How can you prove to skeptical management that sales training works? It’s one of the oldest questions in the industry, and it’s not a simple one. Executives who have been through this before probably saw sales training as a waste of money.

But, I have good news for you. It so happens that a great way to gather persuasive data to demonstrate sales training’s effectiveness is also a great way to focus training on areas where it is needed most—thereby making it more effective.

In an earlier edition of eCoach I outlined a foolproof plan for designing and conducting sales training that is guaranteed to reverse a sales slump. I said you should start by identifying the milestone(s) in your sales cycle at which a bottleneck begins to form. So, how do you do that, exactly?

Study your sales cycle. Your sales cycle is composed of the series of steps or milestones that must be completed to take your customer from the initial call to a solid commitment to buy your solution. Whether you have formally identified it or not, you do have a sales cycle. It might look something like this…