It's Time to Lead the Leaders: Closing the Sales Manager Training Gap

Enablement leaders agree: if you want to improve frontline performance, you need to start with the people leading the front line. And yet many organizations are still missing a foundational piece of their enablement strategy: dedicated sales manager training.

The Training Gap That's Hiding in Plain Sight

Our recent study, Closing the Training Gap for Frontline Sales Managers, revealed a stat that turned heads: nearly 40% of sales teams report having no dedicated training program for their sales managers. None. Zero.

It’s a striking figure, especially when you consider the critical role managers play in driving team performance. The irony? Most enablement teams know it’s important—but still struggle to prioritize it.

In our in-person Sales Enablement Growth Forum, participants cited multiple reasons:

• Some leaders hesitate to fund it because the payback takes time and is harder to measure.
• Others said managers themselves often don’t complete programs—they’re too busy, too distracted, or unsure how the training fits into their day-to-day.

And so the cycle continues: high intention, low execution.

The Cost of Inaction: A 7-Point Performance Gap

If you’re looking for ROI, here it is: teams with formal manager training see a seven-point increase in the percentage of sellers hitting quota. That’s not a marginal lift—it’s a revenue accelerator.

But here’s the catch: managers can’t drive performance if they’re stuck being “super sellers” or overwhelmed by admin work. They need space and skills to lead—and that takes focused enablement.

Why Manager Enablement Get Deprioritized

The number one obstacle cited? Competing priorities.

Let’s be honest: between fire drills, forecast calls, and tech rollouts, it’s easy for long-term capability building to fall by the wayside. But if enablement doesn’t advocate for managers, who will?

As several leaders in our session emphasized, executive sponsorship makes or breaks these programs. The most successful teams had senior leaders kick off training, stay visible throughout, and reinforce the message that manager development is a business priority.

Managing Performance vs. Coaching: Know the Difference

Too many programs treat sales coaching and performance management as the same thing. They’re not.

• Performance Management is about metrics, expectations, and accountability.
• Sales Coaching is about developing people: skills, mindset, and behaviors.

Managers need to master both—and more. As one participant noted, we also expect them to lead recruiting, pipeline management, and deal strategy. That’s why we must build manager capability across multiple pillars, not just “coach training.”

Playbooks Alone Aren't the Answer

Another common trap: delivering a playbook is enough.

Our data showed that teams using playbooks sometimes underperform those that don’t. That may seem counter intuitive, but it’s likely because a playbook without training is just a PDF in a forgotten folder or a binder on the shelf.

Our group shared stories of playbooks being “dropped” on managers without context, coaching, or follow-up. For these tools to work, they need to be:

• Integrated into workflows
• Actively reinforced
• Updated regularly
• Paired with live practice and best-practice sharing

Enablement must make playbooks living tools, not static documentation. Many tools like Allego, Copilot or Highspot show promise for enabling real-time access manager and seller playbooks and making updates in real-time.

An Underrated Lever: Technology Training 

Only 12% of enablement teams prioritize revenue technology training for managers. That’s a miss.

Top-performing teams are twice as likely to do so—and for good reason. Managers are often tasked with driving tool adoption, but aren’t trained on how to lead with those tools.

It’s not enough to teach what the tool does. We need to teach managers:

• How to manage through the tool
• How to coach reps on integrating tech into their daily habits
• How to use data from the tool to drive better 1:1s, forecast calls, and pipeline reviews

Four Actions to Close the Gap

Here’s what we can do now to make a real difference:

1. Stop letting urgent tasks crowd out strategic priorities. Advocate for space and time to train managers.
2. Develop both coaching and performance leadership skills. Treat them as distinct muscles to build.
3. Invest in revenue tech training. Help managers lead through tools, not around them.
4. Move beyond playbooks. Embed learning into workflows and reinforce through real-world application.

Conclusion: Lead the Leaders 

If frontline performance is a problem, the solution isn’t just to train your reps. It’s to enable the people leading them.

Managers are force multipliers. They don’t just influence performance—they shape culture, drive adoption, and sustain behavior change.

Let’s stop treating manager training as optional. Let’s lead the leaders and see how far our teams can go when their leaders are equipped to truly lead.