Sales management · Sales training and development
Find what each rep cannot yet do before you book a single training day.
A sales training needs assessment compares what each rep can do today with what the job requires, then ranks the gaps. It stops you buying a workshop for a problem the team does not have. This page covers the skills grid, the self-rating, language and phone skills, and a ranked gap list.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A sales training needs assessment compares what each rep can do today with what the job requires, then ranks the gaps. It stops you buying a workshop for a problem the team does not have. This page covers the skills grid, the self-rating, language and phone skills, and a ranked gap list.
The sales manager at a modular-kitchen showroom in Pune booked a two-day negotiation workshop because quotes kept getting discounted. Afterwards the discounts stayed the same. The real trouble was that three of the five reps could not read a measurement drawing, so they quoted late and gave a discount to win back the delay.
A needs assessment would have found that in an hour. The sales manager rates each rep on the skills the job asks for, each rep rates themselves, and the two columns are laid side by side. The owner approves what gets trained and what gets left alone.
It comes before any programme is planned, which has its own page on training objectives. It replaces the usual method of picking a topic because a trainer called, or because last month felt bad.
Where this sits
Topic 5 of 14 in sales management: sales training and development. Planning, running and judging training for the sales team, from the manager's side.
- The topic before
- Recruitment and selection
- The topic after
- Motivation and coaching
If you want this done for you
New joiners are trained by whichever senior rep has a free hour.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Training fixes skill, not will”
If a rep knows what to do and does not do it, that is a coaching or pay question. Mark each gap as can't or won't before spending. A workshop for a won't wastes the day and teaches the team that training is a punishment.
“The self-rating is the useful half”
The manager's score tells you what you see. The rep's own score tells you what they will admit. A rep who scores themselves high where the manager scores low is the one who will not attend with an open mind, and needs a conversation first.
“Language and phone skill count as sales skills”
A rep who sells well in Kannada and freezes in Hindi will lose the migrant buyer. A rep who cannot attach a drawing to a WhatsApp message, or update the CRM from a phone, loses time every day. Put both on the grid.
“Ranking beats a long list”
Ten gaps, each equally urgent, produce no action. Rank by how many reps share the gap and by how much it costs in lost orders. The top two or three are this half-year's training. The rest wait.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The skills grid
One row per rep, one column per skill the job needs: product knowledge, quoting, discovery questions, objection handling, follow-up, CRM use, local language. Each cell holds a mark from 1 to 5 from the manager and one from the rep.
Result: Finished when every cell has two marks and the manager can name one example for any mark below 3.
The can't-or-won't column
For each gap below 3, a one-word tag: skill, knowledge, tool or motivation. Only skill and knowledge gaps go forward to training.
Result: Finished when no gap is left untagged.
The ranked gap list
The gaps counted across the team, ordered by how many reps share each, with a rupee guess at the cost in lost or discounted orders from your own quotes.
Result: Finished when the top three gaps are agreed by the owner in a single meeting.
The per-hire version
A shortened grid used in the first week of a new rep, repeated each half-year for the whole team and after any change to the job description.
Result: Finished when a rep joining next month will be assessed with the same sheet.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How often should we repeat it?
Do reps feel judged by self-rating?
What if we have only two reps?
Can the manager rate if they are not strong themselves?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of sales training and development
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.