KYMCO USA has tapped The Glenn Roller Institute (GRI) to offer dealers The Educational Program, a comprehensive sales training program that promises to take any salesperson from a basic to an advanced level of sales competency.

Glenn Roller says The Educational Program takes the salesperson to a higher level of understanding of the sales process and teaches a sales system that raises sales efficiency (average amount of time and effort it takes to close sales). Of course, students must be willing to study and learn.

The Educational Program usually takes four to six weeks to complete at 30 minutes a day. The program includes a 400 page sales book, The Seven Evolutionary Levels to Profound Selling; a 12 CD audio book; 190 que cards for practicing sales communication; on-line exercises; on-line results reporting to management; and a GRI certificate of completion.

But that's just the first half of the program — the first three of GRI's seven levels of sales training and understanding. For individuals who want to raise their sales competency to the highest levels of understanding, the second part of the program, known as The Professionals Program (Upgrade), is available only to graduates of The Educational Program.

GRI has come up with a Sales IQ test to measure sales efficiency. Roller says the lower the Sales IQ test score, the harder one is working to close sales and the higher the frustration level with the sales process. On the other hand, he says sales gains are proportional to gains in Sales IQ scoring, and says students achieving a higher score are consistently the top producers in their stores and regions. The average Sales IQ score of the more than 1,500 people who have taken the Sales IQ test is 28 percent. The Educational Program graduates average 57 percent. Graduates of The Professionals Program average an even higher score: 71 percent.

"If a dealer principle or a salesperson from a dealership takes and completes the course successfully within 90 days we'll co-op or reimburse them the full amount of the course," says Rick Pawelka, director of marketing, KYMCO USA. "If they take longer to successfully finish it, we'll still co-op it at the same percentage that they qualify for all their other advertising that they do.

"The bottom line is that we're promoting training and knowledge of not only the KYMCO brand but the improved selling practices for all products in a dealer showroom with the knowledge of having our brand stand out above the rest as going above and beyond in dealer support."

"It is well known that companies willing to invest during tough times usually come back even stronger when the economy improves," says Steve Lazoff, director of sales, KYMCO USA. "Offering this quality training course, with financial incentives for completion, is one more way we are going the extra mile to support our dealers."

If you're a Suzuki dealer, you've no doubt heard about The Glenn Roller Institute — Suzuki partnered with GRI to offer The Educational Program in late 2007 (Suzuki Dealer Bulletin #07-89, 12/6/07).

Curious about your current level of sales efficiency? Log on to www.theglennrollerinstitute.com and take the free Sales IQ test.

—Submitted by Guido Ebert