This post was originally published by Jenny Boling on lessonly.com
Helping your sales team create meaningful buyer connections starts with building effective sales training programs that give them the skills and resources they need. That includes everything like…
- Information about the portfolio of products and services they’ll be selling
- General knowledge around the sales process
- Skills that prepare them to work with buyers who are more sophisticated and informed than ever
As you can see, sales reps have a lot of information to consume, skills to perfect, and of course, deals to manage. But, if you look at a typical type of sales training program, the process often includes outdated sales training decks, long-winded in person training sessions, and elaborate, yet ineffective, sales kickoff events.
It’s time to say goodbye to old-school training and elevate your sales reps’ learning experience. And, a great tool to help you do that is with an online sales training platform. Here are three ways that this tool can help you overcome old-school training challenges and deliver a world-class experience that your reps will love.
Challenge 1: archaic training modules
Are you still relying on annual three-day or week-long training sessions with the same materials that your organization has been using the same modules for years? This type of sales training system does not take into consideration the dynamics of the evolving market, products, and services, nor does it consider changes in customer interactions and how customers want to engage with organizations.
Suggested solution: get with the times!
The world of online sales training is a beautiful and efficient place to be. With online sales training courses, reps can stay on top of the newest products when selling to prospects and customers, educate themselves on how their product is better than the competition, and stay more engaged with the company and what’s going on. Additionally, training lessons can easily and quickly be updated and adjusted on the fly as the market evolves and your company grows.
Challenge 2: lack of post-training follow-up and coaching
Just because your reps received their online sales training certification doesn’t mean they’ve washed their hands of learning. Nope, the fun has just begun. But, if there isn’t continued training and sales coaching available, then the ball has been dropped. Sales training is only successful if salespeople can close deals. And in order to do that on repeat, reps need ongoing access to sales courses online that’s paired with intentional and personalized sales training coaching.
Suggested solution: deliver all-star coaching
Sales coaching involves ongoing, personalized feedback from sales managers to improve rep performance. Rather than a manager telling their team what to do, sales coaching guides sellers to discover how to achieve their objectives. By helping salespeople hone their power skills, organizations empower sales teams to sell faster, win bigger, and always be closing. Online sales platforms, like Lessonly Skills, help sales leaders assess rep’s skills, uncover opportunities for relevant coaching and feedback, and deliver coaching at scale.
Challenge 3: everyone learns differently
Catering sales training topics to individual needs and learning styles can be daunting. But this doesn’t mean you have to come up with 612 different sales training courses for beginners and advanced skills courses for all 612 employees you have. There are different variables that need to be considered when deciding which software program will be the best fit: size, features, and pricing. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, so don’t limit yo’self.
Suggested solution: build your own training materials
The best sales training programs give you the ability to build and upload learning material that’s specific to your company and employees. It’s also a great way to include elements like videos, text, images, and interactive elements that appeal to reps with different learning styles. With a whole slew of downloadable resources available, you can use the materials as-is or weave in your own ideas to customize your sales training. Options like this make it easy to build personalized resources for your teams.
