3 Steps to ‘Millennialize’ Your Sales Training
The sales world has evolved tremendously over the years, but it’s still hard for many retailers to make a connection when training the newest generation of salespeople. And sure, while millennials’ door-to-door experience may be limited to trick-or-treating, that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of becoming great sales pros who can really benefit your business.
Millennials interact with others and process information in ways heavily influenced by the instant response culture in which they grew up. So, the question is: How can you shape your training to really connect with them? To get started, here are three changes you can make to train your millennial salespeople so they’re prepared for anything:
- Shorten it. Did you know the average person’s attention span is eight seconds — shorter than that of a goldfish? If you need to give attention spans a boost and increase employee recall, shorten the time of each training session. Limit lessons to just a few points that will stick in the minds of your trainees.
- Explore point of view. Identifying different points of view can help shape the way millennials interact with customers. Lay out the strategy behind varying sales methods to target different demographics, and highlight methods that have benefitted your salespeople before.
- Bring in the technology. While you may have sat through hours of droning lectures, your next-gen salespeople are accustomed to learning with the help of a few new tools. Tap into their tech savviness by incorporating interactive exercises like game play and immediate response systems. These are tools that can help keep your new salespeople to remain engaged during training sessions.
Kevin Cundiff is vice president of retail for Fortegra, a subsidiary of Tiptree Financial Inc. Fortegra is a single-source insurance services company that offers a range of consumer protection options.
