Training outline midterm

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Case Assignment: Training Proposal
Introduction to Adult Novelty Wholesale Sales
Stacey Troup
Training & Development in Business/MGT-303
January 17, 2017
Dr. Michael Minaudo

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Training Proposal – Introduction to Adult Novelty Wholesale Sales
This Week Four midterm assignment will serve as a training proposal for the purposes of
acclimating a newly hired wholesale account manager to the company and job requirements prior
to attempting sales calls. A review of the organizational structure and how they affect the ability
to do business with specific customers as well as what types of customers we service will be
covered. We will discuss how you will be aligned with others in a “shadowing” capacity in
order to learn the ins and outs of the job at hand, how your progress will be tracked and feedback
given on performance goals as you train. All of these things lead up to you being ready to make
your first phone calls for the adult novelty wholesale business you are now a part of.
Entry Level Sales – Sales 101
At the conclusion of training, the student should have a better grasp of all concepts
covered including proper etiquette of sales calls and the issues that arise during the course of
sales. Self-evaluations, as well as peer evaluations, will be reviewed with the student for growth
opportunities and specific honing of skills for review at three-month review period. Telephone
calls reviewed to gauge confidence and mannerism which will help you open new leads going
forward. Upon completion, you should be ready to take the bull by the horns in the world of
sales as you continue to learn the products which arrive weekly.
Objectives for Training (concise)
This list, while concise for the purposes of a training manual, will be expanded on during
the actual training process and include things such as leads, sales (new and existing), product
knowledge, customer service, trade shows, operations, training (product and operations specific),
trade show attendance and expectations, feedback (management and sr. level reps during
training), commission structure, spiffs and shadowing will all be covered in detail.

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Only when we understand fully how the company is structured and its mission/vision
statements can we fully understand what is expected of us in terms of our positions. Throughout
this training, we will ensure your full understanding of these things and acclimate you
accordingly prior to that first “live” phone call.
Training Outline & Methods
Several training methods will be employed during this training. The first of these
training is “shadowing”. The purpose of shadowing is to spend time with another rep or
department in order to see what a “day in the life” is like to better understand your own
expectations of this position. The world of telephone wholesale sales is highly competitive and
only through our successful understanding of customers needs and expedient handling of issues
do we establish ourselves as partners to our customers rather than just a place where they send
their orders.
In addition to shadowing, you will spend time with the marketing department to
understand how they feed the funnel of revenue into the sales department. They will review
training videos and product specific demonstration videos with you as well as show you how
someone goes from a “lead” to an established customer with a secure login to our product
offering website.
Following your time with marketing, you will begin spending 1-2 days with junior level
sales people who have been with the company 1 year or less. They will be experiencing the
same entry level frustrations and issues you will experience as you begin your journey into this
career path and we have determined this is a very good place for you to “cut your chops” on the
day to day happenings of an account manager.

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Once you have spent time with a minimum of three junior account managers, you will
move on to the senior account managers. Your initial “book” of business will begin with
customers they are handing over for you to acclimate yourself with as well as new leads which
come in through the marketing department. The senior account managers have significant time
in the industry and will deal with more complex issues surrounding the account management
operations including trade show meetings, client dinners, formal “resetting” of stores and more
advanced functions of their day to day life.
At the conclusion of your training, you will do a few “live” lead calls with the Sales
Manager utilizing a “script” so that your training can be analyzed for future fine tuning and to
evaluate your readiness to begin making sales calls on your own.
The total time for this training program will take approximately two weeks in total.
During that time you will be expected to acclimate yourself with the product offering through the
provided materials you will be given at the beginning of training. During your first three months
with the company you will work daily with the Sales Manager on questions and techniques to
help you close more effective sales and find your strength.
Training Materials Provided
Throughout the course of this training period, you will be given a plethora of items
designed to help you acclimate yourself with the product offering while learning in the best
possible style for your personality. We encourage you to sit with the Sales Manager at the
beginning of training to identify your learning style so that this training and subsequent materials
can be additionally catered for your particular learning style.
On the first day of training, you will be provided approximately 24 individual print
catalogs including the company’s in-house printed catalog which is sent to customers. The

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differences in these catalogs are that the company catalog contains products sorted by category
from all manufacturers and the other catalogs are printed by the manufacturers directly to help
people make informed decisions on their entire product offering. Both sets of print catalogs will
help you learn the different products offered while you create a list of questions to be asked of
reps during your shadowing time in training.
During your time with the marketing department, you will be given more video/auditory
aides for learning specific product offerings, mechanical specifications and the like. The
marketing department is not responsible for the individual training of items sold but for creating
the company catalog and driving the website (with video training series) and will answer
questions of their expertise during that time. They will also acclimate you with the company
secured website of products, help you learn how to search for items and find alternative products
for customers who need that assistance.
When shadowing begins, the entry level reps will show you what a lead sheet looks like
and acclimate you to the CRM system where you can track orders, communication and other
pertinent information for following up with potential customers. They will illustrate how to
disqualify a potential customer as well as when to turn it over to the fulfillment department rather
than servicing the account yourself.
As you move to the experienced account managers, they will dive into handling returns
for customers, how the guaranteed sale program works, the “galley” program, entering orders,
call tags, and credit holds of customer accounts. With shadowing time, you will spend time with
a rep whose style most is like your own based on conversations at the end of each day with the
sales manager. This pairing of styles is key to your grasping all that is going to be required of
you during your career with the company.

