How to Choose the Best Sales Training Company to Grow Your Business Fast?
5 things Top Tech Companies look for in a B2B Sales Training Company
The modern-day world of IT sales is quite a complex one to navigate for sales teams. Speaking with numbers, 61% of software account executives suggest that selling today is much more complicated than five years ago, because of long sales cycles, complex solutions, changing requirements, and multiple decision-makers.
Sales teams that are well trained will outsell their competitors and build relationships that will lead to future sales.
Why is sales training important?
New software products and IT services and upgrades to existing ones continuously hit the market. Immense competition is another crucial challenge that compels multiple companies to fight for the same set of customers over minor differences in features and pricing. Moreover, the transformations are only more radical now, thanks to the global pandemic and the massive digital transformation!
As per a survey conducted by CSO insights, 84% of today’s B2B sales leaders don’t think they have the team they need to succeed in the current playing field. This is a big problem in ensuring a well-oiled revenue machine!
With most external factors lying beyond control, what lies inside the line of authority is exercising the option of upgrading the skill set of the sales force and preparing them better to respond to the changing world of sales.
To that end, IT and Software B2B Sales Training is a very potent strategy followed by most progressive technology companies looking to upgrade their teams for success. If you, too, are looking at leveraging sales training to enhance the capabilities of your team, this article is totally for you!
Who has the best B2B sales training program for your IT and Software Business?
Statistically speaking, companies spend way more than $20 billion a year on sales training. This fact, in all probability, implies that perhaps your competition is also paying or considering spending on sales training.
To ensure that your investment gives your team a better edge over your competitors, you must select the ideal training partner who can help you grow your IT and Software business fast. This article presents a roundup of the must-consider factors before finalizing the best sales training partner for your technology business. Without further ado, let’s begin –
Steps to Choose the Right Sales Training Company for Your Software Business?
Consideration 1: Do they have Domain Expertise to teach techniques in IT and Software Sales Training?
Selling B2B technology software products and IT services is different from the typical B2B product and service portfolio. Technology sales cycles are typically quite long and involve the interplay of multiple stakeholders spread across departments and hierarchies. Moreover, the nature of the sale is usually recurring, involving rent like subscription payments for rights to use the technology, as against one-time charges for owning the products.
In this scenario, an account executive’s role involves identifying prospects who might benefit and then familiarizing them with their needs (which they may not even realize themselves). Next is to consult them and win their trust and convince them. Finally, it’s also a lot about providing excellent ongoing support by the account managers or customer success managers to ensure purchase renewals to keep the recurring revenue ball rolling. Of course, it goes without saying; they also need to be abreast with the different trending technologies in the market to present an excellent consultative perspective.
The skillset needed for enterprise software sales is quite evidently different and more refined than that needed in the world of regular B2B sales. Vanilla sales training programs and coaching fails to cater to these specialized needs of SaaS sales, making investing in them a suboptimal one from the ROI perspective. Ideally, specialized training for the technology domain is always a more suitable choice for investing in software account executive classes or training the sales force down the ladder.
Look out for Specialized IT Sales Training Expertise
Consideration 2: What is their Software Sales Training Process?
It’s not difficult to guess the reaction if you ask any high-performing tech sales professional how much their degree course helped them learn the skill to sell!
In the real world, theoretical knowledge can only help to a certain extent with enhancing an individual’s sales capabilities. The real skillset upgrade comes only with exposure to the actual business scenarios and actionable suggestions to tackle those situations. Unfortunately, little does a literature recall help in the middle of situations such as handling a client’s objections tactfully or getting them to close faster.
26% of reps complain that their sales training is ineffective and a waste of their time!
Therefore, when selecting an IT Sales Training provider, you must dig deeper to understand their approach to training. Unless the course they’re offering includes exposure to practical, real-world insights from the IT sales world, the efficacy of those classes is only going to be limited and more of a cost center spend.
Look out for: Details on the Course Content, Inclusion of real-time IT and Software Case Studies
Consideration 3: How is the IT Sales Course Content Designed?
