while collecting data)
īˇ Capture Top-Producer practices (and others)
īˇ Conduct comparative analysis (differentiating practices)
īˇ âĻ Produces your âContentâ
īˇ Continue | Stop | Start
34. Who to Study: Sales Performer Analysis
34
Example of Analysis â Sales Reps
Low
High
4th Quartile
Mean Avg.
Median
Sort Descending
Highlight 4th Quartile
Apply Weighting
Repeat & Total
Highlight 4th Quartile
35. What to Study: Performance Levers
35
Survey Design
âĸ Rate the statement provided.
âĸ How much do you agree itâs a
Performance Lever?
âĸ If rated 1-2, next question.
âĸ If rated 3-5:
âĸ Importance & Difficulty
âĸ If rated 3-5:
īŊ Frequency: Actual & Should
âĸ In addition, you should ask what you missed, by Lever, and a handful of other
questions â such as normal demographics & Continue | Start | Stop.
Using empathy statements to acknowledge a prospectâs situation/feelings
36. Practices Capture
36
Next Phase Data Collection Methods
īˇ Interviews
īˇ In-person, phone, webinar
īˇ Focus Groups
īˇ In-person, webinar
īˇ Field Observation
īˇ X top performers (4%)
īˇ 3X top performers (16%)
īˇ 2X above average
īˇ 2X average
īˇ X below average
īˇ Or more (pending time, resources & budget)
Getting the Straight Scoop
īŊ What really happens âout thereâ
īŊ Account for the Hawthorne effect
īŊ Trust, truth and strict confidentiality
īŊ Autonomy, mastery and purpose *
* Thank you, Daniel Pink (author of Drive)
38. Coaching Focus | Type
38
Top 4%
Bottom 20%
Top 4%
Rest of Top 20%
(16%)
Bottom 20%
Middle 60%
Above Average
Below Average
Support15% of time
Support / Tweak20% of time
10% of time
Depends:
âĸ New â up
âĸ Old - out
Move up45% of time
Move up (Mostly New)10% of time
Average
80%
20%
Pareto Line
39. Change Leadership and Management
39
Change leadership involves creating vision, strategy, and tactics and
communicating reasons, rationale, and urgency.
Change management is a set of processes, systems and tools
designed to support and control the change efforts.
âAnatomyâ of Change:
īˇ Leadership is the brains, vision, and heart
īˇ Management is the guts, bones, and muscle
Recommended Reading:
Change Leadership
īˇ http://blogs.richardson.com/tag/change-leadership/
īˇ http://bit.ly/KotterOnForbes-ChangeLeadvsManage
Change Management
īˇ http://blogs.richardson.com/tag/change-management/
īˇ http://bit.ly/McK-TruthAboutChangeManagement
41. Mike Kunkle
Sales Transformation Leader
Director, Product Development for Richardson
Creator of the Sales Performance Lever Methodology
July 2013
Sales Force Development
Getting Results Through People
Appendix
THE SALES INSTITUTE
42. Mike Kunkle is a training and organization effectiveness leader with special
expertise in sales force transformation.
īˇ After his initial years on the frontline in sales and sales management, Mike spent the past
16 years as a corporate director or consultant, leading departments and projects with one
purpose â improve sales results. And through sales training, organization effectiveness
practices, leadership development, aligning performance levers and leading change efforts
he's done just that.
o At one company, as a result of six projects, he and his team delivered an accretive $398MM in revenue,
year-over-year.
o At another, within 9 months, newly-hired sales reps with 120 days on the job were outperforming
incumbent reps with 5 years with the company.
īˇ As of January 2013, Mike is the Director of Product Development for Richardson. In this
role, he is responsible for managing the development of new products, solutions and
partnerships to help Richardson meet the emerging needs of our evolving marketplace.
Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer, Mike plans to integrate the latest thinking and
technology from learning and development and sales force effectiveness to better serve
Richardson's clients. If you're not familiar with Richardson:
o They are a global sales training and strategy execution company that partners with leading
organizations to increase their sales effectiveness and drive business results.
o For the fifth consecutive year, Richardson has been named to the Top Sales Training Companies list
from Training Industry, Inc.
o See: http://www.richardson.com and http://blogs.richardson.com.
īˇ Mike freely shares his personal sales transformation methodology at conferences and
online at http://slidesha.re/PerfLevers082011 and can be reached through his blog or on
LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+.
īˇ Connect with Mike easily at http://www.mikekunkle.com/connect/
Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems 42
Letâs get
connected!
