Diagnose before you train
Step 1 / 4·Why sales training usually fails
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Learning objectives — after this module you will:
- Understand why sales training so often changes nothing
- Build a sales competency frame that fits your business model
- Use funnel data to diagnose the real capability gap
Why sales training usually fails
Recognise the common mistakes in sales capability work.
The familiar sequence: revenue misses target → book a two-day sales skills speaker → the team is energised → three weeks later everything is back to how it was. This pattern repeats across countless organisations, and the cause isn't the quality of the trainer.
Three root mistakes: (1) never DIAGNOSING whether the problem is capability at all, (2) training THE SAME CONTENT for the whole team even though each person is weak somewhere different, and (3) no REINFORCEMENT afterwards, so new behaviour doesn't survive weekly target pressure.
The question to answer before booking any training
'If everyone suddenly knew how to do this tomorrow, would results change?' If the answer is NO — because the cause lies in product, price, territory, lead quality or pricing approvals — training won't save it. That question separates a CAPABILITY problem from a SYSTEM problem.
Key takeaway: Before training, ask whether knowing how would change results — that separates capability problems from system problems.