Viewing posts in the Best Practices Sharing category
5 Ways to Boost the ROI of Your Sales Training
Every organization seeks a healthy return on its investments, but when it comes to boosting or even measuring the ROI of sales training, things can get tricky. For one thing, it’s not easy to predictively align activities such as training exercises and learning retention with tangible outcomes such as productivity and revenue. Even when this is accomplished, it can be difficult to prove causation instead of mere correlation – e.g., that a newly taught objection-handling response is responsible for closing more deals, rather just the innate talent of your latest batch of... Continue Reading
Subject Matter Experts, Get Agile!
As a subject matter expert (SME), you have knowledge that the sales force needs to access, but the challenge is sharing information with the sales force that’s both timely and relevant. When things change–market conditions, competitive pressures, regulatory changes, etc.–a long treatise will go unread, and a professionally produced document or video will take too long to make. Agile content–typically short, to-the-point videos (think YouTube, not Hollywood)–will often get the information out the most quickly and engage your audience most effectively. But how do you create and share agile video content the... Continue Reading
To Harness Informal Learning and Drive ROI, Adopt Formal Processes to Capture It
Though we’re not always conscious of it, we benefit from informal learning every day—in our homes, workplaces and on the road. Informal learning is driven by mobile devices. For example: while on vacation we check out Yelp to find the right restaurant. Or, if the kitchen faucet starts leaking before guests arrive, we consult YouTube for fast tips on how to fix it. This is how learning and readiness in our lives outside of work feels: it’s peer-driven, it happens just in the nick of time, and it feels totally informal. But... Continue Reading
Overcoming Fears to Embrace Informal Learning
In a previous post we took a closer look at thinking holistically about employee development and embracing the informal learning activities people not only prefer but seek out on their own. Any strategy that ignores this 90% of professional learning already taking place outside the confines of structured learning programs is missing a tremendous opportunity to elevate sales rep performance across the most critical metrics. But change is still often scary, even when accepted as the right path forward. So, let’s take a stab at alleviating the two most common fears. #1... Continue Reading