Why Your Sales Team Isn’t Hitting Quota (And What to Do About It)
[Video Recording]
Discover the gaps that are stopping your team from hitting quota
If you’re a sales leader who is frustrated trying to figure out why your team isn’t hitting their numbers—or why it feels like you’re constantly putting out fires—this session is for you.
Lauren Bailey and special guest Lori Richardson are here to help you crack the code on what’s really going on with your reps and managers. This webinar isn’t about fluff—it’s about diving into the hard truth: the skill gaps and missing attributes that are likely dragging down your results.
We’ll share the top strengths and gaps we’ve uncovered from assessing, evaluating, and training thousands of sales teams just like yours—and show you the skills your managers and sellers need to focus on now to turn things around FAST. You’ll have the opportunity to access real data on how your team measures up against the competition and learn where your reps and managers are falling short.
You’ll learn:
3 tough questions you need to ask to expose what’s really going wrong
How to determine where your team stacks up against other companies (from skill gaps to coachability)
Top strengths and gaps we’ve seen in reps and managers (and the must-have skills to fix them)
Why accountability is the secret sauce for improving team performance
Will vs. skill: how to make sure you’re keeping/retaining the right people
This session is all about giving you the data and insights to make smart moves for 2025. Join us if you’re ready to lead with confidence, armed with the facts and a plan to drive results.
BONUS: Get discounted team sales evaluations and access to the Factor 8 Sales Management System to get control of your rep development and enjoy time back in your day.
Watch the video replay!
Discover the gaps that are stopping your team from hitting quota
If you’re a sales leader who is frustrated trying to figure out why your team isn’t hitting their numbers—or why it feels like you’re constantly putting out fires—this session is for you.
Lauren Bailey and special guest Lori Richardson are here to help you crack the code on what’s really going on with your reps and managers. This webinar isn’t about fluff—it’s about diving into the hard truth: the skill gaps and missing attributes that are likely dragging down your results.
We’ll share the top strengths and gaps we’ve uncovered from assessing, evaluating, and training thousands of sales teams just like yours—and show you the skills your managers and sellers need to focus on now to turn things around FAST. You’ll have the opportunity to access real data on how your team measures up against the competition and learn where your reps and managers are falling short.
You’ll learn:
3 tough questions you need to ask to expose what’s really going wrong
How to determine where your team stacks up against other companies (from skill gaps to coachability)
Top strengths and gaps we’ve seen in reps and managers (and the must-have skills to fix them)
Why accountability is the secret sauce for improving team performance
Will vs. skill: how to make sure you’re keeping/retaining the right people
This session is all about giving you the data and insights to make smart moves for 2025. Join us if you’re ready to lead with confidence, armed with the facts and a plan to drive results.
BONUS: Get discounted team sales evaluations and access to the Factor 8 Sales Management System to get control of your rep development and enjoy time back in your day.
Lauren Bailey, known to many as “LB”, is a sales leader, enablement leader, and entrepreneur and founder of 3 successful brands: Factor 8, providing front-line job training for inside sellers and managers, The Sales Bar, a subscription-based virtual sales training platform, and #GirlsClub, a community and development program helping more women earn leadership positions in sales.
Lori Richardson is a sales process and leadership expert who helps mid-sized company leaders build top sales teams through the right people, processes, pipeline and leadership moves. Lori is a sales coach at Harvard Business School for their MBA students, hosts an award-winning podcast, and is author of “She Sells – Find, Hire, and Retain Great Women in B2B Sales” Founder of Score More Sales, you can find her @scoremoresales on most social platforms.
Join Another Sales Shot
View our live Sales Shot webinar schedule and register for upcoming events below.
Master Your Sales Team Development and Sales Training Budget
[Video Recording]
5+ Tips to Build Your Sales Training Plan & Budget
Let’s plan for a brighter future for our revenue enablement teams and our sales teams! If you own sales enablement, you won’t want to miss this fast, tactical, and clear advice session with Factor 8 Founder Lauren Bailey.
