Mirco sales lessons can be very powerful. Video and multi-media innovations have enabled salespeople to achieve results by using more efficient means. For example, remote meetings, virtual seminars, video emails etc. The mobile phone was once a big block and only used for calls, but now they are slim enough to fit inside a pocket plus offer high end cameras, music, news, and thousands of apps.
Well, learning about sales hasn’t fallen behind this “shrinking” effect. Sales training has been updated to better fit work schedules and learning preferences. In today’s selling environment, where continuous learning is expected, watching hours of training videos can be hard. But what if salespeople could receive bite sized micro sales lessons in a more entertaining and memorable way?
A whole new generation of people prefer accessing shorter training material on social media platforms such as YouTube or LinkedIn, to online training materials. Quick sales training content provides people with all the valuable information they need in a way that grabs their attention in seconds or minutes.
This training trend is called bite-sized learning or micro learning, a way of delivering information quickly in a highly engaging format. These platforms make videos, e-books, workbooks, and playbooks available to a salesperson 24/7 online. Providing all the valuable and relevant sales training materials the learner needs.
What are micro sales lessons?
Micro sales lessons are bite-sized training courses. These learning experiences can be completed in a shorter time than more traditional sales training. This method of sales training is designed to be accessible and digestible to deliver content quickly and efficiently.
For example, a micro sales training course could be a series of quick video tutorials on a specific selling skill such as objection handling, soft sales skills etc. Imagine a short video showing how to handle a sales objection in a simplified engaging way.
This training method can grab a salesperson’s attention anytime, anywhere, in a few minutes and deliver the training content effectively. Also, it leaves the learner with a desire to return for more similar content.
Quick sales lessons delivery
- Quick sales lessons deliver meaningful training content in a fast manner.
- Ease of learning reinforcement.
- Assist with self-paced learning.
- Offer low-cost sales training.
- Focus on learning objectives.
- Provide knowledge at the moment of need.
- Access 24/7 for constant upskilling.
- Reduce cognitive load.
- Maximizes attention span.
An average micro sales lesson lasts two-ten minutes. Also, multiple lessons can create a whole sales training course. So, a refresher value proposition training session can be delivered in short bursts via video or worksheets in five minutes. Plus, this training delivery can provide information in greater detail and can be used to go over the core points of the training material.
Benefits of micro sales lessons
This bite-sized learning approach to sales training has gained popularity amongst both salespeople and sales organizations looking to train in specific sales skills or provide access to training materials quickly and effectively.
So, which are the main benefits to this type of training?
- Improves engagement and retention: The salesperson can focus on one thing at a time, being able to better concentrate and retain information.
- Flexibility: The training can be provided in different formats, such as videos, e-books, text, templates, and quizzes. As a result, it caters to different learning styles.
- Convenience: Salespeople can access their training anytime, anywhere, making it very convenient for them, especially if working remotely.
- Cost effective: Online training for sales is more cost-effective than other, more traditional forms of training (classroom, conferences, ILT sessions)
- Enjoyable learning: Using graphics, animations and multimedia has made micro sales lessons the more enjoyable and fun way to learn the latest sales skills.
How to implement online sales training lessons in your sales enablement
Online sales training via bite sized micro sales lessons is a wonderful way to rapidly upskill salespeople with new knowledge and the latest tactics in selling to set them up for success.
Sales training for reinforcement
Your sales enablement training will always focus on-the-job reinforcement and product training. This is essential for keeping your salespeople aligned and up to date on product training, skills development, compliance and more.
With the help of micro sales lessons, it is possible to further increase a salesperson’s engagement while improving their knowledge retention in a cost-effective and efficient way.
Instead of providing time consuming training content, with an online training element at hand, training is focused on the key elements of a sales topic without causing distractions or competing voices. Any salesperson can freshen up their knowledge, revisit content repeatedly, that allows them to retain the information in their long-term memory.