About Mike
43. 43
īˇ ASTD: Key Gaps in Our Sales Performance Ecosystem
http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Sales-Enablement-Blog/2013/06/Key-Gaps-in-Our-Sales-Performance-Ecosystem/
īˇ Richardson:
http://blogs.richardson.com/2013/07/03/using-tailored-post-program-sales-coaching-to-get-results-from-sales-training/
īˇ Transforming Sales Results:
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/31/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-1/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/04/02/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-2/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/04/03/improve-your-sales-coaching-with-two-simple-steps-part-3/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/17/how-to-increase-sales-with-top-producer-practices-part1/
http://www.mikekunkle.com/2013/03/20/how-to-increase-sales-with-top-producer-research-part-2/
Sales Force Development
Appendix: Related Sales Development Articles by Mike
44. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Analysis
īˇ http://amzn.to/AnalyzingPerformanceProblems
īˇ http://amzn.to/AnalysisImprovingPerformance
īˇ http://bit.ly/FirstThingsFast
īˇ http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/analysis/analysis.html
īˇ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_performance_technology
īˇ http://www.pignc-ispi.com/articles/Vol42_05_08.pdf
īˇ http://www.ue295.com/xtranet/html/timeline/harless.html
45. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Selection
For those interested in exploring assessments, here are some unbiased educational resources:
īˇ http://www.uniformguidelines.com/index.html
īˇ http://wdr.doleta.gov/opr/FULLTEXT/99-testassess.pdf
īˇ http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/Documents/assessment_methods.pdf
And some companies to research:
īˇ http://rocket-hire.com â Dr. Charles Handler objectively evaluates vendors
īˇ http://www.chally.com â well-validated competency-based approach; a respected favorite
īˇ http://www.profilesinternational.com/
īˇ http://www.ttiassessments.com/
īˇ http://www.selfmgmt.com/en/default.aspx
īˇ http://www.peopleanswers.com
īˇ http://www.objectivemanagementgroup.com
47. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Best Practices
īˇ http://my.brainshark.com/The-Roadmap-To-Scalable-Sustainable-Sales-Transformation-
327652659
īˇ http://bit.ly/RichardsonSalesTransformation
īˇ http://amzn.to/MakingTheNumber ~ http://www.makingthenumber.com
īˇ http://bit.ly/BestPracticeKnowledgeManagement
īˇ http://bit.ly/IdentifyingOrgBestPractices
īˇ http://www.csoinsights.com/sales-research-data
īˇ http://www.csoinsights.com/Topics/Sales-Process-Best-Practices
īˇ http://slidesha.re/BestPracticesWorldClassSales
Sales Best Practices Research
īˇ http://www.achieveglobal.com/resources/?cat=1
īˇ http://www.millerheiman.com/research_center/sales_best_practices_study/index.html
īˇ http://www.huthwaite.com/en/Resource%20Center/Whitepapers.aspx
īˇ https://sec.executiveboard.com/Public/Default.aspx
īˇ http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com
īˇ http://salesmanagement.org
47
47
48. Sales Force Development
Appendix: Some Helpful Resources
Sales & Sales Management Training
īˇ http://bit.ly/TrainingRole-SalesInitiatives
īˇ http://www.esresearch.com
īˇ http://www.scribd.com/doc/46526471/Basic-Instructional-Design-Principles
īˇ http://bit.ly/MagerSixPack
īˇ http://bit.ly/EvidencedBasedTraining
īˇ http://bit.ly/JobAidsPerformanceSupport
īˇ http://amzn.to/BeyondTransfer
īˇ http://amzn.to/TheFourLevels
īˇ http://amzn.to/MeasureTrainingResults
īˇ http://www.ecsellinstitute.com/6-pillars-philosophy
48
48
49. Mike Kunkle
Transform Sales Results with Effective Learning Systems
Some basic examples and thoughts on:
âĸ Pipeline Diagnosis
âĸ Training
âĸ Coaching
51. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
īˇ Identify stages
īˇ Calculate average conversion ratios
īˇ Even âas isâ without improvement, you understand how much top-funnel
activity is required to reach a goal.
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis
52. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
Leads 73% Contacts 15% Explores 88% Proposals 56% Sales
âĸ What is the number of Leads?
âĸ What are the sources (marketing demand gen or sales prospecting)?
âĸ Are the prospects the right ones? (buyer personas / account selection)
Ask YourselfâĻ
âĸ What does it mean if the number of leads is far lower than average?
âĸ What does it mean if the number is far higher?
Look Here First
Looking at Symptoms â Start Left; Work Right
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis
53. One Example: Pipeline Analysis
Leads 73% Contacts 15% Explores 88% Proposal 56% Sales
Leads 37% Contacts Explores Proposal Sales
Possible Causes
âĸ ?
âĸ ?
âĸ ?
Average:
Actual:
Note: Weâll stop here for now, but you get the point. You would continue with analytics,
discussion, observation, and possible client feedback until you have a clear diagnostic
hypothesis.
Sales Force Development
Pipeline Diagnosis
54. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching for Skills & Behaviors
A Simple Method That Works:
īˇ Tell
īˇ Show
īˇ Do
īˇ Review
1
2
3
4
ī
ī
ī
ī
54
# Process Order
Understanding Checkī
Tell
Show
Do
Review
1
2
3
ī
ī
ī
ī
4
55. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching Skills & Behaviors
Extending the Review Phase with Check-Ins
īˇ Office: I Tell them īŊ They Tell me
īˇ Office/Car: I Show them īŊ They Show me (roleplay)
īˇ Field: I Do & they observe īŊ They Do & I observe
īˇ Office/Car: We Review their performance together
Review
Check-In
Check-In
Check-In
55
56. Sales Force Development
Training & Coaching Skills & Behaviors
Extending the Review Phase:
Conducting Rep Check-Ins
Who Coach (Sales Manager) and Sales Rep
What
īˇ Phone call or face-to-face meeting
īˇ Review of Repâs Activity, Results and Methods
īˇ Set Goals, Develop Solutions, Create an Action Plan
Why Even the best players need a good coach to improve
How
īą Review Activity
īą Review Results
īą Discuss Methods
īą Set Goals
īą Explore Possible Solutions
īą Select the Best Solutions
īą Create an Action Plan
56