Average Sales Leaders often mistake talent as being a static sales metric. You either have it, or you don’t. The best Sales Leaders know the opposite is true. Talent is a dynamic factor which they must continue to develop in their sales team.
Most organizations have some form of sales training but lack a systematic approach for continuous skill advancement. As the Sales Leader, it’s up to you to ensure instead of waiting for talent to show up, you invest in developing it.
There are four crucial stages to structure your training to produce optimal growth within your sales team:
- Pre-Session Preparation
- Training Execution
- Post Session Reinforcement
- Measuring Results
Pre-Session Preparation
Choose the right topics – An effective sales training program should promote sustainable skill improvement rather than being company, or product-focused. In order to truly grab the attention of your sales people, the skill you choose to develop must be valuable. What defines a valuable skill? One which is as complex as it is relevant. If a sales representative can learn this skill on their own, they’re not as likely to be engaged in the session.
Set clear objectives – Sales people like to be included in the decisions which pertain to them. Don’t keep the meeting a secret – be very open and clear as to why the training session is taking place and what you expect as the result. If you express the objective as quantifiable, even better. Sales people will then be incentivized to actively monitor their own performance in respect to the goals.
Assign ‘homework’ – A training session has no hope of taking hold if your sales people are not prepared to engage. Assign some pre-training work to get your people acquainted with the material. Then, stipulate they bring relevant examples and questions to make the training session more interactive.
Training Execution
Set expectations – Before the meeting, refresh everyone on the purpose of the training session and its desired outcome. List the main points and even take time to write them out. Specify what’s expected of everyone during the meeting. Beginning each training session this way ensures everyone starts off on the same foot.
Cover the topic – This is the meat of the training session – the content. In this stage, it’s imperative you take the time to explain your concepts in a clear and concise manner. What is the skill you want your team to work on? Include slides, videos, and examples to help reinforce the concept. As a bonus, you can have some of your top sales performers weigh in on these skills to add peer credibility.
Use case studies – Nothing cements an idea quite like using a real-life scenario. Explain an example where the skill wasn’t used properly and therefore produced a negative outcome. Then, refer to a case where the skill was effectively used to produce a desired outcome. Transforming theories into real concepts will ensure it sticks with your team.
Role playing – While many Sales leaders think it’s more important to explain a concept, the majority of the training session should be spent role-playing. Why? Because role-playing does work! Have different individuals perform the skill while the rest of the class watches and provides feedback. It’s not only extremely effective in helping your people comprehend the skill, but it also promotes teamwork.
Wrap up and decide next steps – Once you feel your team understands the main purpose of the session; it’s time to wrap up with the key takeaways to solidify their understanding. Before you excuse them however, make sure you have received commitments from each of them on the behaviors they will change and the skills they will adapt. Then, ask for their opinions on how they want to be held accountable for implementing these skills and the kind of support they find most beneficial. This way, you end the meeting with a clear and agreed upon goal for the future.
Post-Session Reinforcement
Reinforcement – If you have no post-session plans for reinforcement, then you’re just wasting time. Reinforcement is the key to solidifying skills into a rep’s daily routine. There are several different kinds of reinforcement – below are listed what have been found to be the most effective ones.
Peer Accountability – One of the strongest types of reinforcement comes from our peers. They are the most influential tools at your disposable and spend the most time interacting with your developing sales people. Ensure these prominent figures lead by example and reinforce the key concepts from the meeting.
Real-Time Coaching – Nothing helps you understand how well your people are implementing their training like observing them directly. Spend some time in the field watching and working with your sales people. Observe and insure they’re utilizing their new found skills and step in when they’re using them incorrectly. Real-time coaching is very effective in eliminating poor behavior.
One-to-One Meetings – Setting time aside to discuss individual progress will show the members of your team you’re serious. If they see it’s important to you, it will become equally important to them. This time can also double as personalized coaching if an individual sales person requires additional advice or assistance.
Positive Reinforcement – While observing the team, openly promote those who are successfully applying the learned concepts. Making good behavior known fosters feelings of good-will and encourages sales representatives to keep trying.
Measuring Results
Before embarking on this sales training journey, you should establish a clear objective – a particular goal you’re trying to achieve. The skill you’re attempting to teach will determine the exact sales performance metrics, the key performance indicators (KPIs) of this success. Broken down into five different levels, here are some suggested indicators:
- Observed change in behavior
- Deal Advancement
- Deals Won
- Quota Attainment
- Margin and Revenue
Each of these levels represents a different stage of learning. However, observing a change in behavior is only the first step. Once you see these skills start impacting the bottom line, you will know the training session has come full circle.
Talent is not a static metric. Successful Sales Cultures at top-performing sales businesses stress continual training and reinforcement of skills. The representatives with whom you spend time in developing will reward you with their improved performance. The best Sales Leaders understand the value in developing their talent and will invest the time into doing so.