We’ve collected everything you need for sales training budgeting and sales team development planning. You’ll walk away with 5+ straightforward tips and actions from the pros to help you align with your revenue team faster and better.
You’ll get access to spending benchmarks, phrases that get sales leaders’ attention, tips on what to measure for sales training ROI, tips to engage sales managers, which skills should be included in your sales training plan, and more!
Watch the video replay!
5+ Tips to Build Your Sales Training Plan & Budget
Let’s plan for a brighter future for our revenue enablement teams and our sales teams! If you own sales enablement, you won’t want to miss this fast, tactical, and clear advice session with Factor 8 Founder Lauren Bailey.
We’ve collected everything you need for sales training budgeting and sales team development planning. You’ll walk away with 5+ straightforward tips and actions from the pros to help you align with your revenue team faster and better.
You’ll get access to spending benchmarks, phrases that get sales leaders’ attention, tips on what to measure for sales training ROI, tips to engage sales managers, which skills should be included in your sales training plan, and more!
Ramping new reps to hit quota faster is every sales leader’s dream, but it doesn’t have to stay a dream. With the right approach, you can accelerate your team’s learning curve, helping them hit the ground running and reach their targets sooner. Here’s how to turbocharge your onboarding process and get your reps to quota 10x faster.
First, incorporate recordings into your training and play the pause game. This technique builds wider neural pathways, which speeds up how fast reps can remember and use new knowledge. It’s not just about listening—it’s about active engagement that sticks.
Next, ditch the boring “subject matter experts” and lifeless videos. If your training is one-way, it’s a dead-end. Instead, build in interactivity, and you’ll see your reps applying what they’ve learned much sooner. Make sales training a two-way street where participation is key.
Lastly, stop treating sales skills like they’re separate. In the real world, multitasking in sales is constant, so your training should reflect that. Teach skills together, not apart. By integrating different aspects of the sales process, your reps will develop a more holistic understanding, allowing them to pivot seamlessly between tasks.
Watch the video for more detailed advice on applying these tips to ramp your sales team fast so they’re hitting quota sooner!
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
When I first started as a sales manager, I used to think that telling my team was enough.
I knew what to do, so I could tell them what to do.
Job done, right? Not quite.
The problem was I felt like I was telling them over and over again, and yet nothing changed…
“I’VE TOLD THEM 100 TIMES.” (sound familiar?)
Well, it wasn’t until I became an enablement professional that I learned various sales techniques, including that there’s a HUGE difference between telling vs. teaching.
At the heart of that is something called Adult Learning Theory,a framework that outlines the most effective ways adults learn, considering their distinct experiences, motivations, and learning preferences (NEIT).
Part of Adult Learning Theory explains that as grown-ups, our brains are organized like file folders.
You can tell a kid something new and they’ll buy it, believe it, and retain it better than an adult.
When you try to get ME to change a behavior or learn something new, you’ve got to relate it to the folders that are already in my brain
So here are 8 effective ways sales enablement can forge a better partnership with revenue leaders:
Keep meetings short and fast. Confirm meetings the day before via text if possible. Revenue leaders have packed schedules, so respecting their time is crucial. By keeping meetings brief and confirming attendance the day before, you ensure that your interactions are efficient and prioritized.
Get three or more follow-up resources – top, middle, and struggling sellers, as well as a go-to Sales Manager. Understanding the perspectives of sellers at different performance levels and involving a reliable Sales Manager can provide comprehensive insights. This helps tailor training programs that address varied needs within the team.
Uncover root causes by questioning results, metrics, challenges, sales cycle stages, and KPIs. Dive deep into the data and ask probing questions about the results and challenges. Understanding the intricacies of each sales cycle stage and key performance indicators will help pinpoint the real issues that sales training needs to address.
Get five or more recorded call or video examples so you know where to insert new skills and role-play ideas. Recorded calls and videos are invaluable for identifying where sales reps need improvement. They also serve as great tools for developing role-playing scenarios that target specific skills gaps. Save these recordings to help develop future reps, showing them the good, bad, and ugly.
