Frequently Asked
Questions.
1. Why should I invest in professional development?
Ask the coaches of national championship teams that same question, and the answer becomes clear: high performance requires continuous development. Selling and managing, like athletics, medicine, skilled trades, and the performing arts, depend on learning, practicing and refining specialized knowledge and techniques. Training may provide the initial foundation, but development is a long-term process supported by repetition, coaching, reinforcement, and evaluation. Just as trades use apprenticeships, medicine uses residencies, and athletics uses training camps, improved performance requires a structured, ongoing commitment to development.
2. How much does training cost?
Training is best viewed as an investment rather than a cost, and it can deliver a strong return. Sales-training research reports an average 23.1% increase in sales productivity. The total investment varies based on factors such as delivery format—in person, online, or hybrid—as well as manager coaching, reinforcement, travel, and facilities. A three-day professional selling skills public workshop typically costs $2,000–$3,000 per person. Onsite customized training is more expensive. Online training is the most cost-effective route to deliver information. But without strategy, practice and coaching the results are diminished.
3. What are the foundational skills for today’s sales professionals?
We’ve identified 5 core sets of skills:
- Managing Self
- Managing Relationships
- Managing Business Processes (selling & people management)
- Managing Resources (Time & Money)
- Managing Digital Tools and Social Media
Sales excellence emerges from strength in multiple distinct yet interdependent dimensions. When these dimensions develop together, salespeople become more confident, more adaptable, and more effective in every customer interaction. Each dimension influences the others. Strong process skills fail without relationship skills; strong relationship skills stall without time management; strong self-management collapses without process discipline.
4. Why do training initiatives fail?
There are often multiple factors at play when training fails to produce a desired outcome. At the core is when training is treated as an “event” rather than a long-term project. Here are other factors that reduce the impact of training:
- Lack of clear goals
- Lack of well-defined standards
- Lack of reinforcement and coaching
- Lack of consequences
- Lack of management training (i.e. Coaching, Motivation, Target Setting)
- Lack of management involvement
Training is ultimately a business strategy to deliver superior performance. It should be a key driver of management activity.
5. What role does Sales Management play in Sales Training?
The primary role of Sales Management is coaching. Increasing sales requires developing the skills and techniques that are known to improve performance. Effective coaching starts with clear standards, provides the opportunity to teach and reinforce skills, and holds salespeople accountable. Sales management success is measured by the performance of their sale force. Administration does not generate or improve revenue production. Coaching is a key ingredient to increase sales.
