Training should not be a one-time ordeal. Rather, it should be an ongoing, continuous process throughout your career. A big issue with training courses today is that people often complete them solely to gain a certificate of completion—once they finish a particular learning course, they feel they have maxed out their knowledge on a topic and can do so without additional knowledge in that area.
This is especially evident in sales training, where many individuals feel that there is a peak in sales knowledge. Once you have learned “the ropes,” so to speak, or the ins and outs of making a sale, many don’t feel the need to continue training efforts. This often leads to learning stagnation, where salespeople become stuck in the ways they learned years ago and are unwilling to adapt to new ways of doing things. Stagnation inherently limits one’s career and can negatively impact the growth of the company.
Training should be an ongoing process informed through many learning and development courses over a long period and ideally supported by companies for the individuals they employ. Adapting training into your everyday business processes can effectively outpace your competition and ensure your salespeople are performing at their best.
Competitive Advantages of Continuous Training
The majority of businesses acknowledge that training and personal development should be a large part of their organizational strategy, yet many don’t prioritize training over other parts of their business model. Investing in continuous training as a professional and across organizations has many competitive advantages that help you stand out and outperform competitors.
Updating Skills and Market Knowledge
The world of sales is constantly reshaping itself. Though a “sale” is the same principle as it was 30 years ago, the means of making that sale, the process a salesperson goes through, and overall customer and client management have changed dramatically. As someone involved in sales, regular, ongoing training is the only way to keep up with these changes. No matter your industry, keeping your skills current is essential, especially with the technological and market changes constantly occurring.
Expanding Knowledge
You might be the most experienced salesperson in the world, but that does not mean there is nothing left for you to learn. You can use ongoing training courses to further develop general skills, such as communication and persuasion. The same principle applies to any industry – though you are a professional in one area, there are always related learning opportunities that can significantly benefit your role. Consider also using these learning opportunities to enhance industry-specific knowledge of your prospects.
Adaptability
Facing change, whether it be organizational, industry-wide, or related to your specific role, is a challenge for every individual. However, continuous learning has made professionals more adaptable to change. By the simple act of seeking learning opportunities, you are opening yourself up to change, which trains you to be more agile in your processes. Adaptability is hugely important for any working professional.
Confidence
A big part of ongoing training is confidence. Training helps you build confidence as a professional, whether you’re more green to your role or not. It introduces you to technology, terms, and parts of the industry that you may not have otherwise heard of – especially thinking about an industry like sales, where there are many industry-specific terms and use cases.
There are a myriad of other benefits to investing in ongoing training programs as a professional, such as improving your productivity through new strategies, expanding customer or client service, and professional development, but the most important thing to keep in mind is that ongoing training is valuable. In sales, it can mean the difference between you or your competitor closing a deal.
Building a Culture of Learning and Development
Within your organization, many individuals could be open to ongoing learning opportunities and training courses. However, if your company culture does not actively encourage learning and development, it isn’t likely that employees will seek training opportunities on their own. Continuous learning and training need to be integrated into the fiber of your organization, starting with leadership.
Leadership training
Organizational change works best starting from the top. If your leadership team is seeking training opportunities, it shows the rest of your employees that training is possible, even for those higher up. This encourages individuals to get more involved in training efforts.
Incentives
Mario Moussa, an educator at Duke Corporate Education, says, “You don’t change a culture by talking; you change it through action.” If your organization wants to prioritize L&D, you need to show it through action, not just tell employees that you want them to invest further in learning opportunities. You can change the culture to prioritize learning by creating incentive programs, covering employee training, and giving employees the opportunity to talk about their ongoing learning.
Dedicate time
As we constantly see in sales, one of the main reasons employees don’t seek ongoing learning opportunities is simply that they get too busy. When you have client tasks taking up every minute of your day, it’s hard to take the time needed to invest in ongoing learning. However, because of the immense value of training, employees should have dedicated training time blocks during the week and prioritize them just like they would a routine task. Even in shorter increments, this can be a real game-changer for getting more training done.
Continuous training is a process of learning and development. It’s being active and aware of ongoing training courses and learning modules you and your team can take part in and being willing to make learning a part of your weekly schedule. In the world of sales and across niche industries, it not only helps give your employees a competitive advantage but also expands their confidence in serving clients. Therefore, learning and development should be factored into the very culture of your workplace.
