Tips from One Founder to Another | Motivate Through Continuous Training
We are living in an uncertain economic environment. With tech layoffs in Q1 of 2023 making headlines and becoming a ubiquitous reality for every tech vertical, employees are feeling a bit unsteady as it comes to job security. As you lead your team – big or small – it is important for retention to keep your salespeople motivated and excited, especially during organizational downturns or a sales dryspell. During this time, companies should demonstrate investment by looking to product and sales training to instill confidence and reduce anxiety in their shaken employees. By unlocking new skills and sharpening old ones, leaders are able to encourage a mindset of problem solving, ultimately adding long-term growth to one’s team.
Continuous Sales Training Should Be… Continuous.
The MLB opened on March 30 with all 30 teams playing in 15 games. This game concludes Spring Training, an intensive culmination of off-season training to prepare for the next season of baseball. While your organization doesn’t have an Opening Day per se, there is a need for consistent seasons of training and preparation to lead teams into the next phase of productivity.
Ball players have a special routine before taking the field. In the same way, salespeople tend to be just as superstitious with a “kiss this rock before pitching a deal” moment. By giving our sales teams opportunities to learn new skills, they are forced to step outside of their habits to reassess and learn ways to get creative in their sales approach. These training sessions can also give employees the tools to help each other and increase their value to their teams and to themselves.
Recently, I was talking with Nad Elias of recruitAbility in Austin, Texas. He shared “when employers provide continuous training, they in turn receive loyalty and confidence in their ability to succeed, especially in times of economic uncertainty.”
Training Investment is a Strategic Priority.
Oftentimes when we think of the cost of sales training, we balk at the idea of another budget line item. Company CFO affirms that keeping an eye on the bottom line and prioritizing sales training doesn’t have to be a huge investment. Between 1% and 3% of an employee’s salary is a good number to shoot for as a training budget. While it may seem like an easy line item to cut, putting training and reskilling on the back burner can negatively torpedo your business.
When it comes to building more resilient and profitable sales teams, we have to take time to invest in their sales training. This should never be approached as a one-time occurrence, but rather should be an intentional and recurring opportunity to motivate your very best.
Stay tuned for more tips from one founder to another,
Ted