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High Impact Sales Enablement

Updated: Oct 23, 2020


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The unprecedented challenges that are thrown up in the market place needs an agile sales force to counter these with a thought through approach . The selling challenges in current context will demand the demonstration of superior on field sales execution skills and competencies . When considering to build sales force performance capabilities organizations need to have a well planned and a continual learning strategy which lays firm emphasis to elevate the sales force in their sales relationships and drive measurable , sustainable revenue growth and operational sales performance to help achieve the overall business objectives and goals.


The research shows that a great deal of sales training doesn’t have the impact that it was intended to have. For example:

  • Up to 80% of new skills are lost within 1 week of training if not used – ASTD

  • Up to 85% of sales training fails to deliver a positive ROI – HR Chally

  • 87% of new skills are lost within a month of the training – Xerox


Yet there is significant budget that is spent to hone the sales skills with little or no suitable return on investment .However a well conceptualized approach can definitely bring around a great impact and generate superior sales performance to create a competitive edge.


Listed are few approaches  that can be used to design training's to build the sales teams capability to generate lasting results . Follow these to define your sales training intervention and you are sure to embark on a journey to lead successful training initiatives that will definitely build a world class sales teams.


Analyzing  the Training Needs and Aligning them to the Business goals


Without analyzing the learning needs of the team , sales training is often irrelevant and uninspiring & unless linked to expected business objectives doesn’t produce expected results. Carefully evaluate the business goals defined for the current year and plan your sales training in accordance to these goals. This can help in to set good measurement metrics for objective evaluation.

Try for High Impact Results: Define 2-3 specific objectives that needs to be driven and center the intervention around them…too many objectives doesn’t yield much results and gets difficult to evaluate


Focus on building Sales Knowledge not just on developing Sales Skills


Dynamic sales environment requires agile sales force who can take instant decisions at market place , can tackle competitive challenges with sound judgement , demonstrate superior field execution which could set them apart from the competitive forces…..sales training should address in developing sales knowledge and making them better informed.

Try for High Impact Results: Give insights to the team on Data Management and Analysis. Reports are often a routine part of the sales job , develop skills on analysis of the reports ( often ignored aspects with the sales force)to make more informed sales decisions. Share insights on market  challenges that are sure to hit in next 2-3 years and generate ideas on the same.


Focus on driving Innovative Approach for on Field Sales Execution


With rapid changes happening around the sales force traditional approach of dealing with sales challenges may not generate the desired results . Trigger the Innovation DNA of the team. Drive an Innovation Agenda in the sales organization which often is perceived as a routine function to work. Remarkable excitement can be created when your training address innovative way to deal with sales challenges & situations in market place.

Try for High Impact Results: Introduce the team to newer perspectives citing examples from competitors , cross industry examples , introduce relevant case studies , brief on award winning sales initiatives and concepts & most importantly share internal best practices . Get the teams to come up with innovative ways a situations at hand can be handled .


Plan & Deliver the training that engages the audience


Tailor the interventions to the groups to ensure its relevance while messaging it  commonly in accordance to the business objectives . Participants should walk out being enlightened and engaged. Generic (global) information wont create a lasting impression , neither will it help in addressing the current challenges at hand. Best approach is to involve the Sales Managers in compiling the modules , with team specific inputs , region specific challenges at hand can best be addressed when the reporting managers are involved .

Try for High Impact Results: Study the behaviours and competency gaps of the target group and define interventions to address the same.  Example 1: If informed Consumer insights &Awareness is a area of  concern gather enough evidences in this regards. Create a simulated environment to train the team with strong engagement to understand the concepts . Example 2 : if market execution has been a challenge of certain strategy , create a market environment in the training forum and get the teams to implement , share learning’s and feedback


A strong Reinforcement Mechanism Works

Get the new concepts ingrained into the system through continuous reinforcement . Adults learn through repeated practice  , hence a system for the team to regularly put to use the learning will help in internalizing the new concepts.

Try for High Impact Results: Quarterly refresher sessions will help in strong reinforcement of the concepts trained on . Encourage the team to come with a brief presentation on the learning’s implemented and outcome achieved . Review of the New tools trained on and its contribution to the sales growth will strengthen the belief on the tools . Use E-learning platform to  help the team undergo a refresher session with tests and quizzes. Most importantly reward specific achievements of the members who have put to use the training concepts, recognition motivates others also to try it out.


Drive Action on learning Implementation, Build Accountability & Evaluate


Create a mechanism to take the learning’s onto the field , engage the reporting managers in evaluation process this builds in accountability. This sets in consistency and definitely raises the performance across the board. Without evaluation, it’s nearly impossible to hold the team accountable for changing and improving behaviour, or for taking actions and achieving results.

Try for High Impact Results: Get the Individual Action Plan’s of the participants during the closing of the training , basis the training objectives , dedicate enough time for the compilation of these IDP’s , the more serious you are about it , the participants tend to get the same. Reflect it back to them on monthly basis and get a review done  for at least a quarter, let the reporting managers evaluate & approve the same , a strong mechanism like this creates tremendous results…this reinforces the training concepts as it forms the basis of their review & they are sure to implement the action plans as the entire team is involved in the process.


Reflection of the Training Implementation Result and Achievements


Monitor the progress of the participants on their individual action plans as people’s commitment to learning relies so heavily on confidence and a belief that the learning is achievable, hence results presented back to the learners, is a very important part of the learning and development process . This approach will further strengthen their confidence on the training inputs and helps create a ripple effect across the teams.

Try for High Impact Results: Create a “Sales Execution Excellence ” bulletin board and share the training tools and concepts on field execution practices . Create a reward system to recognize remarkable approaches used to implement training on field . Create a strong pool of implementer and feature them on companies newsletters showcasing their execution skills , make their efforts more tangible and meaningful. Observe a ripple effect created among the team to execute things at the own end.


The consideration of  above approach will definitely  help in achieving significant and lasting improvements in sales effectiveness and foster a culture of Sales Excellence through High Impact Sales Enablement.


Muzameer Soudagar

Keep learning keep shinning !!


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