3 Ways to Boost Sales Training

Looking to boost sales training at your organization? According to Forbes, U.S. corporations spent over $70 billion training their employees in 2015. Still, sales training seems to fail in the long run. The problem is that too many sales leaders are managing their teams without presenting them with real data, and from there, not spending enough time reinforcing the skills learned during training or measuring the results. How managers hire, onboard, and train their teams can no longer be based off on hunches; Moneyball-style management is the clear route to achieving sales success.

Boost Sales Training with Data

One of the main reasons sales leaders have a difficult time getting their teams on board for training is the lack of proof. They make decisions based on hunches and conclusions, without ever looking at any existing data. If you don’t have data explaining the importance of placing a predetermined number of daily calls or having your team adhere to a particular sales script, they likely will not believe that they have an issue.

A great way to solve this problem is to invest in a sales performance tool that showcases KPIs that matter to your team (phone calls, appointments set, sales, or any other relevant metric). With this data, managers can make decisions based on actual numbers, not hunches or guesswork, to improve performance – because sales activity is predictive of success.

Reinforcement

The truth is that your sales team won’t change their behaviors an hour after they receive training; training needs to be reinforced by leadership. However, managers spend less than 20% of their time on coaching – even though effective sales coaching can improve win rates by as much as 25%.

According to a report by The Sales Management Association, poor performers, new reps, and those who request coaching only receive training twice per month on average. However, sales coaching is not a one (or twice)-and-done task. After initial training, managers should continue to use call activity data to show their teams how the most effective team members increase productivity and their overall ability to sell successfully.

Following your initial demonstration, make sure to remind reps of the new desired skills and benchmarks that have been set for them going forward. Because on average, 84% of sales training is lost after 90 days. Turning this knowledge into coachable actions will contribute to an expanded pipeline and a broadened top line, making more of your reps into effective performers—rather than relying on just a few superstars.

Measure Results

Even if you are putting in the effort, sales training is useless if no one is measuring (and reinforcing) the results. If your sales team’s productivity isn’t increasing, you need to reevaluate your training program and make sure it is the right fit for your organization. By deploying processes and technologies to measure tactical sales initiatives, sales leaders can help their reps build accurate forecasts and set a standard course of action in place that is proven to lead to successful results.

Learn how Gryphon can improve your sales training and help your team achieve sales success.