A Study of Predictors of Sales Training Effectiveness:
With specific reference to Pharmaceutical Industry
By
Komal Khandelwal Das
Under the Supervision of
Dr. Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay
Associate Professor
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune
Overview of the Study
o This study is designed with the objective of getting into the details of sales training and further understanding the factors that enhances the value of sales training among organizations, sales professionals and others.
o For the above mentioned purpose we have started by reviewing the relevant variables through detailed literature review.
o This review covers theoretical developments over a period of 54 years on sales personnel training over five decades (1962 – 2015).
Overview of the Study
o The literature review is followed by exploratory qualitative research carried on different sales professionals from Pharmaceutical industry.
o The emerging variables have been modeled and tested to establish a prominent relationship between the predictors and Sales Training effectiveness through quantitative data analysis.
Literature ReviewThe review identifies related theme to categorizeTraining effectiveness issues and significant ‘predictors’.
The, related literature is reviewed and categorized as :1. Sales training 2. Performance Evaluation3. Training Effectiveness4. Predictors of Effectiveness
◦ Organizational factors◦ Training Design factors ◦ Trainee’ Related factors
List of the major variables in the literature.
CONSTRUCT SOURCE
Trainee Characteristics General Self-efficacy Perceived Effort Pre-training, Motivation Supervisor Support Management Support Learning Orientation Trainees Content Satisfaction Perceived trainer performance Perceived usefulness of training Training Course efficiency Training Contents Training instructor Trainer’s Competency Training Format Training Effectiveness
Rasli, 2012 Huang, W, 2009 Long, L. K, 2005 Long, L. K, 2005 Jayawardana andPrasanna, 2008 Rasli, 2012 Sarin, Sego, Kohli, and Challagalla, 2010 Liu, 2007 Giangreco, 2009 Giangreco, 2009 Giangreco, 2009 Pelham and Kravitz, 2008 Dubinsky and Anderson, 2001 Rasli, 2012 Dubinsky and Anderson, 2001 Satin, Sego, Kohli, and Challagalla, 2010
Research Design
Mixed method research
Qualitative - In-depth interviews
Quantitative data – Survey of sales professionals in
Pharmaceutical industry
Initiated with exploratory research.
Followed by conclusive and Descriptive research
Research Questions
The literature review and qualitative study helped to prepare a basic framework and hypotheses for testing.
The research questions acknowledged from the literature eventually led to the development of the objectives for this research.
Followings are the three primary research questions in this investigation.
What is the current state of sales training practices prevalent in
the pharmaceutical industry?
What are the various organizational, individual and social
predictors that influence sales training effectiveness?
What is the strength of relationship between the predictors and
sales training effectiveness?
Research Objective
In the study the basic objective was to understand the Sales Training practices in Pharmaceutical Industry in India. The work also examines the relationship of Sales Training effectiveness with its various predictors.
Following are the specific objectives of this study:
To study the current status of sales training effectiveness in the Indian
pharmaceutical sector. To identify the organizational and/or individual
predictors which manipulate the effectiveness of sales training.
To evaluate the strength of association between the predictors and sales
training effectiveness.
To develop a model to map effectiveness of sales training.
To evaluate the critical success factors for pharmaceutical sales training.
Sample Size•The Qualitative data - In-Depth Interview of sales professionals, casted reference guide with open-ended questions based on research objectives and orchestrate 30 interviews of 26 trainees and 4 trainers.
[In qualitative research, saturation occurs within thirty interviews or less (Thompson, 2004)]
• In Quantitative the total number of questionnaires which are collected from the field is 432 in number. • More than10 % of the data missing were dropped. •Dropped 32 incomplete questionnaires.
•Therefore, the sample size for the study is 400.
Sampling Procedure / Method
Pharmaceutical Sales professionals Uttar Pradesh and Delhi
The cities included are Agra and Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh
Used Judgment Sampling for Qualitative and Convenience for Quantitative research.
Analytical tools for Data Analysis used.
Exploratory data Analysis with help of SPSS 20 software.
Reliability test with help of SPSS 20 software.
Regression Analysis with help of SPSS 20 software.
Through qualitative research following major factors emerged:
Training content,
Time management,
Effective communication,
Innovativeness and creativity,
Pre-training motivation
Qualitative research
Perceived effort
Perceived usefulness of training
Learning Orientation
Training Content
Pre-training Motivation
Supervisor Support
TRAININGEFFECTIVENESS
Perceived trainer performance
Proposed Model For Predictors of Sales Training Effectiveness
Hypothesis
H1: Training Content influences Training Effectiveness.
