Sales Training Software: 4 Game-Changing Advantages of Using One

Considering the challenges that sales departments face today, the advantages of online sales training software grow more prominent by the day.

Sales-driven companies are navigating a challenging world where buyer behavior and sales cycles are a moving target, uncomfortably high turnover looms, CRMs have become more complex, and sales training methods too often fail to keep pace with sales performance expectations.

Is sales training software

On the other hand, can sales training software play a significant role in solving these challenges?

Absolutely.

And while a traditional learning management system (LMS) can help, more advanced learning platforms with specific features for sales can help get the job done better.

For a detailed explanation of why that is, consider these four game-changing advantages for moving from conventional training methods to a sales training program backed by the latest sales training software.

1. The Best Sales Training Software Can Help You Onboard Sales Reps More Quickly and Effectively

The goal of

But just how effective is the preparation?

In a study by the Sales Management Association,

Considering the crucial role that onboarding should play, that’s a rather staggering number—but maybe not surprising.

Today more and more companies are realizing the limitations of traditional onboarding.

In-person marathon sessions, one-on-training, significant destination training events—these generally have proven ineffective, especially concerning the time they take, the costs they incur, and the lackluster results they generate.

The good news is that the sales training platform revolutionizes the onboarding process by making it faster, less expensive, and more effective.

Onboarding Becomes a More Streamlined and Measurable Process

With so much riding on your onboarding efforts, the last thing you want is for new hires to endure a series of events and tasks that can’t be measured.

Sales training software

Once the topic is complete, learners can take a quiz measuring competency.

Moreover, when you use online sales training software, you can present scalable content from a single platform.

Trainees can read, listen to, or watch that content from anywhere, anytime—replacing expensive training consultants and travel costs.

A Rewards System Motivates New Hires and Facilitates Learning

Sales training software presents the material in smaller segments, with regular assessments, and rewards users for moving through the process.

And these rewards can motivate.

What happens with motivated trainees? They learn faster and can perform better right out of the gate.

More specifically, rewards through

And tapping into sales trainees’ competitive nature is more than just fun.

According to learning technologists Growth Engineering, incorporating games and other competitive components is a scientifically supported way to facilitate the learning process.

The Technology Fits Today’s Learners and Keeps Them Coming Back

Although speed in onboarding is a crucial concern, the simple fact is that your new hires will pick things up at different rates—and have other learning preferences.

Sales training software makes content in any format—documents, videos, audio files, etc. —easily accessible through an intuitive, familiar-feeling user interface.

That means learners can consume online courses in their way, on their preferred device, and when it fits best in their schedules.

When users can avoid ineffective training sessions and are free to seek out learning sources that resonate with them, they’re much more likely to return for more.

2. You Can Make It Easier for Reps to Find the Correct Information Fast

Forbes reports that sales reps spend nearly 65% of their time on functions not directly related to selling. So, what are they doing?

Hubspotmore than 30% of that time is spent searching for or creating content.

Why is it so hard for salespeople to find the content and information they need right when they need it?

Poor content management.

A myriad of different files originate from various sources—legal, IT, marketing, sales enablement, a lone sales rep, etc.

And where are they stored?

Anywhere from Sharepoint and Dropbox to company drives and individual email accounts.

This makes access, updating, searchability, version control, and dynamic authoring nearly impossible.

Companies that lack effective content management tools and procedures inadvertently create an adverse content environment for their sales force.

Not only will sales reps spend too much of their time hunting for or even creating content that already exists, but the content they ultimately use may also be out-of-date, poor in quality, and/or inappropriate for where the potential customer is in the sales funnel.

Fortunately, online sales training software can eliminate content challenges like these. In fact, it can transform the way your company creates, organizes, and provides content to sales reps.

A Portal Creates One Place for All Your Content

Online sales training solutions enable you to create a single place to put everything— PDFs, Powerpoints, videos, audio files, presentations, case studies, references, white papers, contracting templates, and more.

The efficiency alone that this brings can profoundly affect how your sales reps spend their time.

Software that allows such a high degree of content control also increases the chances that messaging is presented more consistently.

But the benefits go further.

Searchability and Accessibility Are Built in Your Software

Online sales training software can do more than provide a massive virtual file cabinet.

With your software, you now have a content management

Content can now be searched for and easily found by topic, selling skill, product, or any other custom category that fits your business.

In addition, online sales software allows users to access content from any device—i.e., laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

A Strategic Content Approach Means Sales Representatives Have More Guidance and Support

When you have sales software that also creates a content management system, you can now offer your sales reps a new level of guidance and support.

And that can be critical.

Consider this: How a prospect or customer

In other words, if the content is delivered to the wrong audience or presented at the wrong time, it will lack impact, relevance, and credibility.    

Online sales training courses in the right platform take this into account and give sales professionals the advantage of targeted content.

