Online sales courses are one of the biggest revolutions in the world of sales training due to remote selling and the ease of digital learning. The growth of online sales training reflects the change in expectations from the modern salesperson. They want to learn in an environment that is familiar, convenient and easier to access. So, let’s start by understanding why taking an online sales training course has become the channel of choice for both individual and corporate sales training requirements.
Firstly, it is important to understand the target audience. The modern salesperson is keen to learn and up-skill, in fact survey after survey shows that nearly 60 percent of them prefer opportunities to learn new sales skills at their own pace while over 50 percent prefer access to sales training materials at the point of need. Sales trainers and salespeople now understand that for a whole host of reasons, they need to rely on online sales courses to cater to varied learning requirements.
The rise of digital is transforming the sales process and the sales skills required by salespeople. A salesperson seeking to develop their talent now depend more on online sales courses to meet their needs for an increasingly diverse set of skills, that keep pace with the modern sales process.
A recent study from Learning House showed that 85% of people who had enrolled in both face-to-face and an online sales course, felt their online experience was either the same or better than the classroom course. This figured included over 37% who felt the online sales was a superior experience.
So, what makes online sales courses equal or superior?
Well here a few facts and insights to build the case of online sales courses.
To start, a major study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that micro-learning (5 to 10-minute training videos etc) makes learning 17 percent more effective, and that micro-learning is better at engaging the course participant.
Another report published by Brandon Hall found that e-learning courses requires 40 to 60 percent less student time than traditional classroom training.
Over at The Research Institute of America they found that learning retention rates improve from 8 to 10 percent for face-to-face training to 25 to 60 percent for online courses.
In a survey of over 1000 salespeople by HubSpot, nearly 75 percent of them said that online sales training is core to enhancing their selling skills.
Today’s Salesperson is Different
Today’s salesperson demands easy and always on sales training material at their point of need, maybe prior to a meeting or before a sales call. Regardless of inside sales or the mobile enabled sales executive, they prefer being able to access training content anytime and from anywhere. Salespeople now must multitask in their roles from dealing with leads to updated CRM systems etc, and so have a limited window to learn new skills. To stay refreshed and abreast of the latest thinking and techniques, to learn something new they are turning to online sales courses where bite-sized sales training lessons that do not take too much of their time have become invaluable. Hence why online sales training programs cater to the needs of the modern sales– hence the rise in popularity for online learning.
The Big Advantages of Online Sales Courses.
Delivering sales courses online save time and money.
With online sales courses, salespeople or those want to learn how to sell can access training material anywhere and anytime plus they don’t need to take time out from their sales roles to attend classes. Online sales training is also cost-effective as there is no travel or accommodation costs of the learners or the company. Not to mention savings relating to the venue and materials. In fact, online sales courses help to reduce all our carbon footprints.
An online sales training course leads to better retention.
The reality is that the modern sales professional prefers bite-sized sales training video and interactive content. Employee surveys show that they would rather watch a short video than read through pages of a sales manual. Video and animation allow sales course designers to make training content engaging and memorable. We all know that the more engaging the sales training content is, the better the salesperson will remember it. The more enjoyable we find learning to be, the more we are likely to store the information for recall and apply the concepts in our sales conversations.
The messaging of digital sales courses is consistent.
In classroom-based sales training the trainer or coach will have their own method of delivering the training. They could also have favorite topics or not be well versed in other ones. This can have the outcome of skipping or not covering key sales techniques. By using online sales courses, a salesperson can eliminate these issues and the conflicting information on the sales topic. Online sales training provides a consistent and noise free experience every time. Every salesperson goes through the same experience regardless of when and they decide to log in and take the course.
Sales training online is scalable.
Online sales training is scalable. A training or sales enablement team can roll it out to as many salespeople as needed for a single investment. The more salespeople take the course, the faster a business can ramp their sales efforts.
Video based sales training is easily repeated.
Nearly every salesperson has unique needs and learning requirements for every step in the sales process. Online sales training programs makes it possible for the individual salesperson to pause, rewind and repeat any sales lesson. They can even allow the salesperson to choose what lessons or modules to take and then undertake them at their own pace. The ability to recap and go over the salient points from any sales lesson means they remain engaged in the sales course.
Online sales training has the same high quality.
Online sales courses are developed to the same high quality as any classroom-based training. In fact, the training videos and materials are usually more updated and relevant as online course ware can be more easily edited than the traditional sales manuals. Online sales training courses can bring a high level of content and video production to help develop the sales skills and techniques any salesperson needs to approach cold leads, build relationships, create new sales opportunities and close deals.
So there you have our insight as to why online sales training courses can work independently or in combination with other forms of sales training to impart all the tips and techniques any salesperson needs to sell better. Click here for a free sales training online lesson
