Tailored Sales Team and Management Development

Choose a programme based on what should be visible in your team’s work once it is complete. In sales team development, this may mean a shared approach to customer conversations; for managers, it may mean delegation, feedback and leading people. When the strategy changes, priorities and responsibilities need to follow it too. At ED Development, we connect these needs across three areas: Business management, People management and Company management. We tailor the content to your roles, products and business situation.

First, we need to identify what is causing the weaker results. An experienced salesperson may have unclear priorities, the sales model may be applied inconsistently, or a manager may give feedback that is too general. In a training needs analysis, we therefore choose methods to suit the situation: interviews with management and participants, observation of day-to-day work or joint customer visits. We compare the expected way of working with the actual one. The findings help agree the content of the programme and what the company needs to clarify in how the team is managed.

The programme is divided into modules, with 3 to 5 weeks between them to apply new methods at work. Participants work on their own situations: a sales conversation, a team meeting, delegation or feedback. Depending on the brief, the programme is complemented by management coaching, where we revisit specific experiences from work. With senior management, we agree what line managers should monitor and support between modules. The overall schedule is based on the programme goals and the participants’ availability.

Yes. When implementing a Sales Call model in a pharmaceutical company, we build on the existing model, product priorities and internal communication rules. We connect the work of medical representatives, sales managers and marketing; depending on the brief, we also involve the medical department. In sales conversations, we take into account the needs of the doctor or pharmacist as well as the patient context. With managers, we align the criteria for observing calls and giving feedback, so the team receives consistent support when using the model in the field.

We assess the impact against changes in behaviour and indicators agreed in advance. These may include the quality of sales conversations, how specific feedback is or progress against a key account plan. Elena Demeková also developed feedback as a leadership tool in her work with Bayer. In a brief like this, it makes sense to check whether a manager names specific behaviour and agrees a next step. The programme concludes with certification and evaluation. The link between evaluation and business goals is also explained in this CIPD factsheet.

The cost depends on the scope of the needs analysis, the number of groups and modules, the preparation for your company’s environment and the level of support between sessions. The brief also covers how skills will be assessed and how the programme will be evaluated. For the initial consultation, please prepare your goal, the roles involved and examples of work situations you want to change. An indicative timeframe and budget also help. Based on this, we can suggest which topics should be shared and where the team needs separate support.