Our Fortune 500 Financial Services client was facing significant challenges with their employee sales training program. Despite spending over $900,000 yearly on training content from various vendors, the company struggled with persistent skill gaps among employees. The off-the-shelf training fell short, resulting in subpar sales skills in three specific lines of business within the commercial side of the house.
To tackle this problem, we partnered with them to transform their sales framework. Through this process, we conducted a learning analysis, identified skill gaps, and proposed a new solution to enhance the effectiveness of their sales training program.
Spotting the Gaps in Sales Training Content
This top financial organization’s sales training program utilized off-the-shelf training materials from outside vendors. They had different vendors for their three distinct lines of business (LOBs). Each LOB followed a separate strategy and used a different curriculum.
However, this fragmented approach proved ineffective. Not only was there a lack of consistency among the various training programs, but they also failed to address the unique requirements of each LOB.
Additionally, these off-the-shelf courses weren’t customized to the unique culture of the organization. Employees were taught various selling skills. However, the training provided little to no context or real-world examples of how to apply these skills.
Despite a substantial annual investment in training, employees lacked the necessary tools to effectively retain and apply what they learned. The training materials were dense and content-heavy, without practical opportunities for learners to practice and apply their skills.
Identifying Commonalities and Mapping Unique Learner Personas
After understanding the current program, ttcInnovations created a customized learning framework for the identified challenges.
Conducting a learning needs analysis, the consultant interviewed key stakeholders from each line of business (LOB) to identify specific training needs. Being a neutral third party, our consultant brought an outside perspective to the discussions. We believe this helped facilitate open communication and ensured that all parties’ needs were heard and considered.
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This process led to mapping learner personas for each individual role — identifying their needs based on responsibilities, career level, and existing skills. Mapping personas provided insights into what skills employees had and what skills they still needed to learn.
Creating a Consistent Sales Framework Curriculum
After mapping personas along with selling skills and aligned behaviors, we recommended a holistic solution to effectively address training needs.
The centerpiece of the proposed solution was creating a consistent sales framework curriculum that could be adjusted for the unique needs of each LOB. This curriculum offered standardized sales training that would remain consistent across the organization. With branching, the curriculum can be customized for each LOB.
To deliver this curriculum effectively, ttcInnovations recommended the implementation of a series of eLearning courses. These courses would provide learners with a solid understanding of core concepts. In addition to eLearning, instructor-led training (ILT) and virtual instructor-led training (VILT) sessions would be utilized to facilitate branching and customization.
To improve learner retention, ttcInnovations recommended integrating assessments. These learning assessments would serve as checkpoints to ensure that employees were effectively retaining the knowledge and skills taught in the training.
Transitioning from external vendors to in-house development would allow this leading financial institution to create a custom, sustainable training program that aligns with their business needs, resulting in long-term cost savings and better alignment with organizational goals.
Improving Selling Skills with Consistent and Effective Training
After reviewing the observations from the analysis and proposed solutions, our client has continued to engage us to implement the recommended plan.
To execute the proposed sales framework, we are playing a pivotal role in content development. Our team is creating engaging self-paced courses, workshops, assessments, and interactive notebooks designed to meet the needs of each LOB.
Together, we anticipate positive results from this initiative, including greater confidence in selling skills, increased speed to competency, and enhanced employee performance across all LOBS. With the implementation of an effective training program, employees will seamlessly transition from learning to applying these sales skills, ultimately leading to consistent revenue results.
Additionally, moving away from external training vendors is expected to result in significant cost savings for our client.
As this project progresses, we look forward to sharing updates on its impact on their training initiatives.
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If your organization is facing similar challenges, our team is here to help! Reach out to us today to schedule a free consultation and learn how our customized approach can elevate your training program to the next level.
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