Training provider HSAprogram offers a 14-week sales program for professionals active in complex B2B-sales. On a yearly basis, the program has about 120 participants who want to learn how they can structurally sell more complex solutions. To get the most out of the program, it is important that the teaching material is presented to the participants in the most efficient and fun way. That’s why HSAprogram approached Drillster in 2020. David Mooijaart, the owner of HSAprogram, tells us all about it.

Flexible and personal

David had been looking for a learning game to increase the impact of the sales program for a long time. He says: “I have looked at a lot of tools, but Drillster jumped out at me. At first sight, Drillster looks very simple. At the back end, however, it contains many smart functionalities. On top of everything, it is possible to get individual licenses, which works very well for our organization.”

The personal contact with the Drillster team also really appealed to David. “I felt like I was working with a company that truly thinks along with me. They are interested in my business and think along with how I can best use Drillster in my organization. They are very involved.”

“Drillster really thinks along with me about how to best use the tool in my organization.”

Far greater impact

When the HSA program started ten years ago, it still consisted of a four-day training. Since then, the training has been spread out over a period of three to six months. The workload has not been changed, however: on average the training program takes participants roughly 35 hours. “The impact is far greater, partly because we use Drillster”, according to David. 

These days HSAprogram is made up of three pillars. David explains: “The first pillar consists of live training sessions, both in a group setting and individually. The second pillar is a continuous stream of sales-content. This could include videos or articles that participants get sent every week. Drillster is the third pillar. We use Drillster before participants take part in a live training session. Using ten to twelve minute drills, we introduce the subjects from the upcoming session to the participants in a fun way. We try to keep this light, so it is easily accessible and stays fun for the participants. To achieve this, I spent a lot of time in the Drillster office to use their knowledge and expertise. They supported me in how the drills should be structured and what the best way is to formulate the questions. I would recommend this to everyone.”

Understanding and application

“The integration of Drillster into our methodology has turned the impact of the program on its head”, David observes. He notices that most of all during the live sessions. “Before, I had to explain everything at the start of a training session. Afterwards, I just hoped that people could reproduce the material and knew what the sales framework looked like. I also hoped that they could see the connections between tools and behaviors, and the different stages of a sale. We couldn’t take a more in-depth look at the learning material until the end of the day.”

“Using the drills changed all of this; participants understand the theory before the training sessions start and know how certain principles work”, David says. “It is great to see that participants now come into the training sessions with very specific application questions. This makes sure that they were not just more successful in understanding and remembering the material, but also that the program more closely reflects what happens on the workfloor.” 

Learned more than expected

“People genuinely enjoy doing the drills,” David has noticed. “It always surprises them that learning can be done in a different way and how much they actually learn doing this. I always explicitly say that the drills are not an exam, but should be seen as learning by trial and error. No one is really used to that. To help explain this principle, I use the Drillster video that explains how drills work. For a lot of people, learning was something that required a lot of studying, or something that was dull and a hassle. Now they see that short 10-minute drills can help them learn more than they expect, and without really noticing it. They are usually even surprised about how much they have learned. That is of course the best benefit.” 

“Participants are usually surprised about how much they have learned.”

Further implementation and optimization

Looking at the future, David sees more opportunities for the use of Drillster. “I recently started a new module in which the participants have to finish drills one week before the start of the program. Currently, they have to finish one day before the start of the program. I’m curious to see whether the impact is higher if you spread out the material even more. I’m also contemplating the idea of running the program without a trainer, but instead, use videos and drills. That could be a good and scalable solution. In short, there are many possibilities to explore in our collaboration with Drillster.”