The Plan. Grow. Do. approach to modern sales training is really transforming the approach to sales training. We blend traditional sales methodologies and incorporate modern selling opportunities that some may see as typical ‘marketing’ activities, especially at the tactical level.

Are you selling, or are you marketing?

However I must ask; is your LinkedIn profile a marketing tool, or a selling tool? Is business networking a marketing activity or a selling activity? The lines are so blurred that to remove the boundary completely and approach your selling activity as a customer focussed exercise will bring tremendous results!

We were invited to Whitbread who’s Premier Inn B2B sales team are in the process of a change management journey that is now taking sales seriously.

This change management journey touched on some common themes we have noticed in the wider sales sector. For many corporations and sales teams and functions, we notice there are some regular elements of feedback that lead to the requirement for our modern approach to selling.

There is limited investment in sales capability

Silo behaviour across teams prevents best pratice and understanding of new ways of working.

Internal promotions in to the role of sales meant that there are no specialists but are expected to deliver results.

Some common themes around why Plan. Grow. Do. is so effective.

“The team are often so busy and sometimes don’t slow down to proactively look at their sales activity – this shows people about working smarter, not harder”

Feedback from senior sales manager for Premier Inn.

What was the planning telling us ahead of the training?

We became aware of some common issues that are by no means exclusive to Premier Inn. There is little consistency in sales activity, no clear definition or understanding of the buyer and gaps in knowledge that hinder the confidence of the sellers.

How can Funnel Vision, the Plan. Grow. Do. sales training game help solve the issues of sales teams?

Funnel Vision, the sales training board game really brings to life the idea and perception of the existence of a sales process for those who feel the concept may be new.

We aim to ditch the traditional heavy slide presentation format and make the attendees in the group get hands-on with the training. We appreciate that people learn differently and therefore the training on offer needs to be different too.

The role of gamification and new ways of learning

Did you know that 89% of employees feel more productive when an element of gamification is introduced to their work, while 83% of those who received some form of gamification training in their workplace felt more motivated, compared to 61% who were given the standard death by powerpoint training! (source: https://www.talentlms.com/blog/gamification-survey-results)

“A great way to get the team on track and focus on strategy”

The Plan. Grow. Do. approach to modern sales training is always to provide a high energy, group focussed level of delivery that references case studies and real life examples, opposed to the talking textbook approach to training that is so common amongst the corporate industry. Sales is fun! Therefore the training that supports it should be too.

Sales is fun! Therefore the training that supports it should be too…

Plan. Grow. Do. Approach to sales training.

What did the feedback say?

Funnel Vision the sales training game combines the fun and engagement of a board game and couples it with serious sales coaching that underpins the game. This is a fantastic way of sharing sales process methodology in an engaging and visual way that cannot help but be tremendously effective.

“…they’ve really had a great time!”

Feedback for any business is vital to ensure those for whom you are working are delighted with what they are buying. We were thrilled with the immediate feedback of the Funnel Vision session for Whitbread as you can see in the video feedback from Myrna Keely and Andrew Cadden.

one of my favourite lines is the definition that “It’s good for account management and the new business team“. We set out to combine this training for multi-functions within the sales and marketing teams and this piece of feedback is really a testament to the success of that.

How can I find out more?

Make sure you check out Katie Bain of Games Explorer who has helped massively in the concept and creation of this project. To discuss your sales training needs be sure to contact us on email at info@plangrowdo.com , or find Steve Knapp or Rob Taylor on LinkedIn.