Organizations of today are facing a multitude of problems like increased competition, shifting customer preferences, changing demand patterns, technological shifts, which have combined to create a highly complex marketplace. Against such a backdrop, organizations are facing issues with their manpower, especially the sales force. This function is going through a difficult phasefirst in terms of understanding the new customer and secondly in estimating their own preparedness to face the changing realities. Organizations, on their part, have tried to close in on the divide through regular training interventions. Unfortunately, these interventions have not kept pace with the changing realities. This paper makes an attempt to put forward a set of recommendations that may address the concerns and help create better equipped sales professionals suitable for the 21^st century.

The sales job of the 21^st century has evolved due to rapidly changing environmental factors. Focus on customer relationship, changes in technology, global competition, shifting customer preferences and demands, forced downsizing, increased competitive pressure, and other factors have contributed to alter the role of a salesperson (Moncrief et al., 2006). Today's sales professional is coping with greater challenges than his predecessors. According to Geiger and Guenzi (2009) increased customer expectations, market turbulence, productivity pressures, buyer dominance and accelerated product life cycles are some of the critical reasons that determine the success or failure of a sales person. Coupled with these reasons, attrition in this functional area is on the rise especially in the booming areas of banking, insurance and retail in India, and it remains a challenge that needs critical attention.

The job of a sales professional has not altered dramatically over the years. His role definition has more or less remained static implying that while customer demands have grown, the sales professionals' approach to the customer has remained more or less static. Lack of scientific job analysis and flawed job descriptions have caused this most important line function to languish in the backyard. There is no newness in his approach to the customer. Part of the problem also rests with top managements of the organizations.

Sales training has always been a challenge to organizations, big or small, national or multinational, product/service especially amidst the rapidly changing scenario. It is estimated that in the US alone companies are spending close to $7.1 bn annually on training programs and devote more than 33 hours per year training the average sales person (Lorge and Smith, 1998). These numbers change, depending on whether the individual is at the entry level or is selling to a business customer. Whichever way we look at it, the aggregate costs associated with developing an individual can easily cross $100,000 per annum (Kaydo, 1998).

This paper focuses on the importance of training sales professionals in a changed environment and suggests directions on how the sales professionals can be made an indispensable link in the organizational value chain. This paper takes a more generic approach to sales training.

Soft Skills Journal, Globalization, Training Sales Professionals, Customer Preferences, Complex Marketplace, Customer Expectations, Market Turbulence, Productivity Pressures, Buyer Dominance, Product Life Cycles, Product Knowledge, Training Programs, Customer Orientation, Right Trainer.