Sales Training Techniques: Telling vs. Teaching

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.

READ: The Best Sales Coaching Questions Ever

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

READ: Associative Learning: Why It’s the Best Sales Training Technique

The way we do that is by interacting with each other.

You ask me questions, you let me tell stories, and you let me pull files out of my brain and relate them to what you want me to do.

That’s using Adult Learning Theory to get me to retain new information.

Why’s it important? Because great facilitation = great results.