Company Orientation.^ Since salespeople are boundary spanners between the company and its customers, they must be well-versed in the company’s history, organization, and policies, as well as having an understanding of corporate citizenship and workplace compe¬tencies. As a result, company orientation topics tend to be very broad. Typical organizational training sessions include policy discussions on returns and warranties, credit arrangements, production sources, sequencing of orders, and how to expedite an order. Trainees must know about exclusive merchandise, price guarantees, discounts, and latitude on pricing. It also helps to understand the reasons behind the policies and how noncompliance will negatively affect the company. Salespeople will then be better able to explain the policies to customers who are looking for special deals. Dow Chemical Company’s initial sales training program, for example, aims to produce a fully balanced seller, not just someone trained in product knowledge. During its year-long program, trainees work on three related training projects involving such things as working in Dow’s customer service center taking customers’ calls and orders or producing an in-depth marketing study involving customers or new markets