There are many other industries where drills, simulations and role play are used as a best practice for training and development. The photograph above is of a police simulation exercise which I watched last month. By making the scenario as realistic as possible, police members are able to remain sharp and focussed and plan for a range of outcomes in high pressured situations. 

One the most effective techniques that our company uses for sales training and developing sales skills is role-plays. This is not a new technique, but the difference here is that we get professional actors to play the role of customers.  By simulating the situation that a sales person works in on a daily basis, delegates are given immediate feedback on performance. The sales interactions are observed by other team members, as well as a professional assessor/sales coach and recorded onto DVD. Initially sales executives are quite daunted by the prospect of being under the spotlight, but this process provides learners the opportunity of watching their performance later in a non-threatening environment. This enables self evaluation, peer and coach evaluation. By putting sales executives into a high pressure, but safe learning environment, this methodology means that  sales team can learn from each other, try out new product pitches, refine existing communication strategies  and develop customer qualification strategies. 

Every client that we have assisted with this approach has been incredibly positive about the results...