SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Sales — tracks feedback from sales managers and executives. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter.
Last week, we asked: Would you consider using games to increase your salespeople’s interest in training?
- Yes, we already have and it’s great: 33.33%
- Yes, but we haven’t done it yet: 32.48%
- Yes, we already have, but it didn’t work so well: 23.93%
- No: 10.26%
The key to training and motivating salespeople is keeping them engaged and making them feel a part of the process. Using games is one way to do this, especially because it gives you the opportunity to underscore your key learning takeaways so they will stick. If the game reinforces a training technique and the salesperson has fun engaging in the game, then it’s going to increase the odds that the salesperson will apply the technique in the field. At the end, give your salespeople an opportunity to think about how they will use the new skill in a way they feel comfortable doing so – allow them to “make it their own” and they will put it in practice.
Stephen Pia is the founder of COACH MEdia and a sales trainer and coach.