Salesperson selection and training

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Salesperson Recruitment, Selection

and Training

(Sales Force Management)

Surjeet Singh Dhaka

PhD Scholar

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Learning Objectives

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Introduction

Process of Selection

Training and Development

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Introduction

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o Salesperson:An individual acting for a company by performing oneor more of the following activities: prospecting,communicating, servicing, and information gathering.

• Salespersons have many names:Agents Sales EngineersSales consultants District ManagersSales Representatives Marketing RepresentativesAccount Executives Account Development

Representatives

Contd…

Traits of Successful Salespeople

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Enthusiasm

Patience

Initiative

Self-Confidence

Job Commitment

Customer Orientation

Independent

Self-Motivated

Excellent Listeners

Friendly

Persistent

Attentive

Honest

Internally Motivated

Relationship Oriented

Disciplined

Hardworking

Team Players

Contd… 4

Sales Force Management

The analysis, planning, implementation, and

control of sales force activities. It includes

setting and designing sales force strategy; and

recruiting, selecting, training, supervising,

compensating, and evaluating the firm’s

salespeople.

IABM, BIKANERContd… 5

Recruitment

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Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to

develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources

needs even though specific vacancies do not exist .Usually, the

recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee

requisition for a specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy.

Sources of Recruitment:

Internal Recruitmento Promotiono Departmental Examo Transfero Retiremento Internal Advertisemento Employee Recommendation

External Recruitment• Management Consultant• Employment Agencies• Campus Recruitment• News Paper Advt• Internal Advt• Walk In

Contd… 6

Selection

• DALE YODER “Selection is a process in

which candidates for employment are

divided into two classes, those who are to

be offered employment and those who are

not.”

• V.S.P.RAO “Selection is the process of

picking individuals who have relevant

qualifications to fill jobs in an

organization.”

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• Qualified sales people are scarce.

• Good selection improve sales force

performance.

• Promotes cost savings.

• Eases other manager tasks.

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Importance

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The Selection process

Kujnish (2006) describes a typical selection process which is explained

by the following diagram:-

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RequirementApplication

formTesting

Reference

checksPhysical

examination

Employment

offer

Interview

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Selection tools

Selection tools and procedures are only aids to sound executive judgment and not substitutes for it. They can eliminate obviously unqualified candidates and generally help recruiters spot extremely capable individuals.

• Application blanks

• Personal interviews

• Psychological tests

• References and credit reports

• Assessment tests

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Process

RECEIPT AND SCRUTINY OF

APPLICATIONS- A receptionist in the

personnel department gives information about

new openings to the visitors, and receives their

applications.

• The scrutiny of applications is essential to take

out those applications which don’t fulfill the

requirements of post.

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• BLANK APPLICATION FORM-This is a

way of getting written information about

candidate’s particulars in his own handwriting.

• INFORMATION COLLECTED IS- bio-data,

educational qualifications, work experience,

curricular activities, references and salary

demanded.

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TESTS- It is the most controversial step. Some

people are of the view that tests do not serve any

purpose and do not improve selection process.

TYPES OF TESTS-

• Proficiency tests

• Aptitude tests

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PROFICIENCY TESTS

TYPES -

• Achievement tests- These tests measure the skill or training which the applicant possesses at the time of testing

• Dexterity tests-These tests are designed to find out how efficiently and swiftly an applicant uses his hands, fingers, eyes and other body parts.

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APTITUDE TESTS/PSYCOLOGICAL TESTS-

Such tests measure the skill and ability which a

person may develop later on.

TYPES-

• Intelligence tests

• Personality tests

• Movement tests

• Interest tests

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• INTELLIGENCE TESTS-Such tests measure the overall intellectual activity or intelligence quotient of the applicants.

• PERSONALITY TESTS-Are designed to know about the non-intellectual aspect of the candidate.

• MOVEMENT TESTS-Measure the speed and precision of movement in an applicant.

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INTEREST TESTS-Are aimed to find out the type of work in which an applicant is interested.

