Sales Training, well-known to sales organizations around the world, has died after a long battle with terminal ineffectiveness. Sales Training was instrumental in educating millions of salespeople in the course of its 80-year career.
Hailed as the answer to sales organization effectiveness at the end of the 20th century, Sales Training came under increasing criticism toward the end of its life. Some friends and family of the deceased had recently expressed concern over Sales Training’s “shockingly low ROI” and wanton budget consumption.
Sales Training’s age is not known, nor is its exact time and date of death. “Sales Training actually died a while ago,” suggested Bob Sanders, CEO of AXIOM Sales Force Development, who will deliver a eulogy for Sales Training at the 2013 Sales Force Productivity Conference. “Sales Training stopped being effective when companies failed to support training objectives in the field, and put too much emphasis on classroom instruction.” Sales Training is survived by more effective, alternative models for sales force learning and development.
