Upon seeing a telephone for the first time in 1876, President Rutherford B. Hayes told Alexander Graham Bell, “That’s an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use it?”

Although many sales managers and reps immediately appreciate the benefits of a modern sales learning platform, some are like Hayes: it sounds great but they’re not sure they’ll actually use it. This is true in any organization, but promoting widespread adoption of modern learning technology in a globally distributed sales force can be especially challenging.

To overcome these challenges, we’ve assembled 6 tips from sales training professionals who’ve succeeded in promoting widespread Allego adoption across large, geographically dispersed sales forces.

1. Be sensitive to cultural differences

When recording their first mobile videos, it’s common for people to feel a little uncomfortable with the sound of their own voice or their appearance. A little practice tends to help overcome camera shyness.  

However in some cultures, camera shyness and social taboos against “self-promotion” might be deeply ingrained. As a result, some of the reps resist the idea of capturing insights and best practices using mobile videos.

“Don’t be surprised if you’re rolling out globally, and their initial reaction is, ‘Oh, please don’t make me do this,’” said one sales training professional we work with.

To overcome such reticence, her company “meets them where they are. We don’t try to push them into an uncomfortable place. So rather than asking them multiple times to make a video, we say: ‘You don’t have to use the camera. You can just use the audio-only options.’ And they’ve really gravitated toward that. There are many different ways to create modern learning content, so we just give them the options that are available, and it’s worked very well.”

2. Translate all (or some) ‘how-to’ information

 If English is a second language for many of your overseas salespeople, you can speed adoption by translating the Allego “how-to” instructions into their native languages. In addition, you might want to let reps record videos in their native languages – at least until they become more comfortable on camera. According to one trainer, “In an ideal world, you may want all the content presented in English, but we’ve found that there are regions where you really need to have them recorded in the local language to see any kind of adoption at all.”

3. Stress the benefits of sharing best practices within–and across–regions

 With worldwide connectivity, modern learning software gives salespeople access to hard-won best practices and win stories from their peers around the globe. Stress this benefit! Let your salespeople know that they can watch reps from other regions pitch the company’s products and solutions. Convey the message, “These are cases you’ll really want to know about,” as one training professional told us. “We’re finding that this ad hoc sharing is where the reps are finding the most value from Allego.”

In Part II of this article, we’ll look at the benefits of gamification, influencer campaigns, and aligning Allego with your company’s global and regional sales initiatives.