Conscientious managers observe best practices in any number of areas every day, and it's no different with sales training. Following best practices for sales training means recognizing that your employees learn in different ways and providing multiple learning methods. It involves active support with resources that provide consistent, objective, and actionable feedback. Many studies show that ongoing training for employees is vital for retention and adoption, which is why it is also included as best practice.
Using the right training pays off in several ways. It can boost your sales reps' productivity, prevent burnout, improve retention, and increase engagement. Effective training also increases your sales reps' value to their customers and gives them the skills to increase their sales. Let's look at ways you can derive a more significant ROI from your sales training.
While you could establish a requirement that your team completes a specified number of training hours per period, it doesn't mean that compliance will derive value. In other words, forcing training without getting buy-in is a waste of time and resources. Achieving the most significant ROI on your sales training requires getting them on board with the program. Creating an environment of continuous learning takes a paradigm shift.
So, how do you prepare your sales team for this new era? First, it is imperative that you communicate how the training will help them. Even though they may not directly ask what's in it for me, your team is thinking that. To your team, any time away from their sales activities equates to missed opportunities and lost commission. Your job is to show them that it is an investment in their future success.
Next, reassure them that their input is valuable and offer support along the way. Adoption becomes easier when the training is consistent through all levels of the sales organization. It is vital that learning and development start with onboarding. 88% of organizations don't have a successful onboarding program, even though it can improve employee retention by 82%.
Think back to your days in school. There were always those who loved to be in the front row, raising their hands and answering questions. Then there were the quiet, studious ones further back who got high grades but rarely interacted unless pressed. And we all remember the ones who frequently slept through every morning class.
Everyone has different learning styles. The students who fell asleep in class are the adults who are more alert and receptive later in the day, the ones who sat up front need more interaction, and the quiet, studious ones learn better on their own. That's why a training program must adapt to all learning styles. 89% of employees report that they want training that is available any time and anywhere they need it.
Regardless of individual learning styles, interaction with your team is critical. 1:1 coaching allows you to work with each rep in a personal way that adapts to any learning preferences. Skills assessments are not only essential for potential or new hires but can indicate where each salesperson's strengths and weaknesses lie so that you can adapt their training expectations accordingly. One-to-one coaching can result in three times greater employee engagement.
A continuous learning culture pays dividends to the company, the employees, and the customers. You can attribute much of the efficacy to how it counteracts the forgetting curve. The curve illustrates how much information we retain and forget in a short amount of time without review. It starts with 100% recall at the point we first learn it.
Without reinforcing that new information, we lose 40% of what we have just learned within 24 hours. In another 24 hours of no review, we lose 60%. That means that in only 48 hours, more than half of all that valuable new knowledge is gone forever, no matter how enthusiastic the student was to acquire it. Continuous learning keeps skills and knowledge fresh until they can be absorbed and adopted as part of our everyday practice.
Training is a vital part of developing a high-performing sales team. It is also how you groom the next generation of leaders, improve retention rates, support your company culture, and grow your business. Employees feel supported, valued, and empowered. When your sales team has the right skills, they move from being order takers to trusted advisors to their customers, ultimately increasing sales, loyalty, and customer satisfaction.
The key to achieving the best ROI on your training is having a program that encourages ongoing blended learning. That means a combination of self-paced online training, one-on-one coaching, and instructor-led classes that provide an opportunity for interaction with coaches and peers.