Building a B2B Sales Training Program
B2B Sales Training Delivers Meaningful Results
To keep pace with changes in the buying process and remain ahead of the competition, successful B2B organizations must ensure their salespeople remain agile and strive for continuous improvement. For many B2B selling organizations, continuous skill-building at scale is not an easy task.
Identifying the right skills, the right people, the right sustainment path, and the right metrics to measure takes planning and expertise.
These 5 tips will help you build an effective business-to-business sales training program.
1. Start at the Top
Leadership buy-in and commitment is critical. From the vision they communicate through the behaviors they display, leaders need a clear path and set of skills to lead the change.
2. Make It Personal
Every salesperson and sales manager comes to the table as a unique individual with strengths and gaps. Personalization begins by giving the team visibility into their unique needs to create buy-in and engagement. Customized, contextualized content drives immediate relevancy. Targeted learning paths drive individual behavior change and are achievable at scale.
3. Focus on Agility
The sales process and methodology a sales organization employs drives consistency and a common language for sales coaching. But, B2B sales skills are what drive agility in the moment with the buyer. In a world where change is constant, the most successful business-to-business sales organizations are the ones that are highly skilled and can stay out in front of their buyers.
4. Plan with the End in Mind
Sustainment and measurement strategies should be planned at the beginning of a sales transformation initiative. Understanding the critical business metrics you need to improve will drive the behaviors you change. Sustaining your transformation is the best path to realizing the full return on investment.
5. Use Data to Keep Getting Better
Using real-time data and analytics not only shows progress, but it also allows for in-the-moment adjustments for the most targeted improvement efforts. Commitment, engagement, behavior change, and performance improvement are all measurable elements that should be tightly woven together in a data set that is accurate and delivered in a way that leads to actionable insights for your business.
Building momentum to the close of a sale while preserving the bottom line requires a strategy that takes place before, during, and after the sales call.
Richardson Sales Performance offers programs like prosperous account strategy to train sales reps on building an intentional plan to engage their customers and B2B prospects. These programs combined with those that focus on selling conversations like Consultative Selling, Sprint NegotiationsTM and Sprint SellingTM build a powerful solution for improved sales performance.
Learn more about Richardson Sales Performance's Connected Selling CurriculumTM
Selecting a Training Modality For Your B2B Sales Training Program
In most cases, a blended learning solution will be most effective for professionals who sell B2B products or services because it minimizes time out of market and maximizes time spent in the classroom. A balanced, pragmatic approach to learning helps promote the acquisition of knowledge; mastery; application; and long-term, sustained behavior change in the field.
A blended learning solution incorporates a wide range of training delivery modalities that might include:
- Instructor-led training
- Virtual instructor-led training
- Digital learning platform
- Live or recorded webinars
- Video-based learning scenarios
- Mobile Reinforcement
- Gamification
A common blended learning approach to B2B sales training typically involves 55%-75% of the total time spent engaged in various online activities and the remainder of the time in the classroom.
Building an effective B2B sales training program can be a daunting task. If you would like support in creating a program that engages your sales team and drives results for your organization contact Richardson Sales Performance to learn more about how you can partner with us to drive success.
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