Move mountains to get going fast but set expectations up front for build time and class time. Sales leaders often expect rapid results, but it’s important to manage these expectations by clearly communicating the time required for developing and delivering effective sales training programs.
Appoint a sales liaison to shadow sales, attend meetings, and translate insights. Ask for the same in return. Having a dedicated liaison who understands both sales and enablement can bridge communication gaps. This person can provide real-time feedback and ensure that training initiatives are relevant and aligned with sales goals.
Always document deliverables, expectations, and commitments in a client “contract.” Clear documentation of what’s expected from both sides helps prevent misunderstandings. A “contract” outlining deliverables and commitments ensures accountability and clarity throughout the training process.
Measure results post-training at two weeks, four weeks, and eight weeks. Raise flags if no movement is detected. Consistent follow-up on sales training effectiveness is essential. Regular check-ins at defined intervals help track progress and identify areas where additional support may be needed. If there’s no improvement, it’s crucial to address the issues promptly.
By incorporating these strategies, sales enablement professionals can build stronger, more collaborative relationships with revenue leaders. It’s about speaking their language, understanding their challenges, and providing tangible value that directly impacts sales performance. When both sides work together seamlessly, the entire organization benefits from improved alignment, communication, and results.
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
With all the economic uncertainty out there, it’s tough to find and keep good reps right now. Data from HubSpot indicates that sales rep turnover is around 35% (even in an economic downturn, attrition is shockingly high).
So how do you keep your star players around? Well, according to our Sales Team Retention Research Project study, the top reason both reps and managers stay with a company is ongoing training and development opportunities to help them succeed in their roles.
In my opinion, the key to a solid rep-manager is: both sides support each other to develop and grow. Here are some tips to put it into action to improve the sales rep-manager relationship.
1. Create coaching opportunities outside the normal flow
A lot of managers wait until the pipeline call or the forecast call to coach. While those meetings add value, they focus on specific outcomes. Where reps often struggle is investing in skills that they can apply to a variety of situations, like negotiation and price anchoring. Spend 30-60 minutes with your reps to work on these skills, and you’ll start seeing more engagement from them. As a general rule, newer or underperforming reps should be coached once per week and tenured or high-performing reps should be coached once per month.
2. Create an explicit growth template
Reps can’t grow if they don’t know what their growth path is supposed to look like. This means you need to actually document the basic competencies and objectives you expect. Then monitor rep improvement on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis—not just during an annual 360-review.
People have a strong B.S.-meter. They know when you’re faking them out. So if you’re going to expect things from them, you better make sure you’re holding yourself to the same standards.
This doesn’t mean you need to be “macho” or push bravado all the time. You’re going to make mistakes, just like anyone. But set the example of always striving to be better, holding yourself to a high standard, and fixing problems when they arise.
4. Drive deeper engagement
The more engaged your reps are at work, the more they’ll stick around. So make sure their work stretches them and helps them grow. Provide opportunities for them to push themselves without setting them up to fail.
When appropriate, let them provide input on the direction and growth of the product and company. They have valuable insights that you can use. Plus, it helps them feel included.
5. Stay hungry and humble
Even though you’re in a management position, there’s always the opportunity to learn more. Don’t rest on your laurels. Stay hungry, and always look for ways to learn, grow, and improve.
Don’t fall for “mini-me” syndrome. Just because you have a great process for selling doesn’t mean it’s the best for everyone. Instead, think about how effective reps are in driving results and meeting quotas, and focus on helping them close gaps and reach those goals faster. There can be an openness in process and style, while at the same time consistency in results.
7. Seize on little opportunities to build human connections
Managers can do a lot to show reps that they care about them not only as sales machines, but as individuals. And these don’t take a lot of extra time.
Especially in virtual environments, reps hear from their managers only to discuss forecasts, or when there’s a problem. Find other ways to connect with them as well, even if it’s just to talk about how they’re doing on a personal level.
What can reps do to build a better relationship with their managers?
