For a workforce that is used to earning more immediate dividends on their work, most sales professionals have been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, their sales progress is measured in spoonfuls, rather than wheelbarrows. The sales cycle has been extended, and the traditional sales playbook, for many, has been torn up.
For those who are missing the sense of immediacy that comes with selling a customer or prospect face-to-face, now is a golden opportunity to turn your focus to a level of fulfillment that can restore your sales team’s sense of purpose in the world.
Virtual sales training – accessible now, to your entire sales force – can be a decided advantage for your team today, offering a level of dynamism that can pay off, right away, for your organization.
If the efficacy of traditional sales training is measured in leaps and bounds – actualized over time and measured through a long-term trendline – the payoffs of virtual training can be capitalized upon today. As in, right now.
Here are five reasons why the ROI for virtual training can be well worth the investment:
- Training has changed with the times – change with it: We get it – your traditional sales techniques are out the window. Dinners and golf outings have been eliminated. And if you were to show up at your client’s facility, you likely would be turned away by a security guard with a face mask and gloved hand. That’s why training that keeps apace with the times is critical to restoring your sales mojo. In building our virtual training programs here at The Brooks Group, we’ve made the digital tools that come with virtual conferencing programs like Zoom a central part of the experience. We are able to administer training on these new tools, and how to incorporate them into your remote selling techniques; provide team-building exercises using examples that translate well to video conferencing; and incorporate new information about the effect of government distancing restrictions on your industry, vertical or product,
- You can put into practice what you have learned right away: With traditional training, you tend to be locked away for several days at a distant site. Include travel to and from the location, and it could be a week or more until you put your lessons into practice. With virtual training – delivered by video conference and parsed into more brief, “snackable” content, there are immediate takeways that you can deploy now. You can literally learn a sales technique in the morning and put it into practice that afternoon.
- Reinforcement is immediate and ongoing: As we shared, your virtual training likely will consist of a regular diet of scaled-down sessions, with immediate real-world action items that you will report on in your next training session. There, you’ll be able to react immediately to the successes (and challenges) related to your sales presentations, and gain immediate reinforcement/refinement from your professional facilitator or trainer.
- Combat the potential for your team to lose focus: This can be a very disconcerting time for salespeople, and motivating your professionals – who already tend to be more individualistic – takes some nuancing. For sales professionals that are used to getting up and moving around, the prospect of working from home has probably felt rather constricting. That’s why, during virtual training, we tend to limit the “butts in seats” time to two hours or less per session. Also, sales managers likely are concerned that the pandemic has left sales professionals with gaps in their schedule. Virtual training can help to fill a portion of that day with productive, actionable behavior that can be measured in improved efficacy.
- Be ready for the “new normal” as the economy reopens: The big pivot is coming – will your sales professionals be ready when the world starts to bounce back? Taking advantage of the opportunities that will exist – and factoring in changes including the lingering impacts on your clients and competition – requires a preparation, and specific plans. Though many companies are using the slowdown to conserve cash and to stay in hibernation during the slowdown, research following the 2008 financial downturn indicates that the ones that bounce back best will have made strategic investments in activity that prepared them the upturn.
Looking to boost the effectiveness and performance of your remote sales team? Our IMPACT Selling Virtual Instructor-Led Sales Training Program is the perfect solution. Our expert facilitators can train your team online from anywhere, in a live, collaborative, virtual classroom. Learn more about our Virtual Instructor-Led Training options by reaching out today.
