“Game On!” To Increase Sales Performance

The Salesforce Blog features the latest article on sales effectiveness from Veelo CEO Chanin Ballance, “Game On! To Increase Sales Performance.”

Game on! To Increase Sales PerformanceWhen looking at ways to increase sales performance, it is natural to examine the effectiveness of your sales training and seek out new ways to motivate and engage your team. Science has proven that continual training reinforcement works, aiding in skill adoption and application. According to the Association for Talent Development, continuous training produces 50 percent higher net sales per employee.

The challenge is motivating employees to take the training, then adopt the skill/knowledge and apply it. Active participation and practical practice is one of the best ways to learn, and we know that the more engaged the learners are, the more likely they are to retain and apply what they’ve learned. Science shows us that there is a universal human desire to play. In children, playing is a natural part of human development. For adults, playing promotes creativity and happiness. Combining training objectives with an activity that taps into natural desires is an ideal situation.

To read the full article, check out “Game On! To Increase Sales Performance” on the Salesforce Blog.

 

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Make a Splash by Pushing New Sales Hires into the Deep End

Training Industry features “Make a Splash by Pushing New Sales Hires into the Deep End,” an article by Veelo CEO Chanin Ballance on how virtual coaching technology can get your new sales hires from paddling in the kiddie pool to swimming in the deep end in very little time.

The challenge is to share a lot of information quickly and get the salesperson producing and swimming right away. We are finding that the best training is in the field, and now, with technology to help, this is more possible than ever. Useful prompts are available at every step—just like a virtual coach.

Check out the Training Industry blog to get all of the sales onboarding insights in “Make a Splash by Pushing New Sales Hires into the Deep End.”

 

Onboard Smarter, Not Harder: A Quick Sales Onboarding How-To | Veelo

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Sales Enablement Mistakes You Should Avoid (But Probably Haven’t)

Sales Enablement Mistakes You Should AvoidAsk any group of marketers what sales enablement is, and you’ll get almost as many definitions as there are people—from systems and support, to analytics, to training, to content creation, and more. But most will agree on the goal: to help the sales team perform at the highest level and increase sales.

Over the years, sales enablement has grown into a formal organization, often with a VP-level leader driving the strategy and tactics. With the technology and analytics available today, there are countless opportunities to help the sales team perform better. However, beware: implementing the wrong technology or processes can actually backfire on you. Here are a few common sales enablement mistakes that you should avoid to be successful.

Focusing Too Much on Content Management

Content management and distribution is a big pain point for many of us. There’s too much, sales can’t find it, nobody uses it—and that’s just scratching the surface. A common approach to tackle the content problem is to create a centralized repository, possibly a new portal, and voila! Problem solved, right?

Not quite. You probably made the content a little easier to find content, but salespeople still waste time searching, and think about this: when was the last time a deal closed just because of the content? So even if your sales reps can now find the content, do they know what to say? How to position your product and sell value? When to use that piece of content?

Content doesn’t sell. People do, and content supports them, but only if they know when to share and what to say.

Going Overboard with Tech

It’s tempting to think the next trendy technology is going to be your savior. It may very well be, but too many companies don’t take the human factor into account. Human behavior is really hard to change, so if your sales enablement technology involves a new or different process (like logging in to another system), you have a very steep hill to climb. Technology in general (and sales effectiveness technology in particular) should fit into existing workflows and should make jobs easier, not add more layers of complexity.

Using a Top-Down Approach

With new product launches, we typically create a set of content with messages, positioning, competitive differentiation, etc. But how often do the content creators actually consult with someone on the front line, or even use their own messages with an actual prospect?

Without understanding what a sales conversation sounds like and how that content and messaging fits, it means you probably have a bunch of marketing speak that adds no value to the sales conversation. Only by aligning the marketing content and messaging to the sales conversations will the content be useful. A good place to start is to align your content and messages to your company’s sales stages and sales methodology.

Learn More in Our Sales Enablement Mistakes Webinar

Want to learn more about common sales enablement mistakes and how to avoid them? Watch the recording for our webinar, “Sales Enablement Mistakes You Should Avoid (But Probably Haven’t)“.

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