This statement was thrown at me, by the Marketing Director, of a company with a Sales Team more than 50 strong, On that occasion I was merely being introduced to him. The occasion was a regular meeting of a Rotary Club, where I was the Guest Speaker.

"In any case why would I want an outsider to train my boys. I have seen trainers come and go, without any impact because my boys treat a training program as a Paid Holiday".

This was the rejoinder from an old colleague of mine, who had now taken up the dealership of a leading Computer Brand, and was finding the going difficult in a market that tended to decide more on the strength of pricing.

"Today, the margins have come down and we seem to be running harder to remain in the same place. It would be meaningless putting my boys on to a training program, when they would be happier with a cash incentive." This was from yet another member who operated a Promotional Marketing firm, with independent Sales People.

This from an extremely successful Sales Person in his time, who specialised in Software Products and services.

Another member, who manufactured Consumer durables added: "How many of the really good Sales Guys take up Training Sales People --as a career ? What good is training, if there is no accountability attached to the trainer? Where do I find a good Trainer ? How relevant are the old Training Programs that we underwent in today’s context?" Which brings us to ...

To cut short what might otherwise be put down as well worded rhetoric, let me start by commenting that,

• Today, the marketplace has become more and more competitive ,which is attributed to the greater choice available to the customer.
• We also carry larger inventories in most manufacturing and trading activities.
• There could also be a number of other factors being attributed to the current state of the market.
• However -- what is clear is Effective Sales Performance is the only yardstick of measure, of an organisation's survival , success and profitability.
• Improved Sales Performance therefore calls for well directed inputs, to ensure effective increase in Sales, sans gimmicks, and freebies, or discounts.
• In other words, it calls for well directed efforts, towards training every individual Sales Person within an organisation, to perform better and effectively.
• Discerning Senior Members of Sales Teams, capable of training their Sales Teams, for some reason, end up being disappointed with their own performance in training their teams.
• An organisation needs an External Trainer not because their Senior Managers are incapable of performing.
• They need somebody who can handle this function capably.
• It is similar to the symbiotic relationship that exists between the Script Writer and the Director of a Film.

Which brings us to the point that if performance has become a necessity, then Performance Oriented Training, becomes imperative. The target segments that require Training Inputs can be classified into Five Categories, cyclically, along time frames, at every level of the organisational hierarchy :

• The Aspirants
• The Beginners
• The Performers
• The Fatigued
• The Recently Promoted.

Therefore, training needs to be focused along the ATTITUDINAL Perspective. The right attitude enables the Sales Person to actively seek avenues of Self-Development in areas of Knowledge and Skills, to perform better.

An Organisation should have the In-house Resources, to impart training along the FUNCTIONAL lines, or can bring in External Resources to provide training in areas that have a bearing on Performance.

It is therefore imperative, that, organisations cater to the renewed training requirements in order to outlast competition sensibly with a healthy Bottomline.

• Contrary to normal expectation an external trainer is able to deliver his best when, there already exists a training department within the organisation.
• The performance of an external trainer is perceptibly better when the organisation has an officer to continually audit the Program.
• My own suggestion to my colleagues who take up assignments where there is no internal trainer, is to ensure that their performance is audited.
• They should discuss it, with the Chief Executive of the Organisation where the training is being conducted and have the minutes of the assignment placed on record.
• This will enable them to document their training in greater detail for the benefit of the client organisation and of course for their own selves.