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The final two stages of training relate to operational policies as well as closing the loop
on training. During the operational stage, you will spend time with accounting, credit, and
purchasing departments to learn how the company works and how it interacts with your ability to
fill orders and provide credit terms to potential customers.
All of these methods are designed to help you understand us as a company as well as the
procedural things you should understand before making that first sale. The use of these methods
comes from our time in the business as well as feedback from employees as to how better
improve the training for future employees through trial and error methods of the past (Needs
Analysis: How to Determine Training Needs, N.D.).
Training for Learning Styles
As you sit with the sales manager for the first time, you will be given a short test to
determine what your learning style is (pictures, spiritual or aural understanding). By this, we are
referring to what style you learn best under to best provivde the training that fits your particular
style (Videos). The sales manager will adjust the training to accommodate your learning style to
the best of his/her ability but your success will still depend on your ability to grasp the concepts
of the training as well as the products we offer.
Importance of Training on Success
While this training is given to all new employees coming into a firm, we have altered it
over the years to help you get the most out of your future success through solicitation of the
various models of training outlined. In addition, it is important to understand why we stress so
much importance on how to close a sale during your training. You will notice that you are given
call plans, a customer list, audio tapes of your calls during feedback with the sales manager as

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well as feedback from the other reps as to your understanding of the job and products, overall.
These are all techniques deployed in order to help you learn the products and close the sale.
Closing the sale is one of the most important things you can do. As you hone your own
style of selling, as your confidence grows, you will be able to research emerging markets and
stores we do not service and take business away from competitors in a respectful manner,
through charismatic sales and attention to the customer's needs (Brooks, N.D.).
As a company, we have embraced the need for technology on your individual success
through our internet ordering process, which takes the focus away from hand written orders in
80% of the business setting. These technologies and their use will be reviewed in detail with the
marketing department during that training stage so that you may offer that value added benefit to
your potential customers. This commitment to technological advances sets us apart from
competitors who refuse to embrace this technology (Leung, 2015). This commitment to our
technological advancements does not stop with the website ordering system but continues on
through the training of our customer service representatives so that they are familiar with this
technology and able to help customers in your absence.
While some more established reps live a 9 to 5 lifestyle, you will likely be “living” your
job through 24/7 access for your newly acquired customer base as you grow your book of
business. In a highly competitive sales market whereby you are paid on a 100% commission
base as you are here, the ability to become available at a moments notice for customers is pivitol
to how they view your partnership with their companies. People want to feel that they know and
understand their reps and that their reps have their best interests at heart when they engage in
busienss and grow their loyalty to a particular rep. It is for this reason that we provide mobile
phones and email access while out of the office as well (Leung, 2015)

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Conclusion
This training is designed to help you take your first steps into the world of wholesale
phone sales and will give you the basis of your success here at the company. As you sit with
individuals, you will find that training is adjusted according to the area of expertise of each
individual on the team. By this I mean, some reps are better on the phone closing new sales,
some are better at tradeshows, some are better versed in products, etc. Each of the traininers
provided will give you lessons in their specific area of expertise.
As training concludes, the feedback you provide to the Sales Manager will be key to
altering the training program for others as well as working on specific areas of trouble for you
going forward as we wish to have no stone unturned in your educational training.
Feedback is key to the success of the program and as we have shown, we alter the
training to specific learning styles to more appropriately allow the materials to adhere to the
thought process. Realizing this is a lot to take in, we keep an open door policy for questions of
any kind.
Teamwork is the basis of the success of any account manager. We have to rely on our
team to help us through areas of trouble or we mite as well not be part of a team at all. This
training will hopefully open not only your knowledge of the job and its parameters, but also help
begin the first stages of communication and teamwork with your colleagues during the
shadowing process. Remembering that your success is our success will help you stay on track as
you grow. We wish you the best of luck in your new career!

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References
Brooks, M. (N.D.). Close More Sales with this Technique. Retrieved from Sales Gravy:
https://www.salesgravy.com/sales-articles/closing-techniques/close-more-sales-with-this-
one-technique.html
Leung, S. (2015, 01 22). Wholesale Sales Needs Wholesale Change. Retrieved from Handshake:
https://www.handshake.com/blog/wholesale-sales-needs-wholesale-change/
Needs Analysis: How to Determine Training Needs. (N.D.). Retrieved from HR-Guide:
http://www.hr-guide.com/data/G510.htm
Videos, C. (Director). (n.d.). What are the Different Learning Styles and How Should You Adjust
Your Training [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApKHn78twWA&feature=youtu.be