Phase Three: Perform and Evaluate
Phase Three offers a live field performance assessment. This phase is about pulling it all together and measuring the sales associate’s performance. The associate’s Performance Preparation Kit includes a “Guide to Selling Your Product,” with sample talk tracks and applicable product demonstrations. This kit also details a client case study that will be the focus of the associate’s performance evaluation.
The sales managers play a key role in this phase. They receive a “Performance Evaluation Kit” that they will use to assess their associates’ performance. The final evaluation consists of a client case study, with questions based on real-life sales scenarios. Using a behavior observation checklist, the manager will pose questions to the associate, and offer a performance critique. This checklist guides the manager in identifying those behaviors that demonstrate proficiency. In addition, the checklist provides the manager with specific feedback on each question asked, to facilitate debriefing the performance with the associate.
Phase Three concludes with the managers submitting the checklists for their associates for final reporting to the Sales Learning & Performance team. We then compile these checklists using Scantron® technology, and we generate individual performance reports. The sales managers and their associates receive one final package containing their overall iCUE program results and recommendations.
Driving success with a communication campaign
The best programs often go unnoticed due to poor marketing and ineffective communication to the audience. As a result, the audience does not know that the program exists. We recognize that, with our sales audience, the best place to start our communication effort is at the top, and once we start we don’t stop! We also recognize and respect that the top priority of our sales force is to be out on the street selling. Therefore, we do our best to make our communications clear, concise, timely, and even a little bit fun!
We began communication about the iCUE program over twelve months before launching it. Starting at the top, our Sales Learning & Performance Director gave quarterly presentations to senior management. These presentations clearly defined program objectives and components. She gave development progress and updates each quarter to gain the support of the senior sales management team.
The big announcement to the sales associates occurred at the annual sales rally. During an interactive breakout session, associates used electronic polling devices to report on the amount of time they had devoted to their individual development, and the amount of training they had received during the past year. The polling technology allowed the audience to see their collective results immediately — results which may not have been what management had hoped to see!
The theme of this session revolved around “individual sales competency” and every associate’s responsibility to “own” his or her level of competency. The session used high-energy graphics, sound, and video, along with the theme of extreme sports to energize the participants and make the introduction to the iCUE program memorable.
The intent wasn’t to have the associates walk away with a full understanding of the program. Instead, it was to have them realize how little time they may be devoting to their professional development. We wanted sales associates to leave the 60-minute session with a commitment to raise their game by participating in the upcoming iCUE program.
After a final pilot of the program, a senior executive of our company released it. Every manager and associate received an e-mail with a link to a video message. In this message, the senior executive emphasized ADP’s commitment to the competency and professional development of each sales associate. Here is the heart of what he said to the sales associates:
“Essentially what ADP is doing right now is investing in you, investing in your competency in an effort to get you better. ... it is my belief that smart sales people win more. What this program is designed to do is to make you smarter. It is my hope that when you see this email that you stop, open it up and begin to commit. Commit to excellence, your education, and to getting better. Because the fact that you are better, means you’ll be all that more successful selling for ADP.”
Management and associates alike received this video message kicking off Phase One of the program. The next step in our communication campaign was an informative online session with the management team.
To clarify this first phase of the iCUE program, and to define management’s role in ensuring the success of the program, we scheduled online sessions. Four live sessions allowed the sales management team to speak directly with the Sales Learning & Performance Director and the new Sales Learning & Performance Manager. This new role was essential to building relationships and ensuring the success of the program.
The new manager focused on answering questions from the sales field, following up on suggestions and feedback, and resolving any issues that arose. The need for this role has been evident in the requests received to speak at team meetings and management meetings to provide program updates and support. This manager is the liaison between the field and the design team to validate that the curriculum is communicated, relevant, timely, and easily accessible.
Following the live online management sessions, we released a multimedia presentation to the sales associates. Contacted via e-mail, associates simply clicked a link to launch an interactive presentation welcoming them to the first phase of the program. This presentation provided a review of the full program, as well as outlined expectations for this initial phase. In approximately 15 minutes, the presentation reminded the sales associates of what they learned about the iCUE program at the sales rally, and instructed them on the initial steps they’d be taking.
