An effective strategy for training sales skills is now a requirement to become a winning sales organization. Modern buyers are well informed, so it’s not enough to just have product knowledge and communicate effectively. Top performing sales professionals are those that can provide customers/prospects with helpful insights by having the skills to execute a consultative sales approach. To get your sales reps to be trusted counselors, you need a well-planned sales training strategy.
Wondering how to train your sales team in an efficient, effective manner? If you haven’t evaluated your sales training strategy in the last few years, there are several significant advances worth reviewing.
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Implementing a modern sales training strategy has many dimensions that were not a factor as recently as three years ago. These modern approaches have been made possible by the confluence of several forces. Namely, the flexibility of current LMS/CMS systems, expanded data collection/analysis which revealed how sales best practices can best be adapted to meet current sales challenges, and the power of "always available" learning, reinforcement and coaching resources.
As recently as five years ago, sales training for most companies followed the same implementation pattern used in the 1970’s. The only difference between how training was conducted 50 years ago and how it was typically implemented in 2020 was the introduction of remote live instruction. This allowed an important area of improvement in that participants could now receive learning in shorter sessions stretched out over several weeks. Obviously, when done correctly, (more on that below) this was superior to a traditional 2-to-3-day classroom environment. However, what it takes to build an effective training strategy has changed drastically in a mere five years.
Empowered by technology, and in some ways catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, dramatic improvements in the flexibility of sales training and its' ability to give guidance on deals in real-time have made it possible to exponentially amplify the ROI/ROE on training efforts. A modern training strategy needs to incorporate these advantages or a company’s sales force may find itself consistently falling behind the competition.
The first step is to create micro-learnings. These are individual sessions usually less than 30-to-40 minutes in length that focus on one to three "best practice learning objects." Several components make these particularly effective. When implemented correctly, these micro-learnings are organized by challenge or situation. In other words, a seller can browse and select the material not based on the title or sequential order of the topic, but by the type of challenge and/or situation they face in their role. Ideally, the user can access material through three alternative taxonomies: subject, situations, and challenge.
The second step is to ensure that the material is presented in a multi-media modality. Utilizing video instruction, recordings of live and remote instructor-led sessions, study groups, exercises, real-world application, tests and quizzes will maximize the speed with which users are able to understand and adopt the material.
Third, as the catalogue of content grows and learning process becomes solidified, it's important to ensure that the new material and new content involves sales executives/managers/sales leaders and a process for certification becomes part of the system. Benchmarks for success need to be identified based on the priorities of all the stakeholders involved with the sales team. Thereby, "certifying" a seller does not simply mean that the seller has completed a course. Real certification is a three to four step level process of achievement that includes completion of a course, passing a rigorous exam on the material, sales manager verification that the seller is demonstrating adoption, and finally, a demonstrable correlation between training and an improvement in the seller’s KPI’s.
Once the training experience has been integrated into an organization with these three steps, it can be considered an 'Academy.' However, a true Academy needs to include different learning paths for each sales/sales support/customer success role. Obviously, no one course could possibly include applicable best practices for every given role. An effective Academy approach accommodates all of these different learning paths. Each path may include two, three or four individual courses. Full certification in a given sales role, therefore, could reasonably entail a multi-year process of getting certified in each course. In turn, achieving full certification in each role needs to be identified as something celebrated by the entire sales organization.
Employees can’t rely on job shadowing forever to gain new skills; fortunately there are many other ways to amplify sales rep training. In the long term, it can be beneficial to assign a mentor to a new hire salesperson. When possible, this practice can offer a range of benefits to both parties.
For starters, it takes some of the coaching/training pressure off the sales manager above the new hire. Secondly, it can offer the newly hired sales executive a shortcut to understanding subtleties in both the internal organization and in the market. Another benefit that often goes unrecognized is the contribution to team cohesion and sales culture that an effective mentoring program can offer.
Having a sales mentor also gives sales reps context into the larger organization. For example, if an SDR is paired with a seasoned Account Executive, they will be able to see how their sales development efforts impact the entire company. The experienced AE can mentor the SDR on how to set high-quality, high-value meetings for other AEs. This sort of mentorship role also lets the new hires see a path they can take within the organization.
But there are important distinctions and considerations to make before implementing a mentor program. First, it must be clear to both mentor and mentee that learning the basics of sales skills, strategy formation, etc. is NOT the domain of the mentor in most cases. While an organization that has effectively integrated selling best practices will inevitably create opportunities for learning through observation of a mentor, mentors themselves should not be tasked with teaching mentees "how to sell." This is a critical issue, because without this clarity, the sales team is liable to adopt misunderstood or unrelated tenets of selling.
