Categories: Sales Productivity
If you’ve been selling for a bit, you’ve been through your fair share of SKO events, sales training, sales methodologies, eLearning courses — the works. While some of these sales trainings may seem repetitive, others may have had a positive impact on your career. The way you approach these initiatives is directly correlated to how much value you get from the trainings. Elite sellers show up to sales training events with an understanding that this moment could have a significant impact on their quotas and their customer’s ultimate success. Show up with a mentality to maximize results and ensure you get value from your next sales training. Here are a few tactics you can use to get the most out of any sales training.
Make the training relevant and practical for yourself.
A constant focus on application to live opportunities and customers can make all the difference, turning what you thought might have been a waste of time into a valuable experience you can leverage to propel your deals forward. Keep your current opportunities in mind as you learn and execute training exercises. Constantly tie what you’re learning to your current opportunities and even existing accounts. Have the details of a critical opportunity top of mind and keep asking yourself, “How does what we’re discussing at this moment apply? How can I use this to advance that client conversation?”
If you’re having trouble mapping the right connections, leverage facilitators and your managers. Ask them questions, dig deep and get insights on how to tie back critical concepts to a challenge you’re working through in your deals.
Focus on making role plays and group sessions as effective as possible.
Well-executed sales training deliveries spend more time practicing the application of new methodologies (through role plays and group discussion sessions) and less time presenting those methodologies. Use that time to effectively practice your execution of new concepts by fully participating and putting in your best efforts.
For role plays:
If you participate in a role play during training, build a scenario for it that is similar to what you’re currently working through with a customer. Use the role play to practice and nail new techniques or methodologies to ensure you aren’t practicing in front of your customer. When role plays are executed correctly, they provide valuable takeaways for everyone involved and can help you adjust your approach to be more impactful.
For group sessions:
If you’re working with a group of your peers during the training, leverage their insights and knowledge. Ask about their current deals and how they’re planning to apply new principles to them. Most importantly, pay attention. Some of the most valuable takeaways you get from the session may just be from hearing your peers work through their own challenges during the group session. Plus, great facilitators will call on you to keep you engaged in these sessions. Make sure you’re listening so you can respond accordingly.
Complete and comprehend your pre-work.
Most strategic sales trainings will provide some type of pre-work, whether it’s an online course or preparing information on a live opportunity that you should bring to the session. Do this work and execute it to the best of your ability.
Make sure you execute any pre-work courses to ensure you are familiar with the concepts and principles because great facilitators will call on you and great sales training deliveries spend more time practicing concepts than preaching about them. Don’t just click through a course, move beyond mediocrity. Sit with the concepts and do your best to comprehend what you need to know beforehand. Write down any questions you have so you can bring them up to a facilitator and expand your knowledge during the session. Take notes of how you may be able to apply concepts to your current opportunities. These actions will help you prepare to tie concepts to your opportunities during the session — in a way that makes the training a valuable use of your time.
If you’re asked to bring background information on a live opportunity, don’t bring an opportunity that you’ve already closed, as it would just be a waste of your time and the facilitator’s time. We’ve seen this, and it did not go over well for the rep or the manager. When you bring information on a live deal to discuss, you have an opportunity to gain insightful action steps and strategies you can use to propel your deal forward to a successful close. Work with your manager to pinpoint the right opportunity to bring to the training session.
Show up and use this time to your advantage.
Show up to your next training knowing that moments like these, and the impacts they can have, are in large part a result of the mindset you bring. Go into any training with the right mindset so you can get the most out of your time and propel your opportunities forward.
For more sales tips and timely best practices, subscribe to the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast on your favorite streaming platform.
