The NFL’s 1976 Buccaneers, 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns are famous for losing every game they played, an honor that wasn’t earned because of a lack of practice. As the Bucs, Lions and Browns prove, practice does not necessarily make perfect. The same can be said for sales training. There is a difference between workshops and one-on-one coaching that deliver results and those that merely occupy time slots on a rep’s calendar.
What is the difference, though, and what separates effective sales training from ineffective, time-wasting training exercises? To answer that we turned to three Boston-based sales leaders and asked them to both discuss their training along with what makes them effective and how they measure said effectiveness.
We learned that effective sales training is often interactive and gives reps the chance to learn by doing. It’s also tied to tangible aspects of a salesperson’s role or goals. Finally, and unlike NFL practices, they are often meant to be fun.
LogRocket’s technology is designed to make bugs easier to stamp out by providing engineers with video replay detailing exactly what led up to a user experiencing an error. When it comes to training reps to sell LogRocket, Dion said her team focuses on interactive activities that let salespeople practice what they’re learning along with clearly establishing the “why” behind what’s being taught.
How often do you hold training sessions with your sales team, and what do those training sessions entail?
Outside of our four-week onboarding program, we run team-based trainings for role-specific topics as needed. We also hold formal one-hour training sessions with the sales team twice per month. The session will typically focus on a segment of the sales funnel that we want to optimize and be paired with a supporting skill, like qualification plus active listening. We spend half of the time on content and the remaining half in an activity. Most activities consist of breakout groups with individuals of varying tenure and performance success. We sometimes assign a “team captain” per breakout group who reports back with their group’s findings, contributing to a larger, shared pool of best practices.
Every training has follow-up components to reinforce the concepts. Those can be in the form of a knowledge check or quiz, call coaching with feedback in Gong or additional one-on-one coaching time. We will typically run the same topic a minimum of two times in order to build on previous content and as another form of reinforcement as opposed to a one-and-done training topic.
Getting the learner involved in their development is critical to the efficacy of any training program.”
What techniques or approaches have you found to be particularly effective when it comes to sales training, and why?
Getting the learner involved in their development is critical to the efficacy of any training program. Sessions that involve training the trainer, peer feedback, self-assessments and that welcome suggestions ensure our team is learning what is important to them while still aligning to sales performance and the charter of the business.
Understanding our reps’ baseline — their experiences, challenges, etcetera — helps shape effective trainings for the long term. Many times, learning and development initiatives come from the top. By starting with the foundation and aligning impactful outcomes, like closing deals 30 percent faster, our sales reps are more likely to lean in.
Creating tiers of learning and certifications helps avoid plateaus at any point. Establishing a measurement for success and even recognition is critical for any learner to track their own progress. Providing these tools to sales reps can serve as a source of motivation as well as a tool for managers and trainers alike to provide the right coaching and ensure that all sales people are getting equal evaluations.
How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your training sessions, and how do you use that information to fine-tune your approach to training over time?
Gathering feedback after every training is so important in order to ensure our learners are engaged and will be in future trainings. I have found that trainings are only as effective as the connection that enablement has with its audience. Just like in sales, you have to earn the trust of your customers by truly understanding their problems and challenges and then delivering a relevant message.
For each training there is — or should be — a business impact aligned with why that training is being prioritized. Providing a standardized mode of coaching with a rubric ensures all coaches are looking at the same components and that learners are getting clear, tangible feedback on how to improve to achieve that business result. Aligning any topic with a business result and communicating that as the “why” or direct impact to the learner improves engagement and drive toward that business result. For example: Reducing the length of the sales cycle means reps close deals and make money faster and the business sees more deals closed.
Reveneer helps companies step up their sales efforts by offering a turn-key solution for inside sales. Given that its business is solely sales, Reveneer places a major emphasis on training and development, with Bousa telling Built In that the company focuses on both getting new reps up to speed and keeping seasoned sellers sharp.
How often do you hold training sessions with your sales team, and what do those training sessions entail?
