How I won my B2B clients?

….The seventh in this series:

Objection Handling and Conversion

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A client was referred to me. At the start of our communication, the client explained her business had not been successful in the last year and her budget for any services would be a challenge.

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My cadence process included a phone call, a zoom call, an email and a text! During these touch points and several correspondences with each other, she felt confident my services of sales, strategy, and social media training could benefit her business.

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We openly discussed a suitable situation regarding costings (I provided an introductory offer to start growing her client base and revenue), once her business had more cashflow, she would be happy to pay my standard rates for further training and support.

I supported this client in many areas:

⚡ Analysing previous client data and account managing previous clients for repeat business and upselling

⚡ Strategy for generating more clients on a global scale using different channels (including social media)

⚡ A plan for increasing her prices for her services

Remember – Any objection can be overcome with needs-based selling.

#sales #selling #sold

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B clients?

….The fifth in this series:

Networking…

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It was the right time for my business to join a networking group on a membership basis. During your 60-second pitches each week, I would mostly communicate my sales training and sales strategy experience and services.

Occasionally I would explain add on services I provide to clients, i.e., recruitment training following my 6 years of achievements within the recruitment industry.

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It was 6 months approx. before a business within this group required this service area of my business. When a HR Consultancy who was also a member of this group, remembered my recruitment training background and services and engaged with me on a recruitment project.

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Remember – people do remember what you say and do… Make sure you stay visible and communicate the full range of services your business offers.

Even if you feel there is not an ROI straight away, be consistent and positive, as a business will come back to you when they have the need for your services for their business.

#networking #communication #businessvalue

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B clients?

….The fifth in this series:

Networking…

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It was the right time for my business to join a networking group on a membership basis. During your 60-second pitches each week, I would mostly communicate my sales training and sales strategy experience and services.

Occasionally I would explain add on services I provide to clients, i.e., recruitment training following my 6 years of achievements within the recruitment industry.

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It was 6 months approx. before a business within this group required this service area of my business. When a HR Consultancy who was also a member of this group, remembered my recruitment training background and services and engaged with me on a recruitment project.

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Remember – people do remember what you say and do… Make sure you stay visible and communicate the full range of services your business offers.

Even if you feel there is not an ROI straight away, be consistent and positive, as a business will come back to you when they have the need for your services for their business.

#networking #communication #businessvalue

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B clients?

The fourth in this series:

First impressions…

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As mentioned, previously, I was referred and introduced to an industry leading UK and Europe SME via a business individual I had developed a relationship with over the past few months.

This industry sector of this new business and geographical location was new to me, as well as before the initial video conferencing meet with the CEO, I was only given short notice.

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What did I do?

I cleared my desk and spent the whole evening researching this company’s background, social media channels, website, marketing material, etc.

The following day and from an energetic and diligent introduction, I demonstrated to the CEO how I will be agile and adapt to their business requirements to fulfill a sales strategy project.

Throughout the initial prospecting stage and this customer’s buying experience, I made sure I was efficient, swift in my follow-up, questioned, and actively listened to this company’s needs.

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A few weeks later, after a 2-hour+ journey and overnight stay, I worked with this company and their team on a sales strategy and training project which took serval weeks. I was delighted to receive this wonderful feedback below:

Jamie spent a significant amount of time with me to further understand the business and the tolerances and willingness we had towards change. His approach with my team was open, friendly, and gently probing. His enthusiasm was infectious, making my organisation comfortable and willing to take on board any recommendation he made.

His report was generated very rapidly and again his requests for additional information highlighted his desire to ensure the recommendations made were realistic and fully considered our existing processes. The final report was thorough and provided our organisation with an excellent external review of our sales strategy and processes.”

Remember – In a sales environment: customer needs always first.

#customerservice #saleschallenges #buyingexperience

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B clients?

The third in this series:

KLT: Know, Like, and Trust…

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I decided to go as a guest visitor to a networking group I had not visited before in my local area.

