Today the customer experience is one of the top factors consumers consider before making a purchase. This is one of the many reasons why improving customer service is a high priority for many modern organizations. However, providing quality customer service now requires that your sales reps know more than just facts and features. To truly provide quality service your sales team must have a deeper understanding of the products and services your business offers. They need to know how your offerings can help customers with their pain points.
Product knowledge is important for improving sales performance, but the most successful training programs focus on filling employee knowledge gaps. Infopro Learning has more than 25 years of experience developing outcomes driven learning solutions that help organizations overcome business challenges. We recently assisted a leader in the internet industry improve the performance of their sales team.
Solution Highlights
Infopro Learning assisted this organization first by measuring the existing knowledge gaps of their sales team . This information was used to develop an interactive micro-learning series that was designed to fill the identified knowledge gaps. It also helped the sales professionals quickly learn the details of each of the companies offerings. This highly engaging program featured of three key parts. Part one was the micro-learning strategy. The second part was the integration of a wide range of rich media. The third key component was interactive learning formats.
Part 1: Micro-learning Strategy
This organization was looking for a training solution that could easily fit into the busy schedules of their sales reps. The learning content also needed to be engaging and easy to remember.
A micro-learning approach was selected due to its versatility. In this format the training content was broken down into several short online training modules. Each module was focused on a single product or service. The goal of each module was to help team members broaden their knowledge base and break down how the product works. The modules went beyond simple product features and answered questions such as what problems it solves for different kinds of customers.
Utilizing a micro-learning strategy for product training made it easy for employees to look up the exact product they needed to learn more about and gain the knowledge they needed in minutes.
Part 2: Integrating Rich Media
Another important feature of this program was the use of high quality visuals and animation that were used to help build context around each of the topics. Integrating rich media into each module helped create a more engaging sales training program. The modules used storytelling to help explain customer pain points and challenges.
The visual components that were used played an important role in the storytelling process. The visual components of this program were also designed to align with the company’s brand and style giving it a more professional and modern look.
Part 3: Interactive Learning Formats
The learning formats that were used also played a role in the success of this training program. The program used learning formats such as scenario-based learning to build context around each topic. This format not only made the content more relatable and easier to understand, but also engaged participants by having them make choices.
In this format employees learn to improve their sales skills by working through common scenarios they are likely to encounter on the job. Employees use the information they learn about the company’s products and practice applying them in a risk-free environment. Delivering training this way helps employees both gain new knowledge and helps them build the confidence they need to apply those skills on the job.
Solution Results
This product knowledge training program successfully helped improved the skills of this organization’s sales team. More than 400 employees participated in the program and their skills improved quickly. Customer satisfaction scores greatly improved as well as employee confidence. Participants showed improved performance and shared that they were able to achieve their sales targets more easily.
To learn more about the details of this product training programs and read the case study Product Training for Increased Sales Efficiency.
