Stanford Training Area – known as STANTA but originally known as Stanford Battle Area – is a British Army training area situated in a large expanse of Stanford in Norfolk.
All over the vast expanse are simulations built to mirror the battle ground the British Army are currently facing. Right now there are battle scenes imitating Afghan villages and terrain.
A couple of miles away are simulations of Northern Ireland, echoing streets of Belfast, when our forces were involved across the Irish Sea. These are long forgotten now. You can see all sorts of buildings and battle grounds from the Cold Way as the Soviet tanks storm across Europe.
They spend vast sums emulating the real battle scenes so realistic training can be received by the troops in readiness for battle.
We should do the same.
- So when you’re providing sales training to your troops, make it as real as you can. You can’t train a skill, a technique, a meeting with a client, how to ask better questions, how to negotiate…by PowerPoint in a stuffy meeting room.
- We have to set up realistic scenes where they conduct their meetings with clients or negotiate with suppliers.
- We then create a genuine scenario for them to act out the scene and explore new and better ways to do it.
- We need to put other people into the simulator, maybe pay for actors or use the local Amateur Dramatic Society, who are not just cheaper but reflect an older age which might match your customers.
- Never, ever delivery training without a context that is related to the performance of the job they do. Wallowing in theory for theory’s sake serves no purpose in the modern training room.
And do the same as the British Army’s training, which is known to be the best in the world.
