Measurement&Design
As a learning and development (L&D) professional supporting a sales team, you know the frustration: Sales leaders request training, you deliver a quality program, but months later you’re still struggling to prove its impact. Meanwhile, sales leadership questions whether the investment was worth it.
You’re not alone. The challenge isn’t your training design skills; it’s that most sales training programs are built without a clear measurement strategy. But you can design learning initiatives that improve performance, prove business impact and show L&D’s strategic value.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: When sales numbers don’t improve after training, L&D often gets blamed. A recent analysis of thousands of selling skills assessments reveals something surprising: We’re often solving the wrong problem.
Most sales teams score highest in “product knowledge” skills such as presenting solutions and handling objections. They’re weakest in early-stage skills such as qualifying prospects, call planning and discovery questioning.
Sales leaders then request sales training on closing skills, when the real issue is poor qualification and discovery upfront. When sellers don’t understand what customers truly need, even perfect product presentations fall flat.
This is why building credibility starts with an objective needs assessment, not just taking training requests at face value.
Effective sales training follows a six-step process that builds measurement into every phase:
1. Start with business goals (not training goals). Before designing any learning experience, understand the specific business outcomes your organization needs. Is it 15% revenue growth? Shorter sales cycles? Improved margins? These targets will drive both your training design and measurement strategy.
2. Conduct an objective skills assessment. This is where many L&D programs fail. Don’t rely solely on manager interviews or self-assessments. Use objective tools to diagnose actual capability gaps across your sales team. Subjective assessments often reflect opinions rather than reality. Objective data gives you credibility with sales leadership and ensures you’re targeting the right development areas.
3. Align learning objectives with strategic priorities. Map your training design to how the organization plans to achieve its goals. Are they focused on new customer acquisition? Account expansion? Margin protection? Each strategy requires different competencies.
4. Design evidence-based learning experiences. Now you can create programs that directly address diagnosed gaps and support strategic priorities. Your learning design becomes strategic rather than reactive.
5. Implement multi-level measurement. Track both skill development (learning outcomes) and business results (performance outcomes). You need both to prove ROI and guide future investments.
6. Use data to optimize and expand. Leverage measurement results to refine your approach, identify what’s working and build the case for continued investment in learning.
Your expertise in learning design is valuable, but it’s not enough. Today’s L&D professionals must also be business strategists who can connect learning to performance and performance to results. The key to L&D success in sales training is shifting from order-taker to strategic partner. Here’s how:
Assess your current approach: Review your last sales training program. Can you clearly connect learning activities to business results? If not, you have an opportunity.
Connect skills with goals: Start your next sales training project with a skills assessment. Use the data to build credibility and ensure you’re solving the right problems.
Advise and partner: Schedule regular check-ins with sales leadership to understand their priorities and challenges. Position yourself as a strategic advisor, not just a training provider.
The process outlined here isn’t just about better sales training — it’s about establishing your credibility, proving your value and securing your seat at the strategic table.
Your sales team deserves training that works. Your organization deserves measurable results. And you deserve recognition as a strategic business partner. When you tie learning activities to business impact, your sales training will move the revenue needle.
Michelle Richardson is the vice president of sales performance research at The Brooks Group. Email her at mrichardson@thebrooksgroup.com or connect through www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-richardson-72b01a4/.
