Every year there are new areas of focus. New initiatives are rolled out at Sales Kickoff. Training takes place. There is lots of excitement and buzz. Then everyone leaves.
At the mid-year point, are you getting the results you hoped for? This post is about measuring training success.
Measuring training success is difficult. The main issue is attribution. While everyone agrees there is value to training, nobody can tell you how much. Sales organizations spend billions on sales training each year. As the head of sales you need to ensure your initiatives are successful. If you consistently rollout new initiatives that aren’t successful, you lose momentum. Furthermore, your boss will question if you are the right person for the job.
You need to prove that your initiatives are successful. Start by measuring indicators you can attribute to your training rollouts.
What Results to Measure
Training is difficult to measure because the wrong indicators are tracked. Below are the top 5 indicators that should be used to measure training effectiveness.
Focus on defining how you will measure each indicator before your next training rollout. By doing so, your training will be designed more effectively. Don’t make the mistake of focusing solely on lagging indicators. Incremental success and adoption is the key to keep momentum behind the initiative.
Is the field struggling to adopt new initiatives? The Training Success tool will help you define and measure what good looks like. By doing so, you can set clear expectations and coach the field post rollout. Through measurement, you will keep the topic top of mind for reps and managers alike. The old adage, “what gets measured gets done” certainly applies.
What to do with the Indicators?
Here are 5 things the head of sales should do to ensure the field executes. Don’t delegate; these initiatives need to be driven from the top.
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Gamify Results – track the indicators, create a scoreboard, and give prizes. Make adopting the initiative fun and public. The competitiveness of Gamification will naturally lead to improved adoptions rates.
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Recognize Early Adopters – personally and publicly recognize those that adopt it fastest. Sales people love recognition. Especially from the head of sales. Make it a point to call out adoption whenever possible.
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Share Best Practices – sales people love to hear what is working for their peers. During company events sales people accelerate their success by learning from others. Make this systematic by sharing best practices across the organization. You can use collaboration software to do this quickly and without creating additional email.
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Broadcast Wins – use collaboration software to celebrate wins quickly. By doing so, the team sees the training is working. Broadcasting wins will keep momentum behind the initiatives.
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Focused Coaching – by measuring different levels of indicators you can focus coaching efforts. Determine areas of weakness and allocate leadership time accordingly.
Adoption Expectations
Set clear expectations for each role in your organization. Not just reps, but front-line Sales Managers, Directors, RVPs. Everyone should clearly understand their role in ensuring adoption and results.
By measuring the right indicators you set yourself up for training success.
