According to the ATD, companies spend $20 billion annually on sales training but report a low return on their investment. That’s not acceptable. There is a way to build a wildly successful, sustainable sales training program. In the periodic table of sales training, we summarize the major factors that influence whether or not you’ll get the most out of your training investment.
We explore the following families of elements:
- Strategy: Success starts with clearly defined goals and a plan of action to get there.
- Topics: Reps and sales managers need to master certain skills and behaviors to succeed.
- Modalities: A blended approach engages different learning styles and allows the organization to identify the best combination of formats for impact and scale.
- Content: ATD shares 50% of sales teams don’t find their training engaging. Content must be to the point and relevant to team member’s daily work.
- Learning Platform: Reps and managers are busy. They need a learning platform that makes it easy to access training content and resources.
- Reinforcement: Use it or lose it. 87% of sales training is forgotten within 30 days. Ongoing practice and reinforcement is a must.
- Measuring Results: What’s measured gets celebrated and improved.
- Business Impact: Improvements in reps’ and managers’ performance correlates with improvements in sales activities, like close rates and average deal size.
- Leadership: Involvement must go beyond approving the budget. Leaders need to champion the training.
| Bg | Business Goals | What are the business’ strategy and goals? |
| Tg | Training Goals | What will team members be able to do as a result of their training? |
| Au | Audience | Who is the training for? New reps? Experienced reps? Managers? Mentors? |
| Wo | Workflow | How can training be integrated into the workflow rather than taking reps out of the field? |
| To | Topics | What knowledge, skills, and behaviors do people need to master to succeed? |
| Md | Modalities | Are you using a blended approach to maximize engagement and retention? |
| Cu | Curriculum | How will team members continue to sharpen skills and achieve results at the 101 level, 201 level, and beyond? |
| Lo | Locations | Are team members dispersed across different locations? Will they need to access content virtually or on the road? |
| De | Devices | What devices will team members use to access their training? |
| It | Technology | What other IT requirements need to be accounted for? |
| Re | Results | What does success look like? How will results be measured and shared? |
| Cs | Content Strategy | What’s your ongoing strategy to roll out new content and drive continued engagement and professional development? |
| Cd | Content Development | Will training be developed in-house, or will you partner with a vendor? |
| Bu | Budget | What’s your budget? |
| Or | Orientation | What foundational knowledge, skills, and behaviors do new hires need to be successful? |
| Pr | Product Positioning | How will reps communicate benefits and features in a customer-friendly way? How will they demonstrate the value of your solutions over your competitors? |
| Ps | Prospecting & Planning | How will reps effectively identify and nurture leads? |
| Br | Building Rapport | How will reps build relationships and become trusted advisors? |
| Ne | Needs Analysis | How will reps explore needs and recommend the best solution? |
| As | Ask for the Sale | How will reps ask for and receive a commitment? |
| Ob | Overcoming Objections | How will reps confidently and successfully address customer concerns? |
| Su | Summarize & Thank | How will reps recap decisions and make clients feel excited? |
| Fl | Follow Up | How will reps act as stewards of their accounts and proactively recommend next steps for clients? |
| Ba | Business Acumen | Do reps understand how they (and the business) earn money and the impact of their behaviors on results? |
| Sy | Systems & Tools | Can reps effectively use tools like your CRM and LMS? |
| Cg | Coaching Framework | How will managers and mentors influence team member growth and development? |
| Fe | Effective Feedback | Are managers and mentors equipped to give timely, objective, factual, and objective feedback? |
| Go | Goal Setting | How will sales managers and reps work together to create and achieve goals? |
| Ch | Change Management | How will the organization introduce and explain change, generate excitement, and gain buy-in? |
| Il | Instructor-Led Training | Does classroom training break up lecture with group discussions and exercises? |
| Vi | Virtual Instructor-Led Training | Do you leverage virtual training events to help minimize travel and out-of-office time? |
| Lj | Learning Journal | For ILT and vILT, do participants have a simple way to take notes, reflect, and record key takeaways? |
| Sm | eLearning Simulations | Can reps simulate common customer interactions and scenarios and see how their decisions impact outcomes? |
| Ex | Explainer Videos | Are videos 5 minutes or shorter, and available on demand? |
| Pb | Playbooks | Do managers have the information and tools they need to successfully lead a training session? |
