MEDICAL&DIAGNOSTICDEVICES World-Class Training Pull Through I By Fred Marshall H ow do you turn world-class sales training into world-class execution? Here are the four most important drivers for success. The manager should have a set of tools for each behavior the representative is expected to master. Driver #1: Develop Execution Champions at Every Level. Selling excellence must be supported at every level – from senior sales leadership through the regional director, district manager and sales professional. It begins with setting senior-level expectations of regional and district managers and establishing agreed-upon goals and standards for: • District manager days in the field. • Consistent use of field contact reports to measure and drive improvements in the ability to execute. • District manager mastery of the skills the sales force is expected to master. • Easy-to-use tools to get managers up to speed on new content, including WebEx, iPad apps, conference calls and more. Driver #2: Provide a Coaching Model That Includes Easy-to-Deploy Content Modules. Your district managers need an easy-to-use coaching model that shows them how to: • Paint a crystal clear picture of what selling excellence looks like across each key behavior for success. • Astutely observe actual behavior. • Provide developmental feedback in a way that keeps the sales professional motivated. • Provide a mechanism to follow-up and measure progress. • Deliver specific skill-building experiences that can be deployed one-on-one to the representative or the representative can utilize on his/her own. Whether it be a cloud-based module delivered through the iPad or a district meeting in a box, the manager should have a set of tools for each behavior the representative is expected to master. Driver #3: Build in Measurement Up-Front. A level 3 Kirkpatrick evaluation should be your minimum measurement goal. If you expect the sales force to use reprints to sell, then you need to build in a simple mechanism to measure how well the sales force is doing this during your instructional design phase. The easiest way to accomplish this is to build a rubric that representatives and managers can use to assess execution in the field. That rubric could be organized on a continuum using a 1-to5 scale from beginner to world-class performer – articulating what selling excellence looks like at progressively more demanding levels. In this way you can monitor the movement of the sales force up the continuum. 42 FOCUS | SUMMER 2013 | www.spbt.orghttp://www.spbt.org