Are You Just Checking the Box?

Whether your company provides it or you must find your own training and professional development, training is not just about checking the box. Too often, training is "we did the workshop in January, we're done." In a recent blog by the Brooks Group, they call that a risky strategy:

"Your sales process is dynamic, your environment is dynamic and habits drift."

According to the blog and our experience, there are three types of training: Sales Process Training: This training covers product knowledge and sales processes, such as RAB's 7-Steps to Selling Success. The sales process is the foundation of your training and critical for consistent performance. Without regular reinforcement, bad habits and shortcuts creep in.

Sales Skills Training: These are the basics. For instance, diving into the skills required at each of the seven steps in the RAB's repeatable process. Sales skills training is like the athlete working on the fundamentals – consistently.

Product/Service Training: This is the tactical stuff. For instance, working with your digital partner to keep your sellers up to date on the latest digital offerings and integrated marketing opportunities. It's also where you get programming involved for any content development changes or highlights.

The key to all training is CONSISTENCY. Training is not a one-and-done, check-the-box item. It should be done quarterly, monthly and weekly. Leaders who follow up with questions, assignments and role-play will maximize the return on investment in training.

It started as a joke, but Kim Johnson and I have had conversations with training managers who ask, "What if I train my sellers and they leave?" Our response is always the same: "What if you don't train them and they stay?" Training is not optional. At RAB, we have plenty of options available to help you.

Yesterday, during our Leadership MasterClass, we discussed sales training and sales meetings. The challenging question we ask all managers is: "If your sales meetings were optional, would your staff still attend and feel like they are getting value?"

Crickets...

As we prepare for 2026, the best practice we offer is to create a learning calendar for your team. Identify the process, skills, and product knowledge areas you want to improve, and put them on a calendar so the team knows what to expect and what they will learn next year. Too often, and I was just as guilty of this, we plan the sales meeting on our drive to the office. Your team deserves better and will perform better if you take the time now to prepare the training calendar for next year.

If you want your sales team to perform at a high level, you don't train once and hope for the best. You build a rhythm: quarterly process tune-ups, monthly skills deep dives + weekly practice, product/service training semi-annually and always keep the content real and follow-up consistent. Do that and you'll keep your team sharp, consistent, accountable and ready. Need help? Just ask RAB!

Happy Friday!

Think Big, Make Big Things Happen!

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@rab.com. You can all so connect with him on X and LinkedIn.