Your Sales Training Is Probably Lackluster. Here's How to Fix It

U.S. companies spend over $70 billion annually on training and an average of $1,459 per salesperson—almost 20% more than they spend on workers in all other functions. Yet, when it comes to equipping sales teams with relevant knowledge and skills, the ROI of sales training is disappointing. Studies indicate that participants in traditional curriculum-based training forget more than 80% of the information they were taught within 90 days. To increase retention and effectiveness, companies should offer reps additional training at times of need, provide them with access to supplemental material that reinforces what they’ve already been taught, and allow them opportunities to practice their skills in time frames connected to actual buying processes. They can do so by using the same technologies that are “disrupting” their customer-contact activities: videos and mobile apps that reps can view on their devices before, during, and after training initiatives. In addition to providing reps with easier and timelier access to information, videos and apps improve comprehension—when someone hears information, they remember about 10% of it three days later, but, when a picture is added, retention increases to 65%.