The readability of sales training manuals

Article Abstract:

The readability level of sales training material is critically important to the success of a company's sales training program. These programs consume a sizeable portion of marketing budgets and using training materials with appropriate readability levels will improve the effective use of these budgets. Training materials written at an inappropriate level may create dissatisfaction with the program, cause misdirected effort on the part of both instructors and trainees, and result in lost time in creating fully trained sales representatives. This article examines the sales training materials of a sample of companies and draws several conclusions concerning the readability levels of their materials. The Fog Index, a pragmatic tool for assessing readability levels of written material, is also presented, along with an example of how a manager might use the Fog Index to asses the sales training materials of his or her own company. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Methods, Analysis, Human resource management, Selling, Employee training, Training manuals

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Where industrial sales training is weak

Article Abstract:

A survey of industrial firms confirmed the notion that buyers and sellers evaluate salespeople differently. Sales and purchasing managers agreed that buyers evaluate the salesperson and the selling company before selecting a supplier. However, a large number of industrial firms reported that they do not train their salespeople. This article presents the implications of these findings in order to enable sales managers to justify sales training programs at their firms and to determine ways in which to incorporate buyers' views in the sales training programs. This investigation was limited to participating industrial firms located in one geographical area representing a broad spectrum of manufacturing industries. These limitations must be taken into account for the findings to go beyond broad generalization. The study must be repeated covering a large geographical area involving a larger sample to achieve external validity. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Research, Business-to-business market, Business to business market

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Preparing the next generation of industrial sales representatives: advice from senior sales executives

Article Abstract:

A discussion of the undergraduate personal sales course is presented, focusing on currency. Topics include redesigning course content, course structure, and an analysis of 400 senior sales executives surveys.

United States, Statistical Data Included, Services, Sales managers

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