Poor product knowledge in customer service can slowly drain your business. Studies show that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for excellent customer service, yet 73% of them will abandon a brand after just one poor experience. The common culprit? Undertrained staff who can’t answer questions, offer solutions, or sell your product’s true value. And poor product knowledge equals lost clients and diminished revenue.
Now, imagine this: your customer service team fields an inquiry about a product feature, but instead of delivering an informed answer, they fumble. Your clients walk away frustrated, and worse – they go straight to your competitors. Research by Gartner found that 89% of companies expect to compete primarily based on customer experience. Don’t let your team’s lack of product knowledge be the reason your customers choose someone else.
But here’s the good news: this problem can be fixed quickly with a targeted product training strategy. Let’s dive into how you can turn this around and boost both client retention and satisfaction.
Key Benefits of a Product Training Strategy
First off, let’s talk about customer trust. When your service reps are well-versed in the ins and outs of your products, they exude confidence. This boosts trust between your brand and your customers, making clients more likely to stick around. A Harvard Business Review study found that trust is one of the top three reasons customers stay loyal to a company.
Another perk? Reduced escalation rates. No more passing the buck to supervisors for simple questions! Well-trained employees solve issues on the spot, speeding up resolution times and increasing overall efficiency. A customer service team with solid product knowledge can reduce ticket escalations by up to 20%, freeing up managerial time for bigger issues.
Finally, a well-executed training program can increase upsell opportunities. When your reps truly understand the product, they’re in a better position to recommend complementary services or upgrades, naturally boosting your revenue per customer. Studies by McKinsey show that upselling and cross-selling efforts can increase revenue by as much as 30%.
3 Things Your Customer Service Employee Should Know About the Products
Key Features and Functions. It’s vital that your reps understand the key features of the products they support. If a client asks for the difference between two software versions, your rep should be able to explain the core differences confidently.
Common Issues and Fixes. Customers don’t just want to know what the product does; they need to know how to fix it when something goes wrong. Your reps should be able to troubleshoot common issues. When a customer reports a recurring issue with a smart device, your rep should know the steps to resolve it before escalating.
Benefits and Use Cases. Beyond features, reps should be able to explain how the product adds value and fits into the customer’s workflow or life. If a customer asks why they should upgrade to the premium version, your rep should outline the benefits in terms of user experience and productivity.
Proven Strategies to Improve Product Knowledge in Customer Service
Enhancing product knowledge in customer service is essential to delivering a better customer experience and boosting satisfaction. Well-informed customer service reps can answer questions confidently, troubleshoot problems effectively, and suggest solutions that increase upselling opportunities. Here’s how you can make it happen.
1. Provide Ongoing, Role-Specific Training
Explanation: Customer service reps need product knowledge that’s directly applicable to their role, whether it’s resolving technical issues or assisting with sales inquiries. Tailoring training to specific roles ensures that employees are prepared for the types of questions they will encounter.
Actionable Step: Segment your training program into different modules for technical support, sales, and general customer inquiries. Focus on real-life scenarios for each segment.
Example: Create separate modules for handling refunds, product troubleshooting, and upselling, ensuring each team member masters the skills most relevant to their position. For instance, technical support staff could train on resolving software bugs, while sales reps could focus on product upgrades and add-ons.
2. Incorporate Real-Time Learning Tools
Explanation: Customer service teams need access to up-to-date product information as soon as changes happen. Traditional training can’t keep pace with rapid product updates, leading to service gaps. Real-time learning tools keep your team informed and ready to handle customer inquiries on the fly.
Actionable Step: Implement a knowledge base that syncs with your CRM or help desk software, providing instant access to product updates and troubleshooting guides.
Example: When a new software version is released, your reps should automatically receive the updated user guide within the platform. A customer service rep answering a question about a feature in the updated software can access the latest details directly during the call, preventing errors or misinformation.
3. Use Gamification to Boost Engagement
Explanation: Traditional training methods can be dull and fail to engage employees. Gamification adds an element of fun and competition, motivating employees to learn more effectively. By incorporating rewards, leaderboards, and challenges, employees stay engaged and retain more product knowledge.
