Reinventing the Digital Sales Training Playbook – Five Critical Success Factors

In the world of communications training, 2021 was a pivotal year.

We saw tremendous growth in the sophistication of digital training environments, as companies adopted digital approaches to deliver exceptional learner experiences that help their workforces succeed.

One of the most exciting areas where this has played out is in digital sales training experiences.

Many companies are in their second and perhaps even third round of pandemic-related redesigns of sales kickoffs, user conferences, bootcamps, and other large-scale meetings. The shock of dramatically changed selling environments, demanding customer expectations, and a wholesale shift in the composition of sales teams themselves has given way to innovative solutions.

As we head into 2022, we are seeing a rapid uptake of digital solutions by companies across industries.

Here’s why. The technology is up to the task, the acceptance of digital engagement is at an all-time high, and early adopters have shown the impact digital solutions can have.

This year, several of our clients teamed up with us to design and deliver rich, state-of-the-art digital sales experiences. They recognized that a digital approach could engage their large sales organizations in a meaningful way.

More than just imparting the go-to-market strategy and messaging, the events had to “wow.”

As we created custom, tailor-made experiences, these five requirements formed our foundation.

  1. Build Culture Through Community-Driven Experience
    At the very top of the requirements list was a desire to create a sense of community. To unify a global map of individuals and teams. To help them feel part of a company culture. By weaving relationship-building elements throughout the event, companies saw their sellers, and their managers, truly engage with each other, embrace the learning, and create a spirit of camaraderie.
  2. Deliver Globally Consistent Go-to-Market
    Companies want to reach all of their sellers, all at the same time. They want to deliver a consistent global story. In our partnership with these companies, we’ve trained hundreds, and even thousands of sellers at once. This approach makes global product launches a reality with well-equipped sellers who can hit the ground running.
  3. Make it Relevant, Make it Matter
    Sellers need to work on real business situations while applying critical sales skills, tools, and product information.  Companies want their voice, their selling situations, and their market challenges to be present in every training session.  When company leaders, subject-matter-experts, and their customers are represented in the sales training, the uptake and adoption by sellers increased exponentially.
  4. Deploy in Weeks not Months
    Companies can’t wait to deploy their sales bootcamps or new product training. Today’s accelerated pace of business demands rapid solutions. The good news is that digital tools and techniques are exceptionally sophisticated and up to the task. We’re designing, building, and delivering completely custom events in weeks instead of months.
  5. Use Data to Drive Success
    As with all business investments, training results and outcomes must be measured. Companies want information, insights, and intelligence that tells them whether their sales strategies are working. By taking a data-driven approach, we are tracking across multiple dimensions at once. It lets us see, for example, if improved storytelling skills lead to more deals. Or if the effort to build community increased retention of top sellers.

Companies that want to gain a greater competitive advantage are finding digital training as a way to more rapidly reach their sales force to accomplish their business goals.

When done right, Digital Sales Training can catapult a sales team forward in ways we’ve never seen before.

Look for more case studies and tools from us on these topics in the coming year.

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Diane Burgess-Faber

Diane is Senior Vice President, Chief Learning & Design Strategist, at Mandel. With over 20 years’ experience in the training and development industry, she plays an important leadership role on Mandel's Executive Leadership and Strategic Planning Teams. As global head of learning design and client experience, Diane has been at the forefront of Mandel’s AI-driven mobile and semi-synchronous online strategies. These strategies reinforce and complete Mandel’s award-winning suite of live in-person and virtual training solutions. Diane and the Learning Design Team assess, consult with, and support hundreds of clients, both nationally and globally, in designing training that delivers business results. Her Client Experience team then delivers the training that supports learners and drives true behavior change while carefully monitoring the user experience. Before joining Mandel, Diane spent 17 years with Zenger-Miller (later AchieveGlobal). Diane served as the Executive Director, Global Sales and Operations, and built worldwide networks of highly capable affiliate partnerships while crafting products and services that were locally and culturally relevant.
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