The Truth About Sales Training Effectiveness
By Thomas Preiss
Sales training. In most organisations, a necessary investment, and often… a complete waste of time and money. Why? Because the shocking truth is that much of what passes for sales training simply doesn't work. It doesn't translate into improved sales performance, and it certainly doesn't justify the resources poured into it.
You don’t have to go far into your research before you come up with many studies showing figures such as below:
The global sales training industry has a 58% failure rate in driving measurable performance improvements.
50% of content is lost within 48 hours, and 90% decays after 30 days without reinforcement.
81% of sales managers receive no coaching on reinforcing training
This isn't to say that all sales training is ineffective. There are programs that deliver real results. But they are the exception, not the rule. So, what's going wrong? Why is so much sales training failing to live up to its promise?
One common problem is a lack of focus. Many programs try to cover too much ground, from product knowledge to closing techniques, without delving deeply into any one area. This "jack of all trades, master of none" approach leaves salespeople feeling overwhelmed and unprepared to tackle the real-world challenges they face.
Another issue is the reliance on outdated and ineffective training methods. Think death by PowerPoint, endless lectures, and generic role-playing exercises that bear little resemblance to actual sales interactions. These methods are not only boring, they fail to engage learners and often don't cater to different learning styles. In today's environment, salespeople need training that is dynamic, interactive, and relevant to their specific needs and increasing in shorter, more frequent timeframes.
I personally believe that much of the training does not produce the results because the follow up is left to the sellers without enough coaching support from their managers. You could even say that we are over educating (or over stimulating) sellers, but under educating sales leaders.
Furthermore, many organisations fail to measure the effectiveness of their sales training. They invest significant sums of money in these programs, but they don't track the results. By results I am referring to not just financial or activity based metrics, I am referring to behavioural metrics. Without clear metrics, it's impossible to know whether the training is actually making a difference. This lack of accountability perpetuates the cycle of ineffective training and wasted resources.
So, what can be done to improve sales training effectiveness?
Focus on specific skills: Instead of trying to cover everything, concentrate on developing the specific skills that are most critical for success in your organisation.
Use interactive training methods: Move beyond traditional lectures and embrace interactive exercises, simulations, and real-world case studies.
Personalise the training: Tailor the training to the specific needs and learning styles of individual salespeople.
Measure the results: Track key metrics, such as sales revenue, conversion rates, and deal size, to determine the impact of the training.
Provide ongoing coaching and support: Training shouldn't be a one-off event. Provide ongoing coaching and support to reinforce the learning and help salespeople apply their new skills in the field.
Use as many real situations as possible. You can only learn so much using theoretical or simulated material.
Training should emphasise knowledge and skills directly applicable to the job, be bite-sized, and tested on live deals.Do not treat training as an event, rather an ongoing initiative. Distributed practice, retrieval opportunities, incremental complexity, enhances long-term retention and skill application. After all a professional sports team doesn’t just get together once a year to practice either do they?
By addressing these issues, organisations can transform their sales training from a cost centre to a powerful engine for growth.