1. Be solution-oriented
Don’t come with problems and no solutions. Be a solution-oriented thinker. It helps show the manager that you’re taking ownership of a problem, rather than force them to handle every little thing that comes up.
2. Be coachable
The opposite of coachability is “I already know everything.” Know what you know, but also know what you don’t know. And be open to learning and growing. It’s really hard for a manager to support a rep who thinks they know everything.
We all hear it all the time: If only the leads were better… Strike that phrase from your vocabulary! Stop blaming outside sources for your problems. Find a way to make the most of what you already have.
4. Get comfortable with ambiguity
Things aren’t always going to be straightforward, especially at different stages of companies. Can you execute when the answer isn’t fully defined? Are you willing to put the answer together yourself? If so, your manager will love you for it.
5. Always be curious
No one knows everything. There’s always a chance to learn, grow, and evolve. While your manager should be open to your own style, don’t assume that your way works best. Learn from others, and find a way to implement those learnings in your own unique way.
Final thoughts on the ultimate rep-manager relationship
The key to a good rep-manager relationship is this: support each other, hold each other accountable, and focus on growth. If you do that, you’ll build a solid foundation that makes both parties hesitant to leave the organization. Happy selling!
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
If you’ve been in sales training and enablement for a minute, you’ve encountered this challenge: How do you engage those who don’t wish to be there?
Sometimes the “crusty experts” who resist training are the longest-tenured, sometimes the highest performers, often just a random non-believer or egoist. So how do you handle them? I have three sure-fire solutions that work like a charm when it comes to getting sales training buy-in from your reps:
1. Let them go. No, really. Nowhere in your job description does it say your job is to sell the Kool-Aid to the non-thirsty. Are you graded on attendance? This approach ends one of two ways:
They’re grateful to leave and the rest of class is happy to see them go.
They realize they’re being unprofessional and backpedal themselves right into your front row.
Here’s what to say (at first break/quiet work opportunity):
“Ethan, do you have a moment? Pop into the hall/breakout room with me? Hey, I feel like I’m wasting your time. I’ve heard a few comments about my approach and your busy schedule, and I just want to remind you that this is optional. If ongoing training isn’t for you or this doesn’t work for you, I’m the last person who is going to keep you.”
If the backpedaling begins in earnest and you really want them gone, try this:
“Actually, Ethan, what I’m suggesting is no longer a choice. The disruptions are now affecting the whole class and I’d appreciate it if you’d grab your stuff and maybe try next time this is offered. Appreciate it.”
Be careful to stay cool. You don’t need to offer lots of evidence he’s being rude, just let him know you noticed and give him the out.
If you want to keep him, then try something simple like:
“Hey, I get busy. You’re welcome to stay but I need you to really be here and act like a role model to…” There’s some good stuff here and I’d love your input if you can get present and stop the commentary maybe?”
2. Stroke that ego! As soon as you see the attitude, assume they’re a top performer superstar and pull their story and tip for the class. “Jane, what do you think about storytelling during discovery, have you seen it work?”
Note: For this to work, we want to pick something where Jane will agree AND give her narrow guardrails, OK? Otherwise, you’ve handed Jane the stage to derail you in front of the entire class on nearly any subject she chooses.
This invites her to wax on about nearly anything. Good luck getting the spotlight off her and her amazing self.
Try this instead:
“Jane, have you ever tried using the second step of the objections process? I bet you have a great story”
This should give her a headstart in proving your point. Assume she will agree with you, give her a narrow focus, and specific instructions so she knows how long she has the green light. One of two things happens next:
“Thanks, LB. Yeah, I’ve totally seen this work…this one time I was a hero…”
“Nope, in my experience this happens instead…”
If I get the latter, I get a few details and then interrupt (stop her momentum before it gets worse) and ask the class, “Do you all agree? Raise your hand if there is no second step of this process? What happens instead?” Now quickly organize into a positive direction. You don’t want ten individual stories, you want a vote so you know where to go. Follow up with, “OK, how can we pivot these four steps to work in this situation?”
