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4 Steps to Sales Training Getting Roi

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4 Steps to Sales Training That Delivers ROI
Steven Rosen, MBA

Despite the economic downturn progressive sales organizations are continuing to invest 2-5% of their annual sales budgets in sales training and development. These organizations undoubtedly will outperform their competitors who don’t invest. Training and development is one of the key factors that lead to improved sales performance.

The problem is that 90% of sales training is a waste of time and money. Most sales training is an event. It may increase sales force engagement but has little lasting impact. Without effective reinforcement the impact of your training will be lost within 30 days. The basis of reinforcement comes from sales managers coaching reps, post-training. …show more content…

Many tools can be used to benchmark skills, like 360-degree review. We have developed the Sales Manager Coaching Assessment which benchmarks each sales manager on 6 dimensions of effective coaching. You can also benchmark the level of sales rep engagement in each district as a starting base.

STEP 2: Delivery of Training

Once you have benchmarked the level skill/behaviors/competencies, there are several ways to make the actual delivery of training more impactful. Assign participants advanced reading and other pre-work so they will come to the training with a base level of knowledge as well as some exposure to the content beforehand. Role-playing and case studies allow for real-life application of the learning, which improves understanding and applicability. Trainers who are dynamic and create a high-impact learning environment add to the training experience.

Most trainers will do a “happy face” post-training questionnaire to gauge their effectiveness. All this does is allow them to pat themselves on the back and check the box that they have delivered effective training. As I stated earlier, the impact of training delivered by the best trainers is lost within 30 days without proper reinforcement.

Step 3: Reinforcement to sustain skills/behavior/competency changes

When sales reps take a training course the responsibility for reinforcement lies with their district sales managers. What happens when a district sales manager is trained? Who is responsible

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