LIVE virtual training is an opportunity to be seized by businesses around the world: never has the comfort level of using virtual communication platforms been higher than now; the lack of travel cost allows you to focus on better content and include more employees across teams in various locations. Check out this article to learn about the advantages of learning virtually. Enjoy the read!
The Skill Shop offers customized live virtual sales training to clients around the world.
Democracy to the training room! I must admit that I hadn’t put a lot of thought into how democracy relates to sales training. But when I recently got trained myself on designing & conducting fun (really!), engaging and interactive live virtual training sessions, “greater democracy” turned out to be a key advantage.
Even when socializing has returned, live virtual sales training can be a learning experience of equal quality than a face to face interaction. Read on to learn why I think live virtual training is an opportunity to be seized by businesses around the world, to fuel their corporate cultures and elevate the sales skill level of their teams.
Here’s why:
1. It’s live!
The type of training I am talking about is live, conducted by real human beings and filled with interactive exercises and questions. It’s not pre-recorded videos - they have their place in knowledge retention, but the lack of interaction reduces the attention span of participants.
2. Greater democracy
When the trainer brings a question to the group, participants often wait to see what the opinion of the most senior person in the room is. That “senior” can simply be a more outgoing, vocal personality among peers. This first reply then frames the responses that follow, changing the answers participants otherwise may have given. In a virtual setting, questions are often discussed via chat or polls. Answers come in immediately and without hesitation. This can deliver more honest feedback on what management wants the team to work on.
3. Global communities
If you run a regional sales team and have two members based in Vietnam, one in Korea and five in Hong Kong, virtual training allows you to bring them all together without paying expensive hotel nights and flight tickets. In a recent course that I took, participants came from Sydney, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, all the way to London. We formed a WhatsApp group and for the duration of the training, I could ask questions around training best practices to a global group of training facilitators. What an amazing opportunity!
4. Unlimited breakout rooms
The cost of renting a larger training venue with several breakout rooms is often hard for the training client to justify. Yet, breaking the group into smaller teams to work on specific tasks is so valuable to the process of learning! In a virtual setting, participants can be divided into an unlimited number of breakout rooms, adding so much flexibility to training design. Plus, you don’t lose all that time from people moving rooms…. it’s a trainers dream come true!
5. Cost effective
With travel- and meeting room rental costs removed, conducting a virtual training becomes more cost effective. This is a great opportunity to invest more in furthering the knowledge and skill set of your team, bringing in external facilitators and speakers on specific issues related to your corporate goals.
6. Accessible to more employees
Want to include a rising star in a training otherwise available only to more senior employees? Sure! Or how about adding some key marketing team members to a sales training, to enhance exchange and understanding between the sales and marketing function? With virtual training, it is much easier to argue for the inclusion of additional team members.
7. Better archives
Each virtual training session is being recorded and can be reviewed afterwards by the team. You can jump back into the content while completing assessments or implementing what you have learned. Recording a face to face training session requires costly video equipment and is therefore not done very often.
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Reach out to kd@the-skill-shop.com to learn more about how we can create a relevant, motivating and engaging training for your team.