Does this sound familiar: You’ve finally invested in a sales training program for your team after many months of deliberation. Something needed to change in your sales organization because buyers were simply not interested in what your reps had to say—and your reps were feeling disengaged and unfulfilled.

However, the promise of a new horizon is quickly broken when you realize the sales training is generic, covering material that isn’t important to your team. Most importantly, the training fails to account for the specific challenges your reps are having with your buyers, resulting in increasing frustrations. Your team knows this training session is a missed opportunity—and they know it’s not going to help them combat the volatility in the market.

Off-the-shelf training is a costly mistake. In this guide, you’ll learn how a customized sales training curriculum leads to maximum impact for your sales organization. 

The Pitfalls of an Off-the-Shelf Sales Training Curriculum

Why do cookie-cutter sales training programs fall flat? There are three key reasons:

1.     Pre-packaged sales programs are not designed to address specific competency gaps in your organization. A basic sales training curriculum doesn’t account for what your reps know and don’t know—without talking to your reps, managers, and leaders and conducting a comprehensive audit of their strengths and weaknesses, how could it? What you’re left with is a high-level overview of topics your reps are likely already familiar with or, worse, important topics they tune out because of a lack of engagement. 
2.     Generic sales training doesn’t align with your company culture. Think about this like building a house. Could you get a builder-grade option cheaper and quicker than a custom build? Probably. But you wouldn’t have the perfect home office with natural light or a breakfast nook where you and your family gather before your busy days. And that stuff really matters—it’s what you value. Most organizations care deeply about their unique values, meaning they need a customized program that aligns with their mission, values, and promises.
3.     Pre-built sales training programs don’t adapt to (and evolve with) your changing business needs. One company’s sales reps may need to upskill in handling unreceptive buyers. Another organization might struggle with sales enablement or automating processes. A generic sales training curriculum can’t nimbly adjust to what your team needs. It also can’t grow with your organization, equipping your team with reinforcement training to supplement and support their growth.

The Competitive Advantage of Customization

So, how can you ensure your sales training provider actually benefits your reps? It’s all in the customization. A program that is tailored to your specific needs offers a number of advantages:

• It is laser-focused on the skills and mindsets that drive results for your business. Each sales team is unique, and each rep has specific strengths, weaknesses, habits, and inclinations. A customized sales training curriculum takes these nuances into account, delivering what your team needs to succeed.
• It fosters authentic buy-in and engagement. Ever heard the phrase, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink?” That applies to your team, too. Your sales team has to want to engage in the training and change the way they do things in order to get results. Customization enables this to happen.
• It accelerates meaningful behavior change. Change of any kind is scary for teams. Even if they know it’s necessary, teams can be unreceptive. With a customized approach, your team can better understand the need for change and how to actually make it come to fruition—without all the resistance.

Want to learn more about why customization is key to a successful sales training initiative? Watch this quick video with Tom Stanfill, CEO and Co-Founder of ASLAN Sales Training.

At ASLAN, Our Sales Training Curriculum Is Always Custom

Customization is built into ASLAN’s sales training process. We don’t have an off-the-shelf option.

Our meticulous approach to customization begins with the first phase of our process, Prepare. This includes:

• Comprehensive assessments: We start by evaluating your team’s desire for change—are they open or not? In parallel, we drill down into your organization’s goals, KPIs, talent, competencies, and opportunities for upskilling.
• Customization: We use what we learned through the assessments to develop a tailored program for each role in your company—from sales rep to sales VP.
• Alignment: We prioritize aligning your senior leadership with the sales training program in order to ensure sustainable change.

Next, we move to the Ignite phase, where we deliver expertly crafted, instructor-led workshops.  This phase includes:

• Challenging participants: We encourage all participants to embrace the need for change, learning, and development.
• Interactive learning: Through experiences and simulations, we help leaders and reps see concepts and skills in action.
• Self-evaluation and goal setting: Participants assess their strengths and areas for improvement, setting real-time goals to focus on during execution.

Finally, the Transform phase ensures that the training has a lasting impact. This phase involves:

• Ongoing support: We provide continuous development through mobile apps, digital learning, and webinars.
• Practical application: Our toolbox of resources and micro-learning modules helps reps apply what they've learned.
• Mastery and reinforcement: Frontline leaders are certified and equipped to coach, ensuring sustained behavioral change throughout the organization.

By following these three steps—Prepare, Ignite, and Transform—ASLAN ensures that our sales training is not only customized but also effective in driving long-term success.

Crafting a Holistic, Multidimensional Sales Training Curriculum

A customized sales training curriculum will only be effective if your team can focus on it. That’s why we create immersive multi-model learning journeys tailored to different learner preferences and environments.

No two reps learn the same way, and no two organizations have the same learning environment. This is how we ensure everyone finds value in the program in order to close their competency gaps and reach their full potential.

• Instructor-led training (ILT): For some learners, an immersive classroom environment provides the best experience. Here, they can get hands-on instruction, join invigorating group discussions, and participate in role-play activities. This type of learning helps reps shift their mindset and get on board with doing things differently.
• Virtual sales training: If your sales force is remote, we can deliver instructor-led training virtually. This provides your team with a classroom-like experience from wherever they are. Whether it’s group discussion or hands-on instruction they crave, it’s available to your teams on the go.
• Mobile learning and microlearning: Some learners and teams prefer a self-paced option, where they pick learning modules and digest them in small bites. ASLAN offers on-demand learning so that your team can get an easy-to-follow format and learn on their own schedule without worrying about classroom locations or video conferencing.
• Coaching and peer collaboration: If your organization already has learning and development resources, you may need content and coaching. We offer a three-cycle certification process to train your trainers so they can support your reps and drive real change in the organization.

The Ongoing Commitment to Continuous Improvement

ASLAN's sales training curriculum has reached its current level of success due to our unwavering commitment to continuous improvement. We constantly refine and evolve our curriculum based on:

• Data-driven insights: We work with hundreds of sales teams and thousands of reps annually. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) during assessments, we identify what strategies and techniques have been most successful. This allows us to share proven, effective methods in future training programs.
• Client feedback: We take our clients' input seriously. After each program, we engage in thorough discussions about what worked well and what could be improved, applying these learnings to enhance future programs.
• Emerging best practices: The field of training and education is constantly evolving. We stay current on emerging strategies to ensure lasting change, adapting our programs to incorporate advancements in learning and development.
• New research and trends: Not long ago, virtual learning was met with skepticism. We stay ahead of the industry by continuously learning about and implementing innovative learning approaches to meet our clients' evolving needs.

By combining real-world performance data, client experiences, cutting-edge practices, and the latest research, we ensure our curriculum remains at the forefront of sales training effectiveness.

It’s Time to Level Up Your Sales Team

Your buyers are constantly changing. Are your sellers keeping up?

Learn about ASLAN’s tailored Other-Centered® approach to sales training and development, where we focus on the number one problem sales reps face: buyer receptivity.

Through a customized sales training curriculum that caters to your sales reps' skills and knowledge needs, multi-model learning, and alignment with your organization’s culture and values, we prepare your team for today's buyers.

Contact ASLAN Training to learn more.