H2: Perceived Effort influences Training Effectiveness.
H3:Pre-Training Motivation influences Effectiveness.
H4:Perceived Trainer Performance influences Effectiveness.
H5: Learning Orientation influences Training Effectiveness.
H6: Perceived Usefulness influences Training Effectiveness.
H7: Supervisor Support influences Training Effectiveness.
Construct Items Adapted from
Training
Effectiveness
Can carry out sales tasks well by use of skills learned during the training program. Can accomplish the job tasks effectively and efficiently due to skills acquired
during the training program. Using the latest, knowledge and skills taught during training would help me to
progress well. Make fewer mistakes because of effective training. The value of sales task enhanced after training. Capable of finish sales tasks rapidly and on time after training. Sales Training made the individual more presentable by improvement in
communication skills and body language.
Jayawardana,
and Prasanna
(2008)
Learning
Orientation
In sales routine, it is importance to learn innovative approaches to deal with the
prospects. It is important for the individual to learn from each selling experience. It’s imperative for a competent salesperson to continually improve the sales skills. How to be a superior salesperson is of primary significance to the salesperson. The salesperson should be interested in learning whole lot of novel things about
sales in the sales job.
Sarin, Sego,
Kohli, and
Challagalla
(2010)
Constructs, with Items and Source.
Supervisor
Support
The supervisor clearly communicates the importance of Sales Training. The supervisor believes that there are true merits of getting trained. The manager guides one on improving one’s sales performance. The supervisor uses a multiplicity of method to develop my sales skills. The manager helps the individual know about his/her performance.
Jayawardana, and
Prasanna (2008)
Training
Content
Individual found the training content/handouts very interesting. Trainees’ feel frustrated because the training content/handouts are
complex. Individuals enjoyed learning from the training content/handouts. The entire training was a great learning experience.
Liu
(2007)
Perceived
Usefulness
Undergoing Sales Training enhances individual’s effectiveness on the
job. Undergoing Sales Training makes it easier for the salesperson to perform
the sales job. Overall, the trainee find undergoing Sales Training useful for the sales
job. Sales Training increases trainee’s productivity. Getting trained improves trainee’s job performance.
Giangreco (2009)
Perceived Effort
The trainee had put a lot of effort during last sales training. It is important for the individual to do well in the sales training
program. Individual didn’t put much energy into the sales training program. Individual didn’t try very hard to do well in the sales training
program.
Long (2005)
Pre-Training
Motivation
Individual was motivated to learn as much as he/she could before
the sales training program. Trainee was willing to try harder before the training program to
understand parts of the sales training program which were harder or
difficult. Trainee was convinced to put more effort into the sales training
program than other fellow trainees. Individual was willing to exert considerable effort to learn the
contents of the sales training program.
Long (2005)
Perceived Trainer
Performance
The trainers were able to impart knowledge. The mentors were involved all participants. The supervisors managed time well. The trainers had in depth knowledge of their subjects.
Giangreco (2009)
Variables Type of variable Number of items in the construct
before pilot study.
Number of items in the construct after pilot
study.
Cronbach’salpha
Training Effectiveness Dependent variable 8 7 .810
Learning Orientation Independent variable 5 5 .873
Supervisor Support Independent variable 5 5 .752
Training Content Independent variable 4 4 .796
Perceived Usefulness Independent variable 5 5 .892
Perceived Effort Independent variable 5 4 .599
Pre-training Motivation Independent variable 4 4 .741
Perceived trainer performance Independent variable 4 4 .697
Pilot Study
Quantitative Data Analysis
Descriptive StatisticsMean Std. Deviation N
Training Effectiveness 5.4360 .79784 400
Training Content 5.2789 .95683 400
Perceived Effort 5.4152 .88333 400
Pre-training Motivation 5.4315 .85959 400Perceived trainer performance
5.4466 .81792 400
Learning Orientation 5.6141 .84343 400
Perceived Usefulness 5.5558 .79134 400
Supervisor Support 5.3151 .85893 400
Descriptive Statistics for the variables used in the study.
Sample Profile
The analysis indicated that a major percentage of the respondents had less than 5 years of work experience. 41.7%.of respondents had 6- 10
years of work experience.
Less than 5
years
42%6 – 10
years
42%
11 – 20
years
12%
Above 20 years
4%
Total sales experience in Pharmaceutical Indus-
try.