Actionable Step: Set up a points-based system where reps earn badges or rewards for completing product training modules or scoring high on quizzes.
Example: Offer rewards for the quickest response to a challenging customer question or for completing a product knowledge quiz with top scores. The rep who finishes the most product training modules in a month could receive a bonus or public recognition, driving friendly competition and improving product knowledge across the team.
How Code of Talent Can Help You Increase Your Employee Product Knowledge
Code of Talent offers a microlearning platform that transforms product training into digestible, role-specific learning journeys. Here’s how:
- Real-Time Updates: With Code of Talent’s platform, you can ensure that every team member receives real-time updates on product changes, so no one is left behind when a new feature launches.
- Gamified Modules: Keep your employees engaged through interactive learning paths that are both fun and informative, ensuring higher retention of product knowledge.
- Tailored Learning Journeys: Code of Talent allows you to create personalized learning experiences, ensuring that your customer service reps receive the exact training they need based on their role.
Conclusions
It’s clear: poor product knowledge is costing you clients. But with a robust product training strategy, you can turn that around. Equip your team with the knowledge they need, and you’ll see immediate improvements in customer satisfaction, retention, and even revenue.
By using platforms like Code of Talent, you’ll make this transformation easy and effective. Ready to boost your customer service team’s product knowledge and start retaining more clients? Get started with Code of Talent today and see the difference it can make!
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This article takes a close look at 23 common reasons why your sales per employee ratio might be underperforming and provides practical steps to address each issue. Designed for Sales Directors, HR Directors, and L&D Managers, the content aims to enhance productivity, streamline processes, and empower sales teams to reach their full potential.
Are you struggling with a low sales per employee ratio? It’s a key metric that can significantly impact your revenue. Companies with top-performing sales teams generate up to 50% more revenue per employee. Let’s make sure you’re not falling behind.
This article will pinpoint 23 key reasons why your sales per employee ratio might be lower than it should be and provide practical steps to start fixing these issues right away.
How Does Revenue Per Employee Help Your Business?
The revenue per employee metric is more than just a number – it provides a clear snapshot of productivity. For Sales Directors and HR Managers, this figure helps measure how efficiently your sales team converts leads into revenue. Top-performing companies generate up to 50% more revenue per employee, meaning fewer wasted resources and higher profitability. Additionally, this metric identifies productivity gaps, enabling you to allocate training, resources, or tech where needed. It’s your roadmap for optimizing performance and profitability.
Sales per Employee Ratio and 23 Fails and Fixes
Having a low sales per employee ratio often signals underlying issues like skills gaps, poor onboarding, or inadequate tools. Addressing these challenges can significantly boost productivity. There are many problems contributing to underperformance, but we offer you practical solutions you can implement immediately. Whether it’s enhancing training, streamlining processes, or introducing AI, you’ll discover fixes that can transform your sales team’s output starting tomorrow.
1. Skills Gaps in Your Team
Explanation: Skills gaps can severely limit your sales team’s effectiveness. Imagine a new hire struggling to close deals because they lack knowledge of advanced negotiation techniques. Without proper training, this knowledge gap translates into missed sales opportunities.
Fix: Conduct a detailed skills assessment to identify weaknesses and create targeted training programs.
Quick Action: Start with a skills gap analysis survey for your team tomorrow.
2. Lack of Targeted Training Programs
Explanation: Generic training programs often miss the mark. Let’s say a seasoned sales rep has different needs than a junior hire, yet both receive the same basic training. This approach leaves experienced reps disengaged and underprepared for complex sales challenges.
Fix: Develop role-specific, custom training modules.
Quick Action: Identify key training areas and start planning specialized modules tomorrow.
3. Insufficient Feedback Mechanisms
Explanation: Picture a sales rep missing targets for months because they haven’t received constructive feedback. This lack of guidance can leave your team unaware of how to improve and grow. Without regular feedback, your team may not know how to improve.
