Eight Tips to Make Your Online Product Sales Training Effective

Good product training provides comprehensive knowledge of a company’s products to help sales teams sell more and increase revenues. It will help your sales force match the benefits of a product and its features with customers’ problems, to close sales deals.

However, equipping sales teams in an ILT/classroom setup is a constraint, with faster product launches and a globally-dispersed sales force. This could also be a costly affair and a time consuming process. But, that’s not the end of the story! Technology-enabled learning can make your product sales training effective.

In this context, let’s check eight handy tips to develop effective online product sales training.

1. Understand your buyer personas

To design workable online product sales training, position your product from the customers’ perspective. If training is so directed, salespeople will be equipped to match customers’ needs with your products/services. To do this, your reps need to understand your customers. Provide a clear profile of your potential customers in your training program, so that sales teams can position your product portfolio as a solution to their challenges and needs.

2. Provide comprehensive training on product portfolio

Entrepreneurs know very well that they can’t sustain with just one product in the market. Companies release products with slight variations so that they can cater to the needs of various cross-sections of people. Reps need to be trained on the complete portfolio to better answer customers’ queries. If the product portfolio is handy, salespersons can guide the conversation toward the specific product, which can cater to the prospect’s need. You can compare products using comparison tables, charts, and infographics.

3. Compare competitors’ products

While developing product training, you cannot ignore your competitors’ products. Here again, product comparison tables come to the aid of your sales force. While purchasing, customers do a lot of research on their desired product, and companies offering the same product. They look for more benefits with a smaller price tag. Your sales force should have a fair idea of your competitors, to handle questions such as why your product is costly and why it is better than others. Comparison tables, flash cards, and other job-aids will help sales force convince prospects of the superiority of your product.

4. Use scenarios and case studies

To make your online product sales training engaging, incorporate case studies/scenarios to help sales reps get accustomed to dealing with such situations in their work. Adding real life experiences as scenarios will prepare your sales force for future challenges. Posing some leading questions can prompt your sales force to understand customer needs and challenges.

5. Create bite-sized modules

Bite-sized micro modules spanning 3-5 minutes will provide quick takeaways for your sales teams and reinforce training. These are easy to grasp and help assimilate product knowledge, by being available at the point of need. They act as job-aids for the on the move sales force.

6. Use videos for product demos

In product sales training, you can use videos for product demonstrations. Videos present the working of your products in an effective manner and help sales reps understand the intricate operations involved. Reps can watch the videos as many times as needed and also show them to prospects.

7. Add simulations for clarity

You can include simulations and animations for more clarity in product sales training. You can develop product simulations using product manuals, promotional literature, images, and animation characters. These will create interactive learning experiences for your sales force.

8. Include assessments for evaluation

Include formative and summative assessments in the course to evaluate learning. You can’t evaluate training objectives without an assessment at the end of the training program. Assessments will help modify and update the current training program, as and when necessary. Using scenarios will help evaluate how the sales force is applying the gained learning.

Considering these eight tips will make your online product training effective for your sales and service technician teams.