Most inside sales organizations today are in rapid-ramp mode, and they don’t have much to spend. According to one source, 64% of companies spend under $1500 per rep on training. So when they do decide to have their teams go through sales training, they want that training to stick and to grow as they grow.

The best way to protect this investment is to build a sustainable training structure that is inserted within the inside sales organization and designed to support the new sales skills. This organizational commitment means that before you roll out training, you must carefully survey the four areas:

1. Sales Productivity Tools: Today’s sales tools are the fuel that powers the teams. Teams must have tools they can integrate through the sales process — from beginning, to the middle, and straight through closing. The training curriculum has to address the “must-have” sales productivity, sales intelligence, and social tools that help inside sales warriors sell.
2. Marketing and Sales Alignment: Selling in today’s Sales 2.0 landscape requires deeper alignment and broader understanding of marketing functions. The sales department must put their marketing hats on and learn how to nurture their top prospects with engaging content. And they will also need to build a robust library of email templates to use for their call campaigns. Sales training must build robust sales talent that is multi-dimensional.
3. Sales Process and Structure: The biggest reason why inside sales organizations fail is because either they do not have a defined charter, or it has not been communicated throughout the company. Everyone must understand their sales charter, how they are structured, their revenue goals, the competitive landscape, and the customers’ engagement strategy. Sales training must incorporate these types of questions in their needs assessment.
4. Talent and Skills: It’s all about buy-in isn’t it? The talent and staff must support the training program and reinforce a universal language at all times — before, during, and after the training. It is critical for some roles to be exclusively dedicated for training reinforcement, such as: Team Leads, Training Coaches, Quality Assurance, Managers, Directors. These people must be deeply involved throughout the process.

The chart provides a snapshot of a sustainable training model that must be built and inserted into the DNA of the organization. This structure will sustain your training investment before, during, and after training takes place.