Why Sales Training Fades
As it turns out, Michelle learned that one of the main reasons why sales training fades is due to a lack of reinforcement. Does this mean that sales trainers should focus even more on materials that sales teams can use after the initial session? Michelle had this to say:
"By reinforcement, we don't mean online training modules designed to reinforce the content. That has been tried again and again with little to no return. When we say reinforcement, we mean execution with the client in the field where the job occurs."
This means that in order for sales training to really stick, the training needs to be applied on-the-job in addition to the classroom we've echoed in our blog before). Michelle believes that a way that sales trainers can accomplish this is by spending some time gaining sales experience. To speak sales team language, Michelle says, sales trainers need to make sales calls, attend strategy sessions, and go after prospects. This will help them translate their training into something the sales team can relate to.
So Whose Responsibility is it to Ensure Learning Sticks?
The question of who's responsible for learning may not have an easy answer, but is it something that trainers should worry about? Here's what Michelle thinks.
"It is almost never the trainer's responsibility. Training is only a small portion of an overall change effort. The stickiness of the training will depend upon the alignment between the reinforcement and the sales person."
In other words, passing the buck to any one individual isn't going to work. If you want to cause a worthwhile change in sales behavior, that change has to be echoed throughout the whole team. That means that the sales management, the sales trainers, and the sales reps all have to work together and do their part to make sure that training doesn't end in more headaches and less solutions.
