This section delves into the theoretical foundations and principles of learning science that inform the design. It includes:

• Theories and Models: Explanation of the learning theories and models applied (e.g., Persuasion Knowledge Model, Theory of Mind, Shared Schema’s).
• Research and Evidence: Summary of relevant research and evidence that supports the chosen approach.
• Learner Analysis: Insights into the characteristics, needs, and preferences of the target audience.

Research and Evidence: Having worked in the field as a senior consultant my pivot to a learning science approach was to understand how executives thought about selling and persuasion skills in presenting various customer solutions.

Theories and Models: As expected, account executives and their vice presidents did not have much if any learning science based sales training. Therefore to avoid academic overload, understandings of metacognition, persuasion knowledge models, and shared schema’s had to be embedded in their account analysis training.

Learning Analysis: The opportunity to deploy a national sales training program was eventually met with skepticism by upper management. Therefore, despite the feedback from learners, higher level organizational impact needed to be tracked. Therefore multi-level analysis was performed, at the individual, team, as well as at the national level.

Here, the focus is on the practical steps taken to design and develop the learning materials. This includes:

• Instructional Design: Detailed description of the instructional strategies and methods used.
• Content Development: Process of creating and organizing the content.
• Technology Integration: Tools and platforms used to deliver the learning experience.
• Prototyping and Testing: Iterative process of creating prototypes and testing them with users.

Instructional Design: Too much training was left to cubicle driven video micro-courses. To increase transfer in the field, delivery was designed for in-person and team classes.

Technology Integration: The majority of training was delivered in person, yet the account insights required extensive development of backend technology which was developed from engineers and directors of operations that consolidated the over dozen data silos in the organization.

Content Development: The content was a hybrid of internal and external data combined with account analysis, scenario hypothesis testing, with live simulations of each of the trainees. All learners were trained in a team environment, so modules were developed to address not just the account executive, but additional roles such as software engineers, and business development representatives.

Prototyping and Testing: As new data silo’s got integrated into the account insights snapshots, training was adapted and tweaked to integrate it. Additionally, as new solutions and services came online, along with internal promotions, content was created to address the needs of product management to move new products and services into the field.

This section evaluates the effectiveness of the learning design and its impact on the learners. It includes:

• Assessment Methods: Description of the assessment tools and techniques used to measure learning outcomes.
• Data Collection and Analysis: Methods for collecting and analyzing data to evaluate the impact.
• Results and Findings: Summary of the evaluation results and key findings.
• Impact on Learners: Discussion of how the learning design has affected the learners’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

Learning Impact: To capture impact, training was account based. This enabled me and our team to focus on new deals and revenue from closed deals. This did not exclude direct feedback from direct managers and account managers that while qualitative had  immense impact as expressed in their QBR’s or quarterly business reviews.

Assessment Tools: Various tools were used to track progress, this included internal databases, sales CRMs, and pivot tables using spreadsheets. All of these various sources were combined and analyzed quarterly to check for progress across all sales regions.

Data Analysis: The ongoing analysis consistently showed that the training was effective. After every session there was a bump in new opportunities being entered into the CRM. As well as existing deals moving forward to close. The CRM provided key clues that supported the anecdotal evidence that millions of new deals were being generated.

Evaluation Results: After a year of analysis it was clear that the various training modules generated over 26 million in new pipeline with over 13 million in deal progression tagged to specific insights generated by the specific training modules.

Reflecting on the project, this section highlights the key lessons learned throughout the process. It includes:

• Challenges and Solutions: Description of the challenges faced and how they were addressed.
• Successes and Best Practices: Identification of what worked well and best practices for future projects.
• Recommendations for Improvement: Suggestions for improving the design and development process in future projects.

Challenges: First and foremost there were both technical and resource constraints. This combined with limited buy-in at first from field managers skeptical of a new training paradigm.

Best Practices: In sales training, you need quick wins, sales managers are a fickle bunch. As with most training transparency is essential, but only to a certain limit. As a key metric is sales progress everyone is on a need to know basis. Therefore, it is best to keep business metrics at the group or regional level to avoid politics. If the program works as promised, metrics will spill out and create synergy organically.

Recommendations: Allowing success metrics be shared organically, may sound counter-intuitive, but sales teams are very protective of performance standards on key deliverables. Therefore unless the program is mandated from the very top down, it is best to avoid comparison across regions and product portfolios. Thus it is key to use a series of quick wins to build momentum. While managers prefer not to share metrics, they are willing to share ‘Secret Sauce’ when they know others have access to it as well. And finally, be sure to catalog and share key wins as exemplars. (see Artifacts).

The final section showcases the tangible artifacts and elements that make up the portfolio. This includes:

• Sample Materials: Examples of instructional materials, such as lesson plans, multimedia content, and assessments.
• Design Documents: Documentation of the design process, including storyboards, wireframes, and design specifications.
• Evaluation Reports: Reports summarizing the evaluation findings and impact assessments.
• Learner Feedback: Testimonials and feedback from learners who participated in the project.

Links:

Sales Training Brief & Learning Evaluation
Tools: Oracle Database, SalesCRM, Excel, Powerpoint…
Sales Innovation on Custom Deck for Big Pharma Account.
Tools: Cleft.Ai, Figma, Microsoft Designer
Dr. Kaufman Training for organizations
Tools: Scrivener, Grammarly, Wizard.AI…