In a Volatile Economy, Sales Training Is More Important Than Ever

Layoffs are sweeping the U.S., yet job supply continues to outweigh job demand, with over 10 million job openings and only 6 million unemployed workers. Long story short? Companies are taking a close look at their investments in employee learning and development (L&D) and looking for innovative sales training options retain top performers in today’s volatile economy.

Across a wide range of industries, many companies are so busy battling the effects of uncertain economic conditions that they have overlooked a critical lever for achieving growth: their sales teams. A fully enabled sales team remains one of the best ways to adapt to a changing environment and increase win rates when there are fewer opportunities available.

Two key questions for sales leaders are:

• Can the sales organization keep producing at a high rate with fewer resources?
• How can salespeople maintain their pipelines and close deals even in the worst economic conditions?

Sales reps need to be equipped with the best sales training and resources to navigate change and tackle the future with ease. But can you prepare for a potential downturn? The answer is yes, to a degree, and here’s how:

Do More With Less: All-in-One Platforms Include Sales Training

Let’s face it: Despite facing reduced or at-risk budgets, sales teams are still expected to meet the same or higher quotas. While this may sound impossible, the secret lies in the size of your sales enablement tech stack. Doing more with fewer tools is easier than it seems.

Consolidating your sales enablement tech stack into fewer, more powerful tools can increase user efficiency and decrease workload as sales reps spend less time learning new technologies and switching between tools and more time focused on what really matters—closing deals. And those aren’t the only benefits of tech stack consolidation. Using fewer tools means less administrative overhead and fewer dollars spent.

The State of Sales Enablement Tools

Download The Sales Enablement Technology Report to get the latest insights and advice for building the best sales enablement tech stack.

Where it gets tricky is knowing which tools to implement or which tools to cut to increase efficiency. One way to choose is identifying technology that accelerates the sales cycle or drives higher average contract values. A comprehensive sales enablement platform guaranteed to garner results provides continual learning and reinforcement, organizes content in a way that’s easy to access, empowers collaboration across the organization, equips managers to prepare sales reps and measures actionable metrics—such as bottlenecks in the sales cycle or sales reps behind on quotas. This will help amidst today’s unpredictable economic climate and extend the success of your entire organization, especially heading into uncertain times.

Stop Wasting Money on Traditional Sales Training

With today’s dispersed workforce, solely relying on traditional training methods won’t cut it anymore. Sales leaders need to ensure they’re making the most of their training budget, which means ditching a one-size-fits-all approach and delivering training tailored to each sales rep that lasts longer than their first few weeks on the job. Employees crave this personalized and consistent approach.

But this is easier said than done. Sales managers can’t spend their entire week listening to sales calls and providing feedback to each sales rep. They need to enlist help, and the quickest way to do so is with a modern learning platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI). There’s a new breed of tech that allows teams to personalize training for each seller, identify areas in need of improvement, recommend learning content, and reinforce new skills.

Companies that shift to these personalized and continual training methods will thrive as workplace dynamics continue to change in 2023. Providing training that gives sales enablement teams insight into what’s working and what isn’t will equip them to improve existing processes and content continuously. Companies will close deals faster and, in turn, close more deals altogether. And as these companies prioritize their employees’ learning and development, they’ll attract the next generation of workers.

While it’s unrealistic to know what the future holds, forward-looking organizations can take these proactive measures to ensure they’re as prepared as possible. Investing in personalized, AI-powered training will enable sales reps to succeed and businesses to thrive regardless of what turn the economy takes.

This article originally appeared on Training Industry.

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Download The Sales Enablement Technology Report to get the latest insights and advice for building the best sales enablement tech stack.