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The best training techniques for process training are case study review and experiential and workshop-based learning, in which you apply the processes you are supposed to be learning to your own scenarios.
The following sections detail FTI’s training programs, which are designed to develop the sales organization along the skills, knowledge, and process lines detailed previously. The FTI training program begins with new hire Boot Camp and extends through the ongoing quarterly review process.
BOOT CAMP.
Boot Camp is an organized training for new sales profession-
als. In keeping with its military meaning, Boot Camp is hard work; and to complete Boot Camp, new sales recruits must take responsibility for their own success. The duration of the training program is typically one week, and the goals of Boot Camp are threefold:
1. Training: Boot Camp delivers extensive training across skills, knowledge, and process areas. It provides new sales recruits with tips and tools to succeed.
2. Testing: Boot Camp identifies the best. Because of the intense nature of the training and the set standards that new recruits must meet, only those who are “hungry” will complete the training.
3. Team building: Boot Camp training brings new sales professionals together, forging a team bond.
The steps to establish a new Boot Camp training practice in your firm are: 1. Set the dates: Dependent on the hiring frequency of new sales professionals, determine set times each year when Boot Camp will be held,
for example, quarterly or two times per year. Work to hire new sales professionals in groups, or waves, so that Boot Camp is their first introduction to the company.
2. Confirm a budget: Boot Camp training requires resources, but it can be done inexpensively. Expenses include travel and accommodations,
facilities, trainers, curriculum development, and entertainment. To reduce your expense, before looking outside your firm for training resources, look into your salesforce to identify a professional who is an excellent mentor, is well-organized, and has demonstrated an interest in developing people. Reach out to this individual to see whether he or she would like to take a leadership role in running your Boot Camp;
offer a f lat quarterly fee for running the program. If you do not have an internal resource, ask your peers for trainer recommendations.
3. Locate a site: FTI’s Boot Camp is conducted on-site. Some firms prefer to conduct this training off-site. The location is up to you and will be inf luenced by your training budget. In addition to the training facilities and technology capabilities of the site, consider the entertainment
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facilities. While Boot Camp is hard work, to meet the team-building
goal, outside networking opportunities should be included.
4. Design your training: Structure your Boot Camp as an intense graduate course in selling for your firm. Breaking down your firm’s sales process is a good first step. Once you determine the key categories of your training, you can then determine specific content and identify the right trainers.
5. Determine passing criteria: To retain only the best sales recruits, it is important that you incorporate a testing and evaluation process into your Boot Camp. For example, at FTI it is mandatory that new sales recruits be able to deliver a strong demo and sales presentation in support of one of their core service lines, TrialMax®. If a sales candidate does not meet this expectation, he or she is deselected.
Exhibit 4.3 outlines the core sections that comprise FTI’s Boot Camp training. Note that each section addresses skills, knowledge, or process, or some combination of the three core training areas.
As you develop your new recruit Boot Camp, seek out insight from your firm’s consultants and current sales professionals regarding content. You can also research the best practices employed at leading firms.
90- TO 100-DAY MARK: SALES PREFERENCE QUESTIONNAIRE™ EVAL-
UATION.
Each new business win begins with the sales call; without the
phone call there can be no connect and no win. Thus, for a sales professional, ability to call and prospect is critical. After a sales professional is on board for approximately one quarter, or between 90 and 100 days, the next step in training is to conduct an assessment that will analyze and predict the success potential of the individual professional. The assessment tool that I recommend is the Sales Preference Questionnaire™ (SPQ*GOLD®), The Call Reluctance®
Scale. This tool detects and measures all 12 types of sales call reluctance. It is a 110-question computer-scored assessment that was developed by behavioral scientists George W. Dudley and Shannon L. Goodson. It is internationally recognized and considered one of the most rigorously validated instruments of its kind. The tool can be used to streamline selection procedures, maximize training, and improve sales productivity. As both a training and a coaching tool, it is invaluable. It provides on-target insight into individuals and, if used correctly, can help your sales professionals overcome potentially career-limiting emotions and have a better chance at great success.
