Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2017 - 53

to cloud-based software. They went from
a salesforce that's skilled at talking to
primarily IT departments to one facing
very different discussions with primarily
business decision-makers. Those are
big changes requiring a very different
set of skills.
But Microsoft's sales and marketing
readiness team sees this as one of many
recent positive changes in the world of
sales. Chris Pirie, general manager of
field readiness and learning at Microsoft,
believes "Shifting buying cycles with
more prepared customers who do their
research before they talk to a salesperson
is one of the most positive disruptors
we've seen in the last few years." He
continues, "This is in addition to access
to social networks like LinkedIn and data
from those tools, the broad collection
of data in CRM and the insights derived
from that data, etcetera."
All these changes, combined with
the ambitious timeline and goals of
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, meant that
classroom-based training would simply
take too long to transform Microsoft's
salesforce appropriately (over five years
at their traditional training speed). That's
why Microsoft turned to online learning
for answers, knowing that the move

to technology-enabled sales training
would make their sales enablement
faster. What they discovered is it has also
turned out to be groundbreaking and
transforming in more ways than one.

The move
to technologyenabled sales
training will
make sales
enablement
faster.
Firstly, it's driven up sales revenue
quickly. Over $50 million in revenue has
been directly attributed to the learnings
in the course by 177 respondents
of a survey after the first year of the
program. And, that response group
comprises less than 3 percent of the
over 14,000 learners that have been
through the MOOC-like experience to

date. Course completion rates are also
high, averaging nearly 80 percent across
the voluntary courses over the last two
years. That's an important metric when
it comes to sellers who, of course, want
to be spending all their time selling but
spend 64 percent of it on other things,
from lead-gen/research to meetings
and admin, according to the 2016 Sales
Performance Optimization Study.
As you might expect from such high
completion rates, the satisfaction ratings
have hovered around 99 percent as well.
Microsoft has also won a slew of industry
awards based on the business impact
of their suite of corporate MOOCs. But
perhaps the most important aspect of
moving their sales training online is
that Microsoft now has a new humming
engine of engaging online learning
practices to call upon more broadly. The
MOOC-like approach has expanded from
general business strategy and financial
acumen to other topics including digital
transformation, public sector sales
strategy and specific verticals.
HOW?
But, how? With ruthless relevance,
keeping the learner and the salesperson
at the center.
Help me be more successful:

FOUR WAYS TO HOLD A SALESPERSON'S ATTENTION IN LEARNING

* Real-world application
of the learning using actual client and
prospect accounts to understand and
apply the theories and methodologies,
and then use it to sell!
* Contextualized examples
focused on the company's markets
and challenges, not just generic sales
content alone.

* Social learning to connect sellers
across broad geographies with each
other. For instance, a seller in Africa
selling cloud products to railways with
a seller in Latin America focused on the
same vertical.
* Keep it challenging and rewarding
with gamification, points, badges and
the competitive spirit of leaderboards.

Content, whether it's from a business
school partner like INSEAD, Wharton or
Kellogg, or internally-created, is given
context with examples and insights
specifically related to Microsoft's
products, markets and opportunities.
And, "what's in it for me," is clearly
delineated throughout the experience.
Make it easy for me:

Short-form content with access anytime
and anywhere, and with clear guidance

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING 20 1 7 I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2017

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_fall2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_summer2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_spring2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_fall2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_summer2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_spring2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20171112_se
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016fall
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016sales
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015outsourcing
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015leadership
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013spring
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012spring
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010winter
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2008fall
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