Corporate Sales Training Is Better Now Than 10 Years Ago

Some things just get better with time. This is true of fine red wine, fancy cheese or simply a broken-in pair of jeans. However, did you know you can count corporate sales training among them? It’s easy enough to see that sales training in general has changed greatly over the decades, but there are numerous advances within the last ten years that are adapted to the dynamic and ever-changing modern sales environment. These changes result in better retention and can have a positive result on your team’s performance and your profits as a result.

There are numerous examples available in which sales trainings have improved in results and in retention. Here are just a few ways that corporate sales training is better than it was 10 years ago.

Aptitude testing

It’s true that this isn’t a concept invented in the last 10 years, however it has been greatly refined in the last decade and has fast become the industry standard at the top business sales training programs. By assessing employees with comprehensive aptitude testing, you can draw out those star performers. It is a highly-efficient way of finding the stand out candidates best suited to benefit from sales training and hit the ground running. This not only develops your best talent and leads to increased sales, it also reduces overall costs of training by devoting resources to those candidates most likely to provide the best ROI. There are also tests for emotional intelligence and other metrics valuable in hiring or promotion situations.

Interactive approach

Long gone are the days of static PowerPoint slide presentations followed by a dry lecture. Sales trainings now utilize new ways of approaching how information is best presented and retained by the audience. Most of the successful programs include interactive, hands-on portions, role-play centered on realistic scenarios and gamification. Instead of just being “talked at” by the speaker, your team is engaging in a dialogue with the speaker. They are participating in realistic role play scenarios with valuable applications on the job with fellow colleagues. They are competing in teams and with each other to motivate them and hold their attention for the duration of the program.This increases the overall buy-in of every participant as well as retention of the information presented.

Online support

The internet has been around for awhile, but few of us have truly utilized its full potential as a training resource. More and more of us are going online for news and information of all types and the top business sales training programs have not only noticed, but have begun to make supplemental materials such as blogs, videos and podcasts available on YouTube, Blogger, WordPress and various other forums. By providing it in a format most of us are already using, it increases our likelihood of using it and getting the most out of the program as possible.

If the last ten years are any indication, the next ten years will continue in the progression toward ever-improving sales training techniques and will adapt as the needs of business change. It seems we have a lot to look forward to!