Despite the fact some of your best salespeople are born with a personality made for the profession, this doesn’t mean they are finished products. In order to improve their chances of converting more prospects and closing more deals, they still need to undergo some training.
But one stumbling block that numerous businesses encounter is that these very personalities are somewhat reluctant to receive training. They would much prefer to be at their desk selling and aren’t always receptive to prolonged periods of teaching.
For this reason, a different approach such as microlearning is required. Through this bite-sized training technique, sales staff will not only increase their expertise, but can also give customers a better experience. Here’s how:
The benefits of sales training
Improve communication skills
Sales staff may feel comfortable talking on the phone to complete strangers, but they might not possess well-rounded communication skills. The art of persuading a prospect is very different to adding value to the customer’s experience. Sales training can help your staff ask the right questions and work towards the organization’s overall objectives, not just their individual commission targets.
Enhance listening ability
If customers feel as though your sales staff are not listening to their wants and needs, the chances of them converting are significantly reduced. Sales staff need to recognize that every interaction is a two-way street, even if they already know the answer or are pressed for time. Good listeners are patient in their approach and always try to understand the other person’s point of view.
Boost problem solving abilities
Prospects are bound to come up with a few reasons why they don’t want to buy. But rather using tried and trusted objection techniques, your staff should try to solve the problem the customer is alluding to. If there are trust or complacency issues, ask why this might be, and give the customer confidence in your organization’s abilities. This will no doubt lead to a more satisfying experience.
The benefits of microlearning
Easy to remember
The tightly focused and snappy nature of microlearning means that any teaching materials are easy to remember. By dividing training up into more manageable, smaller sections, your sales staff won’t be bombarded with an overload of information to retain and apply at work.
Flexible application
Microlearning is available on a variety of different platforms and can therefore fit around your workforce’s existing schedule. During quiet periods on the sales floor, staff can access microlearning via their desktop and take a quick lesson. Alternatively, teaching can take place on the daily commute via a smartphone application.
Interesting and intriguing
Through the use of interactive quizzes, entertaining videos or competitive games, sales staff will have an active interest in training. Microlearning utilizes various types of media to keep sales staff with short attention spans engaged in what they are being taught.
While the benefits of training are obvious, sales staff can be a difficult bunch to teach. But through microlearning, which delivers training in small specific bursts, both your employees and customers can enjoy a number of rich rewards.
About the author: Chloe Britton is the brand manager of Wranx, an education technology company that turns employees into experts by using the latest research in brain science.
