Ever wonder how your sales team is really doing using a whiteboard in sales with customers and prospects? If your staff is dispersed across regions or working remotely, worrying about performance standards could keep you up at night.

Sleepless nights? If performance nightmares are causing you anxiety, no wonder. Many sales managers struggle with this very issue: how to ensure a professional level of sales skills across your entire sales force.

If you’ve gravitated toward whiteboard interaction and aren’t relying solely on slides, the question always arises: How can you monitor effectiveness?

Instead of losing sleep, use 5 steps to move you in the right direction. Oversee and support effective whiteboard sales skills across all regions.

Step 1. Research the current reality

What is the most important first step? Number one. Find out what’s happening today. This can vary greatly between regions. And among what the ‘matrix’ thinks is the current practice.

If you’re at your organization’s headquarters, don’t take written reports at face value. Jump in a car. Go to remote areas. Go to client and prospect meetings and see for yourself.

Once you do, you’ll have a good idea of ​​what sellers are actually doing. Are they displaying product deals on the board? Or are they waving a marker in the air while relying on handouts and slides?

Step 2. Invest in training

Board sales training is a smart investment. It’s the fastest way to create a performance standard for your entire organization. If you have already provided training, make sure everyone takes advantage of the classes and trainings.

It’s always hard to get busy salespeople into a classroom unless they fully understand the benefits. One of the quickest ways to show benefit is to start the session with real-life experiences. If one or more of your best employees are already using whiteboard skills to shorten sales cycles and increase customer loyalty, ask them to open up the training.

Real-world results from top salespeople build credibility and promote acceptance faster than anything else.

Step 3. Share best practices

Having learned the skills and tools to hold real-time conversations, guide discussion, and focus attention on the whiteboard, what’s next? Apply whiteboard skills to your specific products, services, and solutions. Focus on critical adjustments to make your presentations right for your clients.

This is often best done in specific sessions, such as a whiteboard workout with an expert trainer. A coach streamlines practices and helps the entire sales group adapt to match individual strengths and customer preferences.

Step 4. Focus on the hot topics

In your industry, there are hot topics. It could be trends, changes in legislation, changes in buying behavior, or something else. Focus on skills and practice to address these fundamental issues.

Many sales managers hold weekly or monthly meetings to tailor whiteboard stories and highlight hot topics.

What is the hot topic of the month? Practice the whiteboard with your team.

Step 5. Show the ROI value

There’s nothing like the ultimate value to get funding for your ongoing training and skill development. Show how this communication method generates more sales. Track results along multiple lines such as: shorter sales cycles, larger sales, more cross-selling, and higher customer satisfaction.

By demonstrating a direct impact on the bottom line, you can expect several benefits. First, the sellers will attend the training. Second, sellers will value sharing new skills and best practices. Third, vendors will invent new ways to take advantage of whiteboard techniques in their region.

And… here’s the wonderful thing. With a clear ROI, you can get your point across to skeptics and critics. You won’t suffer from stormy meetings listening to skeptics who are convinced that this sort of thing doesn’t work.

Now… you have a 5-step cure for sleepless nights. Monitoring whiteboard selling skills across your entire sales force is much easier than you might have imagined.