Must-Have Technology Tools Sales Training Seminars Should Cover

How many salespeople do you know that have a complete disdain for technology? You know, the “I’ve been selling this way since 1962” type.

Or how about the ones who are so obsessed with every new bell and whistle that they lose sight of the fact they are supposed to make some money — rather than play around with nifty tech toys all day?

Sales training seminars are a great way to put technological tools into perspective for salespeople. Here are a few of the better ones which should be discussed.

LinkedIn Groups

LinkedIn Groups are an excellent way to prospect by establishing yourself as an authority and making connections in an environment where professionals expect to be approached by other professionals regarding business. There are many strategies that top sales training programs should cover, including:

• Join a group outside of your industry to offer them insight into yours. For example, a tax attorney could provide information to a group of mortgage bankers to help their clients. Eventually, referrals will happen
• Post excellent quality articles to create thought leadership
• Identify influential people in groups you are targeting and connecting with them

In general, just like in real life, if you focus on adding value to the groups you join, you will receive rewards in kind.

Mobile CRM

The days where salespeople linger around their desks drinking coffee and idly punching away at their desktop PC keyboards are numbered, thanks to the ubiquity of mobile devices and CRM software they can take with them wherever they go.

The king of mobile CRM apps is currently Salesforce, thanks to the large market share of the desktop version, but there are other contenders — including the free Hubspot CRM available for iOS (Android version reportedly coming soon).

Evernote/One Note

Brainstorm much? Need a better way to keep notes, rather than lugging around a notebook or little yellow stickies?

Evernote and OneNote by Microsoft are free note-taking apps which allow you to keep all of your checklists, web clippings, screenshots, sketches, and whatnot organized and, most importantly, synced across all of your devices. This means that even if you leave your phone in the car, you can pull up that prospect’s phone number from your laptop or tablet.

The best sales training seminars should offer some tips on using the best note-taking apps to boost productivity.

Square

Square has democratized credit card payment processing for small and midsized businesses. Whereas traditional merchant accounts often require sometimes onerous applications and have strict requirements, Square allows just about any business to start accepting credit cards right away.

Salespeople can collect deposits using their cell phones, or prepare instant invoices to speed up the purchasing cycle.

Google Apps

An entire corporate sales training workshop could be developed using Google Apps to increase productivity for salespeople. Smart people have replaced entire CRM systems and expensive office suites using the Google app ecosystem — which is available for free for individuals and is dirt cheap for business use.

Some of the tools include:

• Word processing
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Video conferencing
• Calendars
• Cloud storage and backups
• Free unlimited photo storage

Technology does not have to be intimidating, even for seasoned salespeople. Make sure the next sales training workshop you attend at least touches on the latest tech tools that can make your life a little easier.