. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Michael Greer is author of The Project Manager’s Partner (HRD Press, 1996)

and ID Project Management (Educational Technology Publications,

1992). He has presented his work- shops on project management basics

for new project managers since 1984. He may be reached at telephone (814) 797-2846 [summerlfall] or (3 10) 822-

321 6 [winterlspring], or on the World Wide Web at

~chttp:/lmembers.aol.coml GreersPMlmg-home.htm>>

A Review of Jerry Rosen’s Performance Based Sales Ilaining: Building a Sales Curriculum That Will Enable Your Salespeople to Sell More

by Michael Greer

T he sales training arena some- times seems a bit like a traveling carnival. Carnivals have rides

and gaming booths to distract and stimulate, sales training has its games and gizmos and give-aways to keep people interested. Carnivals have their barkers, sales training has its endless parade of motivational speakers. Not unlike the carnival’s sideshows that take place in dark and mysterious tents, sales training has many enigmatic new paradigms that offer enlightenment in the form of the latest five-step approach (and supporting books and CDs and videos) to help salespeople master the big sale. At the center of it all are the hopeful buyers, the believers, the marks, who are eventually separat- ed from their money by the sales gurus and consultants.

Cynical? Perhaps-but anyone who has spent a lot of time trying to build a sales training programs knows there is some truth here. Typically, sales train- ing managers find themselves longing for some way of controlling it all, some means of articulating the organization’s vision and providing a framework for separating the sparkles and bangles from the essential and enduring. Unfortunately, these managers seldom have the time or the tools to erect such a framework efficiently. Even when they can get the framework together, they often lack the knowledge and skills to assemble the required support- ing training.

There is good news for these managers. There is a new off-the-shelf resource to help them capture and express their organizations’ unique sales training vision while guiding them, step-by-step, through the process of creating and maintaining a complete curriculum.

Performance-Based Sales Performance-Based Sales Training: Building a Sales Curriculum That Will Enable Your Salespeople to Sell More, by Jerry Rosen, HRD Press, 1997, is a powerful compendium of wisdom and tools derived from Rosen’s two decades of experience in developing customized sales training. In this remarkable work, Rosen has managed to condense his experience into readily accessible ker- nels of wisdom yet provide practical tools for completing every task a sales training curriculum builder needs to perform. Sales training managers will be able to lead sales curriculum devel- opment, not simply manage it. In short, they will be able to turn their sales training carnivals into comprehensive business systems to support strategies and goals that they, and not some out- side consulting firm, have clearly artic- ulated.

Performance-Based Sales Training begins with a solid, yet succinct context for thinking about sales training. In “The Keys to Sales Training Success” Rosen:

defines basic sales training terms and

34 performance improvement / august 1997

the importance of sales training to individual and organizational suc- cess, describes the consequences of inade- quate sales training, summarizes the eight reasons why many sales training programs fail, and identifies 10 essential ingredients for sales training success.

Next, he examines sales training at the macro level from the curriculum perspec- tive. In “A Sales Training Curriculum,” Rosen provides:

an overview of the typical audiences who need sales training; a brief, yet powerful, discussion of six core competencies required of sales training, including knowledge and skills related to the salesperson’s particular organization, basic selling skills, product knowledge, knowl- edge of the industry, knowledge and skills in the use of sales support peo- ple, and sales management knowl- edge; an overview of a comprehensive sales training curriculum, complete with a flow diagram illustrating how a salesperson would progress through the curriculum as his or her career evolves; and a succinct discussion of how courses within the curriculum are typically organized, including course flow (entry tests, pre-class assignments, class events, homework, transfer activ- ities, and follow up reinforcement), different learning methodologies, and various instructional materials.

These things are valuable in their own right, but Rosen doesn’t stop at the macro level. Instead, he proceeds to provide thorough outlines for 11 core courses that make up the comprehen- sive sales training curriculum. Each course outline is about two pages long and provides a description of prerequi- site training, content topics that should be covered, and media that might be used to support the course. He provides specific examples to help readers apply the curriculum to their specific organi- zations.

But Wait, There’s More ... Thus far Rosen has provided us with the w h y of sales training (why it mat- ters) and the what of sales training (what components should be created). At this point many sales training texts would end, but Rosen is just getting started. Having helped us identify our goal of a comprehensive sales training curriculum, he proceeds to tell us how to achieve it.

In his “Step-by-Step Guide to Sales Training Development,” Rosen begins

At this point, one may wonder how anyone could possibly fit more into a sales training guidebook. Rosen did. In “Sales Training Performance Tools,” he provides 27 easy-to-use job aids with titles such as:

Checklist: Identifying Problems in Your Current Sales Training, Idea List: Gaining Top Management Support for Sales Training, Interview Guide: Questions for Sales Training Needs Analysis, and Tipsheet: Train-the-Trainer Sessions Involving Experienced Personnel.

Performance Based Sales maining is peppered with examples and just enough theory to help the reader figure out how to execute each step. At this point, one could wonder how anyone could possibly fit more into a sales training guidebook.

by briefly but powerfully summarizing the systems approach to performance improvement from the sales training perspective. He then presents eight essential learning principles for sales training. Next is a sales training course development model consisting of steps organized into three broad phases: pro- ject planning, instructional develop- ment, and training implementation. He then outlines the various team mem- bers who implement the model.

Having established the overall approach to sales training develop- ment, Rosen takes us into the detailed execution of each step, providing a table for each that summarizes the spe- cific events to undertake, the corre- sponding outcomes of each event, and the specific documentation or products to create. Throughout, the discussion is peppered with examples and just enough theory to help the reader figure out how to execute each step.

Performance Based Sales Training is like having a veteran sales training con- sultant in a box. The writing style is crisp and clean, the content is compre- hensive, and the layout and illustra- tions are excellent job aids themselves. This book will help internal sales train- ing managers who work without con- tractors to complete all the chores that the best and most experienced sales training consulting firms would com- plete. It will help those internal man- agers who do work consulting firms to understand, guide, and evaluate the consultants’ efforts. Even sales training consultants can benefit from this book because it pulls together in one power- ful reference everything necessary to take charge of a sales training consult- ing contract.

In short, this book is destined to become a classic in the sales training world. It belongs on every sales train- er’s reference shelf.

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