Give your new reps a foundation before they knock
Our two-day live Sales School teaches new reps the mindset, work habits, and sales fundamentals they need to get started. Your team builds on that foundation with product training and coaching in the field. The 15-hour program is included in both the HIRE Advantage Partnership and HIRE Summit Partnership.
Give your managers something to build on
A new rep has a lot to learn. They have to start a conversation with a stranger, handle rejection, take coaching, and keep working when they’re uncomfortable. At the same time, they’re learning your product, your pitch, and how your team does things.
Sales School gives them a place to work on those fundamentals. We talk honestly about what the job takes, teach them how to approach a customer, and give them a framework they can practice. Your managers can build on that work when they teach the product and take the rep into the field.
The preparation also tells you something about their commitment. Learning the script takes work. If a rep won’t put in that work, you want to understand why before you send them out to knock. If they’re willing to practice, take feedback, and try again, your leader has something to work with.
Those first days still need your attention. A class gives a rep instruction and practice. Your local leader helps them use it with real customers, work through a rough day, and experience the progress that gives them a reason to keep going.
What your reps learn over the two days
We start with the mental side because knowing what to say doesn’t do much good if a rep stops saying it after a few rejections. Then we work through the mechanics of a sales conversation, so they have something specific to practice and improve.
Day one prepares them for the work
Reps learn what to expect from door-to-door sales, including the learning curve and the effort it takes to get through it. We teach the six characteristics we want them to bring to the job: extreme ownership, integrity, work ethic, problem-solving, professionalism, and coachability.
They also work on their goals, purpose, standards, and schedule. The Cycle of Achievement helps them understand the frustration that comes with learning something difficult. Points of Leverage connects what they want to accomplish with the choices they make each day.
- Orientation and Shoshin: coming in with a beginner’s mind and a willingness to learn
- The 12 Things About Sales and the 6 Characteristics
- Goals, purpose, and the Common Denominator of Success
- Leadership and the numbers that help reps understand their work
- Vision, schedule, and ownership
- The Cycle of Achievement
Day two works through the sale
The second day moves into communication and the customer conversation. The Cycle of Approach breaks the approach into ten steps, including what to say, how to carry themselves, and how to pay attention to the person in front of them.
Reps work on their pitch, pace, and pauses, then move through objections and the close. Practicing gives them a way to find out where they’re getting stuck while they can still ask questions and get feedback.
- A review of the overnight assignment
- Verbal and metaverbal communication
- The Cycle of Approach
- Objections and smokescreens
- Solidifying the sale
- The commitment conversation
Sales School is 15 hours of live instruction across two days. Your team continues the training with your product, your offer, and coaching alongside the rep in the field.
Keep practicing with The Forge
Your reps have more to learn after the class. The Forge, our training app, gives them a way to revisit the lessons, practice their script, and keep working on their habits as part of the partnership.
Sales School on demand
The two-day training is available in a library of 37 videos. A rep can return to a lesson when a conversation in the field makes it more relevant, and a manager can point them back to something they need to work on.
Script Practice
Reps practice their pitch with voice recognition. As they learn it, the app hides more of the words so they have to recall them. The goal is to know the script well enough to pay attention to the customer instead of trying to remember the next line.
Ignite
One lesson a day through their first 30 days helps reps keep working on mindset, strategy, and focus while they’re learning the job.
Peak Performance
Reps set daily commitments, track goals and habits, and score their day. It gives them a way to look at whether they’re doing the work they said they would do.
Your local leader still coaches the rep. The Forge gives them material to practice between those conversations.
Learn from Jake Swenson and Mike Yandre
Jake Swenson
Jake has knocked doors since 2005, around 105,000 of them. He and Peter built a solar company that hired more than 2,000 reps and generated more than $130 million in sales over about three and a half years. That experience building a team with new reps is part of what he brings to Sales School.
“I was so bad at sales. It was the hardest thing I ever did, but it literally changed my life.”
Mike Yandre
Mike Yandre has spent over 15 years in door-to-door sales, building teams and training and coaching sales reps and managers. He teaches Sales School alongside Jake Swenson.
Included in both partnerships
Sales School is included for new hires in both the HIRE Advantage Partnership and HIRE Summit Partnership. Your reps attend the two-day live program and get The Forge as part of the partnership.
Your team teaches them your product, handles onboarding, and builds the relationship with the local leader. When they get into the field, that leader is the person who helps them put the training to work.
Questions owners ask
What is Sales School, who teaches it, and what's the format?
Sales School is a two-day live program with 15 hours of instruction, taught by Jake Swenson and Mike Yandre. It's included for new hires in both partnerships, and your team handles product training and coaching in the field.
What is The Forge app, and who gets it?
Reps who attend Sales School get The Forge as part of the partnership. It includes the Sales School video library, Script Practice, Ignite lessons for their first 30 days, and Peak Performance for daily commitments, goals, and habits.
Will scripts and training make my reps sound canned?
Learning the script and practicing it gives a rep more room to listen instead of concentrating on the next line. We teach the fundamentals and have reps work on their delivery, with your managers continuing that coaching in the field.
See how it fits into the rest of the system
Sales School is part of preparing a new rep for the doors. The recruiting, commitment, onboarding, and relationship with the local leader all matter too. See how those pieces work together and what your team owns in each partnership.
Let’s build your team
We’ll talk through how you’re bringing new reps onto the team, where they need help getting started, and how Sales School fits with the training your leaders already provide.