The rise of the Indian middleclass and liberalization of the Indian market has boosted the potential of theautomotive industry. The Indian automotive industry for passenger vehicles isprojected to grow at CAGR of 12% and for two wheelers will grow at CAGR of 8.8%by 2014. This makes this industry very attractive for global and domesticplayers with many entering this market.

Theautomotive component industry follows its mother with a huge potential in termsof domestic demand and exports. The industry is estimated to be $40 billion by2015. The industry has several channels to generate revenue – exports,after-market and OEMs. With increasing recognition for the low cost andqualified labour available in India,this industry is well on its track for robust growth.

Followingthe above information, the question that comes to mind is how an organizationplans to remain competitive in these competitive industries. The size of thisindustry doesn’t guarantee a bigger market share and thus raises a question ofhow to remain competitive in this market. In addition to advertising, productstrategy and distribution is the equally important talent strategy towardsdevelopment of the front line salesforce. The sales force of an organization contributes towards the revenuegrowth and the image of the organization. Thus, training the sales force inorder to deliver the desired brand communication is critical.

Throughthis article, I would like to highlight a unique approach towards sales forcedevelopment. Building sales organization requires a balanced approach towardssales force development. Below are the ways to achieve it:

1.     Understand the composition of the existing sales team

·        Assess sales people for behavioural drivesand selling skills

2.     Identify areas of development through the aboveassessment

3.     Conduct targeted training intervention to improveskills

4.     Provide product knowledge

The approach is unique as itprovides objective data to support the intervention. You can measure theselling skills on different areas of Open, Investigate, Present, Close andPosition. This information along with the natural drives of the individualbecomes a powerful tool for development. The sales leaders are now wellequipped with relevant information that helps them align company strategies andemployee development programs. 

Going back to the earlieranalysis of the automotive and automotive component industry, selling skillscan be very crucial in a very competitive market. For the automotive componentindustry, with various sales channels selling skills can be objectively alignedto the requirements of that channel. Moreover in each these industries, highvalue selling calls for higher skill level.