Every sales manager has faced the seemingly inevitable task of having to part ways with a new hire. Most of the time this is for lack of performance, failure to launch or the inability to adapt. Whatever you call it, the real reason is that the salesperson is not catching on to the tactics or techniques that are necessary to succeed in the industry and market space in which your business operates.
The problem with this scenario is that the effects of unsuccessful salespeople and their subsequent letting go ripple through your company like a stone being thrown into a pond.
First and foremost there is the direct impact on revenue. Revenue is lost in the hiring process through screening, time for interviewing, background checks and the initial investment through HR to get them signed up. Revenue is also lost from training on whatever system is used such as a learning management system (LMS) for sharing key information related to company practices, policies, and product training. Then there is the financial impact that comes from your customer base. It doesn’t look good and give a good impression if you don’t have good employee retention and this has the potential to impact your sales, particularly if you are a B2B company.
Finally, having to rehire and retrain someone to fill the position again is costly and inefficient. And finally, if you have a revolving door for your employees, it will negatively impact their morale and sales will drop even more because it is known to all that sales and customer satisfaction is hinged on attitude. Each of these ripples will have long lasting effects on business and will not look good in the quarterly budget figures.
So, the question now arises – what should be done and how to get rid of this problem? Don’t worry, the issue can be resolved. Obviously, proper vetting is the first step to employee retention. So let’s assume that the person has been hired properly into the position. The next step is properly training the new hire for the job at hand.
In a situation like this, an eLearning tool can actually come in handy. Want to know how? While sales trainers will leverage the tool to offer quality focused training to new sales hire, the sales manager can use it to assess the learner’s performance.
Since sales managers are the best people who can judge the performance of the new hires in the team, hence it is important that they are acquainted with the training techniques because they can guide the trainers better and necessary changes can be made in the training material.
There is no denying the fact that sales manager understands best if the training is working in the right direction or if it needs any changes.
Here are some of the key sales training techniques that the manager should know about –
Use of micro-learning to keep training short and crisp
After choosing the right candidate the first task at hand is to acquaint your new hire with the practices and policies of your company as well as with your companies brands and products. It is best to think of this as the foundation of your salesperson’s arsenal. Taking into consideration the value of your time as well as the technological ability of the world in which we operate, discussing every point with each of your new hires directly won’t work.
Studies have proved that sales personnel generally can’t retain a huge amount of information at one time.Since overtraining can be detrimental to a new hire’s talent, use of new age training methods and smart devices to offer training can enforce better learning. This is one of the reasons why organizations nowadays are choosing to train their sales team on elearning platforms.
Use of elearning to educate
eLearning is a boon for the new sales recruits. The reason is simple and straight. A sales professional is expected to know about the product/services thoroughly in the shortest possible time. Since constant travelling and frequent sales calls make it tough for them to garner sufficient knowledge, use of an elearning tool can do wonders.
Elearning allows new sales hires to access the training material anytime, anywhere. Moreover, the sales manager can use it to judge the learner’s progress as well. In fact, it can be of great help for the existing sales professional as well as they can brush up their knowledge using this platform and engage in continued learning.
Use of active learning technique
Active learning is a teaching method where students engage in different learning activities that help to evaluate progression. This is important because it helps the sales manager to identify the loopholes in the training process and later they can inform the trainers about them so that learning can be made more user-friendly.
According to Columbia University, “Students learn best when learning is active: When they are mentally involved, when they engage in hands-on activities, when they are involved in a process of inquiry, discovery, investigation, and interpretation. Thus, learning is enhanced when students repeat the information in their own words or when they give examples or make use of the information.”
Provide field training
It has been found that talent development mostly happens in the field. For effective real-world training, the onus lies on the sales leader/manager to review the new hire’s performance – listen to sales calls, analyze recordings, measure problem-solving skills etc.This helps the new hires to master skills.
Offer rewards
Finally, if you combine all of these methods with a competitive rewards-based landscape, you have a recipe for success. Most salespeople are rather competitive by nature so tapping into that avenue of motivation can be successful. When this is coupled with proper mentorship training, it is possible for you to develop the most agile salesforce your company has ever seen.
Conclusion
These are some of the most effective sales training techniques which every sales manager should be aware of so that they can guide the trainers to create materials accordingly. It’s true that when salesforce are offered proper training, they can tackle the job head on and succeed.
Did we miss out any important technique? Do share
