David Grega of cPanel delivers a session introducing the company's new sales certification
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — One of the afternoon sessions Tuesday at cPanel Bootcamp was delivered by David Grega of cPanel, who introduced the sales certification program at the company.
He says there’s a problem in the hosting business, where marketing dollars spent attracting prospective customers is wasted, when the sales team those customers encounter isn’t adequately trained.
It’s a bit counter-intuitive, he says, but better training your sales department (on cPanel, or on any other product) can improve the performance of your marketing dollars.
CPanel is introducing sales certification, he says, as a means of judging where your sales people stand as far as their understanding of the software.
The certification, he says, was designed by people who aren’t particularly fond of certification and certification exams. So they don’t test for arcane knowledge you won’t use. They online tests are open book, and “open Internet,” but they test for misinformation. Passing the certifications is a matter of having the knowledge you ought to have.
There are 10 tiers, each getting progressively harder, and moving from concrete question-and-answer to testing more abstract knowledge.
The first three tiers will be available online. The higher levels will only be available by means of cPanel staff administering the exams in person. The exams aren’t all public, in part because they don’t want them to be a meaningless certification. They want the certification to accurately reflect the level of skill the sales person (in this case) has.
The first three tiers of sales certification are being launched at the conference. Online, they’ll be made available at the “cPanel University” website.
Each of the certifications lasts for 18 months, with a re-certification process after that time.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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