Understanding inclusivity and its value to sales teams
What does it mean to make sales training more inclusive? At its core, inclusivity is about acknowledging and embracing difference. By acknowledging the different perspectives, beliefs, and identities of the individuals who constitute sales teams, sales leaders can better tailor sales training methods to the unique needs of their group and ensures no learners are being left behind.
Inclusive practices are aimed at creating an open and enriching work environment where employees feel secure posing questions and challenging instances of group-think. Why does this matter for sales training purposes? Well, when junior sales reps feel comfortable expressing their ideas, they are more likely to reach out for help and participate actively in training exercises. This translates into more open and robust dialogue within your organization. As more voices are included in discussions, conversations are elevated to their full potential, and sales reps derive the full benefits of immersive sales training participation. As a result, promoting inclusivity can increase employee engagement and in turn positively impact sales training outcomes.
What are some other ways fostering inclusivity can benefit your organization? High turnover is a costly problem for growth-focused sales teams. Employees who feel marginalized or isolated are more likely to depart and try their luck elsewhere. More inclusive training can help mitigate this problem by making sure junior sales reps feel welcome from the start. Employees who feel appreciated and valued by their team will be more satisfied with their training and onboarding phase, which can translate into higher retention rates for your company. Check out the Allego platform for help with sales onboarding.
Inclusivity in Action
1. Work on people skills
Sales skills are inherently people skills. The goal is for your recruits to become active listeners, effective communicators, and persuasive negotiators. As your team matures, you’ll want to see them showcase traits like empathy, curiosity, and authenticity. Sales training that values inclusivity as a goal goes one step further and teaches sales reps how to consider the preferences of clients and colleagues of vastly different backgrounds and cultures. Being able to engage across difference is a valuable skillset in today’s globalized market. So consider incorporating implicit bias training and cross-cultural communication sessions into your team’s training program to make sure sales reps are well-prepared to act as stewards of your organization at all times.
Sometimes we place so much emphasis on nurturing client relationships that we forget to apply these same soft skills in our workplaces. Sales leaders, be as mindful about your interactions with the team as you are with potential customers. Take time to get to know the new additions to the team. What are their stories, interests, and goals? Creating a spirit of collegiality at your organization is not a one person job, so collaborate with other leaders at your company to make sure responsibility for inclusion is being shared at all levels.
2. Accommodate different learning styles
While many aspects of your sales training program will remain constant, there’s no need to set anything in stone. Since different team members have different learning styles, it’s vital to create a versatile program that leaves room for accommodation. First, seek out to understand the way your team learns best. Conduct a survey at the onset of training that allows sales reps to report their learning preferences. Then take a look at how your program is set up to assess whether additional resources or types of training sessions need to be created to fit the needs of your team. Inflexible programs are bound to fail some kinds of learners, so for the sake of training efficacy, be open-minded about the breadth of learning tools and kinds of sales enablement content you offer.
3. Use technology to offer tailored feedback
Inclusive training is data-driven and customized to serve particular learners. Technological tools are therefore an indispensable inclusivity resource because they can be used to gain a detailed understanding of each sales rep’s progress as well as to provide personalized advice. Attention is a sales training software that allows you to measure performance at every stage of the training process. It uses the latest AI technology to track customer engagement, suggest relevant responses, and access sales battlecards in real-time. Attention ramps up sales reps in just a few weeks, giving sales reps of all backgrounds and experience levels the chance to become supersellers at your company.
4. Ask your team to weigh in on practices
Lastly, one of the most straightforward ways to bolster inclusivity is to get your team involved in conversations about how to improve sales training. Offer a post-training survey to gather data on what methods or resources proved most helpful. Look out for any recurring trends in responses over time to make adjustments to your teaching materials or approach. Also seek feedback on how integrated junior reps felt throughout the training and onboarding process. Sometimes it’s difficult for team members to pinpoint exactly why particular activities or conversations made them feel alienated. In these instances, it may be useful to enlist the help of an expert. Larger sales organizations in particular could benefit from hiring a neutral inclusion specialist that helps mediate between employees and institutions. As an independent entity, the inclusion expert would likely be a more appealing choice for sales reps to approach with their concerns than their manager. In other cases, mentors can serve as intermediaries between sales reps and sales leaders. Creating a mentorship program is a simple way to provide struggling sales reps with additional support in the early stages of their careers.
Embrace difference
Difference makes for well-rounded and balanced teams ready to take on a diverse clientele. So remember to celebrate the distinct and talented individuals that make up your company! Be smart about the tools you use to achieve your inclusivity goals. Using AI-powered software like Attention can level the playing field at your company. By helping sales reps achieve important milestones in record time, Attention will motivate each member of your team to accomplish well beyond what they thought possible.