In today’s competitive business landscape, sales training is crucial for ensuring that your sales team is well-equipped to meet the demands of a constantly evolving market. Brands are increasingly turning to educational videos as a powerful tool for sales training, recognizing that video content can engage, inform, and inspire sales teams more effectively than traditional training methods. This article explores how brands are using educational videos to enhance sales training and drive results.
The Power of Educational Videos in Sales Training
Educational videos are rapidly becoming a preferred medium for sales training, thanks to their versatility and effectiveness. Here are some of the key reasons why brands are embracing this approach.
- Visual Engagement: Sales professionals often absorb information better when it’s presented visually. Educational videos combine visuals, text, and audio, making them an engaging and impactful training tool.
- Consistency: With video content, brands can ensure consistent messaging and training materials for all their sales representatives, regardless of their location. This eliminates variations in training quality and content delivery.
- Accessibility: Educational videos can be accessed anytime and anywhere, making them an ideal choice for on-the-go salespeople. Mobile devices and online platforms provide flexibility in training delivery.
- Interactive Learning: Brands can incorporate interactive elements such as quizzes and assessments into their videos to gauge the comprehension of sales reps. This promotes active learning and engagement.
Pic Courtesy: elearningindustry.com/
- Cost-Effectiveness: While creating high-quality videos may require an initial investment, they can significantly reduce the costs associated with traditional in-person training sessions and printed materials over time.
Numerous enterprises, such as Ericsson and Infosys, form partnerships with e-learning platforms like Udacity, Coursera, and EdX to enhance the expertise of their workforce. This approach not only facilitates substantial cost savings but also proves more economical compared to conventional training methodologies.
Common Types of Educational Videos Used in Sales Training
To achieve effective sales training, brands employ a variety of educational video types tailored to the specific needs of their sales teams. Here are the most common types:
Onboarding and Product Training
New sales team members require comprehensive onboarding and product training to quickly get up to speed. Educational videos are an excellent tool for providing an overview of the company, its products or services, and the sales process. Brands create educational videos for products that cover product features, benefits, and use cases, ensuring that sales reps have a strong foundation to build upon.
The above video by Deloitte Digital Bank is a concise training video. It is aimed at enlightening its sales and customer success teams about the advantages of the Digital Bank Accelerator. The video strategically addresses various customer pain points and seamlessly introduces the accelerator as an effective solution. The latter part delves into the intricacies of the product, offering a comprehensive guide on application operation and elucidating backend technology details. This equips sales and customer-facing teams with the knowledge needed to address potential objections
Skill Development
Sales training goes beyond product knowledge; it also involves developing essential skills such as effective communication, objection handling, and negotiation. Brands produce video content that focuses on these skills, providing real-world examples and role-play scenarios to help sales teams improve their techniques.
This in-depth corporate training video serves as a prime example for instructing salespeople on mastering the skill of handling sales objections with finesse. The video is a comprehensive guide, offering a step-by-step walkthrough of the seven stages integral to Gong’s B2B sales process.
Sales Playbooks
Many brands create a library of video content that serves as a sales playbook. These videos include scripts, best practices, and tips for handling common sales situations. Sales reps can refer to these videos as needed to refine their approach and stay updated on the latest tactics.
Canity has crafted an extensive customer service training series. The animated series unfolds practical examples, ensuring that the tips presented are not just theoretical but also applicable in real-life scenarios.
Sales Meetings and Updates
Brands use educational videos to share important information, updates, and announcements with their sales teams. Regular video meetings can help disseminate company news, discuss performance metrics, and foster a sense of belonging and unity among the salesforce.
Continuous Learning
Sales is an ever-evolving field, and brands recognize the importance of continuous learning. They curate educational videos that cover industry trends, market insights, and emerging best practices. Sales reps can access the content to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace.
Investor Lift provides an in-depth employee training video lasting 40 minutes, focusing on CRM training. Tailored for sales, customer support, and business development teams, this tutorial covers all the nuances of lead management using CRM and Zapier.
Measuring KPIs in Sales Training with Educational Videos
One of the significant advantages of using educational videos in sales training is the ease of measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). Here are some common KPIs that can be tracked and measured:
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor video engagement metrics such as view count, completion rate, and user interactions (e.g., quiz scores, comments, and questions). Higher engagement indicates that the content is resonating with the sales team.
Pic Courtesy: hubspot.com
- Knowledge Retention: Implement pre- and post-video quizzes or assessments to measure knowledge retention and improvement. A rise in scores over time suggests that the training is effective.
- Sales Performance: Track the performance of sales reps over time, including metrics like conversion rates, deal sizes, and sales cycle lengths. Analyze whether there is a positive correlation between video training and improved performance.
- Feedback and Surveys: Collect feedback from sales reps on the quality and relevance of the video content. Use surveys to gather insights and make improvements based on their input.
Case Studies
Here are some successful case studies of brands that have effectively used educational videos for sales training:
HubSpot
HubSpot, a leading inbound marketing and sales software company, is known for its Inbound Sales Certification program, which relies heavily on educational videos. The program offers comprehensive training on inbound sales techniques through video lessons, quizzes, and certification exams. HubSpot’s commitment to video-based training has resulted in a well-informed sales team that excels in aligning its sales efforts with the inbound methodology. This approach not only benefits their sales team but also strengthens their position as a thought leader in inbound marketing.
IBM
IBM, a multinational technology and consulting company, has successfully integrated video training into its sales development program. They use a variety of educational video content, including product demos, customer success stories, and training on their extensive product portfolio. IBM’s sales reps have easy access to this content, allowing them to stay up-to-date with the latest product features. These educational videos also effectively communicate the value of technological solutions to clients and customers.
Check out the product demo video of IBM’s Watsonx Orchestrate, an AI designed to multiply productivity by automating tasks.
Salesforce
Salesforce, a leading customer relationship management (CRM) software company, understands the importance of keeping its vast global salesforce informed and engaged. They regularly produce educational videos for their sales teams, covering a wide range of topics. These videos include product updates, company news, and sales strategies. The approach ensures that Salesforce’s sales reps are well-informed and motivated, contributing to the company’s continued growth.
LinkedIn leverages its e-learning platform, LinkedIn Learning, to meticulously curate and deliver an extensive array of video training courses tailored for sales professionals. These courses cover a spectrum of sales techniques, strategies, and industry-specific insights, empowering the sales team to upskill effectively. With a user-friendly interface and high-quality content, LinkedIn Learning facilitates a dynamic learning experience, enabling sales professionals to stay abreast of the latest trends and enhance their sales acumen at their own pace.
Bajaj Finserv
Bajaj Finserv, a leading financial services company in India, employs educational videos to train its salesforce in areas such as insurance and lending products. These videos provide in-depth knowledge about various financial products and services, enabling sales representatives to better serve customers’ financial needs. Illume is its customised learning platform to keep its employees up-to-date.
Alkem
Alkem utilizes tailored e-learning initiatives for the training of its sales team. The pharmaceutical company has implemented the Alkepedia and A-Leap programs to educate and enhance the skills of both its sales force and senior management.
Educational videos have emerged as a powerful and flexible tool for sales training in the modern business world. Brands are leveraging these videos to deliver consistent, engaging, and cost-effective training to their sales teams. By incorporating videos into onboarding, skill development, sales playbooks, meetings, and continuous learning, companies can ensure that their salesforce is well-prepared to meet the demands of today’s competitive marketplace. As the business landscape continues to evolve, the use of educational videos in sales training is expected to grow, offering even more innovative and effective ways to empower sales teams while allowing easy measurement of KPIs to track their progress.
