Sales Trainer

ROLE PURPOSE

The Sales Training & Performance Manager is responsible for improving the actual sales performance of the Company’s sales team. The role is not limited to conducting training sessions. The person must continuously observe individual and team performance, identify why a Sales Coordinator, Sales Officer or Area Sales Manager is underperforming, and take structured actions to improve their conversion, sales output, client retention, field effectiveness, follow-up discipline and overall productivity.

The trainer is expected to work directly with employees through one-to-one coaching, group workshops, call reviews, role plays, field visits and practical problem solving. Success will be measured by measurable improvement in sales-team productivity, sales per person, sales cost per litre, discipline and sustained application of better selling practices.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Sales Performance Observation & Diagnosis

·      Continuously review the performance of Sales Coordinators, SOs and ASMs using available sales reports, CRM/Google Sheets data, call activity, field activity, conversion, retention, collection performance, attendance and reporting discipline.

·      Identify employees who are below expected performance and determine the practical reason for the gap rather than treating all underperformance as the same problem.

·      Separate skill gaps, effort gaps, discipline gaps, process gaps, market issues, client objections and operational blockers before deciding the corrective action.

·      Maintain an individual performance-improvement record for employees requiring focused intervention.

·      Track whether improvement actions produce measurable results after coaching.

2. Individual Coaching & Performance Improvement

·      Create personalised coaching plans for underperforming employees based on the specific issue affecting their sales.

·      Conduct one-to-one training sessions on calling, prospect conversion, follow-up, objection handling, negotiation, closing, retention, repeat sales, distributor/dealer handling and collection conversations as relevant to the employee’s role.

·      Review live or recorded sales interactions where authorised and provide precise, actionable feedback.

·      Conduct role plays and practice sessions until the employee can demonstrate the required behaviour, not merely explain it theoretically.

·      Set clear post-training actions and review whether they were implemented.

3. Group Training & Workshops

·      Conduct structured group workshops based on recurring weaknesses observed across the sales team.

·      Train the team on practical and current sales techniques, including prospecting, cold calling, reaching decision-makers, need discovery, product presentation, objection handling, negotiation, closing, upselling, cross-selling, client retention and collections.

·      Use real company sales situations, objections and customer cases wherever appropriate so training remains practical.

·      Conduct refreshers when the same mistakes continue after earlier training.

·      Build a repeatable internal sales-training library including scripts, objection responses, role-play scenarios, checklists and best-practice examples.

4. Field Coaching & Market Observation

·      Accompany SOs, ASMs and other field sales employees on market visits to understand actual selling conditions and identify issues that cannot be understood from reports alone.

·      Observe outlet/customer meetings, route planning, pitching, negotiation, relationship management, order conversion and collection discussions.

·      Coach employees in the field and demonstrate better selling approaches when required.

·      Use field observations to identify territory-level or process-level problems and convert those findings into training or corrective actions.

·      Record field visits and document the issue observed, coaching given and expected improvement.

5. Sales Technique Development & Motivation

·      Continuously improve the team’s practical selling ability by introducing relevant new sales techniques and methods.

·      Teach employees how to work more effectively with business owners, purchase decision-makers, distributors, dealers, retailers, institutions and other relevant customers.

·      Improve confidence, persistence, follow-up quality and closing discipline without encouraging misleading, aggressive or unprofessional selling.

·      Motivate employees using clear goals, progress visibility, recognition of improvement and practical support rather than only motivational speeches.

·      Identify high-performing behaviours and help replicate them across the team.

6. Sales Discipline & Accountability

·      Monitor adherence to required attendance, calling, follow-up, CRM/data updating, reporting, market coverage and field-visit discipline.

·      Identify recurring discipline issues that directly affect sales performance and initiate coaching or escalation as appropriate.

·      Work with reporting managers and HR/Management on structured improvement plans where lack of discipline continues after coaching.

·      Ensure training is followed by accountability and measurable behavioural change.

7. Resolving Sales-Blocking Operational Issues

·      Act as a bridge between the sales team and relevant internal departments when operational issues are preventing sales execution or damaging customer relationships.

·      Understand the sales impact of issues related to order processing, dispatch, invoicing, stock availability, payment/collection coordination, samples, product information, CRM/reporting or other sales-support processes.

·      Coordinate with the responsible department to get the issue resolved and keep the salesperson informed.

·      Identify repeated operational problems affecting multiple salespeople and escalate them to Management with evidence and recommended corrective action.

·      The trainer is not the owner of unrelated operations work; involvement is limited to removing obstacles that materially affect sales performance.

8. New Sales Employee Training & Onboarding

·      Train newly joined sales employees on products, target customer segments, sales process, reporting requirements, CRM/Google Sheets usage, follow-up expectations and company sales discipline.

·      Evaluate practical readiness before the employee begins independent selling wherever management requires.

·      Provide early-stage coaching during the employee’s initial field/calling period and identify gaps quickly.

9. Performance Reporting to Management

·      Maintain a training and performance-improvement dashboard for the sales team.

·      Report employees identified for intervention, training provided, field visits completed, issues found, actions taken and measurable before-versus-after change.

·      Highlight employees showing sustained improvement as well as employees not responding to repeated training or corrective action.

·      Base conclusions on measurable sales and activity data wherever available, not subjective impressions alone.

REQUIRED SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

·      Strong hands-on sales background with the ability to diagnose why a salesperson is not converting or growing.

·      Strong understanding of calling, field sales, distributor/dealer sales, negotiation, closing, retention and collections.

·      Ability to coach senior and junior sales employees, including Coordinators, SOs and ASMs.

·      Strong observation, listening and performance-analysis skills.

·      Ability to conduct practical role plays, workshops and one-to-one coaching sessions.

·      Ability to motivate without losing accountability or discipline.

·      Comfortable travelling in the field and working alongside the sales team.

·      Strong communication, presentation and conflict-resolution skills.

·      Working knowledge of Google Sheets/Excel, CRM systems and sales reports sufficient to analyse individual and team performance.

·      Ability to coordinate with internal departments to resolve sales-blocking issues.

·      Strong follow-up, documentation and reporting discipline.

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE PROFILE

·      Prior experience in FMCG, food, dairy, edible oils, distribution-led sales or another high-frequency field-sales environment is preferred.

·      Practical experience managing, coaching or training field-sales teams is strongly preferred.

·      The candidate should be able to demonstrate examples where coaching or intervention resulted in measurable sales improvement.

ROLE BOUNDARIES

·      This is not an HR-only training role and is not measured by classroom activity alone.

·      This role does not replace the direct sales accountability of Coordinators, SOs or ASMs; it improves their capability and performance.

·      The trainer may recommend retraining, performance-improvement plans, field intervention or escalation. Formal disciplinary action remains subject to Company authority and policy unless specifically delegated.

·      The trainer should not become the owner of unrelated operations, MIS or administrative tasks. Internal coordination should be undertaken only where it supports sales execution or removes a sales blocker.