Videos are memorable, entertaining, and visually engaging, which makes them the perfect addition to your external sales team online training. But how can you use these powerful online training tools to increase profits and retain your top talent?

How To Use Videos In External Sales Team Online Training

Your external sales staff needs to stay up-to-date with the latest products, compliance issues, and company policies. When meeting with clients or customers, they are the face of your organization. As such, they must be able to portray your brand in a positive light and provide consumers with top-notch service. One of the best ways to impart knowledge and improve knowledge retention is to incorporate videos into your eLearning course design. Let’s explore eight ways to maximize the impact of your external sales team online training with videos.

1. Video Assessments

Video Assessments are videos captured by salespeople to show how they pitch or sell your products. With this learning tool, which should be a built-in feature in your LMS, sales staff are asked to record a video of themselves doing a selling activity, such as delivering the company’s elevator pitch, and then save it back into the LMS for review by their manager. It’s an excellent way for salespeople to master their delivery of corporate messaging, but also to better understand how they’re perceived in regard to factors such as body language, verbal tendencies,  friendliness, conciseness, etc. It’s worth noting that Video Assessments can also be used with other customer-facing teams, such as service agents, whose performance can be improved by receiving feedback on their videos.

2. Product Demos

Show your external sales team how your latest and greatest products function and how to promote them to customers. You can also include a detailed explanation of how to maintain the product so that they can pass that knowledge on to consumers. Add a dose of entertainment by producing an animated product demo video that features quirky characters who interact with the item and showcase its unique selling points. Pair the video with an infographic that highlights all the key points for easy reference, as they may not be able to watch the video in the middle of a meeting or sales call. But they can quickly view the infographic to brush up on the USPs and benefits.

Show your external sales team how your latest and greatest products function and how to promote them to customers. You can also include a detailed explanation of how to maintain the product so that they can pass that knowledge on to consumers. Add a dose of entertainment by producing an animated product demo video that features quirky characters who interact with the item and showcase its unique selling points. Pair the video with an infographic that highlights all the key points for easy reference, as they may not be able to watch the video in the middle of a meeting or sales call. But they can quickly view the infographic to brush up on the USPs and benefits.

3. Onboarding Brand Intros

External sales teams don’t have the ability to mingle with other in-house staff members or attend live events, apart from video conferencing sessions. As such, they may not have the same level of familiarity with your brand as your internal employees. An onboarding brand intro video can show them what your company’s about and what it stands for. For example, which clients or customers you cater to and the pillars of your brand identity. You can also include a brief company history so that they understand your origins and how you’ve grown as a brand. Onboarding intros help them take pride in your organization and the fact that they’re now an integral part of it. This prompts them to actively participate in sales team online training to continually refine their knowledge and skills.

4. Sales Pointers

Produce a video that’s packed with helpful sales pointers based on specific products or customer needs. For example, how to pitch add-ons to a customer who may be reluctant to increase their spending budget. Make them micro so that sales employees can absorb the information quickly during their breaks or while waiting for a client meeting. A few helpful tips and tricks can make the difference between sealing the deal and missing out on a golden opportunity. You can even ask experienced team members to share their insights and add them to your next “sales pointers” production.

5. Customer Persona Profiles

Your sales staff probably deals with a variety of different personality types throughout the course of their workday. Every customer they encounter has unique buying needs or pain points that must be addressed. One of the best ways to impart experience and background knowledge is through customer persona profile videos. Each video showcases a different persona they may come across. Complete with common behaviors, actions, motivations, and buying histories.

6. Troubleshooting Tips

One of the conundrums that external sales employees face is the age-old question of how to overcome customer concerns to seal the deal. Produce a troubleshooting tips video that helps them navigate the everyday sales challenges they may encounter. You can also incorporate supplemental online training activities, such as simulations that allow them to put the information into practice or build related skills. Or, present “do and don’t” snippets that show the right and wrong way to handle challenging situations on the job. This may even spin off into an online assessment activity that enables them to test their own reactions and identify areas for improvement.

7. Sales Skills In Action

Imparting skills can be a tricky task, especially when it comes to persuasion and negotiation, which are both vital abilities that sales staff need to hit their targets and improve customer satisfaction. However, you can show them how it’s done in a practical context with “sales skills in action” video demos. As an example, you need your external sales team to strengthen their communication skills so that they can identify customer needs. This requires a high level of active listening and critical thinking. Create a video that shows them how to converse with customers so that they get to the root of the problem. Then pair them with the ideal product.

8. Compliance Fundamentals

Your external sales team must be up-to-date with industry rules and regulations to keep everything above board. Develop compliance fundamental videos that cover all the basics, from COI violations to safe handling procedures. If there’s a dress code they have to follow, produce a video that highlights the essential elements of their professional attire. It’s also wise to follow it up with assessments or pop quizzes to ensure that they acquired the key takeaways. You might consider a compliance micro-learning video library that they can use throughout the comprehensive certification online training course.

These are just a handful of creative ways to incorporate videos into your external sales team online training. However, you should bear in mind that it all starts with an effective extended enterprise LMS that gives employees the interactivity they need. Namely, a platform that provides video support and allows them to access online training materials on any device. You should also gather their feedback to determine which videos they’d like to watch based on their gaps and goals.

Still wondering how you can use them to boost sales and improve employee engagement? Read the article 8 Best Practices For Using Sales Online Training Videos to discover tips to enhance your sales training with dynamic online videos.