Fix: Establish frequent feedback sessions.
Quick Action: Schedule weekly one-on-one meetings for feedback starting tomorrow.
4. Inadequate Onboarding Programs
Explanation: A new hire may take months to fully grasp their role if your onboarding program is unclear, resulting in lost productivity and frustration. Poor onboarding leaves new hires unprepared.
Fix: Implement a structured and supportive onboarding program.
Quick Action: Review and revise your onboarding process tomorrow.
5. Poor Product Knowledge
Explanation: Your team must know the products inside out. You can’t afford a sales rep stumbling over basic product details during a client meeting.
Fix: Hold regular product training sessions.
Quick Action: Plan a product training session for tomorrow.
6. Lack of Real-Time Updates
Explanation: Sales teams need real-time information to stay ahead. A sales rep pursuing an outdated lead because they didn’t receive real-time updates on the customer’s recent interactions means wasted time and reduced effectiveness.
Fix: Implement tools that provide real-time updates on leads and sales activities.
Quick Action: Roll out a real-time data dashboard tomorrow.
7. Lack of Collaborative Learning
Explanation: Sales can feel isolating, hindering knowledge sharing. A team member struggles with objections, unaware that a colleague recently overcame similar challenges with a successful technique. This missed opportunity highlights the need for knowledge sharing.
Fix: Foster a collaborative environment where team members learn from each other.
Quick Action: Kick off a peer-to-peer learning session tomorrow focusing on recent sales wins.
8. Ineffective Sales Enablement
Explanation: Bridging the gap between marketing and sales is critical. They may waste time searching for the right marketing materials, delaying a critical client conversation.
Fix: Establish a collaborative sales enablement team.
Quick Action: Identify potential members and set up a meeting to define roles tomorrow.
9. Limited Customer Insights
Explanation: If you don’t know your customer, you can’t sell effectively. A salesperson might pitch generic solutions because they lack detailed insights into a prospect’s specific needs. This one-size-fits-all approach reduces the likelihood of closing the sale.
Fix: Invest in tools and training that provide deeper customer insights.
Quick Action: Start collecting and analyzing customer data tomorrow.
10. Ineffective Sales Processes
Explanation: Outdated processes slow everyone down. Spending valuable time on manual data entry instead of selling, due to outdated sales processes equals to inefficiency and can significantly drag down productivity.
Fix: Streamline sales processes using best practices and automation tools.
Quick Action: Identify bottlenecks in your sales process and outline improvements tomorrow.
11. Poor Lead Management
Explanation: Mismanaged leads mean lost opportunities. A sales lead goes cold because it wasn’t followed up in time. This is a common issue when leads aren’t managed effectively, resulting in lost opportunities.
Fix: Implement a robust lead management system.
Quick Action: Set up lead management protocols and assign responsibilities starting tomorrow.
12. Absence of Data-Driven Decision Making
Explanation: Data should drive your strategies. Your team simply cannot rely on gut feelings rather than hard data to make sales decisions. This may lead to inconsistent results.
Fix: Implement data analytics tools to track and optimize sales processes.
Quick Action: Schedule a meeting tomorrow to explore data analytics platforms.
13. Rigid Sales Scripts
Explanation: Flexibility can boost genuine conversation and personal interaction. Let them get away from rigid scripts.
Fix: Train your team to use scripts as guidelines, not scripts.
Quick Action: Review and adjust your sales scripts tomorrow.
14. Inadequate Tech Stack
Explanation: Old tech can hold you back. Your team is using outdated tools that make it difficult to manage leads, communicate with clients, or track performance. This hampers efficiency and results.
Fix: Invest in modern, integrated sales technologies.
Quick Action: Audit your current tech stack and identify gaps tomorrow.
15. No Set KPIs
Explanation: Teams need clear targets to aim for. Without clear KPIs, your sales team lacks direction and may not know what success looks like.
Fix: Define and communicate key performance indicators (KPIs).
Quick Action: Conduct a meeting tomorrow to discuss and set KPIs.