I went to the lunchtime meeting (a new time for me to network), but I thought it would be a good idea to meet different businesses also networking at this time.

During the meeting, I built synergy with serval business individuals, but one in particular.

We got to know each other (our character and initiatives better) and decided to keep in contact by phone on a monthly basis, as we liked each other’s personality and business acumen.

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5 months later, this individual worked with another company, introduced me to them & they also became a client of mine… but that is a story for another time.

About a year later, this individual required some advice on articles, as well as digital marketing. I spent some time providing advice (at no cost) within these areas to support their current business initiatives.

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This individual trusted me to work with me on a week-long project for their needs of their business and became a client of mine. Still a business friend, so I made sure a gestured rate was offered for my services.

Remember – KLT!

#knowliketrust #authenticity #businessadvice

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B clients?…

The second in this series:

Perseverance…

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It took me 9 months approx. to convert a new client during my recruitment role.

WHY did I spend a long time prospecting this client?

They were a known agency user

They worked with a competitor of mine

This company had a good reputation within their industry sector

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WHAT did I do:

I spent time researching the company and the internal decision makers.

I devised a sales cadence for communicating with this company on a weekly basis, i.e. personalised phone chats, social media engagement, compelling emails, post (with a gift), office visit (to show my face).

I remained consistent, passionate, and authentic.

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🏆 The Outcome: I secured 5 out of the 6 interviews for a vacancy with this new client. The 1 interview was with a competitor of mine.

Remember To be successful in a sales role – Follow a process, identify the companies who will become your clients, and have a growth mindset!

#buildingrelationships #growthmindset #salesrole

https://linktr.ee/correctcareers

How I won my B2B Clients?…

First in the series:

Starting with my why – My motivation and driver is achievement focused, as well as being a Trainer – I want to show ‘it can’ be done…

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Every week I will share the sales techniques, strategy, and approach, I undertook to win my business to business (B2B) clients.

Remember – If you want me to tag you on this weekly post series to read the advice from these stories and experiences, do let me know.

#salestraining #salesadvice #winningnewclients

Selling in the Modern Sales Environment

The sales environment is constantly adapting. As we find ourselves now selling more via digital channels and tools; you need to develop techniques, analyse, and review your sales process and strategy to understand the buying behaviour, communication styles, and personalities of your future clients.

Here are some integral areas to be focused on when selling in the modern sales environment:

Identifying Your Future Clients:

Before contacting a prospect – take the time initially to develop a sales strategy and process to make your sales activities more efficient and effective.

Identify who your Ideal Client Profile (ICP); the decision maker who is predicted to buy your service or product. These new prospects could be your clients’ clients, the competitors of your clients, etc. The focus here should be to qualify or disqualify a prospect prior to approaching them, social media profiles or sales enablement AI platform tools can assist you with this.

Identify the behaviours of your prospects, e.g., what social media channels they use and how they engage on it. You can identify more about their personality and communication styles by the way and how they are corresponding to their network? The more you find out about your prospects early on within the sales process, the easier they will be to sell too.

Sales Process:

After identifying some key prospects to approach, research and your due diligence are key skills that will help with the next steps for developing a relationship with these prospects/decision makers during the buying process.

There are various channels (especially in a modern environment) for contacting a prospect, e.g., social media (including groups), telephone, text, email, post, video conference, WhatsApp, Slack, website enquiries, networking events, referrals, podcasts, and so on… Adopting automation services can help save time, but is this a personalised approach for your target prospects?

In the sales process – a consistent approach, with several personalised ‘touch points’ i.e., interaction with the prospect/decision makers’ learning and communication styles during the client buying process should be applied.

Decision Makers:

When selling to some companies, there are several decision makers. Each decision maker has a different personality, communication style, and requirements for your service/product.

Are you aware of your decision makers’ interests? What groups they are a part of on LinkedIn/Facebook, etc.? In the modern sales environment, decision makers will experience many pitches from your competition, as well as ‘noise’ from digital channels, i.e., social media, marketing ads, promotions when they look to buy.

