How To Use Microlearning For Sales Training
Sales skills are a combination of business and communication skills, which is what makes regular training important. However, as sales employees are mostly in the field or expected to be on the move at all times, as their job entails extensive travel and meeting clients and customers, it can be difficult to train them using traditional or conventional methods of training, or even hour-long eLearning courses. In such a situation, microlearning emerges as the perfect strategy for sales training, as it consists of bite-sized units of learning which don’t take more than 5 minutes to consume, and when combined with mobile learning, it can be accessed by sales employees on their smartphones whenever they want, wherever they may be.
Although microlearning is the perfect strategy for sales professionals to get their training on the go, organizations must follow certain practices to ensure that they get the desired results. Here are 5 learning strategies you must use in your microlearning sales training program to get the best results.
5 Strategies To Use In Your Microlearning Sales Training Program
1. Use Video-Based Learning
Video-based learning works great for developing certain skills in sales professionals, particularly communication and behavioral skills, as it can demonstrate both visually as well as aurally what the learner is supposed to do. Learners can replicate what is shown in the video to quickly learn a skill, and can even watch a video just before applying the skill or apply a skill as they watch a video or pause between steps, all of which makes video-based learning perfect for Just-In-Time learning.
2. Use Simulations
Sales professionals need to have exemplary decision-making skills, as well as the ability to react to unexpected situations. The best way to train employees in such skills would be to have them experience such situations in real life, but since that isn’t an option, the next best way is simulations. Simulations based on real-life scenarios help sales professionals sharpen their decision-making and persuasion skills. Add in branching scenarios to help them better understand the consequences of their decisions. Use environments and characters in the simulations that sales professionals are likely to encounter to make it relatable.
3. Use Gamification
Sales can get quite repetitive and boring, and if employees encounter the same things they’re accustomed to on the job, sales training too can get mighty boring and uninspiring. This negates learning. In order to make training motivational and engaging, use gamification in your microlearning bits. Game elements such as points, levels, badges, timers, health, rewards, power-ups, and leaderboards make training interesting and fun, while also ensuring that the learners absorb and retain the content. Sales professionals get influenced by gamification easily as they’re used to achieving targets to gain incentives.
4. Use Infographics And Interactive PDFs
Infographics are a very underrated microlearning strategy, but one which packs a powerful punch. Infographics explain sales processes and methodologies using visuals in an easy-to-understand manner, which boosts comprehension and retention. Interactive PDFs also work in the same manner and are sometimes even one step better as they have interactions that let learners better understand the sales processes and methodologies while engaging them.
5. Use Micro-Assessments
Micro-assessments help L&D managers and higher-ups actually discern whether the sales guys are ready to apply learned skills in real life or not. These include knowledge checks, which can be in the form of quizzes and tests, which should use all the above-mentioned microlearning strategies like scenarios, gamification, and infographics to make them fun and engaging. But perhaps the best way to assess whether a learner is absorbing their training well is to observe them when they engage with a client or customer, review their email conversations and listen to their phone recordings when they converse with clients and customers. The point of an assessment is to ensure sales-readiness, and all of the above-mentioned strategies ensure that.
Conclusion
Keeping these points in mind will help organizations provide their sales employees with a microlearning program that gives them exactly what they want when they want it. Use microlearning as your go-to L&D strategy and keep creating engaging learning experiences for your learners that help you achieve the training goals.
