The concept of dieting has been the target of a lot of criticism over the last 10 years as experts expounded that drastic regimes aimed at quick weight loss don’t work well. Their research indicated that people eventually come off the diet and end up gaining back whatever pounds they lost. Instead, the experts and researchers say, it’s better to make the commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Exercising regularly, eating a variety of wholesome foods, and keeping your stress levels down will be much more beneficial in the long run.
While I’m no expert on diet or nutrition, this kind of thinking strikes me as a useful analogy between the “healthy lifestyle” idea and the kind of broad, balanced, sustainable approach to sales readiness that many companies are looking for. To that end, here are three analogous principles between healthy living and a healthy sales readiness program:
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Serve up content in moderate portions and spread it out over time.
Too often, sales teams experience a kind of feast-or-famine content and training cycle. For example, a glut of content before an important initial presentation, with minimal support for the follow-up meetings. Or rigorous onboarding, followed by haphazard ongoing learning. Microlearning activities can help you distribute training over a manageable timeframe. It can provide “portion control” for your sales readiness and enablement program, so that reps don’t have to rely on ‘cram sessions’ for important meetings. It can help you build long-term, sustainable change and reduce the risk of sales teams crashing back into old habits.
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Stay active.
Vigorous, sustained activity is one key to health and longevity that everyone agrees on. It’s crucial for sales readiness initiatives, too. Practice, practice, practice. Simply presenting information to your salespeople is like asking them to read a book about exercise, often doesn’t include actually doing exercise. It’s not just what you know – it’s how you apply that knowledge. This is where video role plays are hugely helpful, not just for polishing pitches, but for supporting active coaching and the ongoing conversation between reps and their supervisors or management. Virtual role plays and near-real-world simulations of sales scenarios can help your reps hone their skills and apply the knowledge they’ve acquired, in a supportive environment.
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Mix it up.
Look for those different ‘colors’ on your sales readiness plate. People have different learning styles; give them a variety of content – polls, quizzes, bite-sized content, quick updates. Of course, with any healthy diet, there should still be room for dessert. Make it fun! You can sprinkle in gamification, rewards systems, leaderboards. Provide a variety of access, too, via desktops, mobile devices, or your CRM.
Mindtickle can help your business build a healthy, sustainable sales readiness program. At the same time, you’ll be helping your reps with a bit of stress reduction too! At the risk of mixing metaphors, you could think of our platform as your trusted personal trainer in your drive to sales readiness success.
To learn more about how Mindtickle can help your sales readiness initiatives, contact us!
By Rahul Mathew
