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There’s a lot of buzz around AI-led training, especially for enterprise sales, and there’s a good reason for that. According to data from our customers, employees who are offered AI-powered training will spend a whopping 5-7x more time on training than those who are only provided with traditional human-led training.
You might be wondering why there’s such a big gap between the amount of time spent using AI-driven and traditional training? We dug down into the feedback we got from our users, and determined these 7 reasons for the preference for AI training.
Sales success relies on strong selling skills. Some people are natural sellers, but for most sales reps, the only way to gain those skills is through practice. Just like top athletes who train for hours every day, sales reps get better at selling the more time they spend training.
Here are the reasons that we found for why people will train longer when they can train using AI.
The best way to train sales reps is through role plays, where they can try out their pitch, refine their pace and tone, and practice responding to customer questions and objections. But many people are nervous about making mistakes. Role play practice with managers is valuable because they have the personal experience to provide expert feedback, but it can provoke anxiety for sales reps. Practicing sales conversations with colleagues can also be nerve wracking, because nobody wants to expose their weaknesses to their colleagues.
AI-powered sales training takes place in private. Users don’t need to worry what anyone thinks about their mistakes, and the AI role play persona doesn’t judge them if they score poorly. Freed from embarrassment and anxiety, sales reps are happy to train more frequently. What’s more, they’ll be more likely to experiment with better ways to express themselves, helping them improve their performance more quickly.
One of the top complaints from sales reps about training is that it takes them away from their central task of meeting quota. They understandably want to dedicate as much time as possible to live sales conversations that can lead to closed deals, and they often resent having to take time out for training.
AI-powered training platforms offer short training sessions that don’t require a major time commitment. Sales reps can complete a practice role play in just a few minutes, making it easy to fit them into their working day, or after hours if they are especially dedicated. Although each training session might be short, sales reps end up spending more time overall on training.
Managers and other sales training personnel do their best to be unbiased and consistent in their feedback and scoring, but it’s not easy to ensure that every single practice pitch or role play is evaluated according to the same scale. If sales reps feel that the feedback they receive isn’t objective, they’ll invest less time and energy in training.
AI-powered training overcomes that issue. Every training session and role play conversation is assessed using the same metrics, and each user is evaluated with the same objective standards held by the AI. Sales reps trust their scores and responses from the AI evaluation engine, so they are more willing to accept the recommendations and repeat the training again to improve their results.
Sales reps often feel like they are wasting time on training, because they don’t see any clear connection between training exercises and closing more deals. Even when sales enablement personnel provide charts that prove the value of the training program, sales reps might not feel it for themselves. That’s especially the case when training comes in the form of written instructions or “how-to” videos, because reps can struggle to apply them and actually improve their skills.
AI immediately makes training more impactful. AI-led training offers authentic role play conversations that mirror real-life experiences, enabling sales reps to strengthen their sales skills in practical ways. As they see their scores rise on the leaderboard and their real-life performance improve, they get motivated to invest even more time on their training.
Sales reps lead busy lives, so they appreciate flexible training solutions that allow them to schedule training around their other commitments. That’s especially true if sales reps don’t have easy transport to training locations.
AI-powered training can run remotely over a digital platform, so sales reps can log in and train from anywhere in the world, at any time that’s convenient for them. An intuitive interface with gamified learning experiences makes it easy for them to get started. When people can access training without hassle, they are happy to give more time to the process.
Sales reps tend to be competitive, even when they’re only competing against themselves. AI engines typically return scores immediately, so users can see their progress as they train. This motivates sales reps to jump straight back in and try again in order to push their score higher and achieve a better “personal best.”
Good AI-powered training platforms include dynamic leaderboards which track each user’s scores individually and on a team basis, depending on how it is set up. When users can choose which sessions to submit for the leaderboard, it encourages more practice and of course, friendly rivalry.
Many sales reps complain that training isn’t fun, even though sales enablement personnel try their hardest to provide compelling content. When training isn’t engaging, sales reps generally minimize the time they spend on it.
Introducing AI makes it possible to turn training into gamified, interactive learning experiences that sales reps actually enjoy. Instant rewards in the form of updated scores and dynamic leaderboards keep them hooked on training, driving them to train more often and for longer.
Second Nature’s AI-driven role play platform brings sales reps an always-available, judgment-free, and user-friendly training space, where they can complete authentic, bitesize role plays with realistic avatars. The objective evaluation engine provides timely feedback and reliable scoring, so sales reps see their scores increase and their performance improve, encouraging them to train even more. Better skilled sales reps leads to higher revenue.
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Why Role Play Is Sales Enablement’s Secret Weapon
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