Ensuring productive salespeople requires unique and engaging onboarding and ongoing training programs. The best results come from implementing a rigorous, skills-based training process for both first-time sellers and seasoned reps – this will help set a clear trajectory for their post-training sales activities. It’s also critical for your training programs to be unique to your organization and the way your sellers sell. If your reps feel they have already been through this same type of training, they will quickly tune out due to a “been there, done that” mentality.
Here are some simple tactics you can implement in your training programs that will achieve quick results:
- Segment training into competencies. Your new rookie will need to be taught how to sell, what to sell, the sales process and more. Your relatively new rep that has been with the company for 9 months still needs training, but a very different type of training. Providing various skills-based training that expands with each month or year your seller has been with the company will garner best results.
- Allow sellers to experience selling – have them “learn the way they earn.” Most sellers know how to use a sales force automation solution. But with various add-ons and integrations, most instances are different. Have your sellers move through mock clients using their sales force automation solution. Also have them learn your marketing automation solution or sales enablement platform during training so they’re not using valuable selling time learning these solutions. Don’t spend the majority of training covering your company’s general, core-message communication. Instead, set up mock selling and role-playing exercises that partner new sellers with your successful veterans.
- If it’s in your budget, employ a technology solution that coaches reps through each stage of training and benchmarks their earned certifications and performance against their peers.
There are always going to be more great ideas to carry out a successful onboarding program. But if you don’t have an onboarding program, hopefully this is a start. Orientation and onboarding are very different. Don’t get the two confused. While important in their own way, successful onboarding means successful sales reps, which results in achieving quote. Do you have one or two successful tips to share with the group?
The post Have your sales reps learn the way they earn appeared first on SAVO.
