Training and Coaching
Deliver Essential Soft Skills Training
By Seismic On July 19, 2023
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Training and Coaching
By Seismic On July 19, 2023
A strong set of soft skills can help any employee achieve success. And since each team member has varying levels of skills and abilities, it’s important to provide soft skills training.
Soft skills training has never been more important for today’s go-to-market (GTM) organizations. At a time when buyer and customer experiences are constantly changing, the soft skills your frontline teams possess can make all the difference in creating experiences that close deals and build customer loyalty. In this guide, we’ll take a look at some important soft skills for GTM teams and share tips and best practices for delivering engaging and effective soft skills training.
Soft skills, also known as people or interpersonal skills, are traits that go beyond technical skills or expertise. They’re the interpersonal attributes that enable people to effectively interact, communicate, and collaborate with others in and outside of the workplace.
Soft skills and hard skills are different, but both are important for employees to develop and hone. The combination of technical expertise (hard skills) and the ability to work well with others (soft skills) can lead to long-term success. In fact, 98% of workers say they perform their roles better when they feel confident in their skills and abilities.
Unlike soft skills, hard skills are easily defined. They’re specific technical skills or specialized knowledge that are related to a particular role. These skills are often measurable and can be taught and assessed. Hard skills include coding, project management, accounting, graphic design, and other industry-specific knowledge. These skills are often acquired through formal education, training, and on-the-job experience.
Soft skills, on the other hand, are not as easy to quantify. That’s because soft skills in the workplace can look very different depending on the industry, team, and organization. These skills include things like time management and critical thinking which are more intangible and subjective compared to hard skills. Let’s take a closer look at some soft skill examples that are important for every go-to-market teammate to have.
98% of workers say they perform better when they feel confident in their skills and abilities.
GTM organizations focus on bringing products and services to the market effectively. When combined with industry knowledge, market insights, and technical expertise, soft skills can empower GTM organizations to execute their strategies effectively, remain competitive, and reach business goals and objectives. Here are three important soft skills that can contribute to success.
Sellers require a combination of technical sales knowledge and a range of soft skills to excel in their role. Here’s a glance at some important sales soft skills that reps should have.
Customer service agents play an important role in representing an organization and delivering superior service. In order to do so effectively, they need customer service soft skills training that helps them hone the following skills.
As you can see, there are a number of soft skills that every GTM team member needs to have. While some skills and traits are important for the entire organization, others are specific to each department and role. So, how can GTM leaders ensure that every team member has the soft skills they need?
While soft skills are typically developed through personal experiences and observation, they can also be honed through continuous training and coaching. Soft skills training includes programs, workshops, and continuous learning activities. Regardless of the format, soft skills training delivers helpful tips and best practices to learners so they can hone their soft skills so they’re more successful at their jobs.
While many organizations focus on technical skills and product training, they often fail to recognize the importance of soft skills training. However, research from the Stanford Research Institute International and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation found that 75% of long-term job success depends on soft skills expertise. Additionally, many GTM organizations have experienced tremendous changes over the last few years, but employee skill levels haven’t kept pace with the speed of change. In a study by Gartner, only 20% of leaders said that employees have the skills needed for their current role and future career growth.
Creating and delivering a soft skills training program from scratch can seem challenging. Let’s take a look at five steps that every organization can take to provide basic soft skills training to their team.
When it comes to delivering effective soft skills training to your employees, we strongly suggest an online training format. Providing soft skills training online offers several benefits — here are three key advantages.
Online training provides employees with greater accessibility and flexibility to soft skills training. The best soft skills courses are self-paced and available on-demand, so employees can engage with training at their own pace and when it’s the right time for them. And now that so many organizations have a hybrid or fully remote team, online training gives everyone the chance to learn anywhere instead of requiring employees to travel for in-person training sessions.
Online soft skills training courses offer scalability and make it easier to provide consistent training across the entire team. Online training platforms can also deliver training to every employee simultaneously, allowing organizations to scale their training efforts without logistical constraints.
Online soft skills training platforms also help managers track performance and skill growth over time. By including knowledge checks, quizzes, and practice assessments, leaders can easily assess knowledge retention and application of newly learned skills. This helps them deliver real-time personalized feedback and coaching that can help employees further develop soft skills over time.
When it comes to managing your GTM organization, efficiency and effectiveness are top priorities. Instead of offering generic training and enablement, it’s important to deliver engaging training that helps frontline employees develop the critical soft skills needed for their roles. Seismic’s training and coaching capabilities help GTM organizations understand skill levels across their teams, deliver engaging soft skills training courses, and build personalized coaching plans that help employees hone skills faster. Jump into a free training lesson to see how.
