There are a myriad of companies now offering online sales training courses. From Universities in the US like Northwestern or University of Michigan through to smaller, boutique agencies.
The pandemic and subsequent lock-down of 2020 drove what few players who weren’t online to get online or go out of business.
With face to face selling no longer allowed during lock-down, selling immediately got a lot tougher for many b2b sales people.
This is where online training courses come into their own and can give your salespeople and sales management a real edge over your competitors.
If you’re wondering whether online sales training is an inferior alternative to the offline version, read on to find out more about how it can boost your sales and your brand.
Additional resources available on Online Sales Training:
Any learning programmes you deliver should provide results and an ROI to the business and online sales training is no different.
Time spent traveling to traditional training is time your sales people are out of the field. Furthermore, the cost of travel and accommodation in some cases, can equal or exceed the cost of the actual training.
When you invest in online sales training, you can reduce the amount of time your team spend away from the workplace.
Online sales courses help you keep any disruption to a minimum, so your day-to-day operations aren’t compromised.
In an age where work-life balance is becoming more and more important, reducing days and nights away at traditional training events can be more appealing to much of the sales force and sales management who have to fund traditional sales training programs.
Offline sales training remains relevant, but it can harm productivity. The logistics attached to arranging classroom-based learning can be very costly, not only in terms of your budget, but your time too.
Online training tends to be delivered in bite sized chunks making it easier for salespeople to consume.
In addition to the challenges of taking time out for traditional event based training, many salespeople report struggling after the training.
One or two days away from your desk usually only serves to create a backlog of work for salespeople to return to and deal with.
Technological advancements with products like Microsoft Teams and learning portals have made online sales training much more effective and easier to deliver and consume.
Video conferencing, enhanced streaming capabilities and the emergence of powerful and dependable new software have made online sales training much more effective than it was in the past.
It’s now possible to source training from experts around the world rather than just ones based in your locality.
Many sales training specialists are now supporting companies outside their traditional territories.
It’s also often easier to deliver useful online sales training content online.
This content can come in the form of a conventional training book, graphs, e-books, videos and more. In addition to training it’s also possible to support salespeople after the training via live chat and video conferencing call.
This is why so many brands are now embracing the digital way of doing things.
An often overlooked but important part of the learning and development process, is sales coaching.
Training is the transfer of knowledge, whereas coaching is the practical application of the knowledge in the field. Coaching takes what salespeople learn in the classroom and coaches them through how to implement the new learning and skills in the boardroom.
In addition to being able to provide important context and nuance, a good sales coach will boost the sales persons morale and confidence.
Sales Coaching can also deliver real value when helping salespeople focus on the right behaviours. Learning new skills is worthless unless the skill is then used in the day to day behaviours of the salespeople.
Many of today’s b2b sales teams regard online sales training as more useful than classroom-based learning.
As salespeople can learn at their own pace at a time that suits them, they are more likely to feel engaged with the content.
In addition, they can even access the material in the comfort of their own homes in many cases. Some salespeople will inevitably learn quicker than others, so each salesperson can learn at their own pace rather than receiving training at the pace of the group which maybe too fast or too slow for them.
Most courses are simply accessed via a course link from your PC or mobile device which makes the learning process much easier for the user.
Another key benefit of online b2b sales courses are that it’s now simpler to source the specific type of training you need.
If you require a sales course that’s specific to your industry or a problem that you’re facing, it’s easier than ever to locate people that can provide it.
Salespeople can receive their targeted sales skills training individually if they wish, or via a wider group in the sales team if Peer learning is part of the learning strategy.
Content is less likely to go off-topic when it is delivered online. They can also choose to learn at a time that suits them which helps keep the learning relevant to their needs.
Sales training can help your sales team feel more confident when talking about your products to new and existing customers.
This confidence is an essential part of sales performance and can empower them to meet their sales targets and help you stand out even in crowded marketplaces.
Research suggests that employees are more likely to remain with a company, when they have been given access to valuable sales training.
Replacing staff can be costly and time-consuming, and it can take weeks or months for new team members to get up to speed with your company culture as well as your products and services.
This is why staff retention is such an important concept for so many businesses. Most employees appreciate working for companies who help them to continue building their sales skills and studies show they are more likely to stay if they feel they are still learning.
Many online courses following a drip learning methodology to increase learning retention.
Drip learning is the process by which training is delivered in small pieces over a longer period of time rather than event based training where all the content is crammed into 8 or 16 hours.
Studies show that event based learning can have retention rates as low as 5% unless the training is supported after the course.
Online sales training can be spread out over longer periods of time and allow the participants time to practice new skills and strategies by some form of activity in between sessions.
Online training courses can vary from 1 session per week over a month to 26 sessions per week over 12 months for more in depth training.
Whilst traditional in person sales training has been delivered via one or two day sales courses this model does not lend itself to online delivery.
The format simply doesn’t work well with online learning as asking salespeople to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day is more likely to put them off learning than encourage them. Our web based sales training is structured very differently around shorter sessions with breaks to avoid “Zoom fatigue”.
We have found that sessions lasting 2 hours are simply too long for most people, and our own online sessions are typically no longer than 90 minutes long. In addition, they are deliberately interactive in order to grab and hold the attention of participants. Rather than a one way monolog PowerPoint, every session includes interactive elements to engage participants and create a positive learning environment.
