25 Aug WHY MOST FORMAL SALES TRAINING IS FORGOTTEN WITHIN TWO WEEKS
Most Sales Training Is Wasted
U.S. companies spend nearly $70 billion a year1—about $2,000 per sales rep2—on sales training. Yet much of this investment is wasted. The content is often outdated, the delivery methods are ineffective, and sales managers rarely reinforce what was taught. Despite poor results, many executives continue to fund these programs, accepting a weak return on investment.
The Retention Problem
Relevance isn’t the only issue—retention is another major challenge. Gerhard Gschwandtner, the highly respected founder of Selling Power and the Sales 3.0 Conferences, cites research showing that “84% of traditional training content is forgotten within three months if it isn’t reinforced.”3
This isn’t surprising. More than a century ago, the “forgetting curve” demonstrated that people lose up to 80% of new information within the first month.4 Yet most training programs ignore this reality. As one expert put it: “The simple truth is that the vast majority of today’s sales training ignores how salespeople really learn.”5
The Need for Change
Sales today is more challenging than ever. Buyers are harder to reach, competition is intense, and digital tools reshape the selling process. But most training has not evolved.
I’ve attended several programs led by skilled trainers. The sessions were engaging, and I picked up valuable “nuggets.” Some introduced new methodologies or emphasized the use of CRM systems. But after each course, little changed in the way we conducted sales. Why? Mostly because managers failed to reinforce the lessons. Sales leaders often ignored the very training they paid for, leaving reps to fall back on old habits. Without reinforcement, the impact faded.
I’ve led several sales training sessions at annual sales meetings. Attendees often recall memorable moments when I speak with them now, such as when the CFO brought $10,000 in cash to illustrate potential earnings or losses on an opportunity; however, they rarely remember specific concepts, like cold-calling techniques.
Why Training Doesn’t Stick
Several recurring issues explain why sales training often fails:
- Lack of management commitment – Programs are imposed from above, but sales managers don’t buy in or follow through.
- Generic content – Many trainers rely on one-size-fits-all material instead of customizing it to the company’s process.
- Outdated methods – Few programs incorporate current tools such as e-learning and AI.
- Resistance to change – Leaders often prefer the status quo to disrupting existing practices.
- Weak ROI perception – Executives dismiss training as a cost rather than a long-term investment.
- Poor engagement – Sales pros want roleplays and interactive exercises, not endless lectures.
- Overloaded schedules – Too much is crammed into one or two annual sessions.
- Ineffective format – Classroom-style teaching rarely works for adult professionals, especially Millennials and Gen Z, who have grown up in the digital age. They are often bored and tend not to pay attention.
- Confusing methodologies – Sales pros are often exposed to multiple, conflicting approaches.
Recommendations for Better Training
To make training effective, companies must rethink their approach:
- Involve managers first – Sales managers should attend before the sales pros so that they can reinforce and model the behavior. They can also suggest necessary changes. Sales pros respect their managers more than trainers, so it is vital for them to “buy in” to the training.
- Adopt a buyer’s perspective – Training must reflect how customers make decisions, not just how sellers want to sell. Sales pros rarely understand the difference.
- Leverage sales enablement – In many firms, sales enablement outperforms traditional training in boosting productivity. They assist throughout the year, not just during training sessions.
- Require boot camps for new hires – Give new reps a strong foundation from day one. Onboarding should not be limited to just completing HR forms.
- Invest in relevance – Training should match the realities of today’s marketplace. Sales professionals will adjust their practices if they believe it will lead to greater success.
- Highlight peer success – Use top-performing reps as role models in training. Their peers highly respect them because of their consistent success. It is essential to develop training that facilitates effective knowledge transfer.
The Path Forward
Sales training fails not because the idea is flawed or because the content is not relevant, but because the execution is outdated. Annual classroom events are no longer enough. What’s needed is a continuous learning model that incorporates short sessions, digital reinforcement, role-playing, coaching, and active repetition.
Companies should also track outcomes through certification or post-training evaluations to measure effectiveness. Most importantly, managers must consistently coach and reinforce the material.
The bottom line: Sales training must be re-engineered to fit how salespeople learn today. If it isn’t relevant, engaging, and reinforced, it’s simply money wasted.
Steve
1 https://llcbuddy.com/data/sales-training-providers-statistics/
2 https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/1700416/Files/Avoiding%20the%20Pitfalls%20of%20Sales%20 Training%20White%20Paper%20v2.pdf
4 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/psychology-behind-why-sales-reps-forget-80-training-esleen-goh-fdjcc/
5 https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/1700416/Files/Avoiding%20the%20Pitfalls%20of%20Sales%20 Training%20White%20Paper%20v2.pdf, op. cit.