Deck 10: Sales Training: Objectives, Techniques, and Evaluation

Question 1

Selena, a new sales rep, is getting numerous requests from customers for price adjustments and product modification. She does not know how to handle these requests. Selena did not get sufficient training in the area of:

A) Market/industry orientation
B) Company orientation
C) Territory management
D) Product knowledge
E) All of the above

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The five keys for effective on-the-job informal training include:

A) Teaming, lecturing, customer interaction, mentoring, peer-to-peer communication
B) Teaming, meetings, customer interaction, mentoring, peer-to-peer communication
C) Lecturing, coaching, customer interaction, mentoring, peer-to-peer communication
D) Teaming, coaching, customer interaction, mentoring, peer-to-peer communication
E) Teaming, meetings, customer interaction, mentoring, electronic training

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Another name for on-the-job training is:

A) Videoconferencing
B) Internet classroom method
C) Case studies
D) Role-playing
E) Learning by doing

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Ryan wants to introduce new salespeople to company policies before they become outside sales reps. He may have new salespeople:

A) Work as inside sales coordinators
B) Attend legal and ethical training seminars
C) Take additional marketing courses in college
D) Develop time and territory management plans
E) Present role-playing seminars

Question 5

The saying ""plan your work-work your plan"" is designed to:

A) Reduce a salesperson's travel time
B) Reduce the time a salesperson spends on low-volume customers
C) Train salespeople in identifying customers needs quickly
D) Encourage more effective planning and execution of sales duties
E) Explain the company's ethical stance in terms of its stakeholders

Question 6

The 80-20 ratio is related to which sales training topic?

A) Market/industry orientation
B) Company orientation
C) Territory management
D) Product knowledge
E) Legal/ethical issues

Question 7

On-the-job training and coaching often occur together; this is referred to as:

A) Full court press
B) JIT training
C) One-on-one training
D) Leading
E) Systematic training

Question 8

The most commonly used sales training technique is which of the following?

A) Individual instruction
B) External seminars
C) On-the-job training
D) In-house classes
E) All of the above

Question 9

Most sales managers recognize that, with regard to experienced sales personnel:

A) Little effort is needed since they are experienced
B) Market dynamics allow these salespeople opportunities to control their sale techniques
C) Training is never-ending
D) Product lines rarely change so experienced salespeople rarely need to change
E) They continually train each other, minimizing the need for formal training

Question 10

Lonnie is a newly trained salesperson for a company that manufactures customized display shelf and storage units for retail stores. Lonnie was proud of the number of sales he made during his first months of selling. Today he received a call from his sales manager who was highly critical of Lonnie's recent sales. It seems that Lonnie was offering potential customers a 10 percent discount if they would make an immediate purchase. Lonnie's company has a policy of not offering a discount of any kind

A) Product knowledge
B) Competitive information
C) Company orientation
D) Time and territory management
E) Legal/ethical issues

Question 11

Jackson is developing the classroom training program for her new company. She knows classroom training has all of the following advantages EXCEPT:

A) Each trainee receives a standard briefing
B) Group training reduces executive time involved in formal training
C) Classrooms permit the use of audiovisual materials
D) Classrooms provide the opportunity for interaction
E) Learning by doing

Question 12

Sales training on ethical and legal issues will most likely:

A) Improve sales performance
B) Reduce company turnover
C) Improve customer knowledge
D) Reduce legal costs
E) All of the above

Question 13

George is training his sales team in the skill of bundling and building value. George's training is in the area of:

A) Market/industry orientation
B) Price negotiation
C) Territory management
D) Product knowledge
E) Legal/ethical issues

Question 14

Training to reduce SCA can help address:

A) Short call adaptation
B) Sales contract absorption
C) Sales call anxiety
D) Sales-customer anxiousness
E) Sales-company adoption

Question 15

Companies have found that use of computers by salespeople results in:

A) Greater computer adaptations
B) More time for face-to-face communication
C) Technical solutions to sales problems
D) Increased sales force satisfaction
E) Alternative product knowledge demonstration

Question 16

No matter what product salespeople are being taught to sell during the training process, the most time is typically spent on making sure salespeople:

A) Have product knowledge
B) Can manage their time
C) Understand their organizational culture
D) Know how their industry operates
E) Understand how to modify their sales presentations to better relate to different customer personality types

Question 17

Doreen is a newly hired salesperson for a garden supply distributor. To make sure her one-on-one training is effective, the sales manager who is training her should:

A) Set pre-call objectives for Doreen
B) Act as an observer and provide feedback
C) Use coaching techniques
D) Encourage Doreen to rehearse her sales presentation
E) All of the above

Question 18

For which of the following products is it more important that the sales training program emphasizes product knowledge?

