Virtual Sales Training Scores a Hit
By Kim Kleps

Global Crossing found a creative training solution for its salespeople.

The old saying “time is money” rings true when it comes to salespeople’s time. An hour or two of missed sales opportunities can reduce a company’s bottom line by thousands of dollars.  

At the same time, top sales executives will tell you that if you truly understand your customers’ challenges, you can be much more effective— especially when it comes to selling highly complex telecommunications solutions such as Internet protocol virtual private networks.    

With this in mind, Global Crossing’s global learning and development group searched for a creative training solution for salespeople that would maximize efficiency and minimize time off the job. This solution had to engage salespeople who are used to a fast-paced environment, while at the same time provide opportunities to test their ability to assess a customer’s situation and present viable solutions.   

Training workshop  

The group analyzed previous training workshops and incorporated the aspects that participants had identified as most engaging—such as team interaction—into its new Managed Solutions Workshop. The workshop effectively links Global Crossing’s web meeting and ready-access audio service with a case study scenario in a virtual meeting space. The virtual program mirrors a professional sales call. 

The workshop used a mock customer panel made up of the learning and development group, Global Crossing’s marketing and product facilitators, and subject matter experts, as well as regional and area sales vice presidents. These regional experts often tailored their questions to reflect the realities of the markets their salespeople face every day. The workshop has been completed by more than 60 percent of the company’s enterprise sales force. To begin the training, each workshop participant logs into Global Crossing’s ready-access web meeting and audio conferencing site. 

Participants are divided into virtual teams of five, and each team has its own facilitator on a conferencing bridge. The virtual teams, on separate audio conference bridges, review a customer profile to develop a sales strategy. Individual facilitators ensure that the virtual teams stay on track. 

Participants then take part in an online mock sales meeting to uncover specific customer needs and potential sales opportunities, which have been developed for this training from real-life customer case studies. To keep the simulated role-play realistic, the mock customer panel answers only those questions that are asked. They don’t elaborate or make it easy for the salespeople because the goal is to simulate true customer interaction. 

Following the probing exercise, the teams return to their virtual groups to identify potential solutions. All teams return to the live meeting environment to present solutions to the mock customer panel. The panel offers feedback on the team’s presentation, including suggestions on customer solutions and sales efforts.  

Positive feedback  

A feedback survey confirmed that the majority of participants found the workshop to be extremely helpful to their overall sales efforts and would strongly recommend the workshop to their peers. 

“This workshop allowed salespeople to use their skills and practice them, rather than just listen to someone talk,” said Mike Toplisek, Global Crossing’s senior vice president of global enterprise and collaboration services. “The mock customer panel effectively simulates the real-life sales environment by asking questions and challenging the participant’s answers—just like real customers do.” 

The virtual training saved time, cutting at least four hours of training per day, which is critical when you consider the enterprise sales team was responsible for about 40 percent of the $1.97 billion in revenue Global Crossing earned in 2005. 

Global Crossing plans to repeat this workshop with additional topics. They estimate that travel and associated expenses could be reduced by as much as $300,000 annually.