Managing Training with a Sales Acceleration Tool: Part I

No matter the industry, there is always room for improvement in sales productivity. Every year, companies spend close to $13 billion on tools and software to accelerate the sales process. In fact, the typical organization spends $24k per person on sales productivity. However, most of those organizations have no way of measuring the effectiveness of that spending and its impact on revenue. Without the ability to analyze the effectiveness of reps, as well as the impact that spending on a sales acceleration tool has towards reaching company goals, how can you be confident in your investment?

For starters, one way is to continuously train reps to ensure they are taking full advantage of the tools they are provided with. Sales tools alone cannot help you reach your revenue goals, and neither can training your reps without accurate insights into their daily performance. It is a combination of the people, process, and technology working together at your organization that makes a difference when it comes to hitting quota.

Here’s how a sales acceleration tool and training together can optimize the productivity of your sales team:

Aside from consistent coaching and training, sales productivity can be majorly improved through the implementation of a sales acceleration tool. With these tools, sales leaders can analyze the success of certain sales techniques and methodologies and apply that knowledge to improve training initiatives. When reps have access to automation tools that provide information that otherwise would have taken days to discover or document, they can spend more time selling – and ultimately generate more revenue, faster.

Not only can a sales acceleration tool improve individual rep productivity, but it can also increase the overall impact of sales training. The information provided allows managers to not only understand their reps better individually, but also gives them the best opportunity to maximize ROI in their training initiatives by identifying best practices and areas where improvement may be needed.

Enhanced Sales Training

One way to ensure the implementation of a sales tool is successful is through establishing a process, or training program, to integrate the tool at your organization.

One-third of CSOs believe their enterprise’s ability to hire successful reps needs improvement; however, it is usually the management of training initiatives that needs improvement. The reality is, your reps likely do have potential. A sales acceleration tool allows managers to see performance statistics in real-time, notifying them where training is needed and enabling them to provide coaching to set reps on the right track before unsuccessful behaviors turn into habits.

Training is an essential part of any sales organization, and the most successful will upkeep training while establishing a culture of continuous improvement. But even a rep trained to standard can only be so productive without technology to enhance their day-to-day performance. As mentioned, if a rep is manually logging their activity data, this takes away valuable time they could be spending setting appointments. Instead, utilize training and sales tools together to develop your reps into high performers, because giving reps the tools they need to succeed and the training to help them get there are certainly worthwhile investments for your organization.

Read Part II to learn how a training program enhanced by Gryphon ONE can benefit your sales team.