Sales teams are important to the health of an organization and the more effective they are, the better it is for your bottom line. Sales training is a great way to educate your sales team, make sure everyone is on the same page, and answer questions about the sales process.
Let’s talk about some tips to make your sales training even more effective. Everything from virtual training to fun rewards can help motivate your sales team to close more deals and hit their goals.
Effective techniques to improve your next sales training
Sales training is the perfect time to brush up on your dialogue, product knowledge, and company values. These techniques will help you make your next training efficient and effective, no matter the size of your team.
Ensure your team understands the product
Ensuring your sales team understands your company’s product inside and out is the first step towards sales success. Even the most well-trained team will struggle if they don’t understand the nuances of your company. Consider hosting a “product boot camp” where sales (and other employees) can become more familiar with your product or service offering.
Offer eLearning options
eLearning or virtual sales trainings are a great option, especially if you have a remote team. Not everyone has the same learning style or preferences and by offering an option that they can engage with on their own time, your sales team will be more likely to retain the information.
Make your sales training interactive
Interactive sales trainings are more effective because they require audience participation. Playing games or hosting friendly competitions is a great way to get everyone involved and this interactive element means that your sales team will be more focused, invested, and will have more fun!
You can also use an interactive polling software to generate questions that can help shape your sales training. For example, if your sales team has questions about the same topics, you can include that in your agenda to answer their questions. This two-way communication makes your sales training more useful and efficient.
Reward small achievements
Research shows that incremental goals can be a better motivator than focusing on one large goal. You can use this tactic in your next sales training by rewarding small accomplishments, such as completing a section or passing a product quiz. Salespeople are especially driven by success so this method works well to keep everyone motivated.
Create shorter, more consistent sales trainings
We’re all busy and it’s hard to find time to train your whole salesforce, so you might be tempted to create a multiple-day event to cover all your sales training. But, this type of training isn’t actually efficient. Salespeople, like all of us, can only retain bits of information at a time.
Instead, try to create short, more consistent trainings sprinkled throughout the year. One of the reasons why TEDTalks became so popular is because they are short, 30-minute presentations by industry experts. They’re short enough to cover important information, but not so long that the audience loses interest.
If you do have a lot of material to cover, consider adding in short breaks to give your audience a little refresher. These breaks could include icebreaker games, small group activities, or a fun trivia game.
Sales training is a great way to help your sales team understand your business, develop a strategy, and get to know each other and the sales process. When done correctly, these trainings can be efficient and effective. If you want to take your next sales training up a notch, implement interactive elements to keep your team engaged (and having fun).