In our previous post, What’s More Important in Top Sales Training Courses: Measuring Behaviors or Outcomes? we discussed the importance of measuring the effectiveness of sales training courses by behaviors rather than outcomes. In this blog post, we’re highlighting another leading problem with sales training programs: focusing the initiative exclusively on front-line employees rather than involving mid-level and top-level leaders, too. 

Pitfall #4: Believing the success of sales training programs is solely a front-line responsibility. 

It makes perfect sense to focus the initiative on those who interact with the customer and their managers — but without senior leadership buy-in, the program often gets derailed. To ensure the transformation occurs, you need the involvement of the mid-level and top-level leaders to: 

• Remove barriers to coaching. If front-line managers truly don’t have the bandwidth to coach, senior leaders need to honestly assess what needs to be removed from their plate.

• Embrace the sales philosophy and methodology being promoted in training. For example, if you are teaching a more consultative, long-term approach to building a business but the senior leaders focus on a short term transactional approach to selling, guess what the reps and front-line managers will do? Go right back to pushing their favorite product. The key is alignment, and without it, the most powerful will always dictate what happens in the field.

• Support the long-term investment in the process. As you know, your goal is not to put on a workshop but to institutionalize a new approach to selling. That requires a top-down commitment of resources to the transformation process.

Why Critical Leaders Need to Be Involved with Developing Sales Training Courses

The key is to invite critical leaders to the discussion early in the development process. Stand your ground if you encounter pushback. If they don’t have the time to invest in the development of the program, we promise you they won’t have time to lead the development process once the program is launched.

Gaining Support for Sales Training Programs

Be armed with case studies that demonstrate the ROI for doing it right. Every investment requires a return, and there are numerous examples of best-in-class organizations that see the payoff for committing. 

At ASLAN®, we offer some of the top sales training in Atlanta and throughout the country, which means we understand the importance of finding a program that’s worth the investment.

Interested in learning more about our custom sales training courses?

And stay tuned for Pitfall #5 in our next post by subscribing to our newsletter. 

Tom Stanfill

As Co-founder and CEO, Tom’s primary role is to create content that helps people live, sell, and serve more effectively. Find him on LinkedIn