As the world knows, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on not just the lives of people but also their livelihoods. Businesses are in the doldrums and employees are a confused lot. Companies now have to look towards a suitable plan for the recovery phase where the employees are to be reassured, reskilled, and upskilled. Here is where the Learning and Development team can play a pivotal role in reviving the business and bringing in revenue, which is the life-force of any organization. Hence, after the focus on Managers of the organizations to lead their teams to greater success, they should focus on one of the main channels of revenue inflow which is the sales department.

Without proper training, the Sales Managers can flounder and fall into a slumber which can have a negative impact on the frontline sales team. They cannot be able to gain any valuable inputs from their seniors which will run down the morale of the sales force and greatly impact the bottom-line of the organization. Hence, it is imperative that the Learning and Development team should sharpen the skills of the Sales Managers who will then lead an unstoppable sales team whose behavior should be linked to the strategic goals of the company.

Here are a few pointers which can be adopted by the Learning and Development team to build a robust sales team:

Schedule one on one meetings with the Sales team: When the Learning and Development team engages in one on one meetings, it explores and identifies where the sales team is still struggling and the L&D will be able to address those weaknesses which may require any additional training. It can also gauge as to what is working and what is not so that a more meaningful and productive relationship can be developed with the team.

Incentivize the Sales team: Set aside a liberal budget for the Sales team. As mentioned earlier, the sales department is from where the company generates revenue. It is here where the Managers and front line Executives should feel the fire in their belly to drive sales and earn commissions and other incentives far above the industry standard.

Offer daily micro-training: When it comes to learning, small stretches of 5 to 10 minutes on a daily basis will work better to align with the brain’s natural ability to retain more information. Micro-trainings can be offered through videos, sales calls, and webinars to refresh the sales team on the sales process.

Thus, it can be concluded that the Learning and Development plays a crucial role in helping organizations to regain lost ground on its way back from the COVID-19 slump it suffered during this pandemic. After training and empowering the Managers, the focus should be on the Sales team as it is the channel from where the revenue flows into the organization.

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