Some types of decision makers below:

  • Starts the buying process
  • The check writer
  • Final decision on the purchase or your service/product
  • The end user (could be a decision maker or an employee)

How to sell more effectively to each type of decision maker?

  • Starts the buying process

They are likely to research services/products thoroughly via digital channels, e.g., websites, social media, or referrals before they present a service or product to other decision makers within the business.Have you connected with these decision makers on social media channels? Do you engage with their content? Build rapport with these types of decision makers, they will buy from people they like.

  • The check writer

These decision makers would be looking for formal written communication (email, brochure, proposal) with all the facts and figures to be accurate – any error in detail will have an impact on their buying decision.

  • Final decision on the purchase or your service/product

These decision makers will react to their gut emotion. They would need to be convinced visually (video marketing, Google reviews, LinkedIn recommendations, etc.) during the buying process by you/other decision makers. Likely to be focused on the outcome your service/product offers; these decision makers are logical buyers. An engaging demonstration/case study would be an ideal way to demonstrate a return of investment and close the deal with these decision makers.

  • The end user (could be a decision maker or an employee)

Likely to explore buying a service or product with several of your competitors. These decision makers will want to know all the benefits and features, including elements such as the service/product’s life cycle, implementation, ease of use, etc. Video testimonials or client feedback (highlighted on website/in a brochure) are good resources to win these end users to buy from you.

Remember – in the modern sales environment, some decision makers might prefer to communicate via social media ‘private message’, WhatsApp, text, video conference, etc. Advice – Ask the decision how they prefer to communicate with you!

Building Rapport:

Cold calling is becoming a sales activity of the past. The renowned sales term: Know, Like, and Trust (KLT), as well as referrals is more important now for building rapport and long-lasting relationships.

A prospect is likely to engage with you through the buying process if you take the time to listen and care about their values and interests. A strong rapport built can make the negotiation and closing stages easier. People do buy from people!

To build rapport in a modern sales environment – build a connection with your prospect by getting to know them personally. Engage with them on social media. Actively listen to how they communicate with you (their body language, their tone of voice, etc.).

If you identify a connection/interest in common with your prospect, you are more likely to be remembered during the buying process.

Selling Your Service or Product:

Before the advancement of the digital world, the selling activity included approaching prospects in volume, during the buying process a smaller number of prospects would qualify and be converted into clients. Yes, this approach included ‘wins’, but how many hours/costs/resources were required?  

In the modern sales environment, various digital channels (social media, automated emails, articles, videos, landing page, etc.) can be utilised for lead generation and your sales funnel. These tools should be personalised and adapted to the emotions and buying behaviours of your target prospects.

For identifying new prospects and qualifying more prospects swiftly and efficiently; your business should focus on their personality, communication style, their needs; how your service or product will make a significant impact on their business in current markets? Social media profiles (such as LinkedIn) can provide insights into some of these areas.

In the modern sales environment, we can utilise a variety of modern touch points to keep in contact with our prospects during the buying and follow up process, i.e., newsletters, video messages, social media.

Using Social Media for Selling:

There are various social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Social media is for information sharing – what are you an expert in? How will your service of product benefit prospects and your clients? If you are not producing constant social media marketing posts; how will your prospects know who you are and what you are selling?

In one of my surveys, ‘83% of Sales Professionals feel they require support in using social media for building business relationships’ (Correct Careers Coaching, 2019).

If you do not embrace social media, you are missing out on building relationships with future clients, i.e., LinkedIn has registered over 30 million companies. Utilise social media to stay visible, promote your brand, engage with new prospects, etc.

Personalities will thrive when selling in the modern sales environment!

Jamie works with companies globally to enhance the employee’s B2B selling capabilities for generating and converting prospects. Jamie also improves the sales process and strategy to increase your gross sales by winning and retaining clients. 

