With So Many Free Salesforce Training Options, Why Pay for It?

Remember the computer HAL from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey? At first the artificial intelligence is shown to triumph easily. However, as time progresses, HAL begins to malfunction in subtle ways and, as a result, the decision is made to shut down HAL in order to prevent more serious malfunctions.  I see a direct correlation between computer (HAL) and online Salesforce tutorials or demos. Here’s how.

Let’s look at YouTube. It has thousands of free videos on how to use Salesforce. Heck, you can even learn to fly a plane watching YouTube (not recommended). However, if you were taking a flying lesson, a flight simulator can only take you so far (pun intended). Whereas, if an instructor was sitting beside you as you taxi down the runway, hands firmly on the steering column, feeling the thrust of the engines as you pull back on the stick to tilt the nose upwards and soar effortlessly into the blue sky, you are going to have a completely different learning experience.  We learn best by doing rather than watching.

In the case of Sales Manager (human) vs technology, the Sales Manager thinks they are finding a solution and cutting costs by using online training videos (technology) for their team but in fact technology creates a problem.  Here are the clues that this training approach, on its own, is doomed for failure:

  1. No reinforcement plan in place after the video(s) to practice what was learned
  2. Watching a video is never as good as physically doing it – keyboard stokes and clicks and important learning elements
  3. Videos can’t reconstruct the way in which you or your team need to use Salesforce for your sales specific challenges – we call this scenario based training and it’s a key aspect of our training
  4. Which are the right videos to watch that will show you exactly what you need? There’s so many options you spend a lot of time searching and not learning.

At Salesforce Training, we look at your business environment and customize the training to your team. In our one-on-one Knowledge Checks we are all about getting to the root of the problem. Then we talk you through how Salesforce, through repetition and positive reinforcement, can become a habit – without even thinking about it. This scenario-based training takes in account YOUR day to day, something YouTube does not do.

In addition, we work with the sales management, and show them how they can get value from Salesforce. We want to make sure they first understand what they need to measure to gauge the health of their business or region, and then determine how they can extract that data from Salesforce using reports. We then put a plan in place to incorporate Salesforce into the organization’s way of doing things – with functions like automatic reporting, Chatter announcements, team and leader dashboards and apps like the Activity Commander to ensure Opportunities and Accounts aren’t neglected.

This is a training plan. Because people learn best by doing, not watching. Save YouTube for funny cat videos.

Salesforce Training helps organizations improve their utilization of Salesforce and increase adoption rates. With consultants and trainers across the U.S. and Canada, we are well positioned to help sales leaders with the guidance and ongoing support to ensure positive behavior change in their sales teams.

If you are leading a large to mid-size organization and you know your Sales Manager would benefit from Salesforce Training, contact us at info@salesforcetraining.com or call 1-800-761-7382.

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