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Research Hub

Why Your Sales Transformation Program Needs To Be At Least 18 Months

16:20 09 September in Research Hub

Guest post from Andy Miller , founder of Big Swift Kick Sales Training and Consulting, an award-winning Objective Management Group Partner

A question we hear regularly from CEOs is “How long will my sales transformation take?”

My standard answer is “18 months”… Why?

Let’s pretend you buy 6 months of training. Your sellers love the material and delivery. But when the training company tries to extend the contract, you tell them, “No, thank you. We are not seeing any improvement in revenue or seller performance.” When your network of CEOs asks how the training went, you tell them it didn’t work.

I attended the Sales Transformation Summit last March. A sales training company said it takes 12-18 months to bring lasting results. A coaching software company said it takes 12-18 months to bring lasting results. A learning management platform company said it takes 12-18 months to bring lasting results. When all 3 were pressed for a more specific answer, they all agreed it was 18 months. In 30 years of training and consulting, that has been my experience too.

Let’s take weight loss as an example. We can go on a diet and lose some weight, but how many of us keep it off long-term? According to the National Institute of Health, only 20% of dieters keep the weight off long term. So, what issues do people need to address in their journey to keep the weight off? Some issues are attitude towards diet, metabolism setpoint, exercise program, food choices, food preparation, tracking calories, lifestyle, genetics, unsupportive routines, support systems, goals, and commitment to success. So, if they don’t address the whole weight loss ecosystem, they become part of the 80% that regain weight.

Like weight loss, sales transformation is a journey that requires a daily holistic commitment. Unfortunately, many companies aren’t even committing to the bare minimum. A recent study by Boston Consulting Group found that at 48% of companies sellers receive less than 30 hours of annual training – or ~30 minutes per week. Even sales leaders feel their companies are not investing enough in learning and development – 39% of sales leaders disagree that their company’s training budget is sufficient.

Lasting change in a sales organization must address the sales team’s entire learning and development ecosystem. That means Tactical Skills, the Beliefs that support or sabotage a seller’s ability to execute, Sales Process, the team’s use of Technology, Manager’s coaching skills, HR’s hiring and onboarding practices to name a few. It takes 18 months to move the needle across all these areas. But how does a company even know where to start?

I’ve found a Sales MRI® to be an invaluable tool for determining just how long it will take a sales team to fix their issues. My clients and I use a Sales MRI® to identify their root cause issues and then triage the most impactful place to start. It’s the sales equivalent of a Doctor telling a patient whether to start with surgery, physical therapy, medicine, or bed rest. A Sales MRI® helps my clients make the holistic changes they need to get lasting results.