The unfortunate truth is that almost all change programs fail. The reasons listed below are described on pages 292 to 299 in Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change (revised and updated second edition) by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillian and Al Switzler.
- Collaborators are not chosen legitimately, recruited carefully, trained properly for their role, acknowledged earnestly, nor positioned and accountable as "the" leaders of change
- Feedback is not customized & personalized to be valuable to the recipient
- Breaking old habits and starting new habits is not based on identifying cues, routine and reward
- Not implementing all elements of the program: pick and choose and you lose
- It feels more comfortable to tinker rather than to lead full change
- Some people focus on covering themselves as self interest takes precedence.
- Change is created on the cheap, and important elements are eliminated to save money
- Avoiding conflict with key people
- Saving Face: “We didn’t try that hard, so no big deal.”
- Denying the importance: “Why should I care?” not addressed for each participant
- Giving up too soon
- Prescribing before diagnosing
- Detrimental elements: excuses like negativity, having no time etc.
- Unresolved issues lingering too long (IE. not fixing the broken window, encouraging wrong behavior)
- Less than full accountability to the program and each other.
- Fear of making a mistake.
- Competition, with winners and losers instead of full collaboration within the group for both individual and team success
Training on its own is not enough.
Knowing the training content and applying it are not the same. Just as sending a memo or report doesn’t mean the person received it, read it, understood it or will act on it as advised.
I've assessed and audited Internal Sales Training Programs in over 60 industries and tell it to you straight:
Salespeople, sales managers are not going to effectively use your Internal Sales Training Program or any sales training just because you introduce it, teach it and tell people to use it.
Without the following key elements, your training endeavors will likely fail fast:
- a commitment to identify and measure vital behaviors,
- accountability
- timely coaching that provides feedback the trainee values
Achieve a Higher Standard
My experience assessing and auditing Internal Sales Training Programs inspired me to create a Gold Standard Team Sales Program . To succeed you do not compete. Instead, you collaborate and hold each other accountable. We identify and recruit your "Collaborators" who I perform extensive Sales Leader Sales Training that enables them to provide ongoing deliberate-practice coaching and timely feedback in a way each salesperson values. Simultaneously, I work with each participant with what I call Weekly Feedback to ensure she/he experiences success.
Why would you be interested?
• Your business needs to increase its Gross Margin. Too much margin is being given away in your selling process and/or you are not selling to your full capabilities
• Your business loses too many customers to your competition
• Prospects/customers are not as interested in certain products/services as you expected or would like
• Your organization needs to assess, fix, upgrade, overhaul or custom-build your internal sales training
• Your organization and its employees need to improve their ability to create value for the business, each other and its customers
Check your organization’s current ability to create value: Value Creation Exercise for Organizations
SalesInsighter Assessments offers two established sales programs:
Business Development
Why Personalization Succeeds
Lessons from IST Assessments & Audits
“I guide your B2B/B2C sales professionals, executives and sales managers to improve Value-Creation Intelligence (VCI) and reduce Value-Creation Deficiency (VCD). This increases sales revenue with less cost and makes you more valuable.”