Glossary

Sales Training Platform

What is a Sales Training Platform

Closing large deals in the enterprise space is no easy task. On top of being persuasive, you need to know the ins and outs of the product or service you’re selling, how it fits into the market, and how to incorporate the needs and preferences of your target audience into your pitches.

It’s no surprise why so few can take on the salesperson occupation.

So, what can you do to empower your sales teams to make your products or services stand out? The answer is simple: sales training.

Sales training unlocks new skills and abilities in your sales staff and ensures their talents properly translate into conversions. Studies have shown that investing in training makes businesses 57% more productive at achieving sales.

That’s why sales training software is the best way to deliver that training, accelerate onboarding procedures for sales and marketing teams, and ensure ongoing professional development.

If you’re serious about improving sales performance and boosting employee confidence when working with clients, understand the vital role of a sales training program and how a platform helps implement one efficiently.

How Does Training Contribute to More Impactful Sales Performance?

Training accelerates the rate at which sales representatives and marketing analysts can pick up on important knowledge and best practices. It directly contributes to:

• Professional development: Sales staff will know more about various steps in the sales cycle, from prospecting new clients to pitching the message and closing deals. Trained personnel know how to communicate the selling points of your product or service effectively and can foster positive, long-term relationships with clients. You can expect sales reps’ individual performance to increase by around 20% due to training.

• Development of soft skills: Salespeople are the link between the business and its clients. Make sure you’re making a positive impression when directly interacting with customers by emphasizing soft skills in your training too. Seek not only persuasiveness but also genuine compassion, which tells the clients that your brand cares about their satisfaction.

• Sales enablement: Sales staff will know how to use the tools and content you provide to them better. A productive representative knows exactly what the customer is looking for when interacting with your brand and can point out relevant features and workflows enabled by your solutions.

Sales enablement differs from sales training because it involves the entire organization, not just the sales team. Everything from generating marketing content to crafting the perfect sales cycle is involved.

But how you deliver this training matters just as much as the content. Training platforms today give businesses more options than ever; courses can be either one-on-one, in a group, in a traditional classroom setting, or online. They can emphasize collaborative learning and supplement it with self-paced training references during off-hours.

What Can an Online Software Platform Do for Sales Training?

Even the most impactful training materials will be useless if you don’t deliver them in an accessible format to your employees. The online sales training platform is the best way to fit training into anybody’s busy work schedule. The advantages are many.

• Cost: In addition to in-person group meetings, staff may also interact with online portions of the class for a hybrid learning experience. SaaS sales training negates the need to organize a venue for every class, reducing the cost of training and increasing return on investment.

• Course customization: Businesses may author their own training content for a more tailored approach. You can create training content targeted at specific responsibilities in your workflow; for instance, an antivirus vendor should opt for cybersecurity sales training to boost technical knowledge. Since every business function requires a different set of skills, offering multiple courses this way covers all your bases.

• A knowledge base: An online training platform conveniently functions as a central repository for training materials. Employees can review documents, video tutorials, and PowerPoints or later reference at any time.

• Collaborative learning: Just because the course is online, doesn’t mean its participants can’t interact with one another. Online sales training allows members of the sales team to learn from each other and share best practices.

• Assessments and metrics: From the completion rates of specific training modules to measuring feedback from employees, training platforms have features to record important metrics. Course designers may then develop new strategies to improve the workflow using this data. For instance, if many participants have problems with one particular topic, the training program might retread that topic later in the course.

• Real-world experience: The primary benefit of virtual sales training software is the option to simulate real sales scenarios for staff members to practice. A representative can rehearse pitches this way and conduct product demos in a safe, separate environment before reaching out to actual customers.

How Do You Ensure Success When Implementing Sales Training?

Training should start at the staff onboarding phase. Even if new hires can’t make it on-site immediately, use remote training to get them started on the right foot as soon as possible. Earlier is better since, as Harvard Business Review has reported, the productivity of new hires is 62% higher in organizations with a formal onboarding procedure.

Your training efforts shouldn’t stop after the first few weeks. Space short segments of content and integrate them into the workflow. This continuous reinforcement encourages knowledge retention and keeps employees focused on sales productivity.

Businesses may also consider one-on-one coaching to supplement traditional classrooms. A more experienced salesperson can help train new hires, answering specific questions and encouraging accountability.

And don’t forget to take advantage of your training platform’s hands-on features. Salespeople can use interactive training modules to test the product or service or provide video demonstrations whenever the customer requests a deeper dive.

Sales Training: An Effective Tool in the Age of Retention

It’s no secret sales is as competitive as it’s ever been. Companies in all industries need to go above and beyond to provide value throughout the sales process — from initial qualifying and contact to ongoing account management.

Having an effective sales training program in place ensures your people are taught best practices for your technology, business workflows, and industry as a whole.

Next Steps to Improve Your Sales Training

Looking to take your sales training to the next level? We’ve got you covered.

Read our blog to discover the latest tips and tricks to make your sales training interesting. You’ll learn the basics of sales training, how to keep it engaging, and how investing in the right technology gives you more control over the entire training experience.

Click here to access these insights.