How do you get feedback when you do recorded training? [Practitioner Question]

At yesterday’s workshop “Launching an AR-Sales Partnership Program” we had an interesting question about the use of non-live training for sales representatives.  The workshop participant asked how to go about getting feedback.  Feedback, comments, and student reactions can often help you tailor your training or understand areas that could be improved.  Of course this would also apply to any other recorded, web-based, or portal training or information that the AR team wants to deliver.  

There are two easy-to-implement approaches to this problem.  Perhaps the simplest solution is to create an email address such as:  AR@company.com.  You can direct sales (or others who listen to recorded training) to use this team address for questions, comments, and requests for information.  You can then put this at the end of any recorded training (e.g., MP3s) or add it to content you deliver via web streaming.  SageCircle has even created a specific space in its recorded training for sales representatives where we can insert a “For more information” comment that is tailored to your team.

Alternatively you can use technologies such as blogs or wikis for posting the recorded training, which provide a comments field for a post or a page.  When the reader inserts a comment an email automatically goes to the general mailbox.  Teams can assign one person to monitor the mailbox and forward comments and questions to the appropriate team member.

AR teams who want to implement an AR-Sales Partnership pilot will be faced with many process and content questions.  We were pleased that Grace Carter (Twitter), AR Director of Websense, Inc wrote on her evaluation that “Attending SageCircle’s AR-Sales Partnership workshop is a must if you want to take your AR program to the next level and ensure that AR becomes a strategic part of the organization to drive sales.”

SageCircle Technique:

• Keep sales training concise and actionable for sales representatives and provide an easy way for listeners to ask questions
• AR should always provide a standard approach for sending in questions or feedback about recorded training
• Leverage the existing sales infrastructure to deliver training and content

We will answer some of the other participant questions in future posts.

Bottom Line:  Recorded training is a powerful addition to the training toolbox. However, to maximize the value of this technique, AR needs to provide a convenient method for listeners to send questions.

Questions:  Do you have an easy feedback loop from your sales teams?  How do you assess the impact of analysts on your sales deals?

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