Training Days: Direct Marketers Step Up Efforts

More successful sales reps should mean more loyal employees, especially in a field where turnover is regularly more than 25 percent per year, said executives from all three companies at the Raymond James IT Supply Chain Conference in New York Tuesday.

“We&'re spending millions of dollars recruiting and training every year. Hiring 400 to 500 young people every year and having them fail in their first job just doesn&'t feel good,” said John Edwardson, CEO of CDW, Vernon Hills, Ill.

CDW recently tested 1,700 account managers to determine what attributes make up its most successful salespeople. Using the results, CDW plans to test every incoming candidate for personality traits prevalent in its sales stars to help determine who it should hire.

“We may hire fewer than we did before, but that doesn&'t mean we&'re not growing our sales force,” Edwardson said.

Meanwhile, PC Connection is launching Core 1, a training program geared to get new employees more real-world experience earlier in their careers.

PC Connection, Merrimack, N.H., now offers a one-year program that includes one-on-one coaching as well as classroom training. In addition, trainees receive qualified leads of PC Connection customers that have not purchased from the company in a year.

Core 1 should increase sales productivity for sales reps and help retain customers, said Patricia Gallup, CEO of PC Connection.

“We realized that trained salespeople need good, in-depth training prior to getting into higher-end customers. We can use trainees as a good way to integrate our inbound selling program,” Gallup said.

Added Stephen Baldridge, vice president of finance and corporate controller at PC Connection: “We&'re providing them customers, which eliminates the frustration of having to go through [unqualified] leads.”

Insight also tests employees to evaluate individual strengths and weaknesses and determine appropriate job matches, said Rich Fennessy, CEO of Insight.

“The survey will also tell if a person has close enough skills to do a job, or if they're just not suited for it,” he said.

In addition, Insight has dramatically increased training for sales associates. New hires used to get four weeks of training. Now they get two months in the classroom, two more months consisting of 50 percent class time and 50 percent working with a more senior associate. After than, it&'s another eight months with 90 percent of their hours on the sales floor and another 10 percent in class, said Fennessy.

“Our first class went through July 1. In the program is everything from product training, selling skills, negotiation skills, questioning techniques,” he said. “They're taking a 'What is my customer thinking?&' approach to making deals and training the employees to think that way.”

JENNIFER LAWINSKI contributed to this story.