Using Social Media in Sales Training

This post is a "conversation" held in Google Wave between Dolly Joseph and Brandon Carson (two of our bloggers). Until we can embed actual waves in this blog platform, we will copy-and-paste interesting back-and-forth dialog.

BRANDON: Typical sales training provides principles, criteria, and process for making the sale. In many instances a a video demonstrating the optimum application of those factors is what is used to try and achieve behavior change. These videos are primarily from the viewpoint of the expert, however. Why not try using social media applications to provide two more perspectives: that of the salesperson being trained, and that of the customer receiving the sales pitch?

DOLLY: Why not use a game? I have some recollection of some game (perhaps from The Sims) as you did different actions you got rapid feedback-- so as your avatar smiled or said the other character's name you earned points, but as you gave negative feedback you would lose those points. How about if as a sales person you didn't know what the other customer wanted exactly. It's part of the salesperson/player to figure it out-- what their trigger points are. In a sense it's a sophisticated 20 questions. 

BRANDON: Good point. I like the idea of making it more game-like.

DOLLY: What would be motivating game rewards for sales people? Would they need to IRL rewards, or could they be contained with a larger game framework?

BRANDON: Sales people have a small window of patience for "games". However, they do thrive on competition and "winning". I think reward can be as simple as executive/leadership recognition all the way to financial compensation. A competitive game arcade was used at Intuit as a sales education tool, and the primary reward mechanism was simply the leaderboard and a "weekly top scorer" notification that was sent out to everyone in the sales organization.

DOLLY: Maybe they could earn vacation time. That would be motivating for me. ;). I could see this being a great tool for new hires who don't have a great deal of sales experience.

BRANDON: Exactly. The first video can serve as the model. Modeling behavior from the perspective of an expert is a great way to demonstrate to the learner the expected outcomes. New hires need scaffolding to help them practice and understand the complex skills needed for mastery.

DOLLY: Well if we are trying to promote peer to peer learning, then the salespeople should upload their own suggestions or trials. Is there a way for them to do this?

BRANDON: Sure! Successful salespeople could record their own responses. Have the learner use a webcam or Flipcam to provide their response. Have them upload the response to a video community (YouTube, or an internal "video-on-demand" platform if you have it). Using social media utilities such as ratings and comments, the cohort of learners can view each other's responses and provide feedback. The experts can also view and rate the practice videos and provide their input as well.

DOLLY: Salespeople who upload videos can receive points. More experienced salespeople could mentor new hires and receive points. If it's modeled like YouTube, then the more views or comments you get, the more points you get. Of course what we are describing is a closed circuit. You're not getting any input from the actual customer base.

BRANDON: Another video can provide perspectives from the client receiving the sales pitch. You can consider using actual customers who have viewed the first and second videos, or you can assemble "actors" and use case studies from the field. I would think it's key to use real-life experiences whenever possible. Authenticity is a key factor in this type of activity. This unlimited back-and-forth between learners, experts, and even customers provides practice opportunities not possible in a classroom.

DOLLY: What if the best videos became part of the companies marketing plan? Spotlight on top performers. The game makes a genuine leap to real life.

BRANDON: Great idea! I like that.

Comments

[Jack Pierce]

We routinely use avatar simulations in sales training. Sales people love the real-life practice! http://blog.wslash.net/bid/10867/Survey-Results-Immersive-Learning-Simulations

[Russ Powell]

Hey guys. Love the ideas! Thanks. Here's another "angle" to knock around at some point: over the last few years I've come to see that many high-performing salespeople get their results through good (complete and accurate) information, and this information comes through research and documentation -- research about their own company (e.g., to determine their ideal client, to fully understand their products/services) and into other organizations (e.g., the capabilities and weaknesses of the competition; the structure of, political influences in, business needs of prospective clients, etc.) What ideas do you have for encouraging that researcher role of sales people? This is a tricky thing b/c most of the salespeople I know aren't particularly fond of or good at this part of their role. ;-)

[Dollyrdjoseph]

Well, as always, I would figure out what the key tasks are that eventually need to be done in the real world. I also like the idea of having scalable fun and quirky tasks that teach the skill and the value of having done it. So I think of Bingo or card trading games where having a certain combo of small info leads to a larger whole. I'm useless with corporate jargon, so I'm going to do political stuff. Let's say you have a grid of 5 random countries by 5 facts, GDP, bordering country, climate, political system, and leader. You then need to get a Bingo of facts, while competing with another salesperson at your company. Both of you are sharing info and learning, but it's taken a bit out of that realm of your direct job competition.

If I were to tell you to go look up those 25 facts and memorize them, you'd be unlikely to do them, but if you were using that info in a game, you'd be much more likely to remember at least half of it a week later, especially if you were doing that repeatedly. I know salespeople are a competitive bunch, so link this side competition to something compelling, but not critical.

I also think it would be valuable to have shared information about these products/clients-- Again, I know this is a more competitive than cooperative audience, but this could influence the culture.

Let's brainstorm about this soon. Are you on Wave?