There is nothing worse than training a group of sales people that look like they are just nodding their heads to everything you say or barley staying awake. You never know what tactics they end up taking with them and implementing. This is why it’s important to have more of an interactive training session. This way your sales people have to pay attention and actively participate. It’s a good thing to put them on the spot and make sure they understand what is being taught to them. Below are some tips for ensuring that your sales team is learning the tactics you teach them and using them out in the field.
- Role-play – This should be a core part of your process. This is one of the most common things that trainers do not do because they don’t want to deal with the complaints and hesitation. Remember, it is important to not only pick the newbies; make sure to get some senior reps involved in the role-playing as well. For the newbies it can help us see that it’s sinking in and with the seasoned folks we can be reassured they still have it.
Have your sales people write their feedback about the training session. Ask them specifics about they liked and didn’t like. And ask them how they would change the things they didn’t like. This is a great way to gauge how many people were paying attention and if the information was retained.- Listen in on their calls for the next few weeks after the training session. Let them know you may be listening, but that no feedback will be provided. This is just more for the trainees to know what information was learned and what wasn’t. Then have a follow up meeting a few months later letting them know what you found and ask them how they felt about implementing the new tactics as well.
How do you ensure that your sales team is learning all the tactics you are teaching them during your training sessions?
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