Our guest contributors for this blog are Ben Ellgass, Sales Enablement Lead, Global Partner Enablement and Tyne Dutzer, Business Applications Sales Enablement Lead, Global Partner Enablement.
When family or friends tell you about their ideal vacation, you may get anything from “I must have a completely all-inclusive experience” to “give me a compass, a flask of water, and a handful of fruit and nuts.” Sales training is much the same—some like a highly curated, clear route from A to Z, while others want to chart their own adventure.
Regardless of the path, we know that finding time is always a challenge. This is why Microsoft offers partners a path that lets you build sales training to fit your schedule, learning style, skill level, and individual goals. On-demand, hybrid, and interactive learning opportunities provide scheduling flexibility, and our events and resources deliver training for different knowledge and experience levels. It’s a sales training journey that works for you.
Good journeys versus great journeys
Like many things in life, there are good learning journeys, and then there are great ones. McKinsey reported on what differentiates the two when it comes to sales training; according to the top three criteria, training must:
- Create specific learning journeys to build the distinct skills needed in each role
- Tailor content to a sales force’s specific selling motion
- Ensure sales leaders own and drive the program
When you look at the depth and breadth of our partner sales training programs, you’ll find opportunities to focus on the specific skill you require. Perhaps you need advanced knowledge for selling the different Microsoft solution areas (Azure, Business Applications, Security, and Modern Work). Maybe your organization wants to expand its sales strategies and identify unique opportunities. Or perhaps a good grounding in Microsoft Cloud fundamentals is the best way to build your sales skills. Whichever it is, you can find on-demand content to create a bespoke journey for yourself.
Use these sales resources to build a learning journey for your schedule
The top two criteria for a great journey speak to the issue that every organization, every role, and every knowledge level is different. What the criteria do not discuss is how the accelerating evolution of technology—e.g., cloud and hybrid computing, AI, IoT—requires you to be a perpetual learner who constantly improves your solution-selling skills. In this environment, creating a customized and continual sales training journey that works in your day-to-day life is critical.
Three specific sales events and resource libraries create building blocks that make learning the skills you need on your own schedule possible:
- Sales Skill-Up Series for Partners is a new monthly sales training with quick and useful information about common sales topics and questions. Each 45-minute webinar includes a 15-minute live Q&A. The webinars are open to anyone interested in learning about sales essentials and no prerequisites are required.
- Sales Bootcamps are multi-day training events where you hear from Microsoft experts and gain guidance around pitching Microsoft cloud value. You'll learn how to start sales conversations, solve customer challenges, and overcome objections by showcasing real-life customer scenarios.
- Partner Sales Acceleration Program (PSAP) is an on-demand training program to build solid sales strategies. PSAP is supported by a comprehensive library of meeting-facilitation videos, project discovery and objection-handling role-plays, and presentation and whiteboard templates for you to customize for each customer engagement.
Find answers for specific sales engagements
While the format of learning options is diverse, core knowledge spans the breadth of the sales learning library. This knowledge comes from industry expertise, market research, and decades of experience in the sales journey. Below are common sales training topics that these resources can help answer.
- Better understand the moments that matter. You will often see “the moments that matter” across the different resources. These moments are six critical points from the time a client starts thinking about an Azure, Business Applications, Modern Work, or Security-based solution to the signing of a final contract.
- Learn how to start a sales conversation. Each moment requires specific conversations that you will want to know how to navigate. Become proficient at starting conversations, pitching cloud value, and overcoming objections.
- Explore real-life best practices and use-case scenarios. Through an extensive training gallery, access libraries of role-play scenarios, presentations, and templates. Find opportunities to engage customers in relevant, outcome-based conversations. Know what questions to ask to address pain points and learn how to create business value.
Find the sales learning journey that fits you
Does it matter if you are an all-inclusive vacationer or a fruit-and-nuts kind of sales training traveler? Not really. What does matter is that you have options. Whether you’re new to sales or want to dive deeper into a specific solution area, there are training options that fit your knowledge level, role, and, most importantly, your schedule.