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    How the next generation of sales managers are being trained

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    Sales managers can be a major multiplier for sales performance, but too often this critical role is overlooked when it comes to training. Not so at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

    Ranked 10th among all business schools and 6th overall among public institutions, the Kelley School of Business offers one of the first sales research centers in the country and continues to be a national leader in professional sales development. Kelley’s Center for Global Sales Leadership provides a creative learning environment for professional sales students, advances professional sales initiatives, engages with corporate partners, develops innovative curriculum, and leverages technology to advance teaching pedagogy. With 130 professional sales graduates every year, the Center for Global Sales Leadership is delivering education and training that meets the needs of the real world.

    That includes top quality sales management training.

    I believe we can learn a lot from looking at how one of the nation’s leading academic sales programs trains emerging sales managers, so I spoke with the center’s Executive Director, Charlie Ragland, and here’s what he says are the keys.

    They use scenario-based sales management training

    Scenario-based sales management training is an integral part of the center’s sales management education. Salespeople (students) are given different selling scenarios, and they engage Membrain’s CRM to strategize and problem-solve.

    For instance, one profile might be a new salesperson, hired six months ago, who performed well at first and then their performance dropped off. Or they might have struggled at first and then improved. One might be a seasoned salesperson whose performance has recently begun lagging against benchmarks.

    We customize the platform to match the customer-focused sales strategies and processes the center teaches in their classes, and then they have their students work inside the platform to analyze data, identify issues, and develop performance improvement plans for each “salesperson.”

    They teach students to analyze and understand data

    The Membrain system they use is populated with data, and the task for the students is to figure out what’s going on for each salesperson profile based on the data.

    The system is updated approximately once a week to simulate new data in a live system. This allows the sales management students to review the data regularly and adjust their understanding based on new analytics.

    “We have them evaluate salespeople versus a benchmark,” says Ragland. “What’s working, what’s not working, where they are doing well, not doing well. What their pipeline looks like, what their territory looks like. Prior to having Membrain for this, everything was conceptual and theoretical. The goal with Membrain is to have students using practical data and analytics to evaluate performance in a simulated scenario.”

    They teach students to create individualized performance improvement plans

    Within the simulated scenarios, sales management students develop individualized performance improvement plans for each salesperson profile, based on their analysis.

    They’re then able to apply those performance plans in the updated data in the following weeks, and see how their performance plans impact outcomes.

    They teach students to develop individualized coaching strategies

    In addition to the performance plans, sales management students are taught to develop individualized coaching strategies based on what they learned about each salesperson from the data.

    These coaching strategies are evaluated by the teacher and the results are simulated in the CRM data for each salesperson.

    Why it works

    “If they understand how a sales manager can use a CRM to drive sales effectively, looking at data and understanding the numbers,” says Ragland, “they gain a better understanding of how to make the most out of the data and improve performance in their first sales management jobs.”

    Using a scenario-based system helps reinforce conceptual training, and improves outcomes in real-life situations.

     

    For Ragland, Membrain is the perfect tool.

    “It’s intuitive, and it makes sense,” he says. “The process was easy to build from a customer-focused standpoint. It’s easy to look at ‘what are the things I need to accomplish at each stage? What’s the key information and questions I need to identify at each stage to help me be more successful?’ Then it’s easy to put that together and track generated data analytics. We can tweak it as we go, and illustrate to students that they can move around and use real numbers in a simulated environment. It’s very, very valuable.”

    Ragland adds that he’s approached frequently by technology companies wanting him to use their tools in his sales management curriculum, and he rejects it. He says that in most cases, the technologies don’t provide value beyond what the Center for Global Sales Leadership is already teaching in the classroom. Membrain is different, and he’s thrilled with the results so far.

    We think Membrain is also the right tool for sales trainers and consultants to use with clients. We’d love to work with you to set up your system to support your clients’ success. Contact us today for a demo.

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    George Brontén
    Published April 8, 2020
    By George Brontén

    George is the founder & CEO of Membrain, the Sales Enablement CRM that makes it easy to execute your sales strategy. A life-long entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the software space and a passion for sales and marketing. With the life motto "Don't settle for mainstream", he is always looking for new ways to achieve improved business results using innovative software, skills, and processes. George is also the author of the book Stop Killing Deals and the host of the Stop Killing Deals webinar and podcast series.

    Find out more about George Brontén on LinkedIn