Super-Effective Sales Training, No Classroom Required
September 16, 2008
By Tim Hagen
Training is one of those words that has numerous connotations associated with it. When we first think of training we often envision an instructor behind a podium imparting his or her wisdom, assuming students will then have the foresight to apply the principles back in the real world.
Second, training is often perceived as an expense that is hard to quantify. Third, training takes on the persona that the instructor better be good, or the training process will be not be effective. In addition, it is perceived to be time-intensive and not palatable when considering how to apply the training to the real world.
Well, none of these assumptions or presumptions have to be true. Training or learning does not have to take place in a classroom, and it does not have to be solely the instructor’s responsibility. There is a way to reduce management time, decrease long-term training costs and, ultimately, turn employees into high performers who manage their own learning.
You may be asking yourself, "How does this take place?" Very simply, thanks to a concept known as "self-directed learning." The process utilizes short techniques in 15- to 45-minute sessions geared toward simulating the required skills of a specific job function. The activities are performed on a continuous basis—such as daily or weekly.
The following are some of the most common areas of training and some specific self-directed learning techniques:
Product training. An employee could demo or teach the basic elements or components of a product and than have the employee teach it back. After all, it has been proven that to truly know something is to have the ability to teach it.
Industry knowledge. An employee could be provided with reading materials on the industry, with the ultimate expectation they will either email a supervisor what they learned or present the concept to management.
Soft skills. Listening and presentation skills can be role-played by using specific scenarios that apply to the real world. To ensure the activity is completed, a third person could be asked to score the people role-playing and have the scores sheets turned into their manager.
Positive behavior. Modeling is a technique whereby one employee observes another employee who represents the positive behavior. A second facet of this technique is to then have the employee act out the modeled behavior. Lastly, the employee could e-mail his or her manager describing the behavior, and in what areas they learned they need improvement, as a result of observing the desired behavior.
Industry workshops/certifications. If employees need to go a public workshop or industry certification, you can leverage this event by teaching their peers in small groups what they learned and how they can apply the techniques to their jobs.
Any manager can learn the self-directed learning concept and how to successfully apply it. The key factor of a self-directed learning system is to match the activities with desired outcomes. Build activities that ask the employees to complete tasks drawn from the real world. The manager then has visibility to real world issues so they can make a true impact, and employees feel the activity to be worthwhile because it helps them earn more money and achieve actual results.
In summary, the benefits of self-directed learning for organizations of all sizes are tremendous. If implemented properly, it provides improved morale, reduced employee turnover, less management time and, ultimately better performing employees.
Tim Hagen is the president of Sales Progress LLC, a sales consulting organization. He can be reached at 262-240-1077 or via e-mail at Tim@SalesProgress.com.
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine
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