Sales organizations are investing heavily in sales training, yet the results tell a concerning story. Between 2021 and 2023, overall revenue growth rates dropped by 12% and the percentage of sellers achieving quota fell by over 4%, leaving only 56% meeting their targets. Despite spending more on training and resources, companies are receiving less in return, creating an urgent need to reassess traditional methods.
While over $70 billion is spent annually on sales training in the U.S. alone (Training Industry Report, 2022), much of this investment fails to yield the desired results. This disconnect points to critical shortcomings in how training is delivered. Traditional sales training relies on one-time, instructor-led sessions that lack ongoing support, practical application, and adaptability.
In response, organizations are shifting toward a collaborative, ongoing learning model that emphasizes peer-to-peer interactions, reinforcement, and just-in-time, on-demand access to training. This approach is not only more relevant but also significantly more effective at driving behavior change and improving sales performance.
Here are common reasons why traditional sales training program may not deliver great results:
The Forgetting Curve and Rapid Knowledge Decay
Hermann Ebbinghaus’s groundbreaking research on memory demonstrates that people forget up to 90% of new information within a week if it is not reinforced. Traditional training programs are typically one-time events with little to no follow-up, leaving attendees to fend for themselves once the session ends. Without reinforcement, salespeople revert back to old habits, rendering the training ineffective.
Lack of Practical Application and Real-World Relevance
Standardized training often fails to address the unique challenges sales teams face in the field. Salespeople need actionable strategies that align with their industry, customers, and specific challenges. Without this relevance, what is taught in training rarely makes it out onto the field.
Research has found that learners often struggle to transfer skills from the training room to the field. This “transfer gap” is especially challenging in sales, where every deal presents unique dynamics. Sales leaders should design programs that incorporate real-world scenarios, role playing exercises, and field-based coaching to bridge this gap and make learning stick.
Static Content and Minimal Engagement
Traditional training methods rely heavily on lectures, turning learning into a passive experience. Information dumping lacks interaction and participation, which is essential for engaging participants and promoting active learning.
By incorporating collaborative learning through peer discussion and group problem solving, sales teams gain the opportunity to engage with the content on a deeper level, improving retention.
Collaborative learning has been shown to increase engagement, motivation, and retention. Research by Johnson and Johnson (1989) highlights that peer interactions build a sense of community and accountability. This style of learning transforms traditional sales training by incorporating salespeople’s experiences, perspectives, collective knowledge, and feedback to make training feel more relevant and actionable.
An essential element of collaborative learning is peer-to-peer interaction. When sales professionals collaborate in team settings, they are able to take ownership of the learning process. These interactions provide unique perspectives on things like objection handling and encourage mutual growth and drives accountability.
Ongoing reinforcement and coaching are essential to overcoming the tendency to forget new knowledge. Regular reinforcement, spaced over time, is critical for knowledge retention and skill application. The “spacing effect” demonstrates that learning is more effective when spread out rather than concentrated in a single session.
The key to long-term retention is spaced repetition. Sales leaders should implement additional coaching sessions, booster training, and on-demand support to reinforce key concepts. Research shows that regular reinforcement and coaching help prevent knowledge decay and maximize training ROI by embedding skills through practice and repetition.
In today’s fast-paced sales environment, timing is everything. Sales reps often need to access information or refresh their skills the moment they encounter a challenge. Providing accessible, on demand resources ensures that learning can happen when it is most relevant. An on-demand eLearning library is a game changer for sales teams by empowering salespeople with quick, relevant guidance when they need it most. These resources should include short video tutorials, interactive modules, playbooks, and cheat sheets. By making this library searchable, this point-of-need training reduces the forgetting curve and enables continuous skill adoption.
The importance of just-in-time and continuous access to training is further supported by LinkedIn’s 2023 Workplace Learning Report, which highlights that organizations offering on-demand, accessible learning see 30-50% higher skill application and improved performance. Sales teams benefit especially from this model, with immediate access to resources that help them address challenges in real time, fostering sustained behavior change and skill retention.
For sales teams, collaborative training creates a foundation for sustainable success. By moving away from static, one-time training events to a model that emphasizes peer-to-peer interaction, point-of-need resources, and real-world support, organizations can overcome the limitations of traditional methods and achieve measurable improvements in performance.
Here’s what this approach brings to the table:
In today’s competitive environment, sales teams need a learning journey that grows and evolves with them. Collaborative, just-in-time learning empowers salespeople to turn knowledge into action, improving performance, increasing deal success rates, and driving long-term sales growth