Curriculum: Sales Manager
List of Sales Manager Training Modules
Section 1: Sales Leadership
 Module 1: Leading – explaining the difference between management and leadership, assisting
with transition from player to coach
 Module 2: Demonstrating Business Acumen - Applying a strategic approach to understanding
the customer, analyzing financial statements and executive comments, and learning how to
identify customer goals & priorities
 Module 3: Creating a Performance Culture - Understanding pros and cons of different sales
environments, creating a collaborative learning/performance environment, and managing
organizational change
 Module 4: Managing Time – Balancing demand generation, reporting, forecasting, phone work,
customer meetings, customer service demands and internal requirements to ensure time is
optimized
 Module 5: Deploying Best Practices – installing tools, techniques, and behaviors that ensure
best practices sharing with the sales team and between sales teams
 Module 6: Managing Change – influencing teams to successful adoption of behavior changes
while motivating individuals through their own change cycles
 Module 7: Continuous Improvement – Understanding the methods of Sales Force Effectiveness
and aiding internal and consultant teams to successful identification and improvement of sales
force issues
 Module 8: Navigating the Organization – the best practices approaches to understand what the
internal organization needs from the Sales function, and vice versa, and how to best obtain
this with the least effort and friction, also covers how to follow/adopt internal processes
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Curriculum: Sales Manager
Section 2: Selling Skills
 Module 9: Needs Development – Developing sales reps skills necessary to unearth, define,
develop needs in the customer/prospect accounts. Also includes coaching reps to uncovering
latent needs as well as developing Challenger sales skills.
 Module 10: Buyer Personas and Journeys – Understanding the various types of buyers, their
perspectives and the buying processes they go through; coaching sales reps to effectively
leverage this buyer mindset.
 Module 11: Social Selling – Coaching and continuous assessment of sales reps as they leverage
social media for sales campaigns and prospecting
 Module 12: Marketing Leverage – Leading sales reps to avail themselves of Marketing
assistance in terms of demand generation, marketing-provided content & tools, account
segmentation, and lead management. Also necessary to lead teams to take an outside-in tone,
even if Marketing has not done so yet.
 Module 13: Taking the Customer View -- Developing sales reps skills necessary to perform
actionable discovery, conduct active listening, and re-present account-related information
from the perspective of the customer/prospect
 Module 14: Building a Business Case -- Developing sales reps skills necessary to assemble a
convincing business justification based on figures of merit, threshold values, sensitivity
analyses, and other artifacts of financial management
 Module 15: Articulating a Value Proposition – Developing sales reps skills necessary to develop
compelling content, present it using persuasive written and verbal techniques, and move
customers/prospects to action
 Module 16: Solution Development – Developing sales reps skills necessary to brainstorm
multiple alternate solution options, each with different risk/reward attributes, benefit
realizations, terms and conditions, and implementation specifics but that all solve
customer/prospect problems in a different way
 Module 17: Negotiating – Developing sales reps skills necessary to use give-get frameworks
successfully, obtain relevant win-win outcomes, persuade other via written and oral means to
either change their minds or adopt different approaches, all in the course of negotiating
contracts for future work
 Module 18: Account Development and Support – Developing sales reps skills necessary to
transform assigned existing customers into reliable reference and referral sources, to greater
commitment of revenue to the company/solution, and greater integration into the key/Global
account management program
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Curriculum: Sales Manager
Section 3: Sales Management
 Module 19: Managing Territories - overseeing the deployment of resources around proper
territory allocation, setting quotas, assigning and overseeing accounts
 Module 20: Funnel/Pipeline Management – using CRM to enhance forecasting accuracy, sales
campaign advancement and gap analysis (e.g. Tracking: buying behavior, lead source, pipeline
advancement, closing ratios, average sales price, Win/Loss, etc.)
