….From a purely face to face, traditional, training medium to a more blended approach; encompassing e-learning, virtual instructor-led training and clever nelly.
The pan-European challenge
With a remit to develop the capability of the Pan European Sales Team, whilst optimising costs and travel expenditure, the Honeywell Building Solutions (HBS) Sales Training & Development required an innovative training solution to match their innovative, energy efficient technologies.
The Honeywell sales-force required a consistent sales training solution that could be interpreted across the diverse pan European team and themed around their key business drivers:
- Customer First
- Driving Growth
A blended, remote sales development solution
Mercuri worked with HBS to develop a bespoke solution which focused on these business drivers. The first phase was to design and roll out a series of e-learning and virtual modules focused on the key tools and skills required by the sales force, namely:
- Activity planning.
- Customer discovery.
- Value communication.
- Negotiating.
- Closing.
The next phase was to convert the existing three day core sales process programme into a blended solution, replacing classroom theory with virtual training leaving a shorter face to face workshop focused on practical application and practice. Both programmes incorporated detailed and structured follow up to secure changed behaviours and RoI.
The e-learning pre work modules are designed to introduce sales theory and concepts to the participants before they “attend” the virtual sessions. The Virtual Training sessions are a maximum of 4 hours duration and can be joined from the comfort of home or local office. Included within these flexible virtual sessions are video rooms for role playing which enable the participants to practice using realistic scenarios.
Working on a global basis often means traditional selling is undertaken virtually, either by skype or video conference. These virtual training solutions support this new way of selling.
Reinforced Learning with Clever Nelly!
To aid learning and recall after the virtual sessions Honeywell worked with Mercuri and their partner Elephants don’t forget using their ‘Clever Nelly’ tool to ask delegates regular questions linked to the programme key learns. Clever Nelly is Artificially Intelligent and uses a range of sophisticated, tailored, multiple-choice questions delivered via email or a smart phone app. On average Nelly delivers 3 to 4 questions per participant per day which require less than 2 minutes in total response time.
The result
As well as achieving an average 90%+ satisfaction score with 94% happy to recommend the programmes to colleagues, the Honeywell team has also seen a number of business benefits arising from the holistic learning approach:
- Reducing travel costs and accommodation
- Minimising of business downtime (Max 240 minute sessions)
- Convenience – participation at home or in own office location
Testimonials:
“The program is very well structured, clear and more importantly aligned to customer first and the goals and objectives of the business. Unlike other sales training I have attended, this program is very good at ensuring the key messages are delivered to its audience in an effective manner. I feel all sales people would benefit greatly from participating in this program to help them achieve their goals and achieve success.”
“Definitely for people that are relatively new to the sales environment such as myself, this is very useful in enabling me to acquire tools and better ways of working, approaching new customers and winning.”
“It is a universal approach and one that can benefit anyone in any country as the challenges are the same and the solutions can be easily tailored for countries with different cultural expectations i.e. Middle East but overall it would benefit all.”
“This content was extremely helpful in my role. I need to use the skills covered regularly and these methods and teachings will enable me to do that so much better moving forward.”
“Found the module structure and content very good and allowed me to reflect on areas of my strengths but more so weaknesses so ensure I do check and balance communication and have the tools ready when engaging in customer interaction.”
“Absolutely well done. This is also a good re-fresh of techniques…..”
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