A) Wooden building trusses
B) Electronic security systems
C) Paper products
D) Textbooks
E) Cereal

Question 19

During her sales training, Shirley was provided a market/industry orientation including all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Present customers
B) Customers' customers
C) Finance office personnel
D) Economic conditions
E) Wholesalers

Question 20

Lonnie is a newly trained salesperson for a company that manufactures customized display shelf and storage units for retail stores. Lonnie was proud of the number of sales he made during his first months of selling. Today he received a call from his sales manager who was highly critical of Lonnie's recent sales. It seems that Lonnie was offering potential customers a 10 percent discount if they would make an immediate purchase. Lonnie's company has a policy of not offering a discount of any kind

A) Market/industry orientation
B) Company orientation
C) Territory management
D) Product knowledge
E) All of the above

Question 21

Other than requiring sales trainees to learn about company policies, what other approach can companies take to ensure their salespeople understand how the company operates?

Question 22

Why do companies and sales personnel resist training programs?

Question 23

What is the most frequently used method of measuring sales training effectiveness?

Question 24

The growth of _____ is used to explain the recent surge of interest in sales training evaluation.

A) Downsizing
B) Decentralization
C) Total quality management
D) Strategic partnering
E) Relationship marketing

Question 25

Which of the following methods for evaluating the effectiveness of sales training is most frequently used?

A) Knowledge tests
B) Course evaluation
C) Training staff comments
D) Co-workers' appraisals
E) Bottom-line measurements

Question 26

Which of the following describes a disadvantage associated with classroom training?

A) Interaction with other salespeople
B) The ability to use audiovisual materials
C) The cost and time requirements
D) Standardization of the training materials
E) Use of executive time

Question 27

What is another name for on-the-job training?

Question 28

What do most sales managers believe about training experienced salespeople?

Question 29

What are the five general objectives of sales training?

Question 30

Research has indicated that the most important single method for evaluating the effectiveness of sales training is:

A) Self-appraisal
B) Bottom-line measurement
C) Course evaluation
D) Trainee feedback
E) Performance tests

Question 31

What is the starting point for assessing sales training needs?

Question 32

Describe the typical topics covered in sales training. On which topic is the most time and money spent?

Question 33

What do sales executives consider the most important issue in sales training?

Question 34

What are common problems limiting the success of sales training programs?

Question 35

How do the sales training objectives vary among national, market and product sales managers?

Question 36

A company that invested $12,000 in training its salespeople to become problem-solvers for its customers could use which of the following methods to see if the participants supported the company's new relationship marketing objective?

A) Critical incident techniques
B) Cost-benefit analyses
C) Before-and-after tests
D) Time-series analyses
E) Any or all of the above

Question 37

Recent research suggests that three-fourths of all learning at work takes place informally. To facilitate informal learning in a sales force, what can managers do?

Question 38

________________ can be very effective in delivering certain kinds of information but will not likely eliminate the need for one-on-one training for salespeople.

A) Electronic training methods
B) Classroom training
C) Role-playing
D) On-the-job training
E) Videoconferencing

Question 39

Richard is fearful of ________________ because his supervisor has a tendency to be quite harsh in her criticisms of his selling skills.

A) Electronic training methods
B) Classroom training
C) Role-playing
D) On-the-job training
E) Videoconferencing

Question 40

When determining sales training needs, what three issues/questions must be considered?

Question 41

Although role-playing where a sales trainee performs and is critiqued in front of others can be harsh, it's more effective than critiquing in private.

Question 42

What is the relationship between sales training costs and increased profits?

Question 43

Online training can be very effective in delivering certain kinds of information and will likely eliminate the need for one-on-one training.

Question 44

Which of the following managers will be interested in sales training objectives?

A) National account managers
B) Product managers
C) Market managers
D) Human resource managers
E) All of the above

Question 45

A company that wanted to determine if salespeople who participated in sales training exercises had learned the skills being taught could use before-and-after tests.

Question 46

Role-playing is a popular sales training technique.

Question 47

Sales training inhibits customer relationships.

Question 48

Based on research in cited in the text, companies are spending more time training experienced sales reps on product knowledge and less on selling skills.

Question 49

Analysis of sales training time and expenditure data show:

A) Smaller companies are spending less on sales training than they had in the past
B) The length of training in small companies has decreased
C) Companies are not spending time and money on training experienced salespeople
D) Large companies are spending more money on training than they have in the past
E) None of the above

Question 50

On-the-job training and teaming often occur together; this is referred to as one-on-one training.

Question 51

Noncontrollable environmental variables often make it easy to identify and measure the benefits accrued from sales training.

Question 52

Sales training is an never-ending process.

Question 53

Sales training used by larger companies for new recruits is very similar among companies.

Question 54

The starting point in creating a credible sales training program is to examine techniques used by other similar-sized companies.

Question 55

What area of sales training is captured by the saying ""plan your work-work your plan?""

Question 56

Recent studies reveal that most sales training evaluation measures are simple and consist primarily of reactions to the program.

Question 57

Teaming and mentoring are increasingly used informal training methods.

