Failing to Communicate Sales Training Programmes

Failing to Communicate a Sales Training Programme adequately is something that can cause the programme to fail. Yet it in most cases communicating the programme is given little attention compared to the design and roll out. In this session we look at why communications can go wrong in sales training programmes, and how to prevent the programme from being viewed negatively.

The SCARF Model

When it comes to motivating sales people to learn new sales techniques, the training programme organisers often assume that the sales people will be automatically motivated by sales training. Let’s challenge this assumption by using David Rock’s SCARF model,.

The SCARF model can help us to see how a sales training programme could be seen in a negative light by segments of the sales audience. We are doing this not to be ‘negative’ about sales training. We’re doing this to show how to test the communications of a sales training programme. If we test our communications in this way, it will help to ensure a better understanding of the sales audience, and help to prevent unintentionally alienating sections of the sales audience. The result should be a greater adoption of the new sales behaviors and better sales as a result.

So let’s look at sales training promgramme communications through the lens of the SCARF model, starting with S.

Status

The S in SCARF stands for status. How can someone’s status be negatively affected by sales training? Some people could see that their status is reduced because they are being told how to do something (selling) that they feel they already know how to do, have been doing for some time, and may feel they are already doing well. Let’s face it, we all hate being told to do something we already know how to do. And we especially hate it when that person is not as qualified or as knowledgeable as us. A particular target here, are the Sales Learning and Development people that have never been in sales.

How do you overcome this negative perception? Involve the sales people in the design, delivery and communication of the sales training. Consulting with them will help maintain their ‘Status’. Also be clear on roles. The learning and development team have expertise that makes the learning experience work. Without them the sales training will not work. Be clear that they are not trying to be, and should not try to be seen as ‘Sales people’. So be clear on what their role is and what it is not.

Certainty

The C in SCARF stands for certainty. How can certainty be negatively affected by sales training? We already know that people are not good at change. In evolutionary terms change is expensive and so we all tend to avoid it where we can. Change, especially when it is invoked and decided by others, leads to uncertainty. Uncertainty is a problem because people just don’t like it. Think of standing on the train platform and the train is late. How different does it feel if you know that it will be 7 minutes late, than if you have seven minutes of not knowing if the train is coming at all? We crave certainty and Sales Training Programmes attack this on a number of fundamental levels for sales people:

Is my job still secure?
Will I get paid less?
Will I have to do more non-selling tasks?
Will I have to take time off the road?

These aren’t trivial uncertainties, they are fundamental to any sales person. They tap into the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy which have profound effects on the motivation of sales people.

How do you overcome this negative perception? Let’s take these one by one:

Job security fears – separate the sales training from performance related measurement. Don’t precede or follow the training with restructures.
Fears about pay – do not change the remuneration and bonus schemes at the same time.
Fears about increases in non selling tasks – consult with the sales people around changes in tools and CRM.

Fears concerning time off the road – can be handled by giving advanced notice and allowing for study time when calculating and communicating quotas.the lower levels of

Autonomy

The A in SCARF stands for autonomy. How can someone’s autonomy be negatively affected by sales training? If we want to punish someone we take away their autonomy, for example we put criminals in jail and take away their autonomy. When rolling out a sales training programme, we are looking to drive a different way of performing in the role. Some could see that as an attack on their autonomy because you are reducing their ability to choose how they perform in the role. This is particularly the case when new administrative tasks are introduced, new practices for deal qualification, or new lines and methods of reporting are introduced. Look out for the areas of a sales training programme that affect autonomy. They can unintentionally drive the opposite sales behaviours to what we’re really looking for in sales people. Accountability and proactivity can reduce if the sales people perceive that their autonomy is being attacked.

How do you overcome this negative perception?

Bring the sales people into the design, delivery and communication of the sales training. Their autonomy will be preserved as they are allowed to help choose the way that they should work. If you can’t consult with everyone in the design phase, a great way to do this is to hold adoption workshops at the team level. Such workshops can drive adoption and preserve autonomy, which in turn improves accountability and proactivity.

Relatedness

The R in SCARF stands for relatedness. How can relatedness be negatively affected by sales training?

Humans are pack animals. We were not the strongest in the jungle and we survived, in evolutionary terms, by hunting in packs. Because of our evolutionary make-up, we need to feel part of a group and this we describe as relatedness. It would be unusual for a sales training programme to set out to reduce relatedness between the sales people. But the fear of it happening might be all it takes to have a negative effect. In most sales training programmes there comes a time when the sales people will have to demonstrate their sales skills in front of their peer group. The fear is that they will not perform very well and so could be harshly judged. The subconscious fear is that they will become ostracized by the group, or the pack. There is an irrational element to this, but the fear is very real. Ironically the same sales people perform day in day out with customers. This is why most people think that they should be OK in front of their peer group. But that’s not the way the mind works! The subconscious mind is far more worried by rejection from the peer group, than it is about rejection by a customer that they barely know. Now you can have the attitude that they are sales people and should be able to perform in front of any audience, and 99% will oblige. But if you’re wondering why sales people don’t like sales training, remember to consider this subconscious rejection factor. When you say, I’d rather they lost a deal in the classroom than in real life, chances are the sales people would rather lose the real deal for this reason.

How do you overcome this negative perception?

Recognise that the sales people attach a large amount of personal risk to performing in front of their peers. Create a safe learning environment where they are prepared and feel comfortable contributing.

Fairness

The F in SCARF stands for fairness. How can fairness be negatively affected by sales training?

Fairness is a big human driver. There are many examples of people giving up their lives in the cause of fairness, like Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. The lack of fairness in the sales training programmes that we facilitate, typically involves the fact that the sales people have not been consulted. Many organisers of sales training programmes assume that the sales force have already bought into the need for sales training. This is a cardinal sin because it is emulating exactly the behavoiurs that the sales training is trying remove. Failing to get buy in for sales training is no different to a sales person who assumes customer needs, and sells by talking about product features and benefits. Modeling the exact behaviours that you’re trying to remove allows for the criticism, “Its one rule for us and one rule for them!”. This unfairness will have a demotivating effect on the sales force.

How do you overcome this negative perception?

Involve the sales people in the design, delivery and communication of the sales training.