In other words, be ready to pivot and engage their expertise. Maybe Jane is actually right! If she isn’t, the class will shut it down and pop that inflated ego balloon.
The second benefit of this approach is the learning we do by abandoning script/trainers’ notes. Your credibility will soar with your ability to zig-zag your way to a custom solution the class experts endorse.
3. Option three is best or a 1:1 coaching approach vs. classroom. It’s two steps:
Enroll their help
Call them perfect
This approach combines a little of the psychology of options one and two, and almost always lands with the resistant egoist shifting into reverse and backing right into helping you out! Here’s how it works:
Adam: “Do we really need to do this? I’ve got so much to get done.”
You: “No man, we totally don’t! I’m 100% not here to tell you how to get better. You’re the best there is! I was more hoping you could show me what it should sound like in a few of these areas. Talk me through the ultimate demo. How do you kick it off?”
Let the ego stroking ensue – smile, nod, clarify, maybe even a few ooohs and ahhhs – then go in for the kill:
“Would you be willing to do some coaching on this? I’d love to have some of the new guys hear this. Maybe we can book a session with 2-3 guys and have you do some role plays?”
He’s taken the bait, now it’s time to reel him in!
In front of the group, find an opportunity to call Adam perfect. You’ll have to move out of his way he’ll be shifting so fast.
Try this:
“Group, this is Adam and he’s one of our top 10% around here. 10%?! Probably 1%! I heard his demo kickoff and asked him to share it with you all. Seriously, ya’l’ need to keep your eye on this guy. Adam, you must literally be the perfect Account Executive.”
Wait for it…
Adam’s reply will sound like, “Oh, gosh no. I’m far from perfect! I’ve just been doing this a while.”
I’m humble and fabulous, and terribly good-looking.
Now you have a chance to ask what he’s working on and his brain will search for and find an answer in front of the group (or 1:1).
Try something like, “Whatever, humble! No, I really love that even the best are always striving to be better. That’s what makes the greats great right? Tell us about the skills you’re focused on improving right now?”
Pretty soon he’s a coaching role model, assistant coach, and your best friend.
Have you found a theme? There are plenty of people who may not believe in sales training and coaching and it’s usually ego-related. They’re feeling under-recognized for their skill and maybe a little insulted someone sent you to teach them anything. As soon as we reverse this and give them some spotlight, recognition, and control, the defensiveness deflates and they shape up. They will also become a big YOU fan and you can count on them to help and sing your praises.
Most of the time. (Then I recommend choice one!)
Good luck!
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
Learning to be a great sales coach is hard – really hard. It’s the hardest thing we teach new managers who were formally reps. Now, it’s not as hard as climbing Mt. Everest or teaching your grandma how to order presents online, but it’s rough.
It’s the #1 skill that most new managers struggle with. If you’re a naturally phenomenal coach, congrats (seriously!), but the rest of us are struggling. Why? We don’t often know what defines great sales coaching. So let’s break it down…
The Difference Between Presenting vs. Facilitation vs. Coaching
The lines are often blurred between presenting, training, and sales coaching, especially when we don’t have staff and resources dedicated to each. Why does it matter?
Well, does this sound familiar?
“I’VE TOLD THEM 100 TIMES!!”
We’ve heard it from managers and VPs (and parents 😉 ). It’s rough, folks. If people aren’t retaining what you’re telling them to do, they obviously aren’t going to do it. So we have to back up a few steps and make sure it gets in their brain and sticks.
What is presenting?
We define presenting as…Introducing new information through speech often using slides/visual aids.
Watching a webinar? You’re listening to someone presenting. Sitting in a lecture hall in college? That’s presenting.
Now the downside to presenting is something called The Forgetting Curve. If you’re in sales enablement or training, you’ve likely heard of it. It shows us that by the end of the day, reps have lost 50% of what you taught them. In a week, they’ve lost 90%. So it’s pretty obvious why they aren’t doing what you told them to do – they can’t even remember it!
There are two ways you can beat The Forgetting Curve.
