After 20 years of selling capital equipment and software in the B2B space and the last 7 running my own sales training & coaching practice, there's one question I get asked almost weekly:

"Karen, should I invest in more sales training for my team, or do we need coaching instead?"

Let me tell you about Tom, a sales director I worked with last year. His team had just gone through an expensive two-day sales training workshop. They were pumped! Energy was high! Everyone had these beautiful binders full of frameworks and techniques!

And then... nothing changed.

Three weeks later, Tom called me, frustrated: "We spent $30,000 on training, and my reps are still having the same conversations they were before."

Sound familiar? I bet it does.

Here's the truth bomb I dropped on Tom (and I'm about to drop on you): Training without coaching is like buying a Peloton and never turning it on.

Let's get real about the difference and figure out what your team actually needs right now.

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The Hard Truth About Sales Training

I love sales training! Seriously, I do. I've created training programs for dozens of companies. But here's what most training providers won't tell you:Training is an event. Coaching is a process, a journey.Think about it like this:Training says: "Here's how to handle price objections." Coaching asks: "Let's listen to the call where you got that pricing objection yesterday. What do you think happened there? What might you try differently next time?"See the difference?Most training programs operate on what I call the "hope and pray" model:

* Deliver a ton of information in a short time* Hope reps remember it* Pray they apply it correctly in real situations

And the data is brutal: without reinforcement, your team will forget up to 84% of their training within 90 days. That's like throwing 84% of your training budget in the shredder!

What Great Sales Coaching Actually Looks Like

Let me paint you a picture of what real sales coaching is, because it's probably not what you think.

Last month, I was working with Sandra, an account executive who was struggling with her close rate. Instead of giving her a generic training on closing techniques, we:

1. Reviewed recordings of her last three sales calls
2. Identified a specific pattern: she wasn't confirming budget alignment before moving to the proposal stage
3. Role-played that specific conversation in three different ways
4. Created a simple scorecard for her discovery calls
5. Scheduled a follow-up to review her next two calls

Two weeks later? She closed two deals that would have likely slipped away.

That's coaching. It's personalized. It's timely. It's focused on real scenarios your reps are facing right now.

It’s similar to what I repeatedly say to my kids with their piano. Isolate the bar you are struggling with. Work on it on its own, slowly,this is deliberate practice. Over time incorporate it back into the overall piece, same as coaching. Your team is most likely doing lots of great things, isolate the major gaps and hone in on them.

And here's the kicker – coaching has a 3-4X higher ROI than training alone. Not my opinion, but cold, hard data from sales organizations I've worked with.

When You Actually DO Need Training

Okay, so am I saying you should ditch training altogether? Absolutely Not!Training is perfect when:You need standardization. When everyone needs to learn the same process, methodology, or product information, training creates a common language and framework.A springboard to build from.You're making big changes. Launching a new product? Implementing a new CRM? Transitioning to a new sales methodology? Training creates the foundation.

You have specific skill gaps across the team. If 80% of your team struggles with the same specific skill, targeted training makes sense.

I worked with a SaaS company last year that was moving from selling to mid-market to enterprise. They absolutely needed training on enterprise selling frameworks. But – and this is crucial – they followed it with three months of intensive coaching to help reps apply those frameworks to their specific deals. 3 months is the bare minimum for coaching, otherwise you will not see the results.

When Coaching Is Your Answer

You need to prioritize coaching when:

Performance varies widely across the team. If some reps are crushing it while others struggle, that's not a training issue – it's a coaching opportunity.

Reps know what to do but aren't doing it consistently. This is what I call the "knowing-doing gap," and only coaching closes it.

You've invested in training but aren't seeing results. This was Tom's situation. The knowledge was there, but the application wasn't.

Your sales cycles are complex or lengthy. The longer and more complex the sale, the more coaching matters because each situation has unique elements that no training can fully prepare reps for.

My client Rachel runs a team selling complex financial services. Her revelation? "Training taught us the plays, but coaching helps us call the right play at the right time."

Perfectly said, Rachel!

How to Blend Training & Coaching (Because You Need Both)

1. Start with an assessment  determine the gaps and priorities of the team and organization.
2. Create targeted training tailored to the identified gaps.Establish the foundation (but keep it focused, bite size – less is more)
3. Follow immediately with application coaching – have reps practice applying new skills to their actual deals within 48 hours of training. PDCA- Plan - Do-Check - Act
4. Implement a consistent coaching rhythm – weekly one-on-ones focused on skill development, not just pipeline reviews. Always keep the person at the centre, connect first.
5. Use real calls and real deals – abstract role plays have limited value; your team's actual customer conversations are gold mines
6. Create a feedback loop – use coaching insights to identify gaps for future training
7. Document- Where have we improved? where do we still need to work? What KPI’s have we impacted? Look at your team’s morale, confidence? Happiness? Working together as a team? Accountability?

One of my manufacturing clients reduced their formal training by 50% and increased coaching time by just 30 minutes per rep per week. The result? A 23% increase in quota attainment within one quarter.

The Coaching Mindset Shift

Here's what trips up most sales leaders: they think coaching is about telling reps what to do better.

It's not. It’s not their fault, they were probably promoted for being the best rep. Great, but no leadership training. They struggle with driving results through people, when all they know is product.

Great coaching is about asking the right questions and guiding reps to their own insights.

Instead of: "You should have asked about budget constraints earlier in the call."

Try: "I noticed budget wasn't discussed until late in the call. What impact do you think that had on the conversation?" or take a sept back, what would you have done differently? Invite them to notice budget was discussed too late, work on their self awareness and help them see the impact and domino effect of this.

This small shift creates ownership. When reps discover insights themselves, they're 10X more likely to implement them.

Your Action Plan (Because Reading Without Action Is Just Entertainment)

Ready to get serious about balancing training and coaching? Here's your 30-day kickstart plan:

1. Audit your current approach: How much