 Module 21: Assessing Sales Rep Process Execution – oversight of sales rep execution of sales
process steps, job aid usage, and adoption of specific guidance
 Module 22: Performing your role in the Sales Process – addresses all requirements of the sales
manager as a participant in the sales process (sales calls, presentation review, proposal
development)
 Module 23: Auditing Team Performance – how sales managers introduce quality control and an
audit cadence into their tasking
 Module 24: Delivering Situational Leadership – how to lead, manage, and coach based on a
sales rep developmental model
 Module 25: Running a Training Meeting – Determining the topics, creating content, establishing
guidelines, ensuring retention, conducting role plays, collecting feedback, building in pre-work,
and using post-training reinforcement activities
 Module 26: Co-opting 3rd party Organizations – the tasks and behaviors that enable managers
to co-opt partners, influencers, and other 3rd parties in the sales mission
 Module 27: Receiving Executive Mentorship – how, when, and why to receive mentorship from
an executive as part of a personal development plan
 Module 28: Mentoring Others – steps sales managers can take to raise the competency of
junior peers
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Curriculum: Sales Manager
Section 4: Talent Management and Development
 Module 29: Conducting one-on-one Rep Coaching -- coaching and training elements of
prospecting, selling and lead qualification
 Module 30: Developing Future Leaders – recognize future leadership talent, assign
developmental activities, and ensure proper attention is given to future sale leaders to
prepare them for a future leadership position
 Module 31: Virtual Reinforcement – techniques for reinforcing training and new initiatives
including embedding content into the Learning Management System (LMS)
 Module 32: Measuring Performance – Using a Proactive performance management as an early
warning system; leveraging metrics and benchmarking, conducting sales-related analysis;
understanding how to map and leverage trends in the business
 Module 33: Conducting Performance reviews – Taking he steps a manager to prepare, deliver,
and follow-up on individual sales rep performance reviews
 Module 34: Supporting the Onboarding of new Sales Reps – Overseeing the adoption of a
structured framework of learning components and execution steps to onboard new hires sales
reps and reduce their ramp time to full sales productivity
 Module 35: Interviewing – Performing the activities to phone screen, perform competency
interviews, work and life history reviews, and perform reference interviews – all necessary to
attract, screen, qualify, and hire sales rep new hire candidates
 Module 36: Building a Virtual Bench – Nurturing a stable of ‘A’ player sales rep candidates from
the industry, competitors, and partners using a variety of tools, techniques, and budgeted
time
 Module 37: Building a Recognition System – ensure positive reinforcement and recognition
processes are in place to motivate and retain “A” player sales talent
 Module 38: Managing a multi-generational/multi-cultural sales force – Understanding the
nuances of having multiple generations and cultures work together on teams for the highest
benefit of the sales force, company, and customers. Includes learning content on how to
manage sales and channel forces in multiple countries/regions.
 Module 39: Managing a virtual, mobile-enabled team – adequately leveraging technology and
ensuring sales reps are correctly using mobile capabilities for the most effective results
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Curriculum: Sales Leader (VP and above)
Section A: Executive Sales Leadership Modules
In addition to exhibiting prowess in all Sales Manager modules, the Sales Leader will also
participate in these intense modules. The below modules include lecture, in-class exercises,
written/oral examinations, and real-life measured application.
 Module A1: Visionary Leadership – Via forward-thinking character, communicates the vision and
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strategies that will lead to long-term growth, value, and opportunity. Keeps everyone aligned to the
overall direction of the sales organization as it serves the company’s strategies. Willing to take
calculated risks. Is innovative, open-minded, and flexible; recognizes current market and buyer trends
and is able to translate them to long-term change requirements for the organization.
Module A2: Developing Leaders/Succession Planning– recognizing future leadership talent,
assigning developmental activities, and ensuring proper attention is given to future executive
sale leaders to prepare them for leadership succession. Assessing and identifying current sales
leaders and their contribution (or lack of) to the sales organization and the company.
Proactively managing sales leaders before negative impacts occur due to the wrong people in
the wrong roles.
Module A3: Motivational Leadership – Energizing partners and stakeholders to excel and
gaining commitment to the sales vision and strategies. Maintains a positive and enthusiastic
environment even in adverse situations among Sales and other organizations.
Module A4: Challenging Leadership – Consistently achieves superior results. Cuts to the
essence. Makes bold, timely decisions. Makes tough calls when necessary. Takes
responsibility and does not pass on blame. Insists on high standards of performance. Sets and
achieves high expectations of self and others on team.
Module A5: Management of Change – Through character traits of resilience and optimism, is
able to leverage change positively. Has experience in turning around a struggling
department/operation/group. Implements positive change strategies through others. Gains
partner support and leads through change positively yet pragmatically. Exhibits enough
transparency and commitment to inspire others to adoption of the change.
Module A6: Executive Acumen – Able to craft strategy and lay out the tactical implementation
necessary to meet strategy; administratively organized; continuously learning. Is selfdisciplined; controls emotional reactions and keeps personal biases out of the decision making
process. Stays abreast of current business and industry trends. Stays on top of the numbers
and trends in his/her area of responsibility, and the numbers and trends of the entire
corporation. Exudes executive demeanor and confidence. Understands how changes in other
company organizations impact the Sales organization and acts accordingly.
Module A7: Customer Experience – Attuned to the whole realm of customer touchpoints and
how to leverage each one for potential (but appropriate) sales opportunities. Balancing the
efforts and returns of sales functions with implementation and customer service functions.
Driving the organization to recognize the opportunity that exists in providing stellar seamless
customer experience.
Module A8: Personal Branding – Aware of and proactively managing a personal brand that is
congruous with company values, portrays thought leadership, and exudes influence for
company offerings and brand values.
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