Tips On Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Sales Training

If you are a sales manager then you probably already appreciate how important training can be as a component of selling success. This being true, you will want to provide regular ongoing training for your sales people. But good quality sales training for your team, as you are probably well aware, does not come cheap. The costs are actually two fold. There will be the hidden costs in addition to the direct costs of the sales course. Hidden costs are those associated with lost selling time. That is, the time the sales person spends at the training that could instead have been used to actively sell to their clients. Because of these two types of cost it is important for you to ask the question, "What has this training course really achieved?" This important question is not the easiest to answer. There is a simplistic view that success can be measured by simply measuring turnover increase following the sales peoples attendance on a sales training course. However, the more experienced sales managers know this falls far short of the mark.

So just how can you measure the effectiveness of a given training course or workshop? There's a well known model that despite being more than 30 years old is in its basic principles still relevant. This four stage procedure is now being increasingly used in these budgetary difficult times to justify ongoing training investment. What follows is a description of the four different effect levels of training which are widely used to evaluate training success:

Level 1: Reaction to the training event Immediately after the sales training course the sales people are asked to complete an assessment questionnaire in which they express their satisfaction with each part of the training programme. The questionnaire thus provides useful feedback on how relevant the course was perceived to be. The data should be used to improve any parts of the course that were seen to be weak or not relevant.

Level 2: Learning occurred This level answers the question "Did the training course improve the salespeople's knowledge, attitude towards sales, attitude towards the client, communication skills etc...?" The assessment of this level of training effectivness, as with level 1, can be carried out directly after the training session. By designing and using a standardized questionnaire you can check these factors and can compare the results to scores for previous knowledge and behaviour. However, it goes without saying that such training assessments are only really valid if you have already carried out an initial test on the sales person using the same questions before the training event.

Level 3: Behavioural change Training should lead to changes in behaviour. At this level the question "Has the training course altered the salesperson's actual behaviour?" needs to be answered. Do the delegates now use their newly acquired skills in their sales negotiations, in their personal working style and in their dealings with clients and colleagues? Of course, for behavioural change to be effective, the new behaviours need to be supported in the workplace by management.

Do remember that all behavioural changes require both time as well as opportunity. A reasonable amount of time to monitor behavioural changes is generally two to three months after delivery of the training course. This assessment, as with level 2, assumes that you have also recorded the sales person's behaviour before attendance at the course. Level 3 is, therefore, a costly one for assessment.

Level 4: Results achieved: Ultimately this is the level that most sales managers are interested in. The actual effect the training event has had on the sales results. The figures measured could include turnover, the amount of discounts granted, costs per sale, number of complaints etc. At this level too a before and after comparison is required. You might also compare the performance of salespeople who have been on the training course with that of salespeople who have not.

This short article on the four possible evaluation methods available to you shows that you need to think about how you will assess a given sales training course before and after the training if you want to be able to note any changes - ie success. This need for assessment is not changed by whether you have the training course delivered in-house or attend an external event, all training should be systematically assessed. There is another advantage to this systematic and planned approach: it is easier for you to get approval for your training budget for the next year if you can prove the beneficial effect of a given training course in black and white.

----------------------------------------------------
Richard Stone is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that runs management and sales training courses that improve business performance. You can view more articles at =>http://www.spearhead-training.co.uk

EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=199307