Implementing Effective Training

Studies show that effective training is:

  • Relevant to the learner’s real-world environment
  • Incremental
  • Supported and reinforced by management
  • Rewarded and recognized
  • Interactive

Let’s look at each of these points and consider how you can use the AMS Program as the basis of an effective, comprehensive sales development program at your company.

Relevant to the learner’s real-world environment

Each AMS course is developed specifically for healthcare salespeople. For example, in the selling skills courses, each skill is explained using real-world examples from healthcare sales. Examples from hospital, physician, long term care, lab, and other markets are used, and many different types of products are addressed.

However, every company is different, so it’s important to help sales reps understand how the AMS training content relates to your particular markets. A few ideas on how to do that:

  • Hold a conference call after your team finishes a course to allow participants to share ideas on how the concepts in the course relate to your company and your markets.
  • If a certain idea or example in the course material isn’t a good fit for your company, tell your reps so. Explain what’s different and how they would adapt the idea or skill for in their sales calls.
Incremental:

Sales reps cannot hone all of their selling behaviors at once. Learners need time to work on a skill, focus on it and sharpen the technique, before moving to the next skill. That is why the AMS program is divided into courses, and why it’s a good idea to avoiding rushing through those courses.

Supported and reinforced by management:

Sales reps focus on expectations they know will be monitored and measured. It is rarely enough just to tell your people you’d like them to participate in this training program – sales reps may like the idea of training but in the press of day-to-day goals it’s likely to get shoved to the back burner. Some reps may even resent the idea that they are being asked to study, and you’ll need to explain why you expect them to participate and how they are likely to benefit. Some messages you and your company may wish to emphasize:

  • Participation is expected and will be monitored (and will be rewarded, if this is the case).
  • Accreditation is important because it allows the company to promote their sales force’s qualifications to customers and potential customers, and allows the rep to be recognized for his or her accomplishment.
  • Accreditation allows the sales rep to talk to customers as a trained consultant to the facility or practice.
  • Reps who actively engage the new skills and knowledge they gain are likely to see the payoff in sales and margins.
  • Even experienced reps can hone existing skills and gain new ones, if they make an effort to do so.
Rewarded and recognized:

The most important form of recognition built into the program is the AMS designation itself. You can make this recognition even more meaningful by ensuring that fellow employees, customers, and vendors are informed when your rep earns AMS accreditation. In addition, many companies offer additional incentives or rewards to reps who earn the AMS mark.

Interactive:

Interactivity is the surest way to engage a learner in training. It is difficult to achieve when learning is web-based, but there are many ways that you can make the training more than a web-based program:

  • Conduct a conference call with your participants after they read an assigned course. Ask them what they learned, what ideas seemed most relevant, and how they plan to apply the skills or knowledge they have gained.
  • Teach all or selected courses in a classroom setting. Course material can easily be adapted to PowerPoint form, allowing you to build the content into a customized workshop for your team.
  • Be sure to ask questions and promote the exchange of ideas among your participants – they’ll learn even more from each other than they will from the course itself. Find ways to have participants practice specific skills – for instance, have them role-play their objection-handling skills with you, while you play the role of the customer.
  • Do ride-along coaching, and focus on the topics in the course your sales rep is currently studying.
  • Communicate with your learners electronically (email, Twitter, company intranet, whatever) while they’re studying a course. Ask them to share ideas on how they are using what they learn. For instance: “Now that you’ve studying effective openers, everyone share one opener that you think works really well on a cold call.”