Less than 2
years
36%2– 5 year
s42%
6– 10
years
15%
More than 10 years
7%
Sales experience in the current company.
Less than 1 Week
42%
1 – 2 Weeks
25%
3 – 4 Weeks18%
More than a
Month16%
Duration of the sales train-ing program
Classroom LecturesCase studies
Group discussionOn the job training
Demonstration Role play
Video ConferencingInformal
In Basket ExerciseComputer Simulation
70.50%44.00%44.00%
40.00%39.00%
36.50%32.80%
14.50%11.80%
5.80%
Training methods used
Major bulk of respondents i.e. 41.5% reported that they attended sales training program less than a week . Whereas classroom was among the most commonly used method of training.
54.30%
38.50%34.00%
24.00%
15.80%15.80%
Trainer details
1%Others
Graduate 66.8%
Post- Graduate 31.9%
Education of respondent
Analysis of the chart shown below indicated that majority of respondents, 66.8% of them were graduates.
Yes 49%
No52%
Is Company a Multinational Corporation
Trainee8%
Exec-utive
(Entry Level)47%
Middle
Level Man-ager37%
Senior Level Manager
8%
Designation/Position
Research indicated that majority of the sales professionals in the pharmaceutical industry were aged between 25-35years occupying a large share of 68.3%.
Less than 25 years
14%
25 – 35 years 68%
36 – 45 years16%
More than 45 years
2%
Respondent’s Age
Data Analysis
Pearson Correlation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 IT Adoption 1.000
2 Inventory Management .538 1.000
3 Supply Chain Responsiveness .507 .571 1.000
4 Lean Manufacturing .571 .637 .591 1.000
5 Technology Up-gradation .539 .645 .539 .610 1.000
6 Flexibility .596 .492 .528 .542 .538 1.000
7Quality
Management and tools
.665 .580 .551 .650 .609 .690 1.000
8 Awareness and Training .589 .536 .421 .485 .505 .474 .549 1.000
Correlation between variables
Model Summary
Model R ‘R’ SquareAdjusted ‘R’
SquareStandard. Error of
EstimateDurbin-Watson
1 .741 .548 .544 .53881 2.049
Predictors: (Constant), Awareness and Training, Supply chain Responsiveness, IT adoption, Inventory Management, Quality management standards and tools
Dependent Variable: Productivity Improvement
Regression
Analysis of VarianceModel Squares Sum Df Mean Square F Sig.
1
Regression 139.310 4 34.827 119.964 .000d
Residual 114.674 395 .290
Total 253.984 399
Constructs : (Constant), Awareness and Training, Supply chain Responsiveness, IT adoption, Inventory Management, Quality management standards and tools
Dependent Variable: Productivity Improvement
Model
Substandard Co-efficient Standard Co-efficient
T
Sig. Collinearity Statistics
B Standard Error Beta Tolerance VIF
(Constant) .733 .217 3.378 .001
Awareness and Training .292 .055 .290 5.358 .000 .391 2.560
Supply chain Responsiveness .249 .039 .268 6.443 .000 .659 1.517
IT adoption.177 .045 .187 3.921 .000 .501 1.996
Inventory Management .140 .043 .151 3.286 .001 .542 1.844
Quality management
standards and tools.177 .045 .187 3.921 .000 .501 1.996
Beta Coefficients and Multi Collinearity statistics
Normal P-P plot
Results
Following variables significantly contributes to the prediction of Sales Training Effectiveness–
Perceived Usefulness
Supervisor Support
Learning Orientation
Pre-Training Motivation
Research Opportunities in Contemporary Sales Training
• How training can be used for providing strategic advantage?
• How management can ensure training is aligned to customers needs and selling process?
• How to manage the role of sales manager in salesperson development?
• How analytics can be incorporated to improve coaching and mentoring?
• How sales training can be delivered through emerging technology?
• How an organization can use sales training to reinforce the code of conduct?
Concluding Remarks Every sales business sustains on sales-force
performance and optimal 'performance' can be achieved through effective training. Based on data analysis, this work proposes four pivotal dimensions as predictors of training effectiveness in the model.
The factors or predictors namely Perceived Usefulness, Learning Orientation, Pre-Training Motivation and Supervisor Support paves the path to Effectiveness through ‘formalized’ and ‘tailored’ training framework.
There is a demonstrable connection between significant predictors of training effectiveness and successful training.
Thanks