Question 58

Sales training improves employee morale.

Question 59

One recent trend in sales training evaluation is accountability, showing the benefit of training to the company's performance.

Question 60

For most companies, formal classroom training for sales representatives is indispensable.

Question 61

Warren and Dawn are developing a measurement system for the sales training they are about to implement. When developing the measurement system, they will address the question of:

A) What do we want to measure?
B) When do we want to measure?
C) How do we do it?
D) What measuring tools are available?
E) All of the above

Question 62

Recruiters know that ______________________ enhance(s) the firm's ability to recruit and retain salespeople.

A) Role-playing
B) Off-the-job training
C) Highly regarded sales training programs
D) Sales training costs
E) All of the above

Question 63

Which of the following statements about sales training is true?

A) When the human resources department is determining training needs, only the field sales managers need to be contacted because they work in such close proximity with the sales force
B) Attitudinal studies should never be used to determine content of a sales training program
C) On average, top management is more supportive of sales training activities than any other group in an organization
D) Setting specific, realistic, and measurable objectives adds credibility to the sales training program
E) When profits are down, sales training programs are typically one of the last areas to find their funding reduced

Question 64

Providing more sales training will not help a company's sales if:

A) Customers do not understand what the sales training is designed to accomplish
B) The product or service does not add value for the customer
C) Salespeople are too enthusiastic about the training
D) There are too many market opportunities for the sales force
E) All of the above

Question 65

Sales training should be viewed as:

A) A cost the company must incur
B) A necessary evil
C) An investment that pays dividends
D) An alternative to marketing
E) All of the above

Question 66

Allen is a senior manager in a technology company. He knows his salespeople need constant training but also knows the company's training goals face significant obstacles including:

A) Top management not dedicated to sales training
B) Lack of buy-in from salespeople
C) Salespeople's lack of understanding of training objectives
D) Salespeople's lack of connection between training and specific tasks
E) All of the above

Question 67

On-the-job training, individual instruction, in-house classes, and external seminars are the most prevalent method used to train salespeople.

Question 68

It is not unusual to find sales representatives who spend 80 percent of their time with customers who account for only 20 percent of their sales.

Question 69

The use of outside sources to develop and implement a training program is encouraged only if:

A) They have the best reviews in the industry
B) They meet the objectives of the company
C) They change the attitudes of the members of the sales force
D) They entertain as well as train
E) None of the above

Question 70

Which of the following statements accurately describes one of the problems sales managers face when trying to institute a sales training program?

A) Lack of buy-in from frontline sales managers and salespeople
B) Top management wants to fund more for measuring the benefits accrued from training than on the actual training
C) Salespeople believe that on-the-job training is the best and only viable training method
D) All sales training, including the development of sales training material, must be done in-house
E) All of the above

Question 71

Which of the following is NOT a reason sales training programs fail?

A) Too much emphasis on the currant fad
B) Use of ""off the shelf"" programs
C) Training managers first
D) Excessive time demands on the salespeople to practice the skill
E) Lack of reinforcement of the training

Question 72

A well-designed sales training program begins with:

A) The development of a job description for the sales position
B) A sales training analysis
C) Determining the training objectives
D) The establishment of a control group that will not undergo training
E) The development of an evaluation system that will monitor the efficiency of each step of the training process

Question 73

Competent sales training:

A) Delivers specific skills and techniques designed to enhance the salesperson's success
B) Focuses on motivating salespeople
C) Lowers the apathy threshold common among beginning salespeople
D) Increases the self-evaluative program monitoring function
E) All of the above

Question 74

Ideally, sales training for new recruits will:

A) Assess the satisfaction needs of the new people
B) Instill, in a relatively short period of time, a vast amount of knowledge
C) Focus, almost exclusively, on the company's new products
D) Create competition between experienced and new salespeople
E) All of the above

Question 75

When developing a sales training program, sales managers must consider:

A) Who should be trained
B) Whether the training should be on-the-job or formal
C) What should be the primary emphasis in the training program
D) What should be the primary emphasis in the training program
E) All of the above

Question 76

Which of the following is a typical sales training objective?

A) To maximize employee turnover
B) To minimize the investment in other marketing communication tools
C) To improve employee morale
D) To improve relationships with customers
E) Both C and D

Question 77

Research indicates most learning for sales personnel comes through formal training.

Question 78

To get the most out of each training dollar, researchers recommend managers should:

A) None of the above
B) Train the right people for the right jobs
C) Focus on the highest potential personnel
D) Identify those that can benefit most from training
E) All of the above

Question 79

National, market and product sales managers:

A) Will all have the same training objectives
B) Should not initiate sales training until common objectives are determined
C) Will have a variety of training objectives
D) Will always focus on productivity
E) All of the above

Question 80

Harriet is analyzing the needs of her sales force. She will likely look for information from or through all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Job analysis
B) Job descriptions
C) Training budgets
D) Customers
E) Sales managers