16. Ineffective Compensation Structures
Explanation: Motivating your team is crucial. A poorly structured compensation plan may leave your top performers feeling underappreciated, causing disengagement and possibly turnover.
Fix: Revise compensation plans to reward high performance.
Quick Action: Evaluate your current plans and draft changes tomorrow.
17. Low Employee Morale
Explanation: Morale directly impacts productivity. Sales reps facing constant pressure without proper support may experience burnout, leading to decreased productivity and increased turnover.
Fix: Create a positive work environment with team-building and recognition programs.
Quick Action: Plan a team-building activity or recognition event tomorrow.
18. Limited Time for Selling
Explanation: Administrative tasks consume valuable selling time. Your sales team spends more time on administrative tasks than actual selling? This misallocation of time drastically reduces productivity.
Fix: Automate non-selling tasks.
Quick Action: Identify tasks to automate and start delegating tomorrow.
19. Lack of Targeted Content
Explanation: Generic content doesn’t resonate with specific prospects.
Fix: Develop targeted content for specific customer pain points.
Quick Action: Start creating a content calendar with targeted themes tomorrow.
20. Missing out on the AI Advantage
Explanation: Routine tasks can bog down your team. Your team manually handles routine tasks like lead scoring and follow-ups? This is wasted time that could be spent selling.
Fix: Integrate AI tools to handle administrative tasks, freeing up time for selling.
Quick Action: Evaluate AI-based CRM and Sales Enablement systems and schedule a demo for tomorrow.
21. No Gamification Energizers
Explanation: A lack of motivation can lead to a drop in productivity. Sales can become monotonous, leading to decreased motivation and lower productivity.
Fix: Implement gamification techniques to make work more engaging.
Quick Action: Design a simple sales competition and roll it out tomorrow.
22. Lack of Mentorship Programs
Explanation: Guidance benefits everyone. New or struggling reps may flounder without proper guidance, leading to missed learning opportunities and slow growth.
Fix: Pair new and low-performing sales reps with top performers.
Quick Action: Announce a mentorship program and assign pairs starting tomorrow.
23. Failure to Align Sales and Marketing
Explanation: Your sales and marketing teams are out of sync, resulting in missed opportunities and inconsistent messaging that confuses prospects.
Fix: Set up regular meetings and shared KPIs to ensure both departments are aligned.
Quick Action: Organize a joint meeting between sales and marketing teams tomorrow to establish common goals.
Bringing It All Together: A Path to Guaranteed Rapid Improvement of Your Sales
Improving your sales per employee ratio might seem overwhelming, but focusing on the most impactful and actionable steps can yield quick wins. Start by addressing three key issues: conducting a skills gap analysis, sharpening the sales pitch based on customer insights, and establishing quick and regular feedback mechanisms.
Focus on Key Skills:
Begin by identifying and focusing on the 1-2 most important skills your team needs to improve. This targeted approach can have an immediate effect. By understanding where your team struggles, you can implement role-specific training that targets these areas, ensuring everyone is equipped to excel.
Sharpen the Sales Pitch:
Utilize customer insights to refine and tailor your sales pitch. Knowing your customer’s needs and pain points allows your team to communicate more effectively, making each interaction more impactful and increasing the likelihood of closing deals.
Regular Feedback Mechanisms:
Establishing quick and consistent feedback loops can keep your team on track. Regular one-on-one sessions enable you to provide actionable advice, make timely adjustments, and recognize achievements, fostering continuous improvement.
Jump on the AI Bandwagon:
Integrating AI tools can be a game-changer. Automating routine tasks like lead scoring, customer follow-ups, and data entry allows your team to focus on high-value activities. This not only boosts efficiency but also improves morale by reducing administrative burdens.
Combining all the above: the Code of Talent advantage
Traditional training methods can take up to six months for sales reps to fully ramp up, significantly delaying revenue impacts (Aberdeen Group). Imagine your competition closing deals while your team is still in training. Can you afford to lose that much time and potential revenue? With Code of Talent, that risk is significantly reduced.
