I did something this
weekend that I've
never done before.
One of our clients,
a national homecare
company, wanted
Leading Home Care to
provide sales
training to all of
their various
offices around the
country via a 4-hour
teleseminar. Yes...
I said 4 HOURS... on
the phone.
At first, I was a
bit skeptical about
doing it. As a
professional
speaker, I realize
how much effort it
takes to keep an
audience involved
for a 90 minute
presentation... and
that's when you can
see them! I felt
that 4 hours on the
phone would be
torture for everyone
involved and that we
would get very
little value from
the presentation.
During the
preparation phase, I
kept asking myself
"If I'm on the other
end of the phone...
what will keep me
engaged?" I knew
that I'd have to get
audience
participation or my
4 hour monologue
would fall on deaf
ears. I asked
myself, "What are
the key things that
will keep people
listening on a
Saturday afternoon
in the early part of
the Summer"?
Here is what I
decided to do...
1. Break up
each hour into a
different "topic".
- Although we had a
clear idea of what
information we
wanted to present, I
structured the
presentation into 4
separate mini
seminars on
different subjects.
I assumed that if
people could get
some condensed
information on one
part of the overall
seminar they might
be able to focus
better than a run
on, 4 hour train of
thought.
2. Take a 10
minute break at the
top of each hour.
- Sure, it left 30
minutes off of the
entire presentation,
but having that
break to get away
from the phone and
clear your mind
means that you're
likely to retain
more of the
information when you
get back on the
line. Losing 30
minutes was not a
big deal in order to
keep people
attentive for the
long teleseminar.
3. Don't
wait for volunteers.
- With an in person
audience, you can
call on someone or
see the people in
the room who might
answer a question
you throw out to
them. On the phone,
that dynamic is
completely gone...
you're flying blind.
I started the day by
getting the name and
location of everyone
on the call and
picking on certain
people to answer
certain questions
when no one stepped
up to volunteer.
4. Build in
specific "talk back"
scenarios.
- Whether it's
someone needing to
recite their
elevator speech, or
calling out 3 people
to discuss their
unique criteria,
building in times
(and posting it in
the agenda) for
people to know that
the host WON'T be
talking during this
time can be very
effective.
5. Have lots
of time for
questions.
- You'd be surprised
at how valuable the
dialogue becomes
when one of your
audience asks a
question. I found
that having specific
times when people
could (and should)
ask questions made
them focus on the
things they wanted
to ask and make
notes about them.
6. Keep it
light... but don't
wait for laughs.
- I had a few
moments when I could
make some jokes, and
I did. Since many
people had their
phones muted, I
couldn't usually
hear the laughs (at
times I could) but
don't let this throw
you. People will
appreciate a little
levity in the midst
of a long learning
session... even if
they don't laugh
until they cry when
they hear it.
So... how did it
turn out? In a
word... excellent!
The first hour
started off slow as
people were wary of
speaking to me or to
the group. I did
make the mistake of
waiting for
volunteers until I
realized that none
were forthcoming. In
the subsequent
hours, I called
people out until
they (and the group)
were comfortable
enough to ask
questions
unprompted. The pace
of the program
picked up
considerably after
this. I also kept
reminding people of
how much more time
we had in each
"session" until they
had a break. There
is nothing worse
than needing to take
a break and having
your host blow
through the top of
the hour with no end
in sight. Overall I
was very satisfied
with the result and
initial feedback I
received from the
participants. During
the first hour I
gave people my email
address and let them
know they could
submit a question
via email if they
didn't feel like
asking it in front
of the whole group.
Four or 5 people
took me up on that
during the 4 hour
session.
There are times when
it's cost
prohibitive to bring
me into your office,
or to have all of
your sales team
travel to one
location for sales
training. Depending
upon geography, it
could take 2 days
out of the field for
you to get your
sales team together
for 4 hours! There
are times when an in
person training
session is the ONLY
way to go, but
evaluate (like we
did) if you can
deliver the same or
similar training and
value without having
everyone in the same
room. You can also
add Powerpoint,
Webinars and other
types of graphical
additions to your
presentation to keep
people involved.
Remember though,
having a great
trainer who can hold
the audience's
attention trumps a
pretty bunch of
slides and pictures
every time.
If you're struggling
with how to get your
team "together" for
some valuable
training time... use
the tips above and
create your own 4
hour sales training
teleseminar... I did
it... you can too!
