As your solar sales team grows, a training manual can become your go-to resource — if planned and designed with these areas in mind.
Welcome Message
Everyone knows training manuals are notorious for being a dry textbook, but you can set the tone with the welcome message or section. Use this message to reinforce your excitement for them to join your solar sales team and the company as a whole.
Training Timeline
This timeline should be a little more in-depth than how long they’ll be in training. Make sure yours includes training sessions with dates, times, and locations, and information on what each session will cover. It’ll give the new solar sales rep time to write down any questions they have or gather supplemental notes or materials. The training timeline also gives insight into the guidance and support provided by your solar company.
Technology Guidelines
Because the majority of sales teams rely on technology to effectively do their jobs, it’s important to outline what equipment to use, when and how, and who to contact if there’s an issue. This section should include an overview of any customer relationship management or sales enablement platform they’ll be using in the role.
Internal Communication Guidelines
Even if your team has a good relationship and can communicate through emojis, others in the company might miss the message. Outlining the guidelines and expectations for internal communications is important to any new sales rep so they make good initial impressions on others. Make sure to include pertinent login information for any communication tools used, such as instant messengers and email, and appropriate situations to use each.
Human Resources Information
Your new sales rep will likely receive most of this information during their orientation, but the training manual is a good place to include evergreen information. This could be important departmental and company policies, along with key human resources contact information.
Three-Month Position Roadmap
This roadmap should offer structure and clear definition to the solar sales rep’s expectations. A common breakdown includes the responsibilities, goals, deliverables, and resources they’ll have for each month. The first month is usually the least demanding while the rep learns their way around, but the subsequent months can build from here.
Goals of the First 100 Days
The goal of these goals should be for the solar sales rep to put everything they’ve learned so far into action. Some companies have general goals, such as abiding by your solar sales team’s methodology, while others are specific, such as meeting a monthly lead quota. By setting these goals, your new rep will work towards working more independently with full responsibilities.
How the Review Process Works
Reviews are key to knowing how a new rep is doing during the training process. Use this section to explain when and how reviews take place, and the criteria used for discussion during a training review. If you’d like the rep to bring additional materials, such as self-evaluation surveys, outline it here.
Company Sales Process & Products
Understanding your solar company’s sales process essentially gives a new sales rep the tools to do their job, but knowing the products is how they’ll use the tools. Outlining the sales process also creates a consistency to every call or meeting they’ll make and gives you insight to areas for celebration or improvement.
Make sure to include a detailed description of each sales step and the offered products and services, along with how your offerings differ from competitors and why. The more information a solar sales rep has from the start, the more their confidence will grow.
While a sales training manual is specific to your solar company, these key areas are the core information for any new sales rep to have access to.