By utilizing great facilitation or training. The better (and more interactive) the training, the more likely the skills will stick. The more often reps actually do something, the more likely they’ll remember it and the more likely you’ll get results.
Through coaching. All you have to do is tell people what to do and then 1:1, 4x throughout the week, go and coach them on the same skill. You’ve got time to do that, right? 😐 Nope! That’s why good facilitation is the better option.
What is facilitation?
Folks the name of the game to get people to do what you need them to do, to get results, to get commission checks is: RECALL. They can’t do it if they can’t remember it.
In order to obtain recall, you need to have good facilitation or training. Unfortunately, most facilitation is broken. You can’t just tell someone to do something and expect them to do it perfectly, they need to practice.
Grab a sheet of paper and draw a picture of the Statue of Liberty based on memory. Assuming your side hustle isn’t as an artist, it’s probably going to look like something a child drew. Why? Well, when was the last time you drew something? Drawing is something we did a lot as a kid until other things became more exciting or interesting. We quit practicing, and when we quit practicing, our skills freeze.
For many of us, teaching is also a skill frozen in time. We think of teaching and we see ourselves sitting in a lecture hall with someone talking at us, telling us what to do. And we know that’s not how people learn.
That’s why we’ve got to redefine teaching and facilitate instead.
We define facilitation using the acronym CUP. It stands for…
C = Connect. If you want people to remember things, apply them, and do what you tell them to do, you have to help them connect with the information (it’s called Adult Learning Theory). It basically says that adults have filing cabinets in their heads. If you tell a kid something new, they’ll accept it as fact. Adults won’t even log it until you help them find the file folder. That means you’re helping them connect with it.
U = Use. Great training takes longer because we’re facilitating them actually getting their hands on it. I’ve watched people do systems training where their team is just sitting and watching. Totally hands-off, and totally a waste of time. If we want people to understand, we have to get them to use it.
P = Practice. We absolutely, positively have to practice. End of story.
By using the CUP method for facilitation, that’s how we beat The Forgetting Curve. Expect 70-80% recall. Get some buy-in along the way, a little practice and roleplay, synthesis with what they do on the job, and you’re looking at 80-90% recall. Plus, you’ll create new habits.
What is sales coaching?
Everyone does it a little differently, but a lot of people confuse sales coaching with leading, but with a few questions sprinkled in.
We define sales coaching as… Ongoing development method used by leaders using questions to inspire and deliver personal feedback on skills.
Pay attention to the bolded words. If you’re just giving people advice or there are 25 people in the room, that’s not coaching. When you’ve got a team of reps in the room, what you’re really doing is presenting.
ACTION: Go and CUP check your virtual sales training. If you’ve got a lot of videos and little practice, people aren’t doing what you tell them to do. Leaders, if you do a lot of announcing without any coaching, follow-up, or roleplays, they’re not doing what you tell them to do. And when it’s something critical like learning how to sell and be successful in new hire onboarding, you’ve got to do all 3.
If behavior change is critical, start with the 1-2-3 punch. Begin with the presentation, then facilitate, and then coach. Now, coaching alone CAN be powerful (but not how you think…)
Great coaches have 1 thing in common: they motivate people. Motivation is the key to everything. It affects recall (information + caring = recall).
Our job as managers and coaches is to ensure our reps leave our coaching sessions feeling like superheroes. That’s why we teach the 5:1 method – share 5 positives and 1 area for improvement. It’s also the #1 mistake new managers make. Why? We hear the laundry list of things that went wrong on a sales call and can’t help but tell them every single one of them.
The power of sales coaching is in the questions you ask. Said in another way:
“Leaders who ask more, get more.”
That’s why we coach in questions. It’s called “Instinctive Elaboration”. It’s the secret behind the Factor 8 SWIIFT℠ intro where we’re literally hijacking the brain of the prospect to answer our questions even if they didn’t mean to and it’s why it works to get them talking.
It works like this: how old are you?
Did a number pop in your head? Now it’s halfway out of your mouth.
The brain stops what it’s doing and starts answering questions whether it wants to or not.
Here’s more proof: how much do you weigh?