For new reps, we have an extensive two-week training program to set the foundation for their sales career that focuses on the fundamentals of sales, practicing clean speech and prospecting tactics. We break a sales call down into smaller digestible pieces like call opening, objection handling, needs and pain discovery and closing, tackling them one by one. Think of it as a puzzle — each piece fits perfectly together. We start small and build off each section until the puzzle is complete and our reps are ready to make calls.
Training is important for established sales reps as well. It can be easy to fall into bad habits or get stuck in a rut. We provide individualized one-on-one coaching, shared calling blocks and bi-weekly group sessions to keep skills fresh, encourage new tactics and so reps can learn from one another. We actively support each other and create a positive environment for sales reps to learn and grow. The teamwork at Reveneer is second to none.
We track key metrics and conversion rates and utilize the data to determine where to focus our training efforts.”
What techniques or approaches have you found to be particularly effective when it comes to sales training, and why?
Repetition, repetition, repetition! Repetition through mock sales calls is key to help reps establish important muscle memory. Before they start making live calls, we want to get them to the point where elements like the opening of their call and objection handling are instinctual. When it’s time to hit the phones, it’s important that they feel confident, prepared and ready to tackle anything that comes their way. It’s a persistent, supportive training regimen that gets results.
How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your training sessions, and how do you use that information to fine-tune your approach to training over time?
At Reveneer, data is our secret weapon. We track key metrics and conversion rates and utilize the data to determine where to focus our training efforts. For example, if one of our reps is seeing a high number of connections to prospects but a low conversion rate, a number of factors might be at play. Are they contacting their target persona? Not connecting with decision-makers? Or perhaps their call opening needs to be tweaked to generate conversation. Through an open discussion and a few mock sales calls we can determine what area we need to revisit.
When we implement changes we do so iteratively. One change at a time allows for us to analyze from a qualitative and quantitative standpoint how the change is affecting the rep or team success without putting too many variables into the equation. If we don’t see the results we want, we try something new. The sales training at Reveneer never stops: We keep going until we figure out a solution.
Leyton is a consulting firm that specializes in helping companies maximize tax credits for research and development work, employee retention and sales and use tax. Hopkins said one approach to training she’s found particularly effective is role-playing real life scenarios with leadership stepping in to model best practices and behaviors.
How often do you hold training sessions with your sales team, and what do those training sessions entail?
Training is dependent on the strategy we’re working on or the tenure of the individual. Each training session is then specific to a person and their unique goals or the organization as a whole. During your first month at Leyton you’re given very detailed training on our services, how we support our clients and how we work together as a team. Afterward, and throughout your career at Leyton, we offer several methods of training and enablement. We know how crucial it is for every individual to be supported in their role so that they can achieve those goals!
Those methods of training include working with our dedicated training team, one-on-one training with team leaders and/or cross-functional training. In those sessions we always start with the goal of the session and key takeaways, review of the concepts and then reinforcement and action items.
What techniques or approaches have you found to be particularly effective when it comes to sales training, and why?
Interactive training is one of the most effective ways to reinforce the concepts we are working on. One thing our team especially enjoys is interactive trivia as we’re all naturally competitive being that we’re on a sales team. Oftentimes, we’ll have some really great incentives at the end for the winners.
In addition to trivia, we also try and role-play real life situations. We believe in leading by example, so we always try and have a member of the leadership team take these on. We have such an incredibly talented sales team at the front line supporting our clients and we’re more than willing to jump in alongside them whenever we can.
How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your training sessions, and how do you use that information to fine-tune your approach to training over time?
As a sales team we’re driven by data and look at our targets and KPIs to see if we’re moving in the right direction. That said, these training sessions are designed for the sales team, so we want to be sure they’re working for them. We will usually poll and ask the team what they liked, would change and potentially want more of on a regular basis. Sometimes we knock it out of the park the first go around and other times we know we have to change our approach. Over the last year, we’ve worked together with some newly-hired individuals in all roles, the training team and the sales leadership team to identify additional components for our new hire training.
