Here’s the truth: 84% of sales training is forgotten within 90 days if there’s no follow-up. Without a solid plan, your training investment disappears. The real work starts after the workshop ends.
TLDR: Most training is forgotten in 90 days without reinforcement. Sales managers need to coach immediately after training, schedule weekly check-ins, tie new skills to real deals, track behavior changes, and build peer learning. Success comes from practice and accountability—not just checking the training box.
You just finished a solid training session. Your team is energized, notebooks full, ideas buzzing.
You think you’re done. You’re not.
Most companies spend thousands on sales training, then send people back to work with zero follow-up structure. Old habits return within weeks. Performance plateaus. And you’re left wondering why nothing changed.
Why Training Fails Without Follow-Up
The forgetting curve is real. According to research from Harvard Business Review, people forget 70% of new information within 24 hours and up to 90% within a week. That’s not about intelligence—it’s how human memory works. One training session isn’t enough to create lasting behavior change.
The good news: companies that combine training with consistent coaching see four times better results. Quality coaching can improve a seller’s performance by up to 19% and dramatically increase quota attainment. The difference between teams that transform and teams that stagnate comes down to what happens after the training room.
Your Post-Training Action Plan
Sales managers hold the key to making training stick. Here’s your playbook for turning concepts into results.
Meet With Each Rep Within 48 Hours
Schedule a 30-minute one-on-one debrief within two days of training. Don’t quiz them—understand what resonated. Ask them to identify their top three takeaways and one skill they’ll apply immediately. Let them lead the conversation while you listen and ask questions. This creates ownership and clarifies where each person’s development focus should be.
Set Up Weekly 15-Minute Coaching Sessions
During that initial debrief, lock in regular coaching sessions—weekly or biweekly minimum. Add them to both calendars immediately and treat these as untouchable. Canceling sends the message that growth doesn’t matter. These brief sessions give reps space to demonstrate progress, troubleshoot challenges, and get real-time guidance on applying new techniques to active deals.
Tie New Skills to Real Deals
Training concepts need to move from theory to practice fast. Work with each rep to identify specific opportunities in their current pipeline where they can apply what they learned. If the training covered consultative questioning, have them practice it on their next discovery call—then debrief it together. Focus on quantity over perfection: the goal is to try new approaches, get feedback, and adjust.
Use Short, Bite-Sized Reminders
Combat the forgetting curve with bite-sized reinforcement. Send short videos, quick articles, or mobile reminders that revisit key concepts over the weeks following training. Mix formats—some reps prefer video, others like quick quizzes or written summaries. The key is consistent, small-dose exposure that moves information from short-term to long-term memory.
Share Wins Across the Team
Don’t let top performers keep their wins to themselves. Create opportunities for reps to share what’s working—through team huddles, Slack channels, or monthly workshops. When someone successfully applies a training technique and closes a deal, have them walk the team through it. According to Gallup research, peer learning accelerates development and creates cultural momentum around new behaviors.
Track Behavior Change, Not Just Numbers
Yes, quota matters—but in the weeks immediately following training, focus on tracking behavior change. Are reps asking better discovery questions? Tailoring their pitch? Handling objections with more confidence? Use CRM data, call recordings, and pipeline reviews to identify skill gaps and coaching opportunities. Celebrate behavioral wins early and often, even before they translate to closed revenue.
Clear the Path and Provide Tools
Pay attention to what’s blocking application. Do your reps have the right job aids—talk tracks, objection-handling guides, discovery frameworks? Are internal processes slowing them down? If you identify barriers you can’t remove yourself, escalate them to leadership. Your job is to clear the path so new skills can take root.
Make Coaching Part of Daily Work
Shift from one-off coaching to continuous development. Make feedback part of the daily rhythm—through deal reviews, pipeline standups, and casual check-ins. When coaching becomes embedded in how your team operates, training doesn’t feel like a separate event. It becomes the foundation of how you grow together.
What Happens When You Get This Right
Organizations that prioritize post-training reinforcement see an average ROI of 353%—meaning every dollar invested returns over four dollars. Performance improves by an average of 20% when training is paired with coaching. And you retain your talent. Well-trained sales professionals stay longer, develop stronger customer relationships, and cost far less to keep than replace.
Consider what happens when you skip reinforcement: nearly half of sales reps leave their roles due to poor onboarding and development. Research from the Society for Human Resource Management shows that employees who receive quality coaching are 45% less likely to turn over after two years. High turnover doesn’t just drain your budget—it disrupts team momentum and erodes morale.
FAQ
How soon after training should I start coaching sessions?
Within 48 hours. Schedule a 30-minute debrief immediately to capture momentum, then lock in weekly or biweekly 15-minute coaching sessions moving forward.
What if my reps resist applying new techniques?
Start small and focus on quantity, not perfection. Encourage them to try new approaches without judgment, then debrief together. Create psychological safety around experimentation—reps need to know it’s okay to be uncomfortable while learning.
How do I know if the training is actually working?
Track behavioral change first—are reps using the new skills? Then watch for performance indicators like conversion rates, deal velocity, and quota attainment. Pair qualitative feedback with CRM and call data.
How long should post-training reinforcement last?
At least 90 days, ideally longer. The forgetting curve hits hardest in the first three months. Consistent reinforcement during this window is critical to making skills stick.
What’s the biggest mistake managers make after training?
Treating training as a one-and-done event. The moment you stop reinforcing, people revert to old habits. The biggest wins come from sustained, deliberate coaching over time.
Key Takeaways
Post-training reinforcement is where real performance change happens—without it, 84% of training content is lost within 90 days.
Schedule one-on-one debriefs within 48 hours and establish regular 15-minute coaching sessions to maintain momentum.
Focus on real-world application by tying new skills to active deals and celebrating behavioral wins before revenue results.
Use microlearning, peer sharing, and job aids to combat the forgetting curve and keep concepts top of mind.
Training paired with coaching delivers four times better results and can improve individual performance by up to 20%.
If you’re ready to stop wasting your training investment and start building a sales team that actually performs, schedule a consultation with ASLI today. Our customized sales training and development programs include built-in reinforcement strategies and ongoing leadership coaching that ensure your team doesn’t just learn—they execute and deliver measurable results.
