VR TRAINING
Bridging the Knowledge Gap
One of the perennial challenges for sales teams is selling products that they may not be familiar with or ones that have many specifications or features. Technical products demand a deeper level of understanding and expertise, which can often place sales professionals in a difficult position.
UC Advanced had the opportunity to catch up with James Barton, Chief Solutions Officer at Mentor Group, a leading provider of advanced sales training solutions based in Hertfordshire. UC Advanced was keen to find out the inside story about Mentor Group’s Virtual Reality Training solutions. Virtual reality technology relies on the use of wearable headsets to create fully immersive virtual environments that users can explore and interact with. Whilst this technology can be used for direct learning, Mentor Group’s approach is to use the technology to reinforce learning. Selling the Knowledge While salespeople are adept at building relationships and closing deals, they may not always possess the nuanced technical knowledge required to answer in-depth questions from potential buyers. This gap is particularly evident in consultative selling, where the buyer expects insights and detailed information from the seller. James Barton tells UC Advanced , “There is always a discussion around whether sales professionals need to have the technical know-how in order to successfully sell technical products. In most cases, salespeople are backed up by technical pre-sales or a product manager, which allows them to focus on building solid relationships without having to worry about the technical aspects of the product or service they are selling. This works well when the seller is honest with the buyer about their level of technical knowledge. All too often we see this go wrong when sellers pretend to have that technical knowledge and they can’t get beyond the first
level of questioning from the buyer. Where this can really be a problem is in consultative selling, where the buyer wants insights and challenges from the seller, but the seller is not technical enough to address those questions. Although strong account-based marketing can help mitigate against this, it is often not the silver bullet to overcome the issue.” Bridging the Gap with VR Training Virtual Reality (VR) training has emerged as an innovative solution to bridge this knowledge gap. According to the Mentor Group, VR training can revolutionise how sales teams learn to sell technical products effectively. Their framework, “Learn, Practice, Embed,” aims to modernise traditional sales training approaches. The VR training component, falling under the “Practice” element of this framework, provides a safe, repeatable environment for salespeople to apply and hone their newly learned skills. James Barton adds “Too often, sales training is focused on teaching a subject but offers minimal opportunity to practice the skills participants have learnt. As a result, it’s likely that the seller’s first time to practice the skills they have learnt is with a customer. Our philosophy and one of the driving forces behind our VR initiatives is to provide sellers with a safe and repeatable place to practice. The VR sales training environment allows them to make mistakes without judgement. What this means is that the seller is more polished when they speak with their customers. This training helps support a healthy and non-toxic work environment, which can be detrimental to a seller’s mental health.”
James Barton Chief Solutions Officer
mentorgroup.co.uk
43064
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