- Rapid Skills and Performance Development: Code of Talent enables faster onboarding and skills development, getting your team up to speed quickly.
- Agile Decision-Making Through Real-Time Insights: Access to real-time insights collected directly from training participants allows sales leaders to make informed, agile decisions swiftly. Harvard Business Review highlights that companies using real-time data insights are 5 times more likely to make faster decisions than their competitors.
- Real-Time Market Adaptation: With up-to-date training materials, your team stays agile, ready to adapt to market changes as they happen. According to McKinsey, 84% of sales executives believe that quick adaptation to market changes is critical to their success.
- Increased Sales Talent Engagement and Retention: Engaging and interactive sales training modules ensure your team remains motivated and committed. A study by Gallup found that highly engaged sales teams achieve a 21% greater profitability.
- Enhanced Team Collaboration and Alignment: The platform fosters a collaborative learning environment, enhancing communication and teamwork, which is crucial for improving sales performance metrics.
By focusing on these high-impact actions with the support of Code of Talent, you can drive rapid improvement in your sales per employee ratio, positioning your team for long-term success and sustainable growth.
Improving your sales per employee ratio requires a holistic approach. By taking immediate and focused action on the most critical areas, you can drive significant revenue growth and empower your team to reach their full potential.
Ready to boost your sales efficiency? Discover how Code of Talent can provide tailored training solutions, driving real results alongside your strategic initiatives. Click here to get started.
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If there’s one slogan that every salesperson knows by heart, it’s “Always Be Closing.” This ABC mantra was first made famous in the film Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) when Alex Baldwin’s character gives one of the most influential sales speeches of all time.
It’s a catchy slogan, and one that has permeated most sales training strategies since the 1980s. The question is… does it really hold true today, with changing customer expectations and desires?
Up to 34% of salespeople admit that it’s getting more challenging to close deals. Is this because customers are less willing to buy, or could it be that our sales tactics just aren’t hitting the nail on the head anymore?
As one of the leading microlearning platform providers in the market, we work with sales trainers closely – and we frequently hear about changing customer expectations and sales training strategies. Today, we want to share what we’ve learned and explore why closing isn’t the end-all-be-all of sales.
The Modern Customer Expects More
Arguably the biggest change in today’s sales is the customer’s mentality. Only about 29% of buyers want to talk to a salesperson to learn more about a product, preferring instead to do their own research. That means salespeople need to step up their game if they’re going to provide real value to a customer.
Modern customers are looking for personable, helpful salespeople they can build relationships with – not sales reps that disregard their needs for the sake of closing as quickly as possible. In other words, sales training strategies today need to focus more on listening, understanding, and benefiting the customer, rather than selling the product. Salespeople need to know how to take a consumer-centric approach and understand pain points and needs, then build relationships around these concepts.
This brings us to our next point: what if successful selling is not about closing, but about learning?
A Win-Win Alternative
Traditional sales training strategies focused on teaching salespeople how to close – but today, we need to teach them how to learn. Specifically, modern sales training should encourage people to learn about their customer’s problems and desires, then apply their knowledge of their product to benefit the buyer.
The “Always Be Closing” school of thought ignores buyer needs and places the salesperson at the center of the sales process. The issue with that? The customer should be at the center.
That’s why we would argue the modern salesperson’s motto should be “Always Be Learning,” rather than closing. Learn about your customer, then apply the product’s value, instead of working the equation the other way around.
Today’s sales training strategies need to focus more on helping employees learn:
- What the customer expects, wants, and needs.
- What problems are keeping their customers up at night.
- The competition they are facing.
- The latest industry trends/relevant news.
- How they can ultimately enable their customers’ success.
For example, look at how sales and marketing have changed dramatically in the world of automobiles. Rather than designing a car to sell to the public, most automakers are focusing on manufacturing cars that meet the modern buyer’s desired experience. Salespeople, marketers, and manufacturers are asking the golden question: “what do customers want and need from the vehicles they drive?”
