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How it all started: STEP was born of the challenges faced in having to hire outside of the technology industry during the frenzied marketplace of 1999.
We had to consider, "how can we get our people up to speed more effectively? How can we get more from our limited time and resources? Why isn't there a consistent return on our training investments?"
The answers were found by studying how sales training is used by a sales team, and what happens after the classes are over.
What we found was that "training for training's sake" was just not effective. In fact, it is very hard to get sales people to focus on any kind of development, and even more difficult to make it stick.
While sales people are very well intentioned, in the end, most are really motivated by only two factors: short term commissions, and their standing in the organization (how they are perceived by management, since that will influence their territory, chances for advancement, access to resources etc). To make training have a broad impact, it has to directly affect one of these two factors.
The way to make training effective is to make people accountable for applying what they are learning, give them industry focused training with "how to" explanations and real-world examples, drip feed the information over a long period, and build a culture of ongoing improvement and excellence.
STEP was created by top sales managers from some of the leading companies in the voice/data networking marketplace. The program offers an opportunity for companies of all sizes to have their sales people and sales managers mentored by the best in the business. |
Fact: It's hard to measure sales effectiveness. Perhaps the only objective measurement is sales productivity: revenue $$ per salesperson. Other useful metrics include average margin by salesperson, average revenue per account, product & services revenue mix, service attachment, and if available, customer satisfaction measurements.
What's your sales productivity? Have you benchmarked other similar companies? Are you doing well, or falling behind? |
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STEP®: Sales Training for Exceptional Performance
When: 2001. Where: New York City. Question: "How can we do things differently? How can we cause a real improvement in business results through training & development? (see sidebar at left)" Answer: "Think out of the box."
We had some pretty lofty objectives :
- Use change management principles to cause sales people to apply learning and change their behavior.
- Drip feed information so that sales people can learn a skill, apply it to their world and integrate the knowledge, before going on to next.
- Cover an extensive range of sales skills and concepts to provide a solid foundation from beginner to expert.
- Put training into context for technology companies. Connect the dots so that students understand how to apply skills and concepts very specifically in their day-to-day selling activities.
- Cultivate constant improvement and create an ongoing culture of excellence.
- Deliver an affordable program that is well within reach of small resellers and niche players.
- Use sales training to building teamwork, encourage the sharing of best practices, improve sales management, and facilitate coaching and mentoring.
- Put training into context for each company's specific territories, accounts and market positioning.
We achieved these objectives through STEP, a self-administered sales training and management development program.
STEP is delivered through email units over a 12-month period. It consists of two separate curriculums:
The curriculum covers a very broad range of topics around four foundational elements:
STEP is most effective when used in a team environment and driven by the sales manager. STEP includes 12 units of management training and provides all of the tools for sales managers to hold monthly sales meetings, including practice role plays and other team building activities.
Pricing starts at just $400 per sales person & $500 per sales manager for the entire 12-month program, with significant group discounts for organizations with four or more people enrolled.
Please email info@sales-group.com to learn more about our STEP program and how it can contribute to the success of your sales team. |
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Download sample sales unit |
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Download sample management unit |
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Download STEP Overview |
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Testimonials |
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Partial list of clients |
Downloads are in Adobe PDF file format. Please click on the icon below to download a free Acrobat reader.
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| "More good stuff!! Practical and usable. Well done." |
Director, Boston, MA |
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| "This kind of thing needs to be reinforced constantly, regardless of your tenure as a sales person." |
James L., Edison, NJ |
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| "I just closed a deal using the techniques that were provided in the STEP program. It was a new customer and the size of the deal was about $85,000." |
Kenny P., New York, NY |
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| "I think the best feature of the material is the real world examples you provide, and get right to the point of how this impacted the outcome of the opportunity." |
Patrick K., New York, NY |
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| "I have been in the industry for several years and been in several different sales training classes / seminars / courses, if this is any indication of what is to come, this is outstanding. I appreciate the industry focus and the specifics to it." |
Stu B., Englewood, CO |
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| "The example questions are great - really got me thinking of the types of questions I use during an initial sales call. I had some good ones but you got me thinking in a broader range. Great stuff and very usable." |
Sheila R., Atlanta, GA |
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| "The STEP training is an informative, ongoing way to learn while still taking care of your customers and trying to bring in new business." |
Dana P., Boston, MA |
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| "It offers a wonderful insight for an entry level and experienced rep alike." |
Joe G., Pittsburgh, PA |
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| "The business understanding we are seeking to teach our sales staff was well covered by your material." |
Chris C., Framingham, MA |
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| "All of these training units are very relevant to what I'm trying to convey to my sales reps. Thanks for good work." |
Romano D., Reston, VA |
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