Companies spend a tremendous amount of money on sales training. They bring in trainers, send salespeople to workshops, buy books, subscribe to online courses, and invest in countless other resources intended to improve sales performance. Yet if we’re being honest, much of that training fails to produce lasting results.
Why?
I don’t think it’s because the training was poor. In fact, I’ve attended and delivered some excellent training over the years. The problem is that many companies treat sales training as an event instead of a process.
When I began my sales career in 1977, I was fortunate enough to work for a company that had a reputation for providing some of the best sales training in the industry. We trained constantly. More importantly, we practiced constantly. The training didn’t end when the class ended. It became part of our daily routine.
Unfortunately, that’s not how many organizations approach training today.
A company holds a workshop on Tuesday and expects improved results on Wednesday. Salespeople leave motivated and excited. Managers feel good about the investment. A few weeks later, everyone has drifted back to old habits.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Think about virtually any skill you have ever learned. If you wanted to become a better golfer, would one lesson make you a better golfer? If you wanted to learn to play guitar, would one lesson transform you into a musician? Of course not. You would practice. You would make mistakes. You would receive coaching. You would continue to improve over time.
Sales is no different.
One of the biggest reasons sales training fails is that there is little or no reinforcement after the training is completed. Sales managers become busy. Salespeople become busy. The urgent crowds out the important. Before long, the training becomes little more than a memory.
I’ve always believed that managers play a critical role in whether training succeeds or fails. If managers are not coaching, reinforcing, inspecting, and holding people accountable, the chances of long-term improvement are slim. People tend to focus on what is measured and discussed. If the manager never mentions the training again, neither will the salespeople.
Another problem is that many training programs attempt to cover too much information. Salespeople leave with ten new ideas, twelve new techniques, and fifteen action items. The result is often overwhelming rather than improvement.
I have found that it is usually better to focus on a few important behaviors and master them. Small improvements, consistently applied, often produce far greater results than massive changes that never become habits.
There is also the issue of practice. Most salespeople spend far more time preparing proposals than practicing conversations. That has never made much sense to me. Athletes practice. Musicians practice. Pilots spend time in simulators. Yet many salespeople expect to improve without practicing the skills they use every day.
The companies that get the most from sales training understand that the workshop is only the beginning. Training creates awareness. Coaching creates improvement. Practice creates confidence. Reinforcement creates habits.
The goal isn’t to complete the training. The goal is to change behavior. A tool like Sales Coach Pro, which I represent, can be invaluable for practice. Even better, your salespeople will practice at the office instead of with a customer!
And that’s why sales training doesn’t always stick. Not because the training failed, but because the process ended when the class was over.
Written by me in collaboration with Hal C. Bott
If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM, my sales training, or Sales Coach Pro might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar.
To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page.
I would also be happy to connect you to a marketing professional who I know and trust or to an automated yet personalized and human-to-human LinkedIn prospecting system. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!
Craig M. Jamieson
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