Super-Charging Your Sales Team’s Performance

How to make a difference by delivering the right training and information – at the right time

Caleb Johnson, Director of Strategic Accounts, Expertus

By Caleb Johnson, Director of Strategic Accounts, Expertus

In today’s tight economy, pressure in the marketplace is stronger than ever and hitting from many directions – turbulent business cycles, fewer buyers, decreased spending power, increased competition and dwindling returns. To succeed, you need a smarter, faster sales team – a team that’s armed with just-in-time knowledge, training and market insight that provides a real competitive edge.

Leveraging the expertise of your top performers has become a business imperative. So how do you deliver the critical information your sales force needs, precisely when it’s needed? It starts with next-generation cloud learning platforms that fit-in seamlessly with your existing infrastructure to integrate high-impact sales training, information access and knowledge sharing, precisely at the moment of need.

Tip #1 – Shift informal learning into high gear

Fact: Today, only 20% of learning is packaged in formal training courses. That means the lion’s share of your team’s expertise is gained through informal learning – for example, reading articles, sharing “war” stories with mentors and peers, sharing online video and audio how-tos, exchanging unstructured email and text messages to seek advice and support, or using Google and other search engines to find market news, competitive information, and other intelligence.

It’s what your salespeople must constantly do “outside of the LMS box” to learn what traditional classroom training can’t teach them. But now, there’s a better way.

A cloud-based dynamic learning platform is a breakthrough, because it’s a more flexible, efficient way to support formal classroom training and e-learning. But more importantly, a dynamic cloud LMS extends your learning environment to incorporate and all the relevant, valuable informal learning content and channels in a single unified, dynamic interface.

Tip #2 – Optimize time-to-competency for new hires

With everything your sales team needs to learn available under one web “roof,” you can speed on-boarding and time-to-proficiency, and reduce the time your salespeople spend in classrooms. And consider this – a portion of most new-hire curricula focuses on topics that simply aren’t necessary for sales professionals to absorb immediately (for example, general corporate information and methodologies).

Imagine how much more quickly new sales employees could be productive if on-boarding focused first on necessary sales skills and information – followed in subsequent weeks and months by non-critical training and information? A dynamic cloud LMS can make it easy to automate custom learning paths for all new sales employees.

Tip #3 – Keep the best sales guidance top-of-mind

Let’s face it – your sales organization’s most valuable knowledge can’t be found in the training department. It’s actually walking around with your team in the field. Smart new sales reps love spending time with experienced colleagues – listening to their stories and advice. This is truly the most valuable training your business can provide. Mentor guidance can shorten your team’s learning curve help avoid costly pitfalls.

Just imagine if this advice was at every fingertips – including sales call planning tips, follow-up strategies, talking points, differentiators and buyer insights? A dynamic cloud LMS provides a centralized, collaborative forum for on-demand learning and interaction. So your sales force can finally get the info and know-how they need, when they need it, in portions that are easy to digest and understand. And in sales, that’s the key to success!

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Conclusion

Are you ready to facilitate and optimize sales knowledge sharing? Make training more useful and valuable? Leverage the collective expertise of your senior team members? And overcome the demands of today’s marketplace? Your best bet is to add a dynamic cloud learning platform to your arsenal. Don’t be surprised if your sales force rewards you with dramatic performance improvement.

Note from Caleb: Are you facing challenges with sales performance? Need advice about how to make a lasting difference for your business? Contact me anytime at calebj@expertus.com.

Or read about our dynamic cloud LMS designed specifically for sales enablement  – ExpertusONE for Sales Teams.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Building a Better Certification Program

A Roadmap for Improving Business Partner Loyalty,  Mind Share and Revenue

By Mohana Radhakrishnan, VP Client Services, Expertus

Mohana Radhakrishnan, VP Client Services, Expertus

Do you struggle to keep your partners engaged?
Are you challenged with providing global channel support?
Do you know which resellers are the most productive – and why?

In today’s tough economic landscape, channel partner sales reps face more pressure and obstacles than ever. There’s no doubt that they’re motivated to drive sales. The question is… are they motivated to drive your product or service sales?

Reseller certification programs still provide value to organizations. But, thanks to new technologies, they can easily be reconfigured and re-energized to keep your partners more supported, engaged and productive than ever before!

Consider these 3 ways that enterprise 2.0 learning innovation can engage partners more deeply:

Tip #1 – Add Dynamic Learning Paths

Web 2.0 technologies like dynamic learning paths and role-based course management make governing your partner learning tracks and curriculum much easier for both users and training administrators:

For Users:

• Only see and search relevant learning content via a personalized view.
• Quickly see next steps needed and current certification timeline.
• Save time and learn more with prescriptive content/course assignment.
• Alerted when new product or service details are available.

For Partner Training Administrators:

• No more rebuilding content lists and curriculum definitions.
• Simplifies curriculum content updates; just tag and publish.
• Zero enrollment headaches – certification paths/curricula are automatically assigned.
• Push new content globally and know when it’s received.

Tip #2 – Simplify Partner Reporting and Data Access

Can you see which partners are training, how often and when? Do you know which regions are leveraging your learning programs and assets?

Did you answer “No?” Then it’s time to simplify your reporting process. A next-gen reporting system provides quick and easy access to real-time stats of all your channel training activities:

• View completions and scores on-demand.
• See current status.
• Receive up-to-date channel, regional and individual-level insights.

Tip #3 – Integrate Your Learning and Certification Systems

Are partners frustrated with the time it takes for your certification status updates? Do you struggle with gathering this data? Are your certification programs aligned with your curricula?

