Over time, we have noted that our trainees are best utilized in certain circumstances where they thrive and we have learned not to utilize them in others where they seem not to thrive.
Our selection criteria for a sales trainee in Yusudi:
Youth: Usually between 21 to 35 years. The average age is 25.
Degree and or Diploma in any field.
Keen interest in sales – ideally they have sold before.
Have scored 40 and above in our sales assessments.
They got merit and above during the live selling sessions
Because of this, our trainees are best at:
Simple sales processes with short sales cycles are as follows:
Telesales: Sell products and services to pre-identified accounts – mostly inbound leads.
It may also be renewal telesales.
Vendor acquisition – e.g. acquisition of restaurants to onboard onto the Glovo App. Acquisition of Pharmacies to onboard onto the Ilara App.
Dealer (Showroom sales): Where the buyers come to them and all they need to do is close the sales. E.g. Rosewood Home.
Real Estate Sales: Where the marketing team has done the demand generation and your role is to manage the ones that come to the showroom and or the ones that call/email in.
Retail sales: If your retail product is complex and you are looking for high-quality merchandisers, our trainees are also ideal for this.
Some companies have successfully hired our trainees in semi-complex sales deals with long sales cycles under the following conditions:
Succession planning sales: If you already have an existing sales team and you are looking to grow and develop a new crop of sales talent (especially hunters) that are ready to hit the market in 6 to 12 months.
Overlay sales jobs: This role works with and in support of the sales force. They provide additional support like proposal writing, tender administration, etc to the account manager.
B2B Market Makers: This role uses the trainees' eagerness and creative energy to sell a new product to non-customers, key especially as you figure out the PMF for the product. So the trainees' role is to provide you with as much customer feedback as close sales.
What our trainees may not be great at:
Short sales cycles with small ticket sizes. Ideally, you are looking at them generating gross revenue of Kes 60,000 to 90,000.00 (2 - 3x their salary) by month 4 for the investment to make sense.
If it’s less than this, please speak to us so we can help you explore other options like digital marketing.
Long complex sales cycles:
The complexity of sales cycles (many decision-makers, experience in handling senior executives), makes it hard for the trainees to be productive at this level. This is a muscle they can build in 12 months but you would need to be patient and offer them the necessary support.
Sales processes that require deep social capital and that have no built-in marketing channel to support the sales teams. E.g. Real estate and insurance companies.
Other factors that make trainees thrive:
Companies with a structured, written sales process and ideally with a sales playbook.
Companies that consider sales a necessary and integral part of their business and not a chore. Ideally where the CEO/Founder is the number one salesperson.
Environments with an existing sales team so they can shadow and or be mentored.
When you are ready to hire and expand your sales team with talent from our sales academy, get in touch with us below.