Pest control services company Aptive Environmental developed its Accelerate training program to provide a structured and engaging training experience designed to increase the likelihood of trainee attendance and success for rookie door-to-door sales reps (because most sales reps are 1099 contractors, their participation in most formal training is optional, which can make it difficult to ensure consistent attendance).
Program Details
Accelerate consists of eight instructor-led (and virtual instructor-led) sessions focused on fundamental sales skills, with an emphasis on participation and practical application. The sessions are hybrid, allowing rookies to attend either virtually or in person, ensuring maximum accessibility.
The Accelerate program provides training on:
- Sales skill fundamentals
- Expectations for sales reps
- Details about the service Aptive provides
- The initial approach
- Pitching potential customers
- Building service value with prospects
- Methods for overcoming objections
- Non-verbal and paraverbal communication skills
Accelerate also leverages video collaboration technology to facilitate real-time practice and feedback regardless of the trainee’s location. Senior sales leaders, including the senior president and regional sales managers, attend sessions to observe, provide feedback, and demonstrate best practices.
The curriculum rotates, allowing new recruits to join at any point in their journey. All sessions are recorded and stored in the company’s learning management system (LMS) for easy access.
Learner readiness for the field is evaluated by their team leader using a series of performance assessments from the Rookie Sales Workbook. The 50-page workbook contains a collection of 65-plus learning and practice activities and sales skills that must be demonstrated to local sales leaders. If rookie performance meets expectations, sales leaders certify them for their first tier of sales training. The workbook serves as a hands-on tool for rookies to practice what they’ve learned and is specifically designed to guide 10 essential one-on-one meetings with their team leaders, ensuring consistency across teams.
The Sales Guide Training Manual is a 137-page booklet that correlates directly with the Accelerate training content and serves as a reference for mastering essential skills. Key sections include scripts for pitching and overcoming objections, non-verbal and paraverbal communication, and sales season preparation activities.
Team leaders facilitate weekly sales training sessions using the Sales Guide and Rookie Sales Workbook to focus on key skills and provide structured practice. This ensures that the content from Accelerate is reinforced regularly in the field. Reinforcement is extended through the Momentum program, which delivers a 30-day, asynchronous, video-based learning experience that provides additional sales skills and techniques for all reps.
Results
All rookie sales reps in all 64 Aptive locations (36 percent of the workforce) participated in the Accelerate program.
As a result of the program, rookie reps experienced a 5.2 percent increase in rookie revenue per rep (RPR), and the rookie recruit-to-sale conversion improved by 69 percent from 2023 to 2024 (this metric indicates the percentage of new recruits who successfully made at least one sale).
