An exercise to measure the sales capability of a telecom client’s sales force in Africa was carried out by Centum Learning limited. The exercise was aimed at enabling the Client to have a quantitative as well as a qualitative understanding of the current levels of capability in the sales team. This would further enable them to understand the skill gaps of the sales teams and develop appropriate training initiatives.
The tool used for this evaluation was the Sales Capability Index (SCI). SCI is a set of functional capabilities one must have to perform a particular task. A role may perform several tasks and therefore capabilities for each of these tasks, bifurcated by knowledge and skills, were mapped. Centum’s extensive understanding of the telecom Sales & Distribution domain through functional experience throughout the globe played a significant role in developing SCIs for multiple roles.
Since the SCI was calibrated based on roles, every role holder was tested on parameters relevant to their roles. The entire activity had a developmental focus and a two pronged method was used to conduct the assessment:
A total of 644 Sales & Distribution employees were covered under this initiative across 15 countries in Africa. A document detailing the scores achieved by the various role holders in various countries was provided to the client. Also included was a Pan African comparison of SCI scores between all countries.
Going forward, SCI will be measured every six months and the constant tracking will measure the effectiveness of the development efforts being undertaken.