Why Didn’t the Sales Training Work?

February 12, 2012

If your organization is not incrementally increasing sales after you conducted sales training, there are many possible reasons. It could be a competitive issue, a lack of strategic application of a sales process, a product deficiency, ineffective hiring practices or a price war.

While it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact reason or reasons sales did not increase, this may be an excellent opportunity to examine your training strategy to determine if your sales training is not hitting the mark. The answers to the following questions may help you identify if you need to make adjustments to your sales training or overall sales training strategy.

How Much Content is Delivered?

To be effective in sales, a person needs the right balance of knowledge, skill and motivation. Too much information delivered during sales training can throw this balance off. When there is five days of content crammed into two days of learning, the result is that the salespeople can’t change anything and don’t have the time to identify where they need to improve – knowledge, skill or motivation.

Is the Focus on the Content or the Learners?

If there are over 100 PowerPoint slides presented during a two-day learning session, the focus is on the content and not the sales people. PowerPoints do not help make sales but practicing in a safe environment and receiving professional feedback does help make sales.

Is Training an Event or Responsibility?

Is the training an event for the sales team to check off their to-do list? Sales training should be a development opportunity critical to their everyday processes and responsibilities. To maintain the development process after training, the sales people should be held accountable for their learning and their managers should be providing coaching to help the learning stick.

Does the Practice Simulate Real Sales Situations?

If the training is generic and teaches your sales team how to sell widgets, there is a good chance that they will not be able to transfer the learning on a real sales call. When someone needs to develop a new skill, it is very difficult to learn a new language or new information at the same time. Make sure the sales training supports skill development and learning transfer by focusing on how to sell YOUR products and services.

Does the Training Focus on the Right Skills?

An accurate needs analysis is critical to developing sales training that drive business results. If your training focuses on closing and your sales team does not have any prospect appointments booked for the next two months, your training investment might not bring the desired return.

Do The Trainers Have the Right Skills?

Your trainers should have both training and sales experience. If your team has a long sales cycle and the sale is somewhat complex, the trainer should have this type of experience to be able to give developmental feedback. If your sales managers deliver the training, they should be able to instruct, facilitate and coach.

---