Mix it up with peer-to-peer training

Do you regularly force your sales teams to sit through days of training only to be left with employees who are zoned-out and overwhelmed by the overflow of information? Are your instructor-led training courses completely boring your teams so much that they’re ready for nap time?

Lauren Kinke, Marketing and Sales Operations Manager at ReachForce, recently shared on the company's B2B Lead Blog how they have created an employee training program that keeps employees actively engaged in the learning process.

Here’s a piece of the story:

Our typical training regime used to be comprised solely of a full-day quarterly kickoff. During that time we would run through a few “sales” skills specific sessions, some background on our industry, and a piece on what we do and how we do it (for newbies). Part team-building, part skills training, it was an exhausting day and by the end of it some of our more ADD inclined employees had mentally checked out. Recently we decided to make some changes.

First, instead of only hosting training sessions on a once a quarter basis, each of our weekly sales meetings would be host to a mini-session led by a sales rep. Second, our quarterly sales training meeting would be shortened to a little over half a day.

Through this new training program, members of the company’s sales team have presented topics including how to prepare for a first call, overcoming customer objections, closing techniques and time management.

There are no strict rules as to how a team member can present their topic. Some employees have found success with PowerPoint, while others simply stood in front of the class and spoke.

I can’t say that we’ve measured our results, but I can say that our reps have been able to put these things into practice as quickly as they are being taught.

The benefits of using a peer-to-peer training program are seemingly endless. It allows employees to connect and fosters teamwork, improves engagement and, above all, keeps trainees awake.

Have you ever put peer-to-peer training to work in your organization? What benefits/drawbacks have you found in the process?

Training Trends: Kick training out of the office

Kick your trainers and your trainees out of the office? You sure about that?

Yep, throw ‘em out. Right out into the great outdoors.

As winter starts to melt away and turn into spring, it’s the perfect time to move your employee training sessions out of your stuffy office building and into some invigorating, fresh outdoor air.

It’s the latest advice out of this month’s issue of Training Trends, Training Time’s monthly newsletter covering workplace training news, tips and best practices.

Along with exciting outdoor team-building ideas, the latest issue of Training Trends includes valuable sales training tips from a renowned sales guru along with critical safety training advice.

Here’s a quick look at the March issue of Training Trends:

Take Training Out of Your Office

All winter long, training has been an indoor activity for most of the country. With spring approaching, and summer on its heels, why not move your team building activities and other training out of the office and into the great outdoors? ... (full article)


Getting from the Call to the Deal

Zig Ziglar’s book titled The Secrets of Closing the Sale was the first book on sales techniques to ever make the New York Times Best Sellers List. That was in 1985. Now over 20 years later, the book remains one of the most powerful and trusted guides to getting to the sale ... (full article)


Name Your Poison

Unless your business involves only office work or remote computer-linked employees, odds are there is at least one Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) required for your company. But many managers aren’t even aware of the MSDS requirements, much less how to use them ... (full article)

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