(And How to Fix It Before Your Best People Leave)
I was sitting in a hotel conference room in Brussels watching a sales trainer deliver what he clearly thought was brilliant content.
PowerPoint slides from what looked like 2012.
Generic techniques that could apply to selling anything from software to sandwiches.
Role-plays that made everyone squirm.
The sales team sat there politely, checking their phones under the table, probably wondering if the coffee break would ever arrive.
At the break, one of the sales managers pulled me aside. "We paid £10,000 for this," he said quietly. "Three months from now, nobody will remember a single thing."
He was absolutely right. And he's not remotely alone.
Here's a statistic that should terrify every business owner: 84% of sales training content is forgotten within three months.
Even worse, approximately 70% of salespeople lack formal training entirely.
So businesses either don't train their people at all, or they waste money on training that evaporates before the next quarter starts.
Both options are expensive disasters.
I've spent 25 years training sales and marketing teams across 70+ countries, helping organisations generate over £1 billion in additional revenue.
And I can tell you exactly why most training fails — and what works instead.
The £100,000 Problem Nobody Wants to Discuss
Let's do some uncomfortable maths.
You hire a salesperson for £60,000 per year.
Add benefits, office space, CRM licences, and your actual cost is closer to £80,000.
You give them two days of generic sales training when they start, hand them a laptop, and send them out to fend for themselves.
Six months later, they're underperforming.
Eight months in, they leave.
Nearly half of account executives attribute their departure to poor training or onboarding.
Now you're recruiting again.
Another £10,000-15,000 in hiring costs.
Another salary.
Another six months waiting for them to become productive — if they ever do.
The total cost? North of £100,000.
And you've got nothing to show for it except a revolving door, a stressed-out sales manager, and a pipeline that's perpetually rebuilding.
Here's what's genuinely mad: The average ROI of sales training is an impressive 353%.
That means £1 spent training your reps should produce £4.53 in return.
Yet only 33% of companies rate their sales training as highly effective.
The other 67%? They're throwing money at training that doesn't work, then wondering why their revenue numbers are stubbornly flat.
Why Training Fails (And It's Not What You Think)
Most training fails for four specific reasons.
None of them are about the quality of the content. They're about how training is designed and delivered.
1. It's a One-Off Event, Not a System
Someone attends a two-day workshop.
They're energised.
They learn techniques.
They're inspired.
They return to work Monday morning and... immediately fall back into old habits.
Only 16% of sales training is retained by new hires after 90 days.
That's not because people are forgetful.
It's because training was treated as an event rather than a process.
The training that actually works?
It's reinforced weekly.
It includes coaching.
It's practised repeatedly until new behaviours become automatic.
One workshop achieves nothing.
A system of continuous development transforms performance.
2. It's Generic, Not Customised
"Here's how to handle objections." "Here are the seven steps to closing." "This is how you build rapport."
Generic techniques taught to everyone the same way.
Meanwhile, your industry has specific challenges.
Your customers have unique concerns.
Your sales cycle has particular complexity.
None of which the generic training addresses.
I worked with a SaaS company whose sales team attended an "excellent" sales training programme.
The only problem?
Every single example was about selling physical products to consumers.
Their reps spent the entire two days mentally translating everything to their B2B subscription model.
Half of it didn't apply at all.
Effective training is built around your actual sales process, your real customer objections, your specific market challenges.
Anything else is expensive theory.
3. It's Outdated Before It Starts
62% of sales leaders cite outdated training as the biggest hurdle in delivering effective programmes.
The market changes.
Competitors adapt.
Customer expectations evolve.
But training materials?
They're PowerPoints from 2019 that nobody's bothered updating.
I am constantly amazed at how little training give their companies on how to use sales with AI. This is not only dangerous because they don’t know what they are doing, but they are wasting time.
I saw this brilliantly illustrated in Dubai last year.
A company was training their sales team on LinkedIn strategies using content from 2022.
Everything they taught had been made obsolete by algorithm changes.
The reps were being trained to use techniques that would actively hurt their reach.
Training must evolve with your market.
Otherwise, you're teaching people to lose effectively.
4. There's No Accountability or Follow-Up
Training ends.
Everyone returns to work.
And... nothing.
No follow-up.
No coaching.
No measurement of whether anything actually changed.
Managers don't reinforce the training.
They don't observe whether reps are using new techniques. They don't provide feedback on application.
The training exists in a vacuum, completely disconnected from daily work.
Without accountability and reinforcement, training is just expensive entertainment.
What Good Training Actually Looks Like
Right, enough about what doesn't work. Let me tell you what does.
Effective training has five essential characteristics:
1. It's practical, not theoretical. Every technique is immediately applicable.
Participants practise using real scenarios from their actual work. No generic case studies about companies they'll never encounter. When I train companies, everything is customized toward their business and clients.
2. It's customised to your business. The content addresses your specific products, your actual customers, your real objections. It's built around how your sales process actually works, not how some textbook says it should work.
3. It includes ongoing reinforcement. Initial training is just the beginning. There's weekly coaching. Monthly skill refreshers. Continuous development. New behaviours are practised until they become instinctive.
4. It's measured relentlessly. We track what changes. Activity levels. Conversion rates. Deal sizes. Win rates. Time to productivity for new hires. If it's not measured, it's not managed.
