Time for Sales Training to Grow Up
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 9:25AM 
Copyright ShutterStock Images, LTD 2010It’s time for sales training to grow up and face the metrics. A remarkable amount is spent annually on sales training initiatives – some industry experts estimate that as much as $7 billion per year is spent annually in the US market alone on sales training. A fair question then; to what extent is this investment paying measurable dividends for corporations? The first decade of the new millennium has essentially been a treadmill from a sales performance perspective. Industry research provides limited evidence that these training investments are attaining sustainable results for most companies. In fact, most aggregate metrics for sales effectiveness have failed to reach pre-2000 levels at any point in the last decade.
Case in point, in annual research from CSO Insights, at no time in the last ten years has quota attainment returned to pre-2000 levels. And in 2009 quota attainment saw its largest decline in the history of their research. While general economic trends clearly contributed to these difficulties, 2009 simply amplified what has essentially been a decade of non-improvement — in spite of billions of dollars of corporate investment. Here’s the bottom line; year in and year out less than 15% of global companies attain a “world-class” level of sales process and methodology adherence. And that’s in spite of an avalanche of empirical data that illustrates these companies significantly outperform their peers.
It’s a Diet Pill, Silver Bullet, Lone Wolf, Rock Star, Self-Proclaimed Guru, Cowboy Culture…
So why have sales training and improvement efforts hit the wall? It’s not like revenue growth isn’t job number one at most companies. Try to name a more visible goal. And it’s not as if no one has thought about revenue growth and selling methodologies. If you don’t think so, just enter “sales book” into Google and spend the next ten years researching the available material. There are probably more books and ideas on how to sell than on how to lose weight. In seriousness however, part of the problem may reside in the fragmented, quick fix culture that seems to be inherent in solving sales problems. In some respects, there may be too many ideas, opinions, and approaches for companies to implement a working model.
Research indicates that there are at least 600 “sales training” firms in the US alone. Depending on their origins, each has a different perspective on what conceptual and enablement approaches are the best. Some are methodology driven, some technology driven, and some both. In fact, this flood of potential “solutions” can be overwhelming. As a result, it can be daunting for companies to wire together a coherent, sustainable approach to sales performance improvement. And even when they do, new leadership and opinions can quickly dismantle the overall approach.
Diverse Conceptual Focus + Diverse Enablement ApproachesSo what actually works? Over the past 18 months, we commissioned research on what “best-in-class” companies actually do, conferred with customers, and had discussions with industry experts. We also looked at how people learn to apply complex skills — like athletic skills. And what did we learn? We learned a lot about the types of content and enablement approaches that provide the right type of learning experience. Next week we’ll explore these ideas in greater depth as we begin to re-think sales training for 2011 and beyond.
Reader Comments (1)
Sounds interesting. You certainly have identified a real issue. I look forward to your thinking on how to address it.