Modern sales organizations are more complex than ever. Teams are dispersed over states or countries, buying motions are regionalized, and sellers are under pressure to ramp quickly and deliver results in an environment full of uncertainty. The role of sales enablement has never been more critical.
Global sales training is a strategic lever to improve seller productivity, reinforce go-to-market shifts, and drive consistent buyer experiences across regions. However, the harsh reality is most of these programs fail to gain traction.
In our latest webinar, in partnership with Dibold Nixdorf and Intrepid, Ray Makela, Kirk Chmelik, and Cindy Faison outlined four practical strategies to deliver a global sales training program and drive adoption at scale.
Watch the webinar, How to Drive Global Training Adoption That Sticks—and Scales, here.
1. Don't Just Launch a Program. Engineer it For Adoption
Successful training programs begin with answering the question: What is the business problem we are solving? For Kirk Chmelik, providing clarity presented a complex challenge. In an organization that spans multiple regions, languages, and solution areas, there was no unified approach to how sellers were engaging with customers. Different geographies were acting as their own entities by executing against different playbooks. Without a baseline framework, it was difficult to reinforce behaviors or measure performance.
When driving this level of change, widespread adoption is critical to make progress. Design the training program with the end users in mind, with less slides and more simulations. Structure the experience in a way that mirrors real-world scenarios, leverage cohort-based learning, and always adapt to time zone and language differences.
2. Prioritize Learning that Drives Engagement, Not Just Completion
Unlike traditional training that is often delivered in one, unengaging format, the Collaborative Learning Experience (CLX) from Intrepid is interactive by design. This model brings groups of learners together in a shared experience to engage with materials, collaborate with peers, and immediately apply what they are learning in real-world practice. CLX shifts training from passive consumption to active participation.
To implement, focus on three elements:
- Peer Accountability: Group sellers and create shared outcomes. When reps know their peers are depending on them to contribute, engagement rises.
- Real-world Relevance: Tie learning activities to current opportunities or pipeline challenges.
- Facilitate Feedback Loops: Build in short, structured opportunities for reflection, discussion, and manager reinforcement.
3. Measure More Than Your Competition
If you’re only looking at completion rates, you’ll never be able to attribute real value to your enablement function. SBI’s research revealed that top-performing enablement teams measure both leading indicators, like engagement and participation, and lagging indicators, such as quota attainment, or time-to-ramp. This dual lens creates a clear understanding of the impact of enablement efforts.
One effective way to gather these insights is to involve frontline managers from day one. When managers are trained as facilitators and embedded into the program, they become amplifiers of adoption.
Recommendations to implement:
- Measure a combination of both leading and lagging indicators and communicate these expectations ahead of training.
- Train frontline managers before launch and equip them with the tools and information needed to drive reinforcement.
- Collect manager input on behavioral adoption post-training.
4. Align Training with Commercial Priorities, Not the Calendar
One of the most common missteps in enablement is treating training like a recurring calendar event or completing simply because “it’s time.” The most impactful programs follow commercial priorities.
To drive meaningful adoption, align your training to key moments in the business:
- New Product Launches or GTM Shifts: Use training to equip sellers with messaging, competitive differentiation, and positioning before the changes are live in the market.
- SKO: Reinforce key capabilities introduced during the SKO in the months that follow to ensure understanding and execution.
- Territory Reassignments or Role Transitions: Ramp sellers by connecting enablement to changing elements of their role.
5. Activate Internal Advocates to Drive Post-Training Momentum
When you’re introducing new behaviors, processes, or technologies, internal advocates act as an extension of your enablement team, bringing credibility and reinforcement even after you’ve left.
Training alone rarely drives behavior change. Even the most engaging programs lose momentum if sellers return to their work without support and reinforcement. Internal champions provide this support, answering questions, modeling behavior, and showing what success looks like in real-time.
Adoption is the Outcome that Matters
In today’s market, training only creates value when it leads to adoption. Whether youre navigating time zones or cultural nuance, your enablement strategy much drive behavior change.
In a fragmented, fast-moving commercial environment, training that’s built for adoption is a growth lever.
Watch the full webinar here.
