Sales Trainer - Industrial Distribution

As a Sales Trainer - Industrial Distribution at SunSource, you'll be responsible for designing and developing training content, facilitating training sessions, and assessing the training needs of our sales associates and leaders. You’ll evaluate the effectiveness of training programs and collaborate with stakeholders to continuously improve them.

To qualify for the Sales Trainer position at SunSource, you should have a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Education, Marketing, or a related field, along with a minimum of 10 years of selling experience, particularly in industrial distribution. Strong training, facilitation, and communication skills, along with proficiency in Microsoft Office 365, are also essential.

SunSource prefers candidates with over 5 years of training and facilitation experience, particularly those who have designed and created customized training content. Sales and coaching certifications will be considered a plus, as they demonstrate your commitment to professional development.

SunSource emphasizes a thorough onboarding process for new sales associates. As a Sales Trainer, you'll play a key role in supporting these programs, ensuring newcomers become productive members of our team as quickly and effectively as possible.

Key skills for a Sales Trainer at SunSource include exceptional communication and presentation abilities, strong facilitation skills, proficiency in eLearning and Learning Management Systems, and the ability to drive organizational change. Familiarity with adult learning principles is also crucial for creating effective training experiences.

In your answer, focus on specific experiences you’ve had designing and conducting sales training. Discuss how your background in the industrial distribution field enhances your ability to create relevant training material that resonates with sales professionals.

Explain your approach to assessing training needs. It could involve surveys, interviews with sales managers, or analyzing performance metrics. Emphasize your ability to collaborate with others to identify skills gaps and tailor training programs accordingly.

Discuss your preferred methodologies, such as ADDIE or SAM, and explain how you apply them to create effective and engaging training. Highlight your experience with adult learning principles that cater to different learning styles.

Mention the key performance indicators you track, such as improved sales figures or participant feedback. Explain how you use this data to adjust and enhance future training sessions, ensuring they meet both business and learner needs.

Be specific about the program's objectives, the process you used to develop and implement it, and the outcomes you achieved. This could include increased sales performance or enhanced confidence among the participants.

Explain your methods for staying current on industry trends and changes. Talk about how you regularly solicit feedback from participants and stakeholders to make sure your training remains relevant and effective.

Discuss the importance of coaching in reinforcing training principles and helping sales managers develop their teams effectively. Highlight how coaching can enhance knowledge retention and improve overall sales performance.

Share your experience leveraging various technologies, such as Learning Management Systems and virtual classroom platforms. Highlight your comfort with remote training tools and how they enable flexibility and accessibility for participants.

Provide an example of a specific challenge, whether it was participant engagement or skill levels, and detail the steps you took to address it. Focus on the positive results that followed and what you learned from the experience.

Articulate your passion for sales training and how it aligns with SunSource’s mission. Discuss what excites you about being part of a leading industrial distribution company and how your skills can contribute to their success.