Sales Training Delivery Methods for Millennials

By 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be made up of Millennials. By then, if not sooner, your sales training will need to be mostly focused on reaching a Millennial audience. Unconscious incompetence disproportionately affects young professionals, so your corporate sales training will need to correct for this, or else it will affect your top and bottom line.

Most Millennials grew up with easy access to the internet and computers. They are comfortable online and with technology, and this trend will only increase with future generations. The average Millennial is completely comfortable with digital technology, and many will expect it to be part of their training.

Classroom learning is becoming more undesirable as time goes on. Though a blended option of classroom/digital learning is a good idea, going digital in some way should be a priority of your corporate training.

Learner Engagement Is Key to Younger Learners

While some see it as entitlement, many Millennials grew up being taught (and believing) that the world can be a better place. This belief also extends to things like corporate sales training; they believe it should be better, too. Whether the cause is Vine-length attention spans, or being so media-savvy that content needs to meet higher standards, Millennials like to be engaged in their learning.

Adaptive Learning increases learner engagement in three ways:

1. A personalized user experience. Most corporate training programs use a curriculum that only has one type of learner in mind - and then they force it on every type of learner. Think of it like a lot of square-shaped pegs being shoved into circle-shaped holes. Everyone’s brain is different, and a corporate learning platform should reflect this.
2. Formative assessment. Like the Socratic Method (a bit pre-Millennial, but it stands the test of time), formative assessment is based on asking questions. Asking questions allows Adaptive Learning to figure out where a learner is progressing, and where they are falling behind. And here’s the best part: Adaptive Learning recalibrates to adjust the lesson goals to fit each individual’s needs. Millennials respond well to this, because learners can tell that the program is adjusting to their requirements.
3. A Merger with your existing platform. With Adaptive Learning there’s no need to start from scratch. Unlike other e-learning platforms, which require a total overhaul of your system, Adaptive Learning can merge seamlessly with your existing framework, making change painless. It’s also built for mobile platforms as well as for desktop. Millennials will be able to pick up Adaptive Learning’s learn-on-the-go format, no problem.

Training Delivery Methods Aren’t All Created Equal

As a sales professional, your top and bottom line is your top priority. Adaptive Learning can help attract Millennials by providing training that other training delivery methods can’t match.

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/09/04/why-you-cant-ignore-millennials/#3116fde4207c