Each session in our web based sales training would normally contain some form of initial introduction and discussion on the topic, a piece of work based activity for the participants to complete, and a review conversation to capture lessons learned at the end.
At Klozers we have adapted each of our traditional sales courses for online delivery.
This means there is a wide range of sales courses to choose from such as: How to Sell to Big Companies, Consultative Selling Skills course, SaaS Sales Training, Telephone Sales Training course, Key Account Management, Sales Management Training course, Sales Navigator Training, Microsoft Teams Sales Training, Key Selling Skills, LinkedIn training.
Also available are bespoke online courses whereby we can either customise existing content to your needs, or deliver specialised training and courses that are designed from the ground up, to meet your needs.
As with our face to face training, our online sales courses include all the important sales skills, strategy and tactics from our face to face training.
Each online sales course can be tailored to meet the exact needs of your sales force both in terms of selling skills content and delivery. In short, no mater your requirement, we have sales courses that can help you grow your business.
Unlike many other industries, Sales and Marketing changes very quickly and at Klozers we want to be at the forefront of new trends, new sales strategies and new technologies.
As a company we are consistently trialling new concepts in our own business and so we can prove or disprove these to our clients.
For our customers this means the content we teach in every sales program has already been proven by our own team internally. Furthermore, we can share the actual results, both good and bad with our clients as part of their sales course.
Another key benefit of online sales training is that our sales course content is updated very quickly. As an example we have updated all our online sales training courses to included the very latest in terms of remote selling techniques.
Our course content is peer reviewed in addition to the feedback we receive during and after every training session.
What’s probably more important is the ability to work together with colleagues to ensure they are all aligned and fully up to date with the latest industry best practices and trends.
Training can also improve their understanding of your customers’ ever-changing expectations.
This makes your team more adept at meeting market expectations and matching your customers’ needs with your products and services.
Self paced learning plays an important part in any online training course, however, we have found that a blend of both instructor led training which is delivered live which is then supplemented with self paced learning is the optimum approach when engaging sales people.
Simply put, without engagement there will be no improvement in either sales skills or sales behaviours and any increase in sales performance from the sales team will be negligible.
Live, Instructor led training is much better at capturing and holding the attention of any sales team. In our experience sales people are extremely busy and when you are relying on them to find time in their day to complete self paced training it rarely happens.
Every company, every sales team has a specific nuance, a different context in terms of their approach and understanding of Selling skills, changes to sales process, sales performance, sales management and sales results.
This can never be catered for in self paced learning. Participants need the ability to question, clarify and even challenge the sales trainer which is only available with instructor led training.
Online training courses are not only available for new entrants looking to boost their sales skills.
There are many advanced online training courses for more experienced salespeople looking to up-skill or refresh their skills, improve their techniques or go on to more leadership oriented subject matter.
A sales training course specifically for groups can also make teams more connected, help strengthen their relationships, increase collaboration, boost sales performance and provide a focus that reinforces the companies sales strategy.
Furthermore, companies from all industries may be under lock-down conditions making online courses the only option available.
Online training can be better suited for companies seeking continuous learning, whereas many offline sales courses may see trainers only visit your company once or twice, never to return.
Many sales people prefer the bite size approach to learning. With this approach, they can spend take in 30 minute segments of content at a time of their choosing.
These work best on a self paced learning course as a pose to Instructor led training.
They can then log off before their attention starts to wander as is often the case with any online programme.
Nonetheless, online sales training shouldn’t replace offline learning completely.
Classroom-based training still offers certain benefits for your businesses, and we believe you should take advantage of both learning methods.
Like any other industry technology has dramatically transformed the design, delivery and user experience of online learning.
In addition to bespoke learning software such as Kajabi, Thinkific and Learndash which can be easily implemented on any website their are now many custom Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Coursera and Docebo.
Whilst most LMS systems are typically company wide their are now many sales specific solutions like Brainshark, Seismic and Mindtickle each built around the concept of Sales Enablement.
Many online sales training programmes tend to be based around the very latest learning research. The modern online learning system has analytics built in, so seller behaviours can be predicted and measured.
At every stage of the training, the systems collect and analyse the relevant data which gives employers a better insight into the efficiency of the training process.
Online learning experiences can consist of simulations, negotiations, discovery calls, business development calls, account management calls, games, visuals, videos and more.
As you would expect the best measurement of any training programme is bottom line results. This can be difficult to prove with generic training, however, this is much easier when designing bespoke courses that connect the desired outcomes to the right sales skills and behaviours.
The right online sales training provider can help your team become better, more focussed and persuasive sales professionals. If you’ve never considered using a digital sales training service before, now may be the time to act.
We’d love to show you how our own online learning works and how we can customise our programmes to your world. Arrange a call today and speak to one of our coaches.
Iain Swanston has spent over 30 years in B2B sales selling, training and leading teams both domestically and internationally. In addition he serves as an Associate at Strathclyde University Business School where he has delivered the sales content for the Masters in Entrepreneurship since 2015.
107a High Street
Dalkeith
EH22 1AX
United Kingdom