If you would like to have a more detailed discussion and explore selling techniques further, contact Jamie on:

Jamie Martin BSc (Hons), PGCert (Managing Director & Founder)

Correct Careers Coaching – An award-winning Modern Sales Training and Sales Strategy Business.

Jamie@correctcareerscoaching.com and 07599 332178

www.correctcareerscoaching.com

LinkedIn: Correct Careers Coaching

Twitter: @CorrectCareers

YouTube

Before You Sell to a Decision Maker… You Need to Understand their Buying Personalities and Behaviours!

The selling environment is like the animal kingdom:

  • Different needs
  • Different personalities and attributes
  • Different communication styles

Which animal is your Decision Maker?

*Remember for each your different client’s personalities – you will need to understand their point of view, their pressures, their motivators, their authority, and most importantly how to communicate with them!

The Lion

Known as the king of the jungle. Lions are incredibly sociable animals. Second only to the Siberian Tiger regarding strength and power. Prides generally consist of 80% of females.

Interesting Fact: Young lions practice role-playing which develops their hunting technique. Females observe this behaviour to determine where a lion is more suited to catching and killing the prey or chasing and surrounding it.

Your Client: Starts the buying process

Due to your Lion clients being very sociable, they will understand the reasons for a new purchase (to benefit others) and who requires to be involved. They would be good at delegation or persuading others during the buying process to end with the desired outcome.

Unlikely to be concerned with the facts – just want an efficient result.

Regarding a buying decision: The Lion are the clients to build rapport with, Know, Like, and Trust (KLT) will serve you well when corresponding with Lions during the buying decision process. They understand a need for your service or products but will not be fooled by gimmicks and cliches. Lion’s will; buy from the Lions!

The Shark

Sharks live in most ocean habits around the globe, where some sharks inhabit in freshwater rivers and lakes. There are over 500 species of sharks and none of the species sleep.

Interesting Fact: Sharks are apex predators; their sixth sense can track the electric fields emitted by their prey.

Your Client: Final decision on the purchase or your service/product

Your shark client will react to their gut emotion. They would have needed to be convinced by you/other decision makers during the buying process to proceed. If their ‘buy-in’ was strong, usually a quick decision will follow.

Likely to be focused on the outcome your service/product provides – a demonstration would be an ideal way to close the deal with the decider.

Regarding a buying decision: The Shark will make an urgent and emotional buying decision to proceed with you or not, as there is a need for your service/product – you need to be swift in your prospecting techniques and follow-up to convert a shark. The Sharks are your money maker, do also consider the volume and value of a long-term relationship when proceeding with a shark.

The Cheetah

Known as the fastest land animal. The fastest Cheetah named ‘Sarah’ ran the 100-meter dash in 5.95 seconds with a top speed of 61 mph.

Interesting Fact: between the different subspecies is that their fur colour changes slightly, depending on their surrounding environment.

Your Client: The check writer

Your Cheetah client will not hesitate to write a cheque if the approval has been fed to them by the other decision makers. These clients would have an idea of the business cashflow – it would be a good idea to consult with the Cheetah client at the start of the process – enough money is available to spend for the cost of your service/product.

Analytical and reflective in their approach. They would be looking for all the facts and figures to be accurate – any error in detail will have an impact on their buying decision.

Regarding a buying decision: The Cheetah knows there is a need for your service but will be busy analysing other situations/purchases within the business. Your initial pitch should be persuasive and visual, otherwise, you may end up chasing the cheetah to proceed! The Cheetahs are likely to be your long-lasting clients, once made a logical decision; they are your logical buyers. They will usually say if they are receiving the service/product the offers what was discussed during the buying decision stage.

The Eagle

Eagles are one of the most dominant predators in the sky. An Eagle mother usually lays two eggs. Eagles as chicks are very vulnerable, even a stronger sibling will eliminate the other. With two eggs, there is more chance of the offspring’s survival.

Interesting Fact: A specific species: Harpy Eagles have rear talons (hooked claws) that are the same size as a grizzly bear’s claw – about 3-4 inches long.

