Creating a balanced diet
Learning professionals are adopting a marketing approach to the delivery tools at their disposal. Communicate with me as I like to be communicated with. So teach me as I like to be taught or, more effectively, as I like to learn. No longer is the decision for blended learning as simple as Instructor Led Training, online courses or eLearning. And no longer is blended learning a bit of all of these methods! At last blended learning may really have something to offer to sales professionals.
Salespeople don’t do eLearning or do they?
Conventional wisdom tells us that salespeople are Pragmatic Activists who learn by doing and experiencing. So how can eLearning possibly deliver this? How can any technology-based tool be a shortcut for good old interaction and practice through role-plays and discussion with fellow learners?
Generation Y manages to build vast and remote social networks using the plethora of networking technology that exists. Generation Y is confident and hugely competent when it comes to adopting new technology and is also happy to share their challenges, thoughts and feelings publicly and without the need for face to face contact. Generation Y makes up a large number of our sales profession today.
So how could the perfect diet look for sales development?
Let’s take one ingredient from the blend – eLearning – and look at practical ways it can be used specifically to help the sales professional.
We’ve already touched on the Pragmatic Activist learning style of many salespeople and the traits of Generation Y. Many of these need to be borne in mind for the best blend of learning for sales professionals. Whilst the tools and support services need to help the sales professional ‘help themselves’, there also needs to be a degree of ‘push’ to ensure the transfer of learning and change in behaviours takes place. So the sales manager also plays a crucial part in the mix.
For the salesperson…
To suit the salesperson, blended learning has to be motivational, timely and relevant. Imagine you’ve just come out of a sales call. You had high hopes of a successful call but it did not go the way you planned. What went wrong? If you could dip straight into a sales learning tool and go to the precise part of the sales process you want, refresh yourself on the best practice and try out the scenarios, you could then discover what you could have done better. There’s no better learning when it follows hot on the heels of an immediate need like this.
Likewise, if the salesperson needs to look for help before going into a sales call, remote access to an eLearning tool whilst they’re waiting in the customer car park could be just the answer.
For the sales manager …
There are two ways that eLearning can support sales managers.
1. Coaching
Well structured sales eLearning should provide a helpful framework for the manager to coach the salesperson. It can be used for one on one coaching and working through modules together with the salesperson explaining the reasons for their choices in interactive scenarios.
2. Effective management and a lower cost of sale
As well as developing and sharing best practice, the sales manager wants their team to use their time and effort in the most effective manner. A sales model and eLearning that has this built-in can be integral to building a more effective sales team. The benefits of better performance and a lower cost of sale are clear – the salespeople maximize the return on their time, the sales manager expends less energy to manage the team who follow the same sales process and reporting.
If you’re responsible for sourcing eLearning within your organisation, we’d love to talk to you so please get intouch by email info@tack.co.uk or call 0845 072 0144.
