the great sales and training divide

8/13/2019 The Great Sales and Training Divide

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The Great Sales andTraining Divide


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The Great Sales and Training Divide2007, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc.

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2007, 2012 Huthwaite, Inc. 1

The Great Sales and Training Divide

The Great Sales

and Training Divide

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or

house divided against itself will stand

Is your house divided? Inherent in the DNA of most companies is a fundamental

disconnect between sales and training. This disconnect stems largely from differing

areas of focus, unaligned goals, andperhaps most importantlyinconsistent

metrics to drive and measure results.

In the mind of the sales manager, training equates to time out of the eld and time

away from customersnever a good thing. Training, in their experience, is a waste

of time, rarely producing any sustained skill improvement or measurable results.

As such, sales managersrightly or wronglyperceive little value in the training

function.

And, unfortunately, the skepticism of sales for training is basically justied.

Huthwaites research demonstrates that sellers typically suffer an 87% loss of skills

within one month of training unless there is immediate and ongoing coaching1

which, if it exists to begin with, generally loses momentum as the pressure for short

term results cannibalizes the investment in skill development.

Professionals responsible for learning and development

(OD, HR, corporate university staff, etc.)hereinafter

referred to as L&Dconsider training an unmitigatedgood in and of itself. They believe resolutely that great

organizations are ones that invest in their people.

Employee development is vital to the health of the

company. From their perspective, hostility from the

sales department is misdirected.

1 Rackham, Neil and Ruff, Richard, Managing Major Sales, 1991, p.129.

Sales generates the

revenue, and as awit once said

of the Golden Rule:He who has the gold

makes the rules.


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So, there is a cold war standoff which slowly escalates with occasional moments

of open hostility. But such battles are usually brief as the ght isnt between equals.

Sales generates the revenue, and as a wit once said of the Golden Rule: He who has

the gold makes the rules. In other words, L&Dwhich is a cost centeris dependent

on the success of Sales. So, Sales generally sets the course, while L&D struggles to

justify its budget and rationale for taking sellers out of the eld.

What is to be done about this disconnect? How can cooperation, respect and mutual

support be fostered between the two sides of the house? The answer, while simple,

is not easy. It lies in the alignment of L&Ds denition of success with that of the

sales function.

Denition of Success: SALESSuccess is often dened as higher performance from sellers. But, performance

improvement may not be just selling more product; it might include a better

return on effort, higher margins, more protable deals, shorter sales cycles,

greater market share, or improved competitive presence. Whatever denes great

performance in a particular company, there will be some number of metrics bywhich the sales force and sales leaders are judged.

Denition of Success: LEARNING & DEVELOPMENTL&D metrics tend to be internally focused. Success is providing a certain number of

days of training, high ratings on workshop evaluations, the variety of courses offered

or the introduction of fresh thinking, concepts and intellectual property.

If Sales and L&D stay focused on the usual

metrics, never the twain shall meet.

THE ALIGNMENTIt is in the best interest of the training side of the house to make the rst move.Sales is entrenched. L&D needs to be assertive, proactive and courageous in opening

the dialogue about denitions of success. The purpose is to develop a line of sight

between the objectives of Sales and the objectives of the training department.

What do sales leaders need from their sales force? What kind of success is desirable,

but not inevitable? How can L&Ds desire to train people, align with the wants of

sales leadership?

Line of sightis in the best interest of all concerned.

If L&D can facilitate the alignment of vision, either

with outside assistance or internally, everyone wins. Tostart this alignment L&D needs to:

(1) demonstrate howxnumber of training hours leads

to ybehavior change and (2) quantify this behavior

change in terms of the outcomes Sales is seeking.

L&D needs to beassertive, proactive

and courageous inopening the dialogue

about definitionsof success.


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L&D also needs to recognize and communicate, that

performance improvement extends beyond classroom

training. What occurs before and after is as important

as the training itself. Successas dened by Sales

requires upfront agreement on goals, expectations,

metrics and, most importantly, a plan for post-training

coaching, reinforcement and measurementthe process

of expecting and empowering salespeople to revisit,

practice and master the skills introduced in training.

And the entire initiative has to be driven with metricsobjective, empirical and

quantied measures. L&D needs to understand and communicatethe behaviors that

result in sales excellencethe skills that separate average from superior sellers.

Training professionals must provide sales leaders with leading indicatorsto assess

their people in a timely mannerbeginning right after training. In order to drive

outcomes, Sales and L&D need to be able to assess the skills of the salespeople post-

training against the skills empirically associated with world class sales performance.

By recognizing and reinforcing effective behaviors and addressing remaining skillgaps, sales leaders can be assured of achieving their desired outcomes.

Theline of sightbetween the objectives of Sales and the objectives of L&D is an

imperative. There is no shortcut.

Make it worth it, or keep em out of class!

If L&D cannot provide this alignment of vision, they

really ought not try to implement any sales training. It

will be a waste of time and resented. They will haveto resign themselves to ghting an uphill battle that

cannot be wonnor perhaps should be. Remember,

without the proper coaching and reinforcement, only

13% of learning is retained thirty days after training

takes place.

The historical and natural animosity between Sales and L&D runs deep. But it

doesnt need to. Both are seeking, ultimately, to improve sales effectiveness.

Perhaps for different reasons each nevertheless has the same endgame. In order to

overcome the hostility, L&D needs to reach out and establish a line of sightbetween

training efforts and business outcomes.

L&D needs tounderstand and

communicate thebehaviors that resultin sales excellence

the skills thatseparate average

from superior sellers.

The historical and

natural animositybetween Salesand L&D runs deep.But it doesnt need to.


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Huthwaite is the worlds leading salesperformance improvement organization.Founded on scientifcally validatedbehavioral research, our methodologies,which include the internationally renownedSPIN Selling, guarantee sales success.Huthwaite assesses your organizations

needs and develops customized salesperformance improvement and coachingprograms that drive real business results.


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