The Shift Control Guide to Sales Training
Most sales training is a one- or two-day event. Within weeks, most of what was covered is no longer being used. This free sales training guide sets out why that happens, and what makes the difference. It is written by Paul McAnallen of Shift Control, a sales trainer and coach based in Belfast who works with sales teams across Northern Ireland and Ireland.
What is in the sales training guide?
- What the research shows about how quickly training fades, and how many people apply what they learn
- Why coaching is what turns training into a change in how people sell
- The Shift Control five-stage blended training programme: Diagnose, Design, Deliver, Coach, and Review and sustain
- The ARRRE model for deciding where sales effort should go across every account
- The 12 core competencies of a B2B salesperson
- The 12 characteristics of a good salesperson
- How to book sales training that works
Who is the guide for?
Business owners, MDs, Sales leaders and Human Resource managers.
How do I get the guide?
Enter your details to get the download link (PDF, 17 pages).
Want to talk it through?
To discuss your team’s training needs, book a 30-minute call at cal.com/paul-shift-control.co.uk/quick-chat or email info@shift-control.co.uk.
Find out more about our sales training courses in Belfast and Northern Ireland and sales coaching.
Frequently asked questions about sales training
Why doesn’t sales training work on its own?
Knowledge and skills fade quickly when they are not used, and most people go back to their old way of working once they are back at their desk. In a survey of training professionals, 62% of trainees were estimated to apply training immediately, falling to 44% after six months and 34% after a year (Saks and Belcourt, 2006). What decides whether training is used mostly happens after the course: coaching, the sales manager’s involvement and regular practice on real deals.
What is blended sales training?
A blended sales training programme combines group training, one-to-one coaching of salespeople and their managers, and ongoing reinforcement over several months. The training introduces the skills. The coaching applies them to real calls, accounts and deals. The reinforcement keeps them in use until they become the team’s normal way of working.
How much difference does coaching make after sales training?
In one study of 31 managers, training alone increased productivity by 22.4%. The same training followed by eight weeks of one-to-one coaching increased it by 88% (Olivero, Bane and Kopelman, 1997). The sample was small, but the pattern matches wider research: coaching is where training turns into changed behaviour.
How long does it take for new sales habits to stick?
Longer than a training day. In a study of new daily behaviours, the median time for a behaviour to become automatic was 66 days, with a range of 18 to 254 days (Lally et al., 2010). That is why follow-up coaching and reviews need to continue for at least two to three months after the training sessions.
What should happen before a business books sales training?
The problem needs to be diagnosed first. That means looking at sales performance over time, how the team is managed, and how customers see the sales process. It also means separating a skills gap from a will gap, or from a problem with recruitment, strategy, process or product. Training only fixes a skills gap.
Sources: Saks, A. and Belcourt, M. (2006), Human Resource Management 45(4); Olivero, G., Bane, K. D. and Kopelman, R. (1997), Public Personnel Management 26(4); Lally, P. et al. (2010), European Journal of Social Psychology 40(6).