.
View or download the Attendee Quick Start Guide
Attendee FAQs
Q: Why is ERA conducting this Virtual Sales Training?
A: ERA realizes that most companies are unable to send the majority of their staff to learn at ERA’s annual conference hosted in Austin, TX. The expense of the Austin conference can be prohibitive (airfare, hotel, etc.) if companies wish to send their whole team to Austin. Plus, pulling people off the phones for several days is not realistic. Therefore, by introducing this online learning option, ERA wants to continue its mission of educating and expanding its reach to all constituents of our membership to show the real value of ERA. People are comfortable now learning and networking online vs. in-person, and this virtual format allows attendees to be exposed to great educational content from the comfort of their home or office.
Q: Who is this training directed to in each member category?
A: This sales training is beneficial for:
- Manufacturers’ sales reps – inside sales, field sales and marketing managers
- Distributors – inside sales, field sales, branch/corporate product managers
- Manufacturers – regional managers, corporate marketing managers
Plus, the training features nine 75-minute sessions spread out over three days. Even in today’s hectic business environment, this is very manageable to work into peoples’ schedules.
Q: Why should these people be interested in attending this event? What benefits will they receive?
A: The tagline for ERA’s Virtual Sales Training is “Sharpening your sales skills in today’s market.” We can all use a review on ways to sharpen our skills. We’re all experiencing rapid changes in the way we do work today, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up and find time to educate oneself on new tools and better ways of doing things. Attendees can use this sales training – where they will be exposed to real industry challenges, solutions and tools – as a way to invest in themselves and their team’s success.
Q: This is the second year for the ERA Virtual Sales Training. How will the 2022 program differ from 2021?
A: ERA is providing fresh, new content for its 2022 program. Featuring a mix of professional sales trainers and well-respected, knowledgeable industry leaders, these sessions were carefully developed by a committee of dedicated ERA members. The planning committee has selected nine brand new topics that will cover an array of timely topics and industry concerns and challenges. We are offering a great mix of sessions with single presenters, as well as panel discussions. Topics will address subject like pre-call planning, warm calling, effective communication & listening, educating buyers, digital marketing, setting appointments, and selling on value not on price. View the full agenda here.
Q: How is the ERA training different from other industry training being offered?
A: All sessions will be presented online LIVE, using Pathable, a conference hosting platform. This is a very user-friendly and intuitive virtual event hosting website that allows for online attendee chat, polling and networking. This is the same platform that was used for the 2021 ERA annual conference, and it has proved to be very successful. This training is geared to a very specific audience of frontline employees. ERA understood this when developing the dynamic and useful program. This is NOT a one-size-fits-all program. These are tactically focused sessions that provide useful tools that are geared toward a specific group.
Q: Will there be specific takeaways from the training that the attendees can use immediately in their day-to-day jobs?
A: Yes, there will be specific tools and takeaways that will be provided to the attendees for each session. This is a main objective of this training: to provide hard copy notes, checklists, worksheets and sales aids to the attendees to implement right away in their daily jobs. All materials will be made available for downloading (only by registered attendees) directly from the virtual event platform during the sessions. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask speakers questions, and interact with each other, via the virtual platform’s chat box.
Q: Who is conducting the training?
A: We have carefully selected a combination of professional sales trainers along with electronics industry professionals to present the sessions. This ensure that attendees are getting a great mix of training from experiences sales teachers, along with reps, manufacturers and distributors that are living and breathing these topics More information is available on the Virtual Sales Training information page.
Q: What if I am unable to attend all of the sessions when they are being presented live?
A: Not to worry! All of the sessions will be recorded and will then be archived (almost immediately afterwards) on the Pathable virtual event platform. Plus, the sessions will be made available for on-demand viewing to registered attendees for up to 12 months after the conclusion of the event. So, you won’t miss a thing! And you can come back time and time again through October of 2023 to watch any sessions you find extra valuable!
Q: How can I register for the training?
A: You can easily register yourself or any member of your team online at: https://era.org/era-events/era-virtual-sales-training-registration-form/. You have the option to register multiple people from your team at once. Click the submit button at the bottom of the registration form, and then you can submit payment securely online.
Q: When is registration closed for the training?
A: The deadline to register for the event is Friday, September 23. This still gives you a few weeks to sign up! For ERA members, the cost is only $295 per person…for more than 11 hours of sales training! That calculates out to only $26 per hour. It’s a real bargain.