Also, this method of acquiring sales skills will let the individual salesperson control their learning experience, unlike traditional training courses. They can access training anytime and anywhere, making it less time-consuming and overwhelming.
For example, they can access videos on specific sales topics to boost memory retention and reinforce key information after a more traditional, lengthy training session on a complex subject like account management.
Sales Training topics
Training and learning new skills should be about creating an appetite via training sessions that are focused on soft sales skills, hard sales skills, mindset, and general self-improvement topics. Both salespeople themselves and companies are now taken into consideration the need for continuous learning to develop the skills that match the reality of business today. Selling today is fast paced in the modern sales process where buyers and customers have different expectations from even five years ago.
So now they want to learn more about consultative or collaborative selling, how to use social media to engage buyers, how to use empathy, understand buying psychology etc. Some of these sales topics can be challenging, and salespeople need regular reminders to follow tips, retain information, and most importantly to put them into their daily activities.
Sales upskilling/reskilling
Sales upskilling and reskilling helps organizations to retain salespeople longer. While at the same time, the salesperson is better equipped to perform their sales role. Quick micro sales lessons or bite sized training enhances everyone’s upskilling and reskilling experience, as it supports more personalized learning opportunities that gives ownership to the salesperson. For instance, salespeople could access sales skill specific training via video modules after a sales meeting or presentation to help them better reflect on performance. Another insight is to combine online sales training lessons within classroom training or seminars.
Quick tips for salespeople or trainers
We know that providing sales training can consume effort, time, and resources. One way is to offer budget-friendly ways of offering upskilling by offering bite size sales lessons online. The salesperson or sales team can access the training content wherever and whenever they want. They can gain valuable insights into the latest trends in selling, in a cost-effective way, through videos, e-books and worksheets. As a result, the training experience enhances, upskills, and empowers salespeople to perform better in their roles with the knock-on effect on sticking with their employer longer.
The future of sales training
The goal of any sales training is to help salespeople in learning new skills faster and more efficiently than before without them having to dedicate a lot of time, effort, or attention to a single sales topic. As innovative technologies continuously emerge, like AI,3D animations, HD video, so micro sales lessons delivery will also evolve, impacting sales training and allowing for more flexible, just-in-time learning that eliminates time consuming and expensive knowledge transfer.
Check out our Sales Lessons Best Practices.
We asked over 500 salespeople via a feedback survey back in March 2024 where we asked their opinions and suggestions based on their sales training experiences. They provided us with lots of insight into their sales lesson’s training experiences, so we thought we would share the highlights below! Use these suggestions to help plan your sales lessons to guarantee as much success as possible.
- Keep the sales training relevant, brief, whether online or a live classroom training session. Salespeople reported getting lost due to irrelevant content, poor sales topics, or boring delivery. Make sure you know what the sales team requires, keep video and slides to a minimum, and avoid using outdated training materials.
- Be topic specific. Make sure to target specific topics aligned to each salesperson based on their skills deficit, experience, or interest. If the content is not relevant to the salesperson, they will feel that their time was wasted. The more targeted the sales lesson content is, the better the level of engagement.
- Fun and updated content delivery is key. Salespeople want to learn in a fun way, the content to be relevant and matches the reality of selling today. Tests and quizzes downloaded from the web just do not cut it anymore. The more fun and the more control they have over their sales training, the more they will invest time in learning.
- Ease of access to reinforce sales habits. The survey results showed salespeople need to be able to have easy access to sales knowledge or sales lessons to reinforce their actual performance in their roles against the latest insights. A series of video sales lessons divided into sales topics they can review as needed without the formal sessions.
- Provide sales training. Due to budgets or resource constraints, salespeople reported in our survey that they did not receive a constant level of ongoing sales training apart from launches or quarterly updates. A library of constantly refreshed sales lessons and content should be a core offering from the training department.
Sales training will evolve and micro sales lessons will be a core component of training salespeople now and into the future.
