Sales Training and Social Learning

I read a great post at: http://sales20network.com/blog/?p=1024 

As I read the article on changing the name of "Sales Training" I liked the focus on change management. Shifting behavior from what it was to a new effective behavior.

Many training organizations provide oodles of “Sales Training.” And these learning organizations work hard to make this experience as unlike formal training as possible because Sales requires true knowledge transfer that converts into a change in behavior that results in more sales effectiveness i.e. more profit or revenue.

Because the problem of changing sales behavior is “real” and not theoretical. i.e. Will the sales increase or not — vs. — Can the learner solve for the square root of Pi.

Sales Training organizations focus on:

1. Adoption — can EVERYONE use and understand and achieve excellence?
2. True mastery — can everyone demonstrate to the greatest level possible real-world in-deal behavior that produces results
3. Guidance — can everyone at all times get access to the best coaching possible to achieve their numbers.

For this reason Social Learning has shot off among many training groups with a bullet.

Adoption:

The simplicity and ease-of-everything in Social Learning focuses on getting the Sales folk in, getting them going, and getting them engaged because the experience is fun and intrinsically valuable. For example I use Facebook because I intrinsically value my relationships. I feel (and "feel" is the key word) compelled to connect with my friends and family. In Sales groups that use Social Learning sales folks are compelled to participate because they intrisically “know” they will make more money by getting their questions answered by the “folksonomy” i.e. their group of rainmakers. They know the formal knowledge objects inside and out but it is all of the “connotative” i.e. emotional and deal-focused aspects of the selling they seek out in Social Learning for sales organizations.

True Mastery:

In Social Learning for Sales there is no theory. There is data and technique that has proven success–this means for every aspect of a formal sales training, the sales folks can provide real-world examples of how the deals reacted to the behaviors they were asked to display.

This means absolute validation via the sales folk of what is and is not working. This means gold star sales folk can accelerate their game to new levels from just “great” to truly “excellent.” Their fine tuning from the nuance provided by the community can double their numbers. This means the average sales folk have access to the information and cultural know-how to become top performers.

Most sales orgs struggle because new sales hires take too long to “get” all of the 360 degree aspects of how to make deals happen. With Social Learning that time is radically compressed.

Guidance:

The conversational nature of Social Learning wraps the formal knowledge in the discussions of the rainmakers who point out what aspects of the training actually = more deals. Rainmakers can show learners how to frame and pitch what was learned. Rainmakers describe how to overcome obstacles and objections that an “objection handling” document can’t.

We did an informal poll at http://sabasociallearning.com and found that the overwhelming data suggested companies see onboarding occur more quickly when some form of mentoring is involved.

Whether formally assigning a local salesperson to nurture a new sales hire,
-or-
whether assigning a virtual coach who coaches many,
-or-
whether informally accessing knowhow of rainmakers on an as needed basis:
social learning accelerates sales folks in ways previously only dreamed.

Sales training (or whatever it is best called) and social learning are a match made in sales management heaven!