In the field of sales only one thing is supreme and yes you have guessed it right-its the numbers that speak.. In order to achieve the desired numbers, the sales staff have to be given proper sales training and need to be equipped with the right knowledge to handle situations on the field.

However, you might have often come across situations where your salespeople are not motivated to undergo sales training. Some of the common reasons for the lack of motivation are:

1) Unable to take out time to attend classroom training, as it requires not devoting “that much time” on the field or making a sales call.

2) Disconnect with the sales training content as well as the delivery mechanism as it seems to lack action orientation and leads to cognitive overload.

3) Salespeople are unable to find any direct value add from the sales training as it lacks just in time support.

These are some common pain points of sales workforce and the best part is that they can be addressed in one stroke through  the magic formula called microlearning.

So let’s discover how microlearning can be effectively applied in certain areas of sales training and can be a panacea for all your sales training woes :

1.Sales Methodology Training 

As you may be aware that sales methodology includes skills like :

  • Negotiation skills
  • Telephone and Sales etiquette
  • Time Management
  • Communication skills
  • Presentation skills

While all these skills can be best learned through a one day or two days of classroom training or an hour of e-learning course, microlearning can be a good solution to refresh these skills.

For example small microlearning videos or bite sized responsive e-learning modules on “how to handle a difficult customers” or “how to talk politely to a prospect” or “how to manage the time better” or “how to negotiate with a prospect” can be good on the job aids for all sales professionals wanting to brush up on their skills before going for a sales meeting.

Microlearning  owing to its micro form can be accessed through mobile/smartphones, the sales staff can refer to it during their convenient time or just in time .

2. Sales Management Training 

Sales management training involves training the sales managers on how to effectively manage their sales teams. Sales Managers need to demonstrate people management skills , analytical skills and decision making skills while managing their teams to achieve the desired sales objectives.

Microlearning again can prove to be an effective solution for sales management  training as most of the managers find it convenient to learn at their time, pace and on their device rather than learning in a structured manner. Also personalization of learning can be ensured through microlearning by building in branched scenarios, assessments, gamification etc. Moreover sales managers can also motivate their teams to take up microlearning modules to sharpen their selling skills.

3. Product Sales Training

Microlearning plays a vital role in product sales training, especially while demonstrating the features and benefits of the products to the sales team. Short video clips both animated and non-animated helps the sales team in retention and recall of the benefits and features of the products they are selling, which in turn leads to closure of the sales.

Microlearning also makes it convenient for the product managers to reach out to the entire sales staff with updates regarding the features of the product.

Microlearning also becomes an enabler for a just in time support to the sales team about a new update or a product feature they are not well versed with.

4. Sales Force Automation 

Salesforce automation is another area where microlearning can be used effectively. With the changing business dynamics, more and more organizations are adopting sales force automation to manage their entire sales process.

Training the entire sales team on how to use a new technology or a CRM software etc can be a cumbersome task if not handled well.

Microlearning modules on sales automation like “how to enter a new lead in CRM software” or “how to move a lead in the sales funnel” or “how to monetize a lead” etc. can easily help the sales team to learn small bit at a time without having to worry about the next steps in the process. Another advantage is that these microlearning modules can support the sales team while doing the actual task (just in time support).

Well, these are some of the ways by which you can deliver sales training through microlearning.  So are there some other areas of sales training, where you feel microlearning can be used effectively? We would love to know other areas where microlearning can be used to deliver sales training.