Traditional Sales Training Fails Reps

Learn to identify sales-killing training styles

The 3 big problems with traditional sales training

Here’s why conventional sales training is falling short:It’s not relevant.
Generic training doesn’t cater to reps’ specific needs, so it’s hard to use the new skills and strategies they learned.It's forgettable.
Training works better when it happens over time. Even the best training won’t stick if learners don’t reinforce their new skills with practice and repetition.It’s time-consuming.
Sales reps are busy. Lengthy training sessions mean time away from sales.Training must be relevant, engaging, and integrated into the sales team's workflow.

Signs your sales training might need a makeover:

Low engagement
Do your sales reps seem bored, distracted, overwhelmed, or irritated with the training?

Poor application
Have you noticed that your sales team doesn’t apply the skills and strategies they learned in training?

Low impact
Is your training failing to make a measurable difference in your reps’ ability to meet success targets?

Problem 1

Training isn't relevant

Your rep just wrapped up an all-day training session that promised to send their closing rates into the stratosphere.

However, the strategies were vague, the case studies were outdated, and very little of it applied to your industry.

They learned a lot, but can they actually use those skills?

Reps tend to tune out when training doesn’t speak their language. The good news is that relevance is fixable.

Effective training meets reps where they are. In the next chapter, you’ll learn how to get results with realistic training scenarios tailored to learner needs.

Which of the following do you wish reps had more time for?
_{Select all that apply}

Needs assessment
Handling objections
Value-based selling
Strategic prospecting
Mastering the full sales cycle

Problem 2

Training is forgettable

If you’ve invested time and resources into a traditional sales training program and weren’t happy with the results, you learned the hard way that one-off training doesn’t stick.

70%

Sales reps forget 70 percent of what they learned in training within a week.

87%

After one month, sales reps have forgotten 87 percent of what they learned.

_Source:_{Gartner Research}

Overcoming the forgetting curve

It happens all the time: Your sales rep returns from a killer training session inspired. But a week later, in the field, they struggle to remember the new messaging. A month later, the training is a fading memory.

Without continuous learning and ongoing support, even the most valuable training won’t make a lasting impact, leaving reps unprepared to apply new skills when it matters most. Help reps retain and apply new skills with continuous, engaging sales training built into their daily workflow.

Chapter 3 will help. Learn to space learning and use just-in-time reinforcements with microlessons and practice scenarios.

Problem 3

The time crunch

Learning while selling

It’s 10 a.m., and your sales reps are juggling back-to-back calls, prepping for a pitch meeting, or chasing new leads. That ping for a mandatory 3-hour training session this afternoon feels more like a roadblock than a resource.

Sales reps need training that works with their schedule, not against it. There’s no time to pause for something that won’t help them close deals right now. Training has to earn its place in the daily schedule.

We’ll show you how to make training that enhances rather than interrupts in the next chapter.