IWP credited with the eLearning AWARD 2022, category Sales Training

Our project “Combined Training of Sales and Product Skills via Blended Learning” has been credited with the eLearning AWARD 2022 in the category Sales Training by the expert panel of the eLearning Journal. Together with the Westcon Group, a training programme was developed to teach participants both the sales psychology and the technical aspects of a newly launched Westcon product.

The Westcon Group specified the following requirements for the project:

• Portrayal of the true sales process
• Reduction of participants’ classroom time
• Support for digital self-learning

In order to meet these requirements, the training course was designed in the form of blended learning. A characteristic of blended learning is the close interlinking of digital self-learning units, virtual classrooms, and classroom training. On the one hand, the participants have the possibility of digital self-learning. On the other hand, the participants’ classroom attendance times are reduced. This results in lower costs for Westcon overall and minimises the loss of employee productivity.

Within the framework of blended learning, knowledge is imparted in digital form and behavioural change is trained in classroom attendance. Within the digital phases, learners determine their own pace and can thus adapt their learning times to their individual workload.

Didactic concept of the “Sales Academy”

For the sales know-how, existing training modules from the Institut für Wirtschaftspädagogik were employed, which were compiled into an individual solution for the Westcon Group. A particular focus of the training is on the topics of new customer acquisition, needs analysis, motive evaluation, and customer-oriented benefit argumentation. The sales psychology aspects were closely interlinked with the modules on the technical features of the products, so that the participants completed a particularly realistic training course and were able to put the contents directly into practice.

In the digital self-learning units, participants are offered a diverse mix of web-based training, videos, forms of coaching interaction, and interactive videos. Each learning unit is concluded with a short, graphic summary, our PowerCard, and a knowledge check-up.

Thanks to the blended learning approach, concrete statements can be made about the learning success of the participants via the platform. The assessment before the training course and again upon completion allows clear conclusions to be drawn with regard to the success of the programme. In combination with the measurement of the real sales successes achieved by the participating sales staff immediately after training, this results in a unique evaluation method for the Sales Academy.