We usually think of persuasion as an art that addresses emotions. Yes, it’s our emotions that drive our behavior. But which comes first, emotions or our perception of the world around us?
In psychological terms, persuasion involves “changing a person’s goal-directed behavior.” Efforts may be directed at presenting information that drives a person’s reevaluation of their goal or at their understanding of how best to achieve their goal. Meanwhile, psychologists think of learning as a “relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience,” defined broadly to include all modes of information-gathering.
So here we are. Learning and development has much in common with sales. This understanding can lead to opportunities for L&D to directly impact corporate results. Let’s look at an example.
Research shows that cross-selling and up-selling activity delivers 20% of sales revenue. Cross-selling is the practice of selling related or complementary products to those the customer is purchasing. Up-selling is inviting customers to consider more expensive options. Both occur after a buying decision is made which means that both require more time from salespeople. But there’s only so much time in the day.
L&D departments can help leverage the sales team’s time by automating cross-selling and up-selling.
Many companies now offer customer support resources on their websites. These typically include PDF files for user and technical manuals, use cases, demonstration videos, and other product and service support information. This information can easily be used to construct adaptive learning paths that guide customers to a more complete understanding of the products and services offered.
Most promising for purposes of cross-selling and up-selling are use-case examples. Guiding customers through actual applications of products and services as they gather information will help them see how their needs may be further addressed.
With precise reporting, the learning paths customers take provide useful data for the sales team. As customers gather the information they seek — click here not there, survey “Yes” or survey “No” — their choices create data profiles. Salespeople will see who sought more information and the path they took through the matrix.
Not only will these paths provide a deep understanding of customers’ thinking, they deliver a powerful resource for sales team training.
The ROI from automating cross-selling and up-selling support in this way is potentially enormous. It saves your sales teams time and provides greater insight into your customer needs and goals.