• OTHER TESTS-

• Trade tests

• On the job tests

• Physical tests

• Written tests

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Psychological testing

• Mental intelligence tests

• Aptitude tests

• Interest tests

• Personality tests

• Selecting and developing tests

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References and other

outside sources

• Background check

• Legal considerations

Assessment tests

• Ranking the recruits

• Communication with applicants

• extending the offer

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INTERVIEW

• SCOTT- “An interview is a purposeful

exchange of ideas, the answering of questions,

and communication between two or more

persons.”

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OBJECTIVES OF INTERVIEW

• Judgment of applicant

• Promote goodwill.

• Give information to the applicant

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TYPES OF INTERVIEW

• PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW

• CORE INTERVIEW

• DECISION MAKING INTERVIEW

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PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW

• It is the first contact of the candidate with the

company officials. The information supplied

by the applicant is verified and he comes to

know of the company in detail.

• TYPES-

• Informal interview

• Unstructured interview

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• Informal interview –This interview is held to

secure non job related information.The

rejection rate at this stage is very high.

• Unstructured interview- In this interview the

candidate is given the freedom to tell about his

knowledge on various items

areas,education,background and interest.

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CORE INTERVIEW

• Background information interview- The

background information is collected about the

candidate and information supplied about

educational qualifications,place of

domicile,health is checked up from the

documents available.

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• JOB AND PROBING INTERVIEW-This

interview is intended to test candidate’s job

knowledge,methods of doing the job,problem

areas,and ways of handling them.

• STRESS INTERVIEW-The purpose of such

an interview is to see whether a candidate

keeps his cool under stress situations.

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• GROUP DISCUSSION INTERVIEW

• PATTERNED OR STRUCTURED

INTERVIEW- The interview is systematically

planned in advance and the type of information

to be asked,details to be inquired ,information

to be given are all planned properly

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• PANEL INTERVIEW-In this interview the

candidate is interviewed by a panel of

selectors.

• DEPTH INTERVIEW-This interview is

conducted by specialists in the field.

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• DECISION MAKING INTERVIEW-

• A final decision about the selection or rejection of the candidate is taken at this level.

• Interviewer should try to get full information about the candidate’s skill ,knowledge,aptitude,attitude, personality traits.

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PRELIMINARY AND FINAL

SELECTION

• Since the persons employed are to work under

line officers, the candidates are referred to

them.line officers will finally decide about the

work to be assigned to them.

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PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

• After the final selection candidates are

required to appear for medical examination.For

civil services and military jobs ,the candidates

are appointed only when they clear the medical

test.

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PLACEMENT AND ORIENTATION

• The selected candidate should be given copies

of rules,regulations,procedures followed in the

company.He should be introduced to his

immediate superior and to his immediate

subordinate. Proper orientation of an employee

will help him to adjust easily in the new

environment of the organisation.

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Sales Training

Let us understand the typical sales training process as

explained by Ingram (2009):-

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Asses Sales

Training

Needs

Set

Training

Objectives

Evaluate

Training

Alternatives

Perform

Sales

Training

Conduct

Follow up

and

Evaluation

Design

Sales

Training

Program

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o The 1st step sales training need assessment deals with identifying the

necessary skills, attitudes, perceptions and behaviours of the sales

representatives.

o The 2nd step deals with setting up the training objectives i.e. the

necessary measurable outcome of the training program.

o The 3rd step deals with identifying various alternatives to conduct the

training.

o The 4th step deals with the design part of the training program which

involves identifying the training program

o The 5th step performing the sales training is the actual implementation

of the sales training program which deals with the way how the

training is conducted and the methodologies adopted .

o Once the entire training process is completed, follow-up and

evaluation dealing with analysing the quality of training.

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Objectives of training and

development

• Imparting Attitude Skills

• Notifying organization policies

• Bestowing organization culture and

values

• Understanding the goals and objectives

• Developing the team working skills

• Developing the product/ service

knowledge

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