Animation in sales training is a superb method to deliver online sales training programs. The use of animations and whiteboard animation in the delivery of sales training programs and courses is proving successful as it can re-create that educational feel. Animation is also able to break down sales training concepts into enjoyable and engaging sales training videos.

Remember, that sales training program design is not about the behaviour of the interface, it is about impacting the behaviour of salespeople.

In this post, we break down the scientific grounding for animation in sales training programs and courses. Research shows that multimedia and animation support the way that the human brain learns. We know that people learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.

Educational scientists have proven that animation images alongside text in video with audio narration is better for learning than just images or someone speaking in video. The reason it is better for learning is that it splits the information (sales training in this case) across two cognitive channels, the auditory and visual, rather than all through a single channel (visual).

Reasons to use Animation in Sales Training Programs

 

One of the big benefits of using animation in sales training creation is that the video content is guiding and simple, so the learner can focus on the lesson without being overwhelmed. Animation is also engaging as the learner can feel a sense of anticipation in the sequence of the sales training concepts as the information is gradually revealed.

Animation in sales training is guiding.

Animation in sales training programs and courses follows the principle of cues, where a character gives audio information in combination with text reveal and drawing hands. The lesson content is gradually revealed, so it works well as a signalling mechanism to capture the learner’s attention.

The effectiveness of animation in sales training delivery (and indeed most e Learning channels) is supported by recent research. Instructional technologists such as Selen Turkay believe that the cueing mechanism of animation facilitates attention improvement to direct the learner’s attention to important content, making learning important points more salient.

 

Animation in sales training is visually appealing. The simplicity of message delivery and material presentation makes it easier for the learner to hone in on the essential content of the lesson without becoming distracted by irrelevant information.

These “visually appealing” features of animation in sales training include the use of guide line drawings and the use of colors to highlight headlines along with the most instructional important material. Animation facilitates for sales training material to be created in the most visually appealing way, to break down sales concepts and then communicate them in an understandable format.

The learner finds animation in sales training rewarding. Carefully constructed sales training lessons using a step-by-step revealing process encourages learning retention by engaging the learner in a more active way. For example, when they see a hand drawing text, they anticipate receiving information. As this training material is gradually revealed, it draws them in with the reward of the completed text and the main learning point of each sales lesson.

To support that the above, according to Psychologist Richard Wiseman, “Animation as a learning tool makes people go ‘ah, this is fun.’ Now learning is not so much a chore and that only serves to give the learner have a better time and, more importantly, it means the information is just going in,”. His research also showed that animation actually leads to greater retention. His study determined a 15% increase in recall in the test-takers who viewed an animation lesson versus those who didn’t.

Because animation can delivery on the key learning principles of guiding, simplicity, and interactivity, it is equipped to better engage a learner while clearly communicating the lesson information. The outcome is that the learner can retain more of the information in the lessons.

Success factors of animation in sales training videos.

Keep the sales training videos short.

Sales trainers can be tempted to create long sales training lessons or videos in order to explain every detail of the lesson. The truth is that making your sales training video long will most likely make it more difficult for the learner to absorb the pertinent information. The reality is that the longer the sales training video, the more cognitive overload it creates, so knowledge retention declines. What matters most is that the video lesson can be consumed in a short amount of time when the learner has the availability and motivation to consume it.

e Learning is the preferred delivery channel.

To keep salespeople engaged and refreshed, organizations will have to adapt and align their sales training delivery with the way their own employees are consuming content in their personal lives. Which is now mainly video. Don’t get caught up in the “Our sales training has always been done it this way”.
Research into learning shows that a business will get better employee engagement, increase knowledge transfer, and become more aligned with the way their workforce wants to learn by adapting the way they create and deploy sales training material.

Use a mix of animation video styles

Animations can be easily be mixed with other video styles to teach sales training concepts more fully. While real person video might bring a human touch to sales training concepts, only animation gives full creative control to illustrate the points without endless retakes and is the easiest way to constantly update your sales training materials.

Let’s say you want to create a sales training video on how cold calling works. At the beginning of the video, you could use black and white animation. The lack of color in the style can explain why salespeople feel cold calling is tough and dull. Then, as the sales training lesson progresses, the video switches to color to convey how cold calling is beneficial and a real sales skill that can be acquired. Another option is to have animation characters mixed with color text, hand drawings, imagery and visual displays to highlight key learning points.

 

Animation in Sales Training Improves Sales Skills.

In today’s competitive selling environment, we understand that your salespeople are constantly busy trying to bring in revenue. All or most of your classroom-based sales training may be lost when it fits in between client visits, new business calls, and monthly targets. It is getting harder and harder to bring the team together for quick sales training updates or skills refreshing. Using video in your sales training programs can help with that. For more and more salespeople video and animation in online sales training courses is a more welcoming learning tool. Animation in sales training can help give your salespeople a competitive advantage, to enhance their selling skills and to learn how to better engage with more customers.