I know you didn’t want to share it, but you thought it, didn’t you? 🙂
We’ve spent years mastering the art of coaching and have compiled the best sales coaching questions ever (and they’re backed by science).
1. “Tell me about a time you had to do something similar?”
This helps them connect. Unfortunately, not all of us have the time or tech to do the CUP theory. We use a lot of video, but do videos actually teach? We don’t think so (read more about that here.)
2. “Why are you so good at this?”
You can ask this to anybody in any coaching session and something happens in the brain called “Confirmation Bias”. If you ask them a ‘why’ question, they’ll look for the reason that it’s true. This instantly boosts motivation.
3. “What happens when you knock this out of the park?”
This question builds confidence by creating mental imagery, scientifically known as “Functional Equivalence.” You’ve probably heard it with Olympic athletes where they picture themselves doing their gymnastics routine perfectly in their head and it fires the neurons as if they’re doing it. If you can get your reps to picture success, they’re more likely to achieve it.
There’s also something called the “Pygmalion Effect” which says that if your manager believes in you, you’ll believe in yourself more. Read differently:
“Leaders who expect more, get more.”
4. “What are you most proud of on that call?”
If anybody has reps that beat themselves up a little bit, this question is for you. The brain will search for an answer and find it – guaranteed.
5. “What should we do next?”
This is all about active recall; going in and finding the information in the brain. The other question we ask is “what was the customer thinking?” This is out of our head and our noise and puts ourselves into the shoes of the customer which is what we’re trying to do. It shortens ramp time, folks. Ramp time isn’t about me not knowing it, it’s about me not knowing when to use it. And if we can burn the pathways in the brain to recall the information we need at the right time, that’s how we get people to learn and apply skills faster.
6. “What one thing is most important to work on?”
You can use this in any coaching interaction anywhere and the science behind it is called “Implementation Intention.” Studies show that if you work on one thing and put a plan in place, it’s 2-3x more effective.
Coaching your team is more than just sharing information with them—it’s about really changing the way they think and act. By incorporating presenting, facilitating, and coaching, you’ll move from just talking at your team to actually sparking real behavior change.
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
What’s the most important component of a sales rep’s onboarding process? If we measure by time spent, most companies’ inadvertent answer would be company history, product, and systems. In an employee’s first few weeks, that’s where the majority of time is spent.
Outside of company orientation, there are five components of a great sales onboarding experience:
Sales
Acumen
Systems
Process
Product
I’ve put these in priority order, let me tell you why I rank sales first and product last (you probably didn’t see that coming):
Sales
Sales tactics are the little skills that determine if an employee feels successful in their first 90 days. If you want them to stay, this is critical. Too often young reps quit sales because those first few months are full of calls, voicemails, and rejections. Product training will help them in a few months when they have sales conversations, but we need to focus first on getting them more of these conversations.
Focus on skills like how to prospect, how to make an outbound dial, how to write a valuable sales email, how to leave a good voicemail, and how to overcome initial brush-offs. When we focus on these skills with new hires, we see results like 200% more productivity than previous new hire classes (HPE, 2023).
Pro Tip: weave sales training and practice into the curriculum daily. Combine with product training to produce better questions, with acumen information to help identify ICPs and do better discovery. Daily practice builds better recall and confidence!
Yes! Outsourcing sales training in new hire onboarding can be very successful. License a vendor’s online content for a great virtual experience and then come together in live workshops to tailor messaging and role play. You’ll save time and help reps ramp faster.
Acumen
This is business, industry, and customer know-how. What do they care about, what are the challenges, what are the trends, and how do I have an intelligent conversation with them? Then, how do these relate to what I’m selling? New reps are afraid of conversations, and helping them get to know their customer and their customer’s business, lingo, questions, and challenges can fix this.
Use customer testimonials, old call recordings, and lingo bingo to get the voice of the customer.
Systems
I wish I could put systems last, but just like sales, it takes repetition to get good. Please resist the temptation to teach a system start to finish and start instead with the first 10 things they’ll do on the job.