That means you have a system to indicate the most appropriate and practical content for any sales interaction. This allows you to do much more effectively:

• Support training and coaching efforts
• Bolster lead generation and other sales techniques
• Help those leads move through the sales process
• Provide reps with appropriate training materials when they need it most—like when closing a deal

And what happens when reps feel supported? Turnover rates are reduced, and performance goes up.

3. You Can Help Overwhelmed Sales Managers Make More Intelligent, Data-Backed Decisions

Sales management might be the most challenging job in sales. Even as positions in sales continue to grow, there’s still a shortage of sales

On top of that, 

That creates a vicious cycle of unpreparedness and leaves sales managers overwhelmed and underdeveloped because they typically:

• Must train and oversee a vast number of reps
• Lack of an easy way to efficiently and accurately determine where there are gaps in sales readiness
• Have to navigate a complex nexus of training tools, training topics, and content that must be monitored and updated.

Thankfully, online sales training software can play a pivotal role in helping sales managers focus their efforts and ultimately promote tangible sales improvements.

Analytics Give Managers a Better Way to Evaluate

“Knowledge is power” may be a tired expression. But it’s still true, especially when it comes to understanding the performance of your sales team.

Sales training software can provide sales leaders with the know-how of valuable analytics, taking the guesswork out of many management decisions.

Sales training software can provide managers with a veritable feast of helpful information like:

• Who’s accessing what content?

• What are they doing with the content?

• What content is helping to win more deals?

But that’s just the beginning.

Managers can automatically receive information and graphical data like pie charts and graphs on individual and team performances at regular intervals.

In turn, these tools help managers make informed decisions much more quickly as they answer questions like these more easily:

• Who’s performing exceptionally?

• Who’s falling way behind?

• Where do I need to put my immediate attention?

• What key areas need to be reinforced?

• Is there an area where my team is consistently doing poorly?

4. You Can Provide Ongoing Coaching and Reinforcement for Complex, Ever-Evolving Products

So what happens after onboarding?

High-quality enablement services must balance a great sales onboarding program.

But similar to the deficiencies in many onboarding strategies, keeping reps up-to-date through annual sales meetings and static offline classroom training can often be both ineffective and expensive.

And yet the learning environment that sales teams face is far more dynamic than other corporate functions because:

• Products evolve (particularly in B2B sales)
• Markets change constantly
• Competitive messaging must be countered
• Customers demand immediate attention

Strategies that involve role-plays, real-time coaching, and reinforcement can prove critical in helping sales reps close deals.

According to CSO Insights,

On the other hand, according to Altify, 73% of sales managers spend less than 5% of their time coaching their sales teams.

But here’s where sales training software can prove invaluable by creating a coaching environment to match the dynamic world of your top sales reps.

Recurring Coaching Encourages Continual Improvement

Rather than holding single events or webinars with unrealistic expectations, sales training software provides more effective sales training options for the automation of ongoing improvement.

In reality, your sales training software can essentially become sales

That means sales reps benefit from updates, reinforcement, and personalized coaching throughout the year, with shorter sessions focused on specific topics or sales skills and longer sessions covering broader subjects.

The personalized component can prove particularly important because this form of sales coaching works from the premise that reps are at different points on the performance continuum.

Your sales training software allows team members to e-learning at their own pace and from their preferred desktop or mobile device.

All the while, everyone has access to coaching, and every member of the sales team is included.

Easy-to-Use Video Tools Reflect How People Learn Today

Video shouldn’t just be an option for coaching. Sales training software makes it integral. And for good reason.

Video shouldn’t just be an option for coaching. Sales training software makes it integral. And for good reason.

More and more of your sales reps are bringing a video-viewing mindset to learning tasks. Many have already emerged from college accustomed to learning via streaming and on-demand video options.  

Sales training software can allow for a user-friendly, Netflix-like interface for video recording and viewing.

That makes it easy for coaches to deliver critical information on new product/service developments to video-ready learners.

It also encourages the convenience of an asynchronous video dialogue between sales reps and coaches. In other words, the recording and viewing occur on each person’s schedule.

With video tools like this, reps can practice sales pitches and record them, and coaches can critique them. This drives the adoption of enablement information and messaging by letting coaches model specific behaviors reinforcing the enablement initiative.

A Coaching Culture Can Emerge and Critical Knowledge Gets Passed On

Because it’s regular, ongoing, and personalized, your software-derived coaching program can help build a coaching culture across your business.

And with further instruction in coaching techniques and regular reviews, your managers and subject experts not only be accustomed to coaching—they can become inspired to share their insights.

On top of that, don’t forget that your sales training software gives you detailed information on individual performers. Who would make a great coach?

You can now identify coaching candidates from your top performers and further strengthen that coaching culture.

As your coaching program matures over time, it can help perpetuate wisdom and gives reps the feedback and reinforcement they need to stay engaged, satisfied, and ultimately successful.

Raven 360 invites you . . .

Online sales training software can bring you profound advantages with better retention of sales reps and more new sales. But which option out there is right for you?

Seeing the software in action is a significant first step to finding out.

This is your invitation to evaluate whether Raven360 fits your company’s needs.

Contact us today for a demo!