The Sales Team had a Training Problem but it Wasn’t What They Thought
The sales team was struggling. Targets were being missed. Follow-up was inconsistent. Some salespeople were discounting too quickly, while others were avoiding difficult conversations with prospects. Managers were spending more time chasing activity than coaching performance.
The obvious solution seemed simple: more sales training.
So the business booked a training program. The team attended. Everyone was engaged. There were great conversations, plenty of ideas and lots of agreement around what needed to change.
A few weeks later, however, things looked much the same. Sound familiar?
The problem may not have been the quality of the training. The problem may have been that the business had identified the wrong type of gap. Before investing in another training program, it is worth asking a more important question:
What is actually stopping your sales team from performing?
There are three common possibilities: a knowledge gap, a skills gap or a performance gap. While they can look very similar from the outside, they require very different solutions.
1. The Knowledge Gap: “They Don’t Know What to Do”
A knowledge gap exists when someone simply doesn’t have the information they need to perform effectively. Perhaps a salesperson doesn’t understand the company’s sales process. Maybe they don’t know how to use the CRM properly, aren’t familiar with a new product or don’t understand the difference between features, benefits and customer value. They may genuinely want to do the right thing, but they don’t know what “right” looks like.
For example, a salesperson might be asking:
• What questions should I ask during a discovery meeting?
• How do I structure a sales call?
• What information should I record in the CRM?
• How does our new product solve the customer’s problem?
• What is our process for qualifying opportunities?
In this situation, training can absolutely help. The solution is to provide the knowledge, information, frameworks and processes the salesperson needs. But knowing something and doing something are two very different things. And this is where many sales training programs stop too early.
2. The Skills Gap: “They Know What to Do, But Can’t Do It Well”
Imagine your salesperson understands that they need to ask quality questions. They know that asking, “What are your biggest challenges?” is more useful than immediately launching into a product presentation. They understand the theory. But when they are sitting across from a prospect, they still dominate the conversation. That’s a skills gap.
A skills gap occurs when someone has the knowledge but hasn’t developed the ability to consistently apply it in real situations.
Sales skills include things such as:
• Quality questioning
• Active listening
• Building rapport
• Presenting value
• Handling objections
• Negotiating
• Managing difficult conversations
• Prospecting
• Closing
• Following up effectively
• Communicating with different customer personalities
These skills aren’t developed simply by talking about them. They require practice, feedback and repetition.
This is why effective sales training should be practical and interactive. Salespeople need opportunities to test new approaches, work through realistic scenarios and receive constructive feedback. A salesperson doesn’t become better at handling objections because they understand the definition of an objection. They become better because they’ve practised handling them.
3. The Performance Gap: “They Know It and Can Do It, But Aren’t Doing It”
This is often the most frustrating problem for sales managers. The salesperson has attended the training. They know the process, they have demonstrated the skills, they can handle a role play brilliantly. And yet, when they return to their territory, the behaviour disappears.
This may be a performance gap. A performance gap exists when someone has the knowledge and capability to perform, but their behaviour or results aren’t matching expectations. The reasons can be very different.
Perhaps the salesperson:
• Isn’t consistently following the sales process
• Doesn’t prioritise prospecting
• Avoids uncomfortable conversations
• Has poor time management
• Isn’t being held accountable
• Lacks confidence
• Has developed unhelpful habits
• Is unclear about expectations
• Isn’t receiving enough coaching
• Is motivated by different priorities
• Is struggling with workload or competing demands
In this situation, sending the salesperson to another training course may not solve the problem. They may not need more knowledge. They may need coaching, accountability, clearer expectations or a change in behaviour.
The Same Problem Can Have Three Different Causes
Consider this common example:
“Our salespeople aren’t asking enough questions.”
That sounds like a training issue. But let’s look closer.
Knowledge gap
They don’t understand what quality questioning looks like or why it matters.
Solution: Education and sales training.
Skills gap
They understand quality questioning but struggle to formulate and ask effective questions in a real conversation.
Solution: Practice, role plays, coaching and feedback.
Performance gap
They know how to ask quality questions and have demonstrated that they can do it, but they don’t consistently do it with customers.
Solution: Coaching, accountability, observation and behavioural reinforcement.
Same symptom, three very different solutions.
So, Does Your Sales Team Actually Need More Training?
Before booking another training day, sales leaders should take a step back.
Ask: What are we actually seeing?
Look at the behaviours behind the results.
• Are salespeople struggling because they don’t know what to do?
• Are they trying but lacking the skills to do it effectively?
Or do they know exactly what to do, have demonstrated they can do it, but aren’t consistently putting it into practice? This distinction matters. Because throwing training at every sales problem can become expensive without necessarily changing performance.
The best sales training starts with diagnosis. It looks at what the sales team is doing today, where the gaps are and what needs to change. Then the training, coaching and reinforcement can be designed around those specific needs.
Training Should Change What Happens After the Training
A successful sales training program shouldn’t simply result in a room full of people who enjoyed the day. It should result in salespeople doing something differently when they get back to work.
• Maybe they’re asking better questions.
• Maybe they’re uncovering customer needs rather than jumping straight to solutions.
• Maybe they’re more confident handling objections.
• Maybe they’re having better value conversations instead of immediately discussing price.
• Maybe they’re following up more consistently.
Or perhaps sales managers are becoming better sales coaches and helping those behaviours stick. That’s where the real value of sales training lies. Not in what the team knows at the end of the day, but in what they consistently do differently afterwards.
The Right Sales Training Starts With the Right Problem
Every sales team is different. Some need new knowledge. Others need to build specific sales skills. Some don’t need more training at all and instead need coaching, accountability and support to turn existing capability into consistent performance. Understanding the difference can make your investment in sales development far more effective. Click here to read more about the benefits the right Sales Training Program can bring to your Sales Team.
At KONA Training, we believe sales training should be tailored to the people, challenges and commercial goals of your business. Our Sales Training & Coaching programs are designed to identify the real gaps, build practical capability and help sales teams turn learning into measurable changes in behaviour and performance.
If your sales team has a training problem, but you’re not sure what the real problem is, contact KONA Training to discuss tailored Sales Training & Coaching for your sales team.
Call 1300 611 288 or Email info@kona.com.au
Author – Garret Norris – https://www.linkedin.com/in/garretnorris/