In the next few days, associates received an e-mail with the direct link to their self-assessment. A simple click launched the assessment — without requiring a user name and password. We traced personal identification via individual e-mail addresses. To ensure participation, it was essential that accessing the selfassessment be as painless as possible. With all the other login information the associate has to keep track of, we did not want this program to require yet another password. We generated and e-mailed weekly reports to each manager to keep the sales management team apprised of their associates’ assessment completion status.
Over 99% of sales associates completed their self assessment. We attribute this success to the communication campaign, and to the ease of access to program components.
The report back to the field on the Phase 1 self assessment results was a bit complicated. We released another multimedia presentation to help management and associates alike understand what they would be receiving, interpret the information in their reports, and complete their iCUE Development Plans. In addition, “Open Forum” calls with each management team permitted us to debrief the results of the assessment and provide guidance, if necessary, on their one-on-one development conversations. These calls also provided a key opportunity to identify weak areas of the program, and to solicit feedback for the design of next year’s iteration.
Each iCUE Results Kit included a pocket-sized development catalog with schedules and definitions of the learning events available in Phase Two of the program. Continuing the communication campaign and “staying visible,” each week in Phase Two the sales field received an e-mail announcing the release of new learning events. The e-mail included a direct link to the intranet site, so learning events were just a few clicks away. Once again, access did not require user name and password. It was a seamless access from the weekly e-mail to the learning event. As before, we tracked participation on the associate’s e-mail address. In addition, participants had an easy form to use for rating each event they accessed. Their comments helped drive development of additional learning elements that were not initially planned, but which provided more relevancy for the sales field.
We didn’t expect every sales associate to take each learning event offered. It depended upon the choices associates made in Phase One on their iCUE Development Plans. In addition, we created unique learning events for each individual business unit. As a result, not all events were relevant to all associates. The next step in the communication campaign was the release of another video message to prod the sales audience to “keep in the game” and “commit to their competence.” The theme, “Are We There Yet?” employed reminders from the sales rally presentation, updated them on the number of learning events already released, and informed them of the events to come in the next few weeks. It ended by asking, “How far have you traveled?”
To close out Phase Two, the sales field received another package containing a special message from the Sales Learning & Performance Director, along with their Performance Preparation Guide. Another multimedia presentation detailed Phase Three expectations. In addition, we conducted calls with each sales management team to clarify the manager’s role in assessing the associates’ performance, review how to use the evaluation forms provided, and outline the final reports they would receive.
The program concluded with a final message from the senior executive, and receipt of individual performance results. Each associate received his or her own results, and management received a consolidated team report.
Results to date
This iCUE program is in its infancy, but our partnership with our audience is already evident.
Here are some examples of what we’ve accomplished:
- 98% participation from the sales management teams in the development coaching sessions offered in Phases One and Two
- Over one-third of the audience has accessed Phase Two learning events within the first two weeks of Phase Two
- Already an Award-Winning Program: NAS Sales Learning & Performance received the ASTD eLearning Excellence Award for Custom Content in December, 2006 from the Atlanta Chapter of ASTD.
Here are some comments from some of our sales associates on the learning events offered in Phase Two:
“It was great to hear how other associates are working together and sharing Best Practices Also the information shared about “Hot Buttons” was perfect.”
“Enjoyed hearing how TCO study was utilized and how “bundled pricing” was positioned ...”
Comments from sales management during an “Open Forum” call:
“Very well done, impressive”
“Professional look and feel”
“This is being taken seriously”
In summary, think about how well you know your audience, and whether the curriculum you’re developing and delivering is optimal for them. At the end of the day, can you say with confidence that your audience views you as a performance partner? To speak in “sales terms” — do you recognize that your audience is your “client”? The iCUE program is off to a very successful start. However, the further we travel in the delivery process, the more adjustments and “tweaks” we uncover from our audience that we want to make to next year’s rollout in order to make it even more field-relevant. The real success of this program is the line of communication we established between the sales field and Sales Learning & Performance. As new technologies come along, the first thing we plan to do is ask our audience, “What do you think? Would this work for you?” The more opportunities our Sales Learning & Performance team has to meet with and build relationships with the sales audience, the better we can design our curriculum, and the closer we can be to them viewing us as a performance partner.