| Wb | Workbooks | Can reps go at their own pace and easily save and resume their progress? |
| Gm | Games | Do you incorporate games to play to reps’ natural desire for competition and amp up engagement? |
| Ja | Job Aids | Are resources easy to find and use on the job? |
| Rv | Relevant | Does training clearly demonstrate the what’s in it for me? |
| Ct | Current | Is content up to date? |
| Cr | Clear | Is it easy to understand? |
| Ce | Concise | Are phrases and sentences short? |
| Cv | Conversational | Are everyday words and phrases used? Is jargon avoided (or used sparingly)? |
| Cn | Contextual | Do scenarios, dialogue, and examples reflect realistic real-world situations? |
| At | Authentic | Does it genuinely reflect your culture and brand? |
| Hu | Humor | Does it weave in appropriate, smart humor? |
| Bz | Bite-Sized | Is content presented in short segments or chunks? |
| In | Interactive | Does it encourage audience participation? |
| Vs | Visuals | Does it favor original and contextual visuals over cheesy stock images? |
| Wi | Whitespace | Is the design clean and not busy? |
| Mu | Music | Does it create the right mood and not a distraction? |
| Vo | Voiceover | Is it the right pace and engaging without being over the top? |
| Ac | Actors | Are actors authentic and relatable? |
| Fc | Facilitators | Are facilitators animated? Do they interact with the audience? |
| Qa | Quality Assurance | Has it been proofread? Does functionality work like it’s supposed to? |
| Ez | Easy to Use | Is it intuitive for users and admins? |
| Mo | Mobile | Does it work well on smartphones and tablets? |
| Cb | Cloud-Based | Can team members access the platform anywhere? |
| Ga | Gamification | Does it weave in gamification (like rewards, badging or leaderboards) to keep users engaged and motivated? |
| Co | Collaboration | Can managers and reps work with each other using built-in tools like discussion forums or messaging? |
| Ug | User-Generated Content | Can users upload and share content they’ve created, like a video? |
| Se | Search | Is it easy to look for content and resources? |
| Sr | Secure | What security measures are in place? |
| Sb | Scalable | Will the platform be able to support you as your team grows? |
| Ig | Integrations | Does the platform integrate with your CRM and other critical tools? |
| Ss | Single Sign-On | Does it support Single Sign-On? |
| Am | Assessments | Does the platform include quizzing/testing for confirmation of learning? |
| Ce | Certifications | Can managers and reps earn and track certifications? |
| Sh | Scheduling | Can learners sign up for courses? |
| Sc | SCORM | Is the platform SCORM compliant? |
| Tc | Tin Can | Is the platform Tin Can compliant? |
| Rg | Reporting | What reports are available? Can custom reports be added? |
| Ca | Coaching | Do sales managers actively coach reps and give them feedback? |
| Pm | Peer Mentoring | Do reps have opportunities to learn best practices from peer mentors? |
| Rp | Role Play | Do team members have protected time to practice skills and behaviors and get feedback? |
| Jt | Just-In-Time Content & Activities | Do team members get pop quizzes, reminders, or other forms of JIT reinforcement or refresher training? |
| Ts | Tests | Are quizzes/tests administered to evaluate comprehension and retention? |
| Su | Surveys | Are participants empowered to share feedback about the usefulness, quality, and impact of their training? |
| Sf | Self-Evaluation | Are reps encouraged to take ownership of their development by assessing their wins and opportunities? |
| Mc | Manager Checkpoints | Do reps regularly check in with managers to share progress? |
| Mb | Manager Observations | Do managers observe reps on the job to validate and assess application of knowledge, skills, and behaviors? |
| Be | Behaviors | Are high-performing behaviors becoming habits? |
| Cx | Customer Experience | Do customers have a consistent experience with, and positive perception of, your brand? |
| Po | Prospects | Do reps generate more qualified leads? |
| Nc | New Clients | Do more leads convert to clients? |
| Rn | Retention | In the client retention rate increasing? |
| Gr | Account Growth | Are you doing more business in existing accounts? |
| Qu | Quota Attainment | Do more reps reach their quotas? |
| Ds | Deal Size | Is average deal size increasing? |
| Sa | Sales Cycle | Is the sales cycle moving faster? |
| Tr | Total Revenue | Is more revenue being generated monthly/quarterly/annually? |
| By | Buy-In | Do leaders share the vision for your sales training? |
| Ag | Alignment | Do leaders help drive alignment with and among subject-matter experts? Do they form partnerships with other teams/channels? |
| Pn | Participation | Do they attend reviews and give thoughtful feedback in a timely manner? |
| Cp | Champions | Are they excited? Do they proactively share updates and market the training throughout the organization? |
Questions about your sales training program? Feedback on our periodic table? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or contact us to chat one on one.
Fill out the form to get an interactive PDF of the complete periodic table and explanation of the elements.