The way the course content is delivered also plays a significant role in the outcome of upskilling the training participants. For example, if the training company delivers the course as a theoretical lecture-like monologue, it will most certainly not adequately engage most of the participants. As a result, they may not pay as much attention or even forget what is taught. On the other hand, if the course builds on an element of excitement using the support of powerful visuals and audio, the salespeople will naturally be more intrigued and interested.
As per a survey, an average individual watches roughly 206 videos a month, and 59% of senior executives suggest that if both text and video options are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video.
The video content format ensures that participants are engaged, pay attention, and what they learn is sticky in their minds. Hence, it’s a good idea to look out for training companies that deliver video-based content in their training.
Look out for Use of Video Content in their Delivery Format
Consideration 4: Who are their IT Sales Trainers?
As in any training, the course instructor’s role is as crucial as the quality of the teaching material. What’s needed is not just an inviting speaker who can share information engagingly. Equally desirable is the depth and breadth of their existing knowledge in the training subject.
The top software sales trainers spontaneously share while delivering their teachings or how well and intricately they answer the participants’ doubts holds a lot of value in any professional training. This can only come with extensive experience and domain expertise.
As per a survey, nearly six in 10 salespeople assert that once they test and figure out what works for them, they don’t tend to change the tactics to benefit continually till it still works.
Imagine the powerful impact of your sales trainer giving away these golden nuggets that became their success formula from day1! Hence, the trainer profile is a must-consider factor,
Look out for Trainer’s LinkedIn Profiles, Domain Expertise, and Past Testimonials
Jason
IT- Sales Trainer & CoachFor over 25 years, Jason has been in the corporate area and has co-founded two start-ups. Jason has also helped numerous businesses and individuals grow. Jason has helped transform
Bryan
IT- Sales Trainer & CoachBryan began his career with 14 years of extensive experience with IBM as a super salesman, a “people” manager, and a sales instructor at IBM’s national ...
Paul
IT- Sales Trainer & CoachAward-winning global thought-leader in the IT & Software Sales enablement space. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Paul has over twenty-five of experience
Consideration 5: What’s the Provision for IT Sales Training Impact Measurement?
Finally, the ROI is always crucial as a chief revenue officer or a senior leader deciding to spend on sales training programs. After all, the idea with software sales training is ‘investing’ in the people as against ‘spending’ because it is the revenue from sales that keeps a business alive.
Interestingly, 35% of CSOs don’t know what measurable improvements they seek from training investments. Strange, isn’t it?
Talking of ROI, it is felt over time in terms of changes in the revenue numbers. However, isolating the impact of training on the end numbers could be difficult and involve more of a gut feeling than relying on hard facts. Like any business investment, even for training, it’s advisable to go for something whose impact can be isolated objectively instead of subjectively. When choosing between different sales training companies, a vital filtering criterion is examining their provision for impact measurement and how accurate that measurement is.
If they’re a company that can provide a scientific measurement of the before and after difference, they’re more likely to be offering a genuine investment proposition. The measure could be in the form of guaranteed improvements over a stipulated period or a more immediate qualitative impact sales skills assessment of the class.
Look out for: Impact Measurement Tools Provided & Their Authenticity + Case Studies
SALES SKILLS ASSESSMENT
TALSMART’s IT Sales IQ assessment not only digs deeper into the candidate’s understanding of the sales skills needed for IT, Software, and Technology sales but also a good understanding of the candidate’s applicability.
The IT domain-specific ‘technology + sales’ skills blended questionnaire helps you access the team’s readiness and identify their areas of improvement in the entire sales process.
Summarizing…
Sales training courses for technology companies in today’s world are a necessity, rather than a luxury for companies looking to grow. With the plethora of training providers in the market, selecting the right one is essential to ensure the training does infuse a competitive edge in the sales team an impact.
Key factors to consider involve looking out for specialized domain expertise, design of the course content, and its mode of delivery. What’s also important is examining the trainer profile and inquiring about the provision for impact measurement to ensure accountability for ROI.
Anything else you would consider while picking your IT Sales Training partner? Let us know more: contact us