Why Sales Training Fails and How to Ensure Lasting Behavioral Change

Most sales training programs fail—not because of the content, but because of their inability to drive long-term behavioral change in sales teams.

The Hidden Flaws in Sales Training Programs

Too few sales organizations don’t provide ongoing training and professional development. You are more likely to hear sales leaders and managers suggest they hired a salesperson because of their resume, which typically includes a number of sales roles. A new hire’s work history is often what allows sales managers to hire someone, but this information does not reveal anything about the person’s sales effectiveness, which is the most important metric in sales.

Why Sales Training Doesn’t Stick: The Root Causes

Many sales organizations train their sales teams, but often the training doesn’t take. The content of the training is not usually the reason why it fails, although training based on what we call the legacy approach is not going to get good results. For the uninitiated, the legacy approach focuses on the question of “why us” instead of “why change.” The most common reason sales training fails is that it doesn’t lead to long-term behavioral change.

Overcoming Resistance: The Challenge of Changing Sales Behaviors

When training fails to produce the better strategies, tactics, and win rates sales organizations need, it is because salespeople fail to make the behavioral changes that will make the training stick. Most of the time, salespeople continue selling the way they always have. They believe they are successful enough, so they lack motivation to change. It can be difficult to change something you have done for years, especially if the training requires them to do something quite different from what they know and are used to.

Even if the techniques in the training can support higher win rates and better sales practices, it is up to the sales manager to ensure their teams apply what they have learned.

How Sales Leaders Can Drive Lasting Behavioral Change

I am not throwing rocks at sales leaders and sales managers who train their teams, then allow them to avoid making the necessary behavioral changes. Sales leaders have a very difficult job, and it takes time to have conversations with the holdouts who are unhappy about the changes. But if you want to get the most from your investment in training, you must invest time to help your team overcome their resistance and apply what you’ve taught them. To get the results you need, worry less about the complainers and focus more on helping your sales force to adjust to the necessary changes of the sales team’s new behaviors.

The Modern Sales Environment and Its Impact on Training

One of the problems of behavioral changes is that salespeople are no longer on the sales floor, where they could learn from one another. Instead of overhearing their peers’ sales conversations and sitting next to potential mentors, salespeople tend to be isolated. This makes them more likely to stick with what they know and less likely to see different techniques and strategies firsthand. The sales floor was a great learning environment and encouraged colleagues to exchange ideas, ask questions, and see different conversations in action. This naturally made the unfamiliar familiar, which is an early element of accepting change.

The modern sales environment hurts sales teams in other ways, too. It used to be easy for sales managers to join their reps on sales calls or listen to them on the phone. This gave sales leaders insight into what their team was doing and what changes could improve their win rates. Now, sales managers have a tough time joining sales reps when they are sitting in front of their prospective clients. This adds a new challenge to training because it makes it harder for managers to understand how each individual rep must change.

Three Steps to Get Sales Training to Stick

The most common sales training happens once a year and has every salesperson doing the same thing. This sets a sales team up for failure, but there are many things managers can do to avoid these pitfalls.

1. Start with a competency model. Lasting sales training starts with development on an individual level. To help your team get the most out of training, managers first need to use a competency model to identify the skills and attributes each salesperson has, and which ones they need to work on. This first step is the most effective way to tailor the training so each salesperson gets what they need. One salesperson might need help booking first meetings, while another might struggle to get a second meeting. These salespeople will benefit from learning techniques that are specific to their individual performance. This approach also makes it more likely that your salespeople will see results quickly, which will give them the motivation to maintain their behavior change.
2. Make training continuous. Instead of once-a-year checkbox training, provide ongoing sales training so your team is always improving. Train your team every week or two and recognize that training can come in many forms: online courses, roleplay, one-on-one coaching, and even books that provide insights about the socioeconomic climate or human nature. This continuous approach encourages salespeople to stick with the behavior changes they are learning better than annual training, which is quickly forgotten. Conducting weekly or biweekly training is also highly time effective. Instead of taking your salespeople out of the field for a day or two, you can use 25-minute training sessions. This is enough time to train them on a new strategy or technique and practice it a little. Then, they can focus on that new skill or tactic until it becomes second nature.
3. Seek to maximize human potential. As people become more excited about AI and technology, poor managers ignore their people. Instead of using tools and technology as crutches for weak sales performance, help your team maximize their potential. Look at the mid-level performers on your team. By evaluating each person’s competencies, you can determine what specific training topics will make the biggest difference in their win rates. Then, show them how to use technology to amplify their human strengths.

These three steps will help sales managers ensure their teams are always improving. This makes training and development a sustainable competitive advantage.