Common Sales Enablement Training Pitfalls To Avoid
Some organizations assume that some training is better than none at all. Even if it lacks relevancy or takes a general approach, rather than personalizing the process. However, there are some sales enablement training mistakes that directly impact your bottom line. The repercussions range from loss of top talent to poor customer service. All of these take a bite out of your profit margins and diminish your brand reputation. Fortunately, most of these errors are easy to correct with careful planning, needs analysis, and employee participation. Here are the 7 top sales enablement training blunders and tips to avoid them altogether.
1. Assuming Everyone Has The Same Gaps
Everyone who works at the front counter, fields phone calls, and pitches products has their own strengths. But the same holds true for personal pain points. Skill, performance, and knowledge gaps are not the same across the board. Thus, your sales enablement strategy must align with employees' unique abilities and areas for improvement. Pre-assess to identify pre-existing gaps, then custom-tailor online training content to suit their needs. You should also develop a flexible online training plan wherein they pick and choose resources that are relevant to them. They tackle issues one at a time before moving on to the next.
2. Not Offering Continual Support Tools
One-and-done is not the way to achieve sales enablement success. You must provide your team with ongoing support to reinforce knowledge and boost retention rates. This also keeps your top talent content because they have self-guided tools to enhance workplace productivity. For example, JIT simulations and branching scenarios to refresh their memory and improve self-confidence. Another reason to offer continual support in sales operations training is to reduce return rates and increase customer loyalty. Bear in mind that employees pass on information to consumers, who use it to make their final buying decision. Ill-informed staffers who don’t have the necessary support are unable to meet these customer expectations simply because they lack the essential knowledge to do so.
3. Overlooking Internal SMEs
Undoubtedly, there are people on your payroll who have expertise in the field and possess valuable skills. These employees can share what they know through peer-based coaching programs, social media groups, and live events. It’s simply a matter of identifying in-house talent and making the most of their insights. They can even help you fine-tune support resources or create online training content that’s just right for your JIT online training library. For example, podcasts or personal anecdotes that shed light on a touchy sales topic that many of their coworkers struggle with. That said, you should never force employees to take on the role of SME if they’re already bogged down with a heavy workload. This will only add more stress to their plate and eventually lead to professional burnout.
4. Mistaking Sales Training For Sales Enablement
Sales training and sales enablement are not the same thing. Sales training is more about processes and protocols, while sales enablement centers on support and giving your team the tools that they need to provide amazing service. In fact, sales training is often part of the sales enablement plan. It’s easy to blur the lines between the two because they, ultimately, have similar outcomes. But sales enablement leans more toward the CX side of things, as well as building employee self-reliance and assurance so that they’re ready to seal the deal with confidence.
5. Not Measuring Metrics
You must have a way to determine if online training initiatives are successful and whether employees meet company standards. Are they improving their performance behaviors? What about bridging relevant skill gaps to ensure that customers get the best experience? Evaluating your sales enablement plan requires detailed metrics to track every aspect of your sales enablement strategy. Analyze LMS reports, assessment scores, and employee surveys to get the complete picture. Of course, these metrics are nothing without clear goals and objectives to guide the way.
6. Too Much Info At Once
It’s true, your sales enablement strategy includes all the essentials. But then there’s that information you included, just in case. The human mind can only assimilate a limited amount of data at once. Anything beyond that can cause cognitive overload, which diminishes the value of online training. So, stick to the basics and give employees the opportunity to explore tie-in concepts on their own. For example, they can access the JIT library to master other training topics or skills.
7. Focusing On Theory Instead Of Application
Many organizations make the mistake of focusing on policies and procedures instead of practical applicability. Employees know all the compliance regulations and task steps but are unsure how to use them on the job. For this reason, your sales enablement strategy must include real-world tools that deliver real-world experience. For instance, simulations that expose them to challenging customers. Or video demos that show them how to show off the products and highlight the key selling points. These online training resources give them a clear example to follow and help them identify limiting performance behaviors, such as bad habits they must break or core competencies they lack.
These sales enablement training mistakes don’t signal the end of the world of your company’s success as long as you catch them early and don’t turn a blind eye to your L&D shortcomings. Training Needs Analysis and new content development do require an investment. But it pays off in the form of better customer satisfaction scores, higher sales figures, and happy staffers who stay with your organization. So, make a plan of action to shore up the gaps and equip your team with the knowledge they need to provide stellar CX.
If you want to learn more about implementing successful sales operations training, download our eBook Skills, Support, And Self-Confidence: Launch A Successful Sales Enablement Training Strategy Today. You will find all the information you need to train your sales team so that they gain the expertise and confidence they need to skyrocket their performance and offer unparalleled Customer Experience.