Your Client: Convinces others of the need for the service/product

Your Eagle client is focused on their need and how will benefit from the purchase, although they will see the view of the whole company. They will certainly be hunting for comparison with your competitors. A compelling need-based sell is required with your Eagle client.

The influencer is looking for a ‘good deal’. This is where your negotiation skills will be crucial. Through questioning with the Influencer, identify what will persuade them to buy from you – a trial period? A guarantee period? A discount? Or free gift with purchase?

Regarding a buying decision: The Eagle is mostly just browsing at this stage (their timeframe is usually in plenty of time before your service/product is actually needed). Do not be surprised it takes 5 or so times to follow-up with the Eagle if they would like to proceed with you. The Eagle is the most likely to raise objections during the buying process. Usually, there is a 50/50 chance of converting the Eagles.

The Chameleon

A chameleon is part of the Lizard family, where some species will change the colour of their skin as a defence mechanism to avoid predators being aware of them due to blending in with their surroundings.

Interesting Fact: Chameleon’s eyes have 360-degree vision, as well as being able to see up to 32 feet in front of them.

Your Client: The employees who use your service/product

Your Chameleon client understands from all angels how your service/product will provide a return of investment for them/team/department. This client will likely also be the influencer or closely connected with them – where they will work together to achieve their outcomes for a buying decision. You will need to be prepared to persuade two potential decision makers (User and Influencer) and building relationships with both is vital.

Likely to want to know all the benefits and features of your service or product. Testimonials and case studies will be good resources to win the User over.

Regarding a buying decision: The Chameleon does not have an urgent need and may change their buying thoughts many times during the purchase process. Certainly, nurture the Chameleon but do not go in for the hard sale, the Chameleon wants plenty of time to decide on proceeding. The Chameleon’s would be the amber or red on a traffic lights system.

Which animal is your Decision Maker? How should you prepare, approach, and communicate with them?

Jamie works with companies globally to enhance the employee’s B2B selling capabilities for generating and converting prospects. Jamie also improves the sales process and strategy to increase your gross sales by winning and retaining clients. 

If you would like to have a more detailed discussion and explore selling techniques further, contact Jamie on:

Jamie Martin BSc (Hons), PGCert (Managing Director & Founder) of Correct Careers Coaching – An award-winning Modern Sales Training and Sales Strategy Business.

Jamie@correctcareerscoaching.com and 07599 332178

www.correctcareerscoaching.com

LinkedIn: Correct Careers Coaching

Twitter: @CorrectCareers

YouTube

The Disadvantages of NOT Using an External Sales Trainer…

This could sound biased being a Sales Trainer. From my psychometric test results, one of my strengths is being analytical, I will, therefore, write a logical article.

Yes, there are additional costs involved to employ an external Sales Trainer on an ad hoc basis for your business. However, with any training, if your trainee does not apply the skills and techniques learnt – the investment is already lost.

Points to consider:

  1. Your business has an Internal Sales Trainer/Learning & Development team
  2. An external Sales Trainer might be from a different industry sector or worked with different sized companies
  3. The cost involved in working with an external Sales Trainer on an ongoing basis

I might have just convinced you not to hire an external Sales Trainer but do keep reading for the advantages!

Point 1:

  1. Your business has an Internal Sales Trainer/Learning & Development team

Ultimately, this would be different from the size of business or industry sector. Where sometimes the Sales Trainer would be the employee’s manager.

If the manager is the sales trainer for their employees, although experienced within the role (probably a previous top performer) – is this the best training experience for your employee? Will your employee fully be themselves regarding their learning and communication style – or will they ‘pretend’ to know the information taught by their manager to not highlight any areas of concern.

An advantage of an external Sales Trainer is they can provide a ‘safe’ space where employees can ask those ‘silly’ questions without having to work with the external Sales Trainer daily, unlike their manager. As well as during those dreaded role-plays; any challenges from the external Sales Trainer to test understanding will be received light-heartedly by your employee.

