Once you’ve identified a reason or need for sales training, the next step is navigating the myriad of options available.
When making a sales training investment, you need to be more systematic in your selection process than just selecting a company that seems to be easy to work with.
There are many considerations, such as experience in your industry, their track record for success, and how they sell themselves to you.
This post will walk through how to find a sales trainer or consultant that’s a good fit for YOUR company, and how to choose the best one.
As you consider investing in a digital ad sales training program, be sure to ask yourself these questions before making your decision.
What do you need to know before investing in a sales training program? Asking these questions will help you determine the right program for you and your team.
Question #1: What are we trying to accomplish through training?
Every company is different, so the first step in finding the right sales training partner is to identify WHY you need the training in the first place.
Is your sales team new to selling? Or are they mostly seasoned vets?
This is an important consideration because these two groups require different training.
If you’re training a new hire who has never been in a sales role before, then you need to take a different approach. For new salespeople, it’s critical to start with the basics of selling. Topics like how to manage your pipeline, time management strategies for prioritizing your day, developing your sales style and prospecting approach, handling common objections, leading great first meetings, and the list goes on.
For more experienced sellers, training is not only a great reminder of foundational sales principles and best practices, but it’s also a great way to learn, practice, and apply new strategies. In the media advertising space, experienced sellers are often more comfortable with selling products that are more ‘traditional’. Training is an excellent opportunity to help those senior sellers make a smooth transition to a ‘digital’ way of thinking.
Either way, sales training can help bring newbies up to speed and refresh the selling styles of your tenured reps, who may need a push to get out of a rut or break a bad habit.
Question #2: Will the sales training program include reinforcement?
The best way to make new information stick is to reinforce, practice, and repeat. This is especially true of sales training.
According to Xerox, 87% of sales training content is forgotten within one month of the training.
Don’t let the knowledge, confidence, and skills your team just learned walk out the door with the trainer. Invest in a sales training program that provides both in-the-field and online reinforcement.
While one-time, event-based training is necessary in some cases, it will not deliver long-term results. To improve sales performance and outcomes, training must be ongoing, reinforced and supported by a coach.
As you think about your options, consider questions like:
- Will the team be asked to apply what they’ve learned to their daily activities and processes? How will that be measured and tracked?
- Will the trainer provide feedback and additional resources? If yes, what types of material will be provided?
- Will the trainer support the team through tough selling situations? If yes, how?
Reinforcement shouldn’t be an afterthought. Before you invest in a training solution, make sure you understand how this essential piece of training will be incorporated.
Question #3: Is the trainer/training team experienced and up-to-date on what they’re teaching?
The classic “those who can’t do, teach” approach doesn’t work for sales trainers. Especially digital ad sales trainers.
The digital media and advertising landscape is rapidly evolving every day. You want to work with a training team who is well-versed and current on the changes happening in the industry.
A trainer can’t boast about knowing the latest trends or best practices if they’ve never used it themselves. Find a trainer who has real-world experience applying the information and skills they are teaching.
You can do this by simply asking about past experience as it relates to your business and media offerings. Who have they worked with in the past? Who are they currently working with?
Asking these types of questions will help you gain additional insight into the approach the trainer took to help other similar clients and how successful they were in doing so.
Question #4: Will our training be tailored to our unique industry and sales environment?
There is no “one approach fits all” methodology to sales training.
Different industries have different pain points, so training must be customized to address those specific pain points. Learners want someone who speaks their language, and understands their frustrations.
Personalizing the training will not only enhance the value of the experience, but the entire team will be fully “on-board” with the best practices being taught and be much more receptive about implementing this new information into their sales processes.
However, while it may seem counterintuitive, hiring a trainer that has a proven track record across multiple industries and verticals will benefit the sales team, and the overall company.
They’ve been around the block and have seen how different sales organizations are structured and can make recommendations based on the success they’ve seen elsewhere.
Many factors come together to form a sales organization, and those same factors should be considered when building a sales training curriculum that has maximum impact.
Question #5: Will the sales training program also focus on sales management?
Training salespeople is just one piece to the larger ‘training puzzle’, but there’s more to sales training than just focusing on the sellers.
Training the sales management team is arguably the most important aspect of delivering an effective sales training program.
One of the hardest parts of maximizing the ROI of your training is ensuring the information taught will be used and integrated into the sales team’s daily activities and processes.
The trainer and training program can only take a sales team so far. It’s the role and influence of the manager that will truly enhance and elevate the success of the program. If the manager is aligned and on-board with the training approach and methodology, then the sales team is more likely to consistently use the new way of thinking introduced by the trainer.
Finding the Right Ad Sales Training
Training isn't something that's 'nice' to have in your organization. It's an absolutely vital part of a company's long-term investment and growth strategy.
In the media and advertising space, you’re dealing with constant change. How can you expect your ad sales team to keep up if you don’t provide the right type of training program?
Just like you want your team to engage in smart prospecting in order to reduce time spent with unsuitable leads and focus on qualified prospects, you should take this same approach when looking for an ad sales training program that will increase the performance of your salespeople and sales managers.
Asking these 5 critical questions will help give you a framework for screening out sales trainers who aren’t a good match for your company, and will help you identify the trainer who will deliver the best ROI.
Still not sure how to select the right sales training program? Check out our eBook to guide you through the questions to ask and what you need to do before investing in a sales training company.