5. It evolves constantly. As your market changes, training adapts. New competitor emerged? We address it. Customer objections shifted? We update the responses. Regulations changed? We incorporate them.
This isn't complicated. It's just intentional.
Frank's Quick Tip: If your training doesn't include at least three follow-up sessions within 90 days, you're wasting your money. Knowledge without reinforcement is just expensive trivia.
How I Approach Training Differently
I've been training sales and marketing professionals for over 25 years.
I've worked with everyone from startups in Singapore to multinationals in Stockholm.
The organisations that get spectacular results do training differently.
Here's my approach:
I start by understanding your actual challenges.
Not what I think your challenges should be.
· What they actually are.
· I talk to your sales team.
· I listen to their calls.
· I review their deals.
· I understand where they're winning and where they're losing.
I build training around your real world.
Every example comes from your industry.
Every scenario mirrors situations your team actually faces.
We practise using your sales process, your products, your customer objections.
I make it immediately actionable. Nobody leaves my sessions with theory they'll "implement someday."
They leave with techniques they can use in their next conversation.
Practical, proven methods that work in the real world.
I include follow-up and reinforcement.
Initial training creates awareness.
Follow-up creates mastery.
I work with managers to reinforce training through coaching.
We measure adoption. We celebrate wins. We address obstacles.
I bring 25 years of international experience. I've trained teams in over 70 countries. I've seen what works in Dubai and Detroit, Singapore and Stockholm, Bangkok and Boston.
I understand cultural nuances, different market dynamics, various buyer behaviours.
Most importantly: I focus on results, not activity.
I don't measure how many people attended training.
I measure whether revenue increased.
Whether win rates improved.
Whether sales cycles shortened.
Whether new hires became productive faster.
The Results That Actually Matter
Words are cheap. Results matter. Here's what happens when training is done properly:
Organisations I've worked with have generated over £1 billion in additional revenue.
That's not theory. That's actual, measurable business impact.
Sales training can boost an individual rep's sales performance by an average of 20%.
I've seen higher.
One team in Melbourne increased their average deal size by 34% within six months of completing training.
Companies that prioritise training are 57% more effective than their competitors.
The gap between trained and untrained teams isn't marginal — it's massive.
Training also dramatically reduces turnover.
Well-trained reps are more confident, more successful, and significantly more likely to stay.
One company I worked with in Frankfurt reduced sales turnover from 42% to 18% in two years through comprehensive training and ongoing development.
The ROI is undeniable. But it only happens when training is done right.
Sales and Marketing: Better Together
Here's something most trainers miss entirely: Sales and marketing need to be trained together, not separately.
Marketing creates content, messaging, campaigns.
Sales uses that content to engage prospects and close deals.
If they're not aligned — if sales doesn't understand marketing's strategy or marketing doesn't understand sales' challenges — you've got expensive dysfunction.
I train sales and marketing teams jointly. Same room. Same sessions.
Building shared language and mutual understanding.
The result? Marketing creates content sales actually uses. Sales provides feedback that makes marketing more effective.
82% of salespeople think businesses need to modernise their sales techniques.
That modernisation requires sales and marketing working in harmony, not in silos
The modern sales person needs to understand AI, LinkedIn, Article and video marketing and so much more.
It’s a different world and if your people are not trained, you will be overtaken by competition who provides ongoing training.
The Bottom Line
Most sales training is a waste of money because it's designed wrong, delivered wrong, and forgotten immediately.
But when training is customised, practical, reinforced, and measured?
The ROI is spectacular. 353% returns. 20% performance improvements.
Reduced turnover. Faster ramp times. Increased revenue.
Right now I am working with Keiser Gyn Equipment who pride themselves on having the finest in American engineering and manufacturing.
Every month we have a Zoom training session with follow up tasks and accountability to their management.
I will speak at three conferences this year where it will be a half day training session.
It works….
You're either investing in developing your team properly, or you're watching them leave for competitors who will.
I've spent 25 years proving that effective training transforms businesses.
I've worked with organisations across every continent, every industry, every market condition.
I know what works — and I know how to make it work for you.
Your team wants to succeed.
They want training that actually helps them sell more effectively.
They're tired of generic workshops that waste their time.
Give them training that matters.
Training that's built around their actual challenges.
Training that produces measurable results.
The question isn't whether training works.
The question is whether you'll invest in training that actually delivers.
Ready to Transform Your Sales and Marketing Teams?
I've helped organisations across 70+ countries generate over £1 billion in additional revenue through practical, customised training that produces measurable results.
If you're tired of training programmes that sound impressive but deliver nothing, let's talk. I'll show you exactly how I'd approach developing your team — customised to your business, focused on your challenges, designed for lasting impact.
I can help your team through:
• Customised sales and marketing training programmes
• High-impact keynote presentations
• Intensive workshops with ongoing reinforcement
• AI-enhanced sales strategy implementation
• Revenue generation systems that actually work
Contact me today:
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +44 7711 672888 or USA +1 407 588 9714
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/frankfurness
• Website: www.frankfurness.com
Because your competitors are already training their people. The only question is whether yours will be better trained — or left behind.
Frank Furness is an internationally recognised speaker, AI consultant, and sales expert who has trained teams in 70 countries, helping organisations generate over £1 billion in additional revenue through modern business methodologies. Based in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, Frank delivers practical, results-focused training that transforms sales and marketing performance
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