There are new, dynamic learning platforms like ExpertusONE that seamlessly integrate all of your learning assets and programs with your partner management systems. This means you actually get real-time data sync and alignment.

To learn more about how a strong channel education strategy and learning technology can work together to drive partner engagement, we invite you to watch a special “on-demand” webcast, EMC’s head of partner productivity: “How to Build a World-Class Partner Certification Program.”

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Conclusion

With real-time, end-to-end synchronization, all of your systems are automatically updated, as needed. In other words, the most recent data is available simultaneously, across your entire program network, when a partner completes a new certification level, when you modify training program content, or when other changes occur.

This frees you to focus on building partner relationships, rather than focusing on verifying information that supports those relationships.

Note from Mohana: Would you like to discuss how your organization can apply any of these partner certification tips? I’m happy to help. Please contact me at mohanar@expertus.com.

Global Product Training on a Shoestring

New Learning Strategies & Technology Make it Easy to Provide High-Quality Programs - Without All the Cost

By Mohana Radhakrishnan, Vice President, Client Services,  Expertus

Mohana Radhakrishnan, VP Client Services, Expertus

Recently we conducted a survey on global product training. Two key facts emerged:

1) Increasing budget constraints are a universal concern.

2) Nearly half of respondents allocate less than 10% of their annual training budgets to programs delivered outside of their home country.

In short - limited resources make it difficult to offer high-quality learning wherever it’s needed. And chances are, your organization faces these same challenges.

How can you ensure that excellent product training available across all geographies, while staying within existing budget parameters?

Tip #1 – Focus on Audience-Relevant Training

We advise clients to first identify product training that’s absolutely essential for global audiences. Then, establish priorities. Too many companies assume that all product training delivered within their home country should be available to all audiences around the world. The truth is, it’s more efficient and effective to offer limited, but highly relevant product training than it is to offer vast, but slightly irrelevant courses and content.

Tip #2 – Scrutinize Your Budget

It’s also important to carefully analyze how your training dollars are being spent. When we help clients conduct a budget analysis, we often discover that dollars are wasted on redundant courses, unnecessary travel and entertainment expenses and underutilized technology investments. Sometimes the dollars saved in these and other areas can offset new, more valuable investments – such as virtual classroom implementations – that actually help expand and improve global product training programs.

Tip #3 – Get Help

Our survey indicated that 83% of respondents now offer training globally. As companies expand their product training initiatives, new challenges arise that require innovative processes and unique approaches. An experienced, outside perspective can help identify key opportunities to improve efficiency. For example, Expertus recently helped Microsoft save about $1.7 million a year by augmenting classroom product training with bi-annual virtual programs, including live online meetings, on-demand webinar events, technical labs and social networking.

Tip #4 – Consider Technology Alternatives

Effective use of emerging technology can further help you stretch your global product training budget. In fact, our survey showed that companies rely on e-Learning for product training much more heavily in their home country than for audiences located elsewhere. And yet, e-learning, blended learning and virtual classrooms are typically less expensive and are more immediate alternatives to ILT. Furthermore, next generation LMSs (cloud-based platforms with integrated learning delivery, management and reporting – such as ExpertusONE) can greatly increase overall training efficiency.

Note from Mohana: For more information about the product training survey we conducted, or to talk about how your organization can make the most of its product training investment, contact me anytime at mohanark@expertus.com.

Bridge the Channel Partner Gap with Cloud Learning

How to align, empower and reenergize your global partners with dynamic cloud learning

By John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

John Schneble, Product Director, Technology Solutions, Expertus

In today’s fluid, tight-margin marketplace, companies are relying more heavily on their channel partner networks to sell more at lower cost. The problem is – these partners are often both physically and functionally disconnected from the companies they serve.

So how do you:

• Create stronger ties with your channel partners?
• Arm them with better, more comprehensive product, sales and marketing content?
• Add tangible value and improve their ability to generate revenue from your products?

Many top enterprise organizations are turning to dynamic cloud-based LMS platforms as an efficient, effective foundation. Here are some reasons why:

#1 – Forge stronger connections by aligning formal, informal and social learning

This new breed of learning platform integrates formal and informal learning with social learning tools, all in a unified enterprise-class web portal. This links business partners, employees and customers with each other and with key information and training resources – for better real-time collaboration and a lasting competitive advantage.

#2 – Create a virtual learning ecosystem for richer, more robust product knowledge

A cloud-based dynamic LMS can give your entire channel audience instant access to the business-critical info they need to grow sales:

• On-demand courses and webinars
• Product research materials, such as data sheets, marketing collateral, positioning statements, pricing structures, merchandising descriptions and more
• Live digital feedback, support and guidance (via chat discussions, expert networks and community-of-practice forums)

These “virtual learning ecosystems” also enable you to leverage your partners’ collective knowledge and experience. And with integrated analytics, you can better monitor individual and aggregate partner engagement and performance – for better-informed business decisions.

#3 – Strengthen relationships and loyalty with more responsive channel support

Cloud-based architecture makes it easy to tailor and scale programs with changing needs. Furthermore, with   anytime/anywhere web portal access, your channel partners are more likely to use your learning resources. This  improves their potential for business success – and along with it, their satisfaction with selling your products.

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Conclusion

Ultimately, implementing partner programs with a dynamic cloud learning platform:

• Enhances communication with your channel
• Strengthens working relationships
• Provides ongoing, actionable insight into channel performance
• Creates potential for increased channel revenue streams – at lower cost to you organization.

Note from John: World-class companies such as Autodesk and EMC are seeing business impact from channel programs built on the ExpertusONE dynamic learning platform. To learn more about those solutions, visit the ExpertusONE for Partner Channels area of our website. Or contact me anytime at johns@expertus.com.