No More Cups
We jokingly refer to Elisabeth as having been “born in the lobby” of FTI; she had been with the firm since its beginning and had performed well in many different roles before moving into sales. As a manager, I considered Elisabeth to be a high-potential salesperson—she had both deep
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BOOT CAMP
TRAINING SECTION
CORE AREA
DESCRIPTION
Firm Research
Knowledge and
Firm Research gives steps and tips associ-
process
ated with researching your sales prospect.
Topics covered include locating firm
overviews and bios, locating a list of prior
engagements by client and recent news
coverage, and tips on managing a binder on
each prospect.
Conflict Check/New
Process
Conflict Check details how to run a conflict
Matter Form
check and includes samples of all forms
and processes required to run a compre-
hensive check.
Starting a New Case
Process
Starting a new case outlines all of the steps
(Engagement)
the sales professional must take to officially
begin a new engagement. For FTI, this pro-
cess details the letters of engagement (LOE),
standard terms and conditions, and sample
budget letter.
Selling Product X
Skills, knowledge,
Selling Product X trains your new recruits
and process
on selling one or more service lines. Ideally,
you will train your new recruits on one core
or starter service line during Boot Camp.
Training in this section includes presenting
or demonstrating the service line/technol-
ogy, reviewing the supporting marketing
collateral, and preparing a proposal cus-
tomized fo this service line/technology.
SalesPlus (or CRM
Process
SalesPlus is a contract management sys-
tool)
tem. This section trains on the systems and
processes your sales professionals must
use to enter contracts, track calls, schedule
meetings, and detail opportunities.
Sales Phone Calls
Skills
Sales Phone Calls covers a core skill
requirement of the sales professional—
cold calling. It reviews the goals the firm
has set about call volume per professional
and provides sample call scripts and sug-
gestions for developing your script.
Exhibit 4.3
Boot Camp Training Topics for Sales Professionals
(continued)
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BOOT CAMP
TRAINING SECTION
CORE AREA
DESCRIPTION
Send Me Something
Skills and process
Send Me Something First trains on writing
First
cover letters and determining to include a
mailed sales kit.
Proposals
Skills and process
Proposals provides the key steps that the
sales professional should take when enter-
ing the proposal stage and details tips for
developing a winning proposal. Case stud-
ies detailing winning proposals are pre-
sented and discussed.
La Firm (specific
Skills and knowledge
Law Firm Presentations trains your sales
industry)
professionals to present to their key indus-
Presentations
try audience. this section provides tips to
understanding the differences in present-
ing to, for example, a law firm versus a cor-
porate account
Reports
Process
Reports details the processes unique to the
sales organization, for example, the call log
form, weekly call report, and pipeline
report. The expectations of the sales man-
ager are presented in this section.
Exhibit 4.3
Continued
knowledge of the firm and the capability to succeed. However, Elisabeth could not pick up the phone. It was so painful for Elisabeth to pick up the phone that, as an incentive to phone canvass, she created the “cup” system.
On her desk were two cups and a stack of dollar bills. If she dialed the number, she moved one dollar to the first cup. If she booked an appointment, she moved the dollar to the second cup. At the end of the week, she allowed herself to spend the dollars that were in the second cup.
Now, here was a sales professional with immense potential who could
not pick up the phone. As a manager, I chose to invest in Elisabeth and reached out to an outside consultant, Rose Venditto, principal, SalesEssentials Group, Inc., to employ the SPQ*GOLD® tool. Rose worked
one-on-one with Elisabeth for a full week to help her overcome her
phone canvassing challenges. She helped understand her reluctance, create a discussion script, and better understand the kind of sales conversation that will get a positive result from clients and prospects. Now there are no cups! The insight gathered via the assessment tool, combined