Many sales teams are somewhere along their journey of adopting data-driven selling. In addition to choosing a trusted data partner, it also takes getting your sales team to buy in.

There’s a version of food service sales that looks like this: a rep shows up with a bag full of frozen product samples, puts them on the table, and asks, “What’s it going to take to get you to buy this chicken breast today?” It’s a familiar approach. It’s also a losing one.

Affinity Group has built a different kind of sales culture – one that’s fact-based, data-driven, and culinary-centric. Fortunately, their sales team has access to powerful sales intelligence within the Datassential platform. However, getting a sales team to consistently show up prepared, armed with insights, and ready to consult rather than pitch? That took – and still takes – real work.

Here’s what we’ve learned.

The Real Barrier Isn’t The Data – It’s The Mindset

Before any salesperson opens a platform or runs a search, they have to believe that doing the research is worth their time. That’s not a given in a commission-based world where reps are often rewarded for volume: 10, 12 sales calls up and down the street.

“It’s really about doing the research and being a consultant – providing value. Not just giving them products, but giving them concepts, resources, and ideas on how to utilize those products. Make money, save money, or solve a problem. If you can accomplish that during a sales call, you’re bringing value to your customer.” – Kai Horn, VP Segments, Affinity Group

Getting buy-in on that philosophy isn’t actually the hard part. When you show a sales team how a data-informed approach builds stronger customer relationships and drives more sales, it resonates quickly! The challenge is: now that they’re bought in, how do we reinforce this in a tangible, real-world format that is easy to replicate?

Training Has To Be Real-World Or It Doesn’t Stick

Affinity Group has tried multiple approaches to training. The thing that works, and that they keep coming back to, is making the learning as concrete and immediate as possible. Forget abstract exercises or “here’s a hypothetical account.” Use what’s right in front of you.

“It’s still about repetition. Just keep doing it, keep doing it. But making it real, making it applicable to what they do day in and day out, that’s what helps it resonate.”

– KAI HORN, VP SEGMENTS, AFFINITY GROUP

The buyers who evaluate rigorously will build AI infrastructure that genuinely compounds competitive advantage. The buyers who evaluate on demo quality alone will be back in market in 18 months.

One of their most effective training formats is a combination exercise – one-part workshop and one-part dine-around – that they execute in partnership with Datassential. The first day consists of in-person training, which typically includes internal sessions, an operator presentation, and a Datassential-led training that helps equip reps with the “what” and the “how”: what insights can they source from Datassential and how they can access them in order to build personalized, data-backed sales stories.

The night before a workshop, the whole team splits into smaller groups for dinner at a selection of local restaurants. They look at the menu. They talk to the server, ask about specials, and learn about the kitchen. The next morning, everyone has one assignment: build a real sales presentation for the restaurant they dined at using Datassential insights. Whoever delivers the best presentation with the most compelling application of the data wins a prize. As it happens, salespeople don’t need to be asked twice to compete!

The menu was fresh in their minds. The challenge was specific. And when they pulled up consumer insights, Menu Adoption Cycles, or operator profiles, it wasn’t abstract – it was directly answering a question they’d been asking the night before.

Three Things to Build Into Your Approach