The internal sales training will provide your employees with your company’s processes in a standard style, particularly companies who have a high volume of sales employees that require training, e.g. Call Centres.

Let us analyse what employees feel about training:

*In a business study by Axonify, results highlight:

  • 81% of employees feel more engaged at work due to the training
  • With 89% of employees wanting the training to be personalised
  • 91% of employees feel the training would be ineffective, it was not engaging/fun

The advantage of an external Sales Trainer is personalising the sales training every time; they have been hired by your business to deliver training with your specific content, hence they will learn and process it applying a personal experience.

External Sales Trainers are equipped to create interactive activities, competitions, and follow-up tasks.

The external Sales Trainer will objectively observe your employees (on the phone/in the field) before and after training to identify measures and outcomes.

As well as spending hours of time developing a highly engaging material, a tailored learning experience for your employees. Inevitably the external Sales Trainer aims for strong feedback from your employees as this could determine the duration an external Sales Trainer works with your business.

Point 2:

  1. An external Sales Trainer might be from a different industry sector or worked with different sized companies

At proposal meetings with clients, I have been asked before – what is your experience within my industry sector? Have you provided sales training to a similar-sized company before?

Yes, it is true, an external Sales Trainer from the same industry will certainly understand your product/service terminology and the marketplace, i.e. the customers and competitors.

And working with similar size businesses provides insights into internal operations and procedures.

The disadvantages with the same industry training as the only training resource are that your employees will mostly receive a company viewpoint on how the selling should be done, i.e. what has worked before.

The current times have now changed, where updated selling processes and techniques require to be formulated and implemented.

Advantages of an external Sales Trainer – they are versatile and agile in their knowledge and training methods following working with various types of businesses that had different requirements. An external Sales Trainer can provide selling advice (unique methods/techniques for prospecting, etc.) to meet the demand of an adaptable market.

Of course, a good external Sales Trainer will work with you to achieve your training requirement objectives. Sometimes, an unbiased perspective is beneficial.

Point 3:

  1. The cost involved in working with an external Sales Trainer on an ongoing basis

For point 3, there is no right answer to convince your business to part with money, especially if you have your own internal sales training methods. The main question your business will ask is – What will my ROI be? And this is something that can be challenging to measure regarding training, specifically in the short term.

Therefore, I am providing evidence for the outcomes I had for an Internal Sales Executive from a global SME (£20 million+ with 300+ employees) who worked with me as their external Sales Trainer:

“I am so happy that you were able to help create a system in order to help me get in front of the right people as this is something that has caused me the most insecurity and anxiety as a salesperson and isn’t really something that is readily taught so I am very grateful for that.”

The value of sales training is in the employee’s perception.

Sales Training does not just stop after a half-day/full day session with an external Sales Trainer. An ideal method for retaining new information – is to learn content in manageable chunks. Your employees will treat a training session being the time for this, without losing focus of their daily tasks.

The advantage of this training schedule (regular with intervals) for your employees are they will process and apply learnt content adhering to their specific learning styles, as well as revisit the information in preparation for the next training session!

Synergy is built between your business and the external Sales Trainer and the employees have established rapport with them – Just some advantages for having an external Sales Trainer…

Jamie works with companies globally to enhance the employee’s B2B selling capabilities for generating and converting prospects. Jamie also improves the sales process and strategy to increase your gross sales by winning and retaining clients. 

If you would like to have a more detailed discussion regarding external sales training for your business contact Jamie on:

Jamie Martin BSc (Hons), PGCert (Managing Director & Founder) of Correct Careers Coaching – A Modern Sales Training and Sales Strategy Business.

Jamie@correctcareerscoaching.com and 07599 332178

www.correctcareerscoaching.com

LinkedIn: Correct Careers Coaching

Twitter: @CorrectCareers

YouTube

Source

*https://axonify.com/news/axonify-releases-third-annual-state-of-frontline-workplace-training-study/