Second, the mentor must be given a structure as to what and when guidance is to be offered. Simply assigning a successful senior seller to be a mentor without such direction is unfair to all parties concerned. If the organization embraces mentorship as a part of the performance improvement process, it is vital to ensure that the cohort of mentors is working with a shared syllabus and common definition of mentor participation.
Onboarding is a great time to make sure new reps have baseline soft skills. But these kind of sales training exercises shouldn’t stop, no matter how long a rep is with the organization, or how successful they have become. Think about this: many professional disciplines require routine continuing education. Lawyers, accountants, insurance sales executives, doctors, and many others are required to have continuing education credits. Why not professional sales? Is there a better investment than one which results in producing accurate forecasts, a funnel filled with qualified opportunities, shortened sales cycles, better margins, less discounting, more quota attainment and a myriad of other benefits? All of these are possible for an organization that embraces continuous learning. Is there a better investment of sales managers’ calories than making their team’s performance improve over time?
However, it’s not practical to routinely pull salespeople away from their jobs for in-person sales team training sessions. That's to say nothing of the fact that concentrated training sessions put enormous (and often unfair) burdens on sales managers to coach and reinforce. Reducing the time burden, creativity required, and manager calories required to achieve continuous improvement is now far easier if the organization utilizes online learning technology. Not only does this technology amplify manager efforts, but it also minimizes the loss of "selling time." A modern training strategy makes it realistic for managers to become true force multipliers for each member of their team.
Online learning for several decades was an unfulfilled promise. Flat files on a boring platform were found to be woefully inadequate as a replacement for instructor-led, interactive sales training. This is no longer the case. Using a combination of live and remotely recorded training sessions (of one to two hours in length) along with multi-media online content (i.e. recordings of sales calls/meetings, video, PDF’s, exercises and assignments) it is now possible to provide training that is engaging, facilitates adoption of new techniques, and tracks precise metrics which identify where an individual seller is excelling and where they may need help. Thankfully, there are a plethora of such eLearning or online sales training options to help improve training for your entire team. With online learning, sales reps don’t have to be trained at the same time, allowing for each of them to take on training at their own pace. This self-paced approach is best when integrated with routine peer-to-peer interaction, manager one-on-one coaching, and manager one-on-many coaching.
eLearning can also be carried out in bite-size form, such as in brief chunks of 30-to-45-minute sessions focusing on one to three "learning objects." This way, sales team members can incorporate these best practices into their daily task flow and benefit from immediate application of what they have just learned or reviewed. Also, not every rep will need help/reinforcement in the same area. With online sales training, coaching, reinforcement, tools and mastery resources, sellers can embrace continuous learning/improvement that is matched to their current challenges and/or improvement focus.
Online solutions also offer ease of customization and ongoing refinement. Online platforms can and should be consistently updated with new examples, recordings, videos, etc. featuring in-house sales people, managers and leaders.
There are many ways to approach eLearning for your sales team’s training. Not every industry will benefit from the same process, so it's important to identify the key goals and areas for development. Here are a few options to consider:
On-Demand Training Modules: Create a library of on-demand training modules covering topics such as product knowledge, sales techniques, and customer relationship management. This allows sales professionals to learn at their own pace and revisit material as needed.
Interactive Learning Platforms: Invest in interactive learning platforms that offer multimedia content, quizzes, and assessments to keep your sales team engaged. These platforms can provide personalized learning paths based on individual strengths and weaknesses.
Role-Playing Simulations: Leverage role-playing simulations to give your sales team hands-on experience in a risk-free environment. These simulations can mimic real-life sales scenarios and provide instant feedback for improvement.
Analytics and Reporting: Use analytics and reporting tools to track the progress of your sales team and identify areas where additional support may be needed. This data-driven approach allows you to tailor training programs to address specific skill gaps.
By harnessing the power of eLearning, you can empower your sales team to continually develop their skills and stay ahead of the competition.
Company: 30-year-old company selling SaaS solutions to state and local governments.
Solution: Create a sales Academy with four learning paths aligning to the four sales roles.
Results three years in:
Company: IT company selling enterprise and SaaS solutions to financial institutions.
Solution: Create a sales Academy to enable sellers to embrace and succeed with a new GTM strategy.
Results one and a half years in:
Tyler Vance works closely with the participants and managers of Funnel Clarity’s training programs to ensure they achieve their expected results. Throughout Tyler’s career, he has experienced both a seller’s and buyer’s point of view bringing a unique perspective when working closely with Funnel Clarity clients. Whether Tyler is answering questions from participants, running a coaching session, webinar series, or working with managers to develop a reinforcement plan, he brings a unique and fun element into every part of his role.