Practice system drills DURING sales role plays. It’s not the individual skill that’s hard, it’s using them together. Systems finals should include multi-tasking and be timed.
Systems and sales are ripe for outsourcing by the way. Use your systems provider’s training – just re-organize it from the rep’s point of view. Using outsourced training helps mix it up, cover different learning styles, and infuse your program with expertise. Same with sales – some things need to be customized but don’t rely on professional training facilitators to coach selling tips.
Process is how to GSD (get stuff done). Try organizing this by the top ten questions managers get and customers ask. Teach reps how to use tools to answer their questions instead of giving them the answers. I like a good scavenger hunt for this and it’s easy to do remotely. Reps need to know how to get accounts assigned to them, do research, send info, answer customer questions – do a day-in-the-life study of your last newbies, and your curriculum is written!
Process training can also cross over into acumen practice. Role-play conversations with customers or use recordings with questions and challenge reps to find the answers.
Product
Finally product. Sure, I overcorrected a hair by putting it last, but there’s such a glut of product training in most programs I wanted to balance it a bit! When we give full-blown product training to new hires, we actually DECREASE their confidence. If you don’t expect a rep to have a conversation about the intricacies of what you provide in the first 2 months, then SKIP THIS. Focus instead on what problems it solves, the customer situations/profiles who love it, and the questions to ask to uncover this situation. Then provide resources just in case to look up answers. Slimming down the product features and functionality helps beef up the “how to sell it” portion.
Pro Tip: do product training daily just before sales training so you can incorporate the product situation questions into your sales questions and be teaching them how to do discovery rightfrom the start.
We’re talking about unconscious incompetence and it’s important. We can’t have reps making outbound dials feel underprepared and afraid. So lop off half of the training you’re doing in the first month and instead drill the basics. If they don’t know the complexities of what they’re selling in month one it’s a win. We will only retain about 50% of what we’re taught in sales onboarding unless we drill it, practice it, and role-play it, so less info and more practice! Bonus: mix it all up and use it together like they will on the job.
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
Are you having a hard time getting salespeople bought into sales training and ongoing learning? Struggling to get their attention? Unable to get them to try and apply new skills?
It all comes down to behavior change. Getting people to try new things and change their behavior is one of the toughest things out there.
If you’re having trouble getting adoption, include each of the steps below represented in your training program.
B – Buy-in – If you want a salesperson’s time – their most valuable resource – you better show them upfront why it’s well worth their time. Show them ROI and results, or prove that they may need some help here. Basically, prove they’re in trouble without using the skill OR prove the benefit of using the skill.
L – Learning – As training experts, I don’t need to tell you what good facilitation is. I use the CUP model. C stands for “Connect”, U for “Use” and P for “Practice.” If it’s a video, it’s not learning (more on that topic here).
I – Integration – We have to be able to use skills at the same time when we’re in sales. I can’t just have a folder of product training, skills training, and systems training and not integrate them. So, if you want people to use your new skill, show them HOW and WHEN it’s being applied. Help train the triggers of when to grab this folder and practice it integrated with other skills.
S – Synthesis – Make sure you’re practicing with other skills. If this is something that’s just in theory and sort of left on a shelf, it’s going stay on that shelf. Bring it into the real world. At Factor 8, we always make live calls practicing new skills during training. We’ve learned it, we’ve role-played it, we’ve talked about it, now we’re going to go do it and get some feedback on it.
S – Support – Getting busy revenue leaders to support training initiatives is rough. We’ve got to do buy-in for them as well. My tip here is make it FAST and EASY for frontline managers to support these new skills. Bring them into the training but give them tools to use. We have a manager toolkit for every class we teach with easy-to-use activities in huddles, classes, or training sessions to keep skills alive. Things like call coaching forms or call coaching cheat sheets to help them support the newly learned skills.
Follow the steps in BLISS and you’ll blissfully ensure that salespeople will embrace and apply new skills. Need help? Email me at LB@factor8.com.
Subscribe to our email list to receive new content, webinar invites, and training offers.
