BEST stands for “Building Excellent Sales Teams”– and it is the name of the sales training and development program designed by POWERinU (formerly DPU) for sales and business development teams for two multi-national companies regionally located in Australia.
One of the companies, Marshall Power (MP), is headquartered in Melbourne; while SuperCharge Batteries (SCB) HQ is located in Sydney. The two independently-run companies are both owned by RAMCAR Group of Companies.
BEST framework uses the “building block” or multiple-phased model to grow with the needs of the sales and business development team members. With this framework, training and development does not become a one-day event, rather, it becomes a long-term, sustainable and standardized program across the companies. The BEST program phases include:
- Phase 1 – which is focused on enhancing product knowledge (developed and delivered by internal trainers)
- Phase 2 – which is the heart of BEST and it includes business development skills, customer service excellence, basic selling skills and account management process
- Phase 3 – which is focused on advanced selling i.e. strategic selling and sales team management
- Phase 4 – which are elective and specialized courses such as TTT (train the trainer), and negotiation skills. It also includes optional e-learning for refresher and ongoing learning on best practices.
Last end-May 2013, the two MNCs signed the agreement that commissioned POWERinU to provide the entire ADDIE [Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate] services and provide the sales & business development learning solutions.
An onsite study and analysis by senior consultant & MD, Elaine Cercado, was done at the Melbourne and Sydney headquarters last June 2013. From there, BEST was designed, developed and tailored for MP and SCB companies.
BEST phase 2 has three modules as follows:
- Module 1 – business development skills – “Unlocking & building sales opportunities”
- Module 2A – basic selling skills – “Customer Service part 1”
- Module 2B – account management – Customer Service part 2”
The objective of the BEST phase 2 is to teach the skills, process and tools that will help achieve business development, sales and account management activities with repeatable and measurable sales and business results.
Last July 2013, BEST phase 2 program modules were delivered by Elaine Cercado in Melbourne and Sydney, for the first batches of participants from the two companies, which included the state managers, sales managers, national account managers, and business development managers.
An additional “Train the Trainer” module was developed and delivered to both companies, as the first batches were designated to act as trainers for their respective internal sales, business development, and customer support teams, plus sales distributors and channels. These teams, estimated to total to around 400 for both companies, are the ultimate beneficiaries of the BEST training programs and modules.
The evaluation results from the first batches showed the training programs and modules for both companies were rated high in terms of achieving the objectives, skills improvement, content, and facilitation & delivery. Follow-up activities are currently underway.
For queries on TCOB – BEST Sales training program / workshop, email [email protected].
* Updated in 2016 to reflect POWERinU’S new company name.