At the same time, car companies are focusing on changing global trends and societal expectations. Rather than showing customers how their vehicles fit into this modern world, they’re creating vehicles that meet eco-friendly standards, budget restrictions, and changing customer preferences.
The bottom line is that if you want to teach someone to SELL, teach them how to CARE about their customers. What are they looking for, and what do they need? Understanding that will teach a salesperson far more than any surefire closing tactic.
Sales Training Tips That Actually Work
(1) Teach Sales Reps to Identify the Customer’s Problem
As we mentioned, it’s crucial that salespeople understand what problem their product can and will solve for a buyer. In some ways, salespeople are like doctors – they need to diagnose the issue before they prescribe the solution.
It doesn’t matter if you’re teaching the most charismatic, likable salesperson in the world. If their training hasn’t taught them how to learn about and address clients’ issues, they won’t be able to explain how they’ll tackle their pain points.
(2) Educate Sales Reps on the Decision-Making Process
Another crucial part of modern sales training strategies: teaching sales reps to understand and assess the customer buying cycle. A great salesperson doesn’t just know their customer – they can also identify where they are in their decision-making process.
Rather than focusing on closing tactics, training companies should educate sales reps on each stage of the buying process:
- Awareness – people realize they need a product, service, or a solution
- Research – customers begin to look at their options
- Consideration – the shoppers evaluate their top choices
- Purchase – customers turn into buyers
- Re-purchase – customers decide if they would recommend the product or buy it again
If salespeople are truly going to learn about their customers, they need to know where they fall in these five stages. Meeting customers where they are in their process is a crucial part of any successful sale today.
(3) Provide Guidance Specific to Your Product or Services
Today, sales representatives aren’t necessarily selling their products – they’re selling their expertise. This requires a change in mindset, as well as a shift away from the ABC mantra.
To create a successful salesperson, you need to help them become a trusted guide and educator. They need to understand what a customer needs, then translate their expertise into a solution for the buyer.
Potential clients want sales representatives who actually care about them and their problems. If they wind up feeling like the seller is cold-blooded and just out for the sale, they’re less likely to finalize the purchase.
Let Us Help Your Sales Learning Experience Pack a Better Punch
At Code of Talent, we’re here to modernize and improve your training and learning strategies – for sales and beyond. Our platform helps bridge the gap between salespeople’s learning process and desired behavior changes, which in turn helps your business grow its revenue.
Contact us today to learn more or schedule a tour of our microlearning platform. The world is moving fast, and if you want to keep up, you need training strategies and tools that work.
All businesses are comprised of several dynamic functions. Much like clichéd cogwheels that are part of a bigger mechanism that makes the clock tick. The sales or business development function proves to be under the organization’s microscope as it is the gateway that leads to prospective clients and customers. A Hubspot survey of salespeople reported that over 28% sales directors work over 60 hours while 72% work evenings and weekends, while 68% describe their lifestyle as challenging and 54% as stressful.
A pathway to achieving business goals, mission and vision the organization is committed to materializing.
Under this impression, salespeople or sales personnel are taught and trained to demonstrate proficiency over a complex skillset. They are each multifaceted, well-versed in the nuances of business operations, in-depth knowledge of products/services they’re selling, the sales process, and the art of persuasion and negotiation.
They should not only be able to answer the prospect or client’s queries and articulate the company’s USP (unique selling proposition) but also use a variety of sales techniques to boost the company’s overall bottom line.
Considering that they are the breadwinners of a business entity, sales managers, trainers, directors, and L&D (learning and development) experts invest in their training and education. Their continuous pursuit of learning new skills and refining existing ones is critical. Unfortunately, many conventional programs tend to fail in imparting the knowledge they originally sought out to share.
It is especially more important as the world phases through the impact of COVID-19. With over 70% to 80% B2B decision makers preferring remote interactions than in-person, according to a Mckinsey B2B sales report, the pandemic has created seismic shift in what the future of the sales function looks like. Learning and development of new skills that facilitate evolution of the sales teams is pertinent to succeeding in the future.
The strive to make sales training effective
There are a couple of reasons that can be attributed to the failure of conventional sales training programs to create meaningful change.
The reason that tops the list is low employee engagement. It is a hurdle that many have tried and are continuing to try and solve. Besides that, irrelevance of the content for their specific need is a lack of time.
Unsurprisingly, sales personnel are one of the busiest departments in any organization. Their job is often beyond the norms of the corporate 9-to-5 as companies are now readily moving towards the globalization front. This means clients and customers spread across various time zones.
Sales teams can’t spare the time to partake in lengthy, conventional training programs. They may be consistently distracted by an awaiting call, client’s email, texts, etc. And since closing a deal at hand and retaining a client seems much more important than another lecture on negotiation skills, they forgo the latter.
The second reason is the approach to sales training. Class-room training, lectures, and workshops where hundreds of sales personnel from different teams, locales, etc. are given the same instructions don’t seem to work as efficiently.
Not only are engagement rates low, but retention of the content is also not as high as trainers would expect. Furthermore, this approach falls under the one-size-fits-all category, which means that regardless of the seniority or individual skill-level of the employee, everyone learns the same things.
If the training pertains to the development of high-level negotiation skills for corporate clients, a new salesperson who’s imply responsible for cold calling won’t benefit from it.
Microlearning – Modern Day’s Solution to the Sales Training Dilemma
Research published by Harvard Business Review Sales Insight shows that 50% of high-performing sales teams admit to having an automated and closely monitored sales methodology. This tells us that the modern sales department and its approach to training need a much-needed transition to more dynamic approaches as they produce better results.
For instance, sales teams that have a dynamic training program are likely to have 28% more wins and can earn up to 7% more in annual revenue. There are various other statistics like these that show the value and impact of a dynamic, on-the-job training program.
Given the impact of more dynamic sales training programs and the shortcomings of conventional approaches, microlearning seems to be a solution that alleviates the challenges.
What does it entail?
eLearning and microlearning are by no means brand new concepts. However, they are revolutionary and have become so with the integration of new-age technology in the recent past.
Whether an organization’s sales teams are dispersed across the globe or concentrated in one national region, microlearning platforms make creating and disseminating training material and course much easier.
Instead of relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, it allows sales trainers and managers to create programs, courses and goals tailored to each employee’s needs. This works more effectively because the content is divided into more digestible chunks.
Since modern microlearning platforms are available in the form of mobile applications, they can access the material on their phones on-the-go. This works even better for busy sales personnel who thrive on multitasking.
Furthermore, microlearning platforms allow trainers and sales managers to create and disperse actionable objectives by using gamification features. Setting small tasks and quizzes for each lesson keep them engaged, give users a sense of accomplishment, and adds value to their learning efforts.
Plus, they can complete each lesson and activity within less than 10 minutes, which is effective for people with short attention spans and busy work schedules.
Microlearning platforms such as Code of Talent facilitates training opportunities in various sales-related areas. Whether its product know-how through short learning modules or gamified journeys that test the salesperson’s social selling skills, the digital ecosystem of a microlearning platform delivers a wide range of information.
Coca-Cola: A Practical Example of How to Increase Sales Agility
To put words into practice, let’s take our client, Coca-Cola HBC, as an example. This industry leader in the bottling sector, used the Code of Talent platform to increase their sales teams’ agility and skills.
The challenge was to improve the sales organization’s performance and skills through real-time, mobile learning. And we rose to the challenge, having achieved all our objectives:
- 70% skills improvement across all competencies
- 90% engagement rates
- the revenue growth management equation has been achieved
- many business developers have overachieved their targets
- dedicated training time was optimized by 50%.
You can download the full case study, with more details about the objectives and the implemented solution.
Turn knowledge into action
All in all, microlearning can help a sales organization in many ways, starting from increased skills retention, better engagement to time and cost-savings. Instead of conducting lengthy orientations and spending time reading the same training manuals multiple times, making them available on the eLearning platform allows them to access relevant material on their own whenever necessary.