Sales training is crucial. But it’s also costly. According to a recent Training Industry report, companies are spending (across all industries and sizes) anywhere between $941-$1096 per employee on training.
This wouldn’t be so bad if turnover rates were low. But sales has the highest turnover rate of any industry, at 31% (according to a survey by XpertHR).
Video can help with this.
Videos are great for sales training because they are impactful, memorable, and can be referred to as many times as needed – making them cost-effective, too!
In this article we’ll take a look at how 3 success stories from brands who use video for sales training…
1. “Empowering new starters with a uniformed approach”
Hosting Data UK is a web hosting provider that has created a suite of training videos for new starters.
Working closely with a sales expert, they created a library of five-minute videos that included a range of great tips and tricks that could be applied to different scenarios, prospects, and also at different stages in the sales cycle.
According to Alex Williams, website builder and owner of Hosting Data UK:
“[The videos] have allowed our sales team to have a joined-up approach to selling so no matter which sales rep a client sees, there’s rarely differing styles or negotiating techniques. Not only has this increased sales revenue, but it has also saved costs on training and development.”
Acknowledging the high turnaround that sales teams typically suffer from, Williams continued:
“By using sales training videos, we are able to roll out our sales training program quickly and effectively.”
This library of videos is available to the sales reps at Hosting Data UK, not only when they are just starting out at the company, but whenever they need it. All of the videos are stored with a company intranet and are accessible to sales reps on their mobile device.
According to Williams:
“We received great feedback from the sales team who tap into the library of sales training videos en-route to client meetings in order to refresh their sales techniques and seek out industry specific sales tips.”
In addition to acting as a layer of support for sales staff and unifying the selling experience, sales training videos have also increased Hosting Data UK’s sales success by almost 25%.
At Wyzowl, we have experience creating sales training videos that are engaging and memorable. Here’s a video that we created for one of clients, NikWax:
This video was created to help in-store staff to upsell customers to buy NikWax to protect their waterproof clothing.
Like with Hosting Data UK, sales reps could watch the video for some tips and tricks on how and when to bring up Nikwax to new customers.
2. “You’re not allowed to think about it”
Dialed Labs provides SEO services to businesses. Founder Jase Rodley, showed this video podcast to his sales team:
This interview with Benjamin Dennehy (also known as the UK’s most hated sales trainer!) helped his team to improve their prospecting calls.
According to Rodley:
“[This video] has been perfect for our Business development team who conduct all their prospecting and setting up meetings by telephone…it gave our staff a fresh outlook on how to approach their sales on a day to day basis.”
Benjamin Dennehy’s reputation comes from his ‘no holds barred’ approach. Dialed Labs has emulated this by no longer taking “Let me think about it” for an answer from prospects.
Rodley continued:
“Being upfront with the client and being honest from the get-go got a better response from prospects who were pleasantly surprised by the blunt approach. We saw a 40% increase in appointments in month 1, with an average Year to Year comparisons of 30%.”
By using this video for sales training purposes, the Dialed Lab sales team were able to improve their prospecting and no longer waste time on follow up calls that led to nowhere.
3. “Watch and learn”
TheAdvisorCoach.com is a marketing consultancy that works with financial advisors.
On sales training, founder James Pollard had this to say:
“I’ve found videos to be a godsend because they eliminate a lot of unnecessary emails and phone calls asking how to do certain things, provided the video is detailed enough.”
Pollard has created a suite of training videos for not just his sales team, but for every department in his business, to show staff exactly how things should be done.
Everyone learns at a different pace and having a video as a reference can give staff members boosted confidence because they can watch the video as many times as they need to, instead of asking questions or asking for the training session to be repeated.
Pollard, understandably, did not want to share his team’s proprietary sales information so here is an example of one of his training videos (created for his virtual assistant):
As you can see, training videos don’t need to be super flashy – they can be as simple as some screen-recorded footage and a clear voiceover!
Pollard also adds:
“I’ve definitely seen an increase in sales because video allows me to systematize my approach.”
Final thoughts
The three companies interviewed for this article have had great success with sales training videos – and so can you!
Sales training videos are a great, cost-effective resource that can be used again and again, whether you’re looking to train new starters or refresh your existing sales reps.
Take a look at our Sales Videos page to find out more.
