I remember my time at UCLA going to classes and lectures. There were good Professors and bad ones.
Some would stand up in front of the class for a couple of hours and then we’d be on our way. The better ones would try to engage with students and ask questions, working hard to get student minds thinking outside of the assigned reading the night before.
Morning classes were especially difficult because not only was I often tired (I’m a night owl) but I was not engaged in the conversation.
Lectures are an efficient method to get a lot of information to a large group of people. But they aren’t very good at solidifying information in a students knowledge base.
Additionally, lecture types of sales training make it difficult to take notes. There is always a conflict between listening to the instructor and taking notes for later use.
So can lectures kill your sales training? Luckily the answer is no. And although not the most ideal form of sales training, there are a few things you can do to get more out of lectures whether as an individual or sales team.
How To Get The Most Out Of Lecture Sales Training
If you are going to attend a lecture training, or you are going to send your sales team to one, then make sure there will be a recording available after the training. Even if it comes at an extra cost. Trust me it will be worth it.
That way follow up training can be performed and skills can be refined to get the most out of the information presented.
For online lectures this usually isn’t hard to get. When you do get the recordings be sure to review them with the sales team, or yourself, and focus on a few key points to every topic covered.
Something else to keep in mind. When you attend lecture types of sales training, there are often many companies represented in the room.
This is a great opportunity to network, and in some ways practice what you are learning that very instant.
You are welcome to get business cards but when you do be sure to let them know that you will be reaching out to them on LinkedIn and that you’d be honored if they would connect with them.
This will help to solidify a relationship with you in their mind. No one thinks twice about giving a business card away. But most people either throw them away or stack them in a pile on their desk or in some drawer.
Even the most experienced sales person will do this from time to time.
So when attending lecture type sales training be sure to be engaged, take notes, and introduce yourself to as many people as possible to maximize the results.
Good luck and let me know if you have any other ways to get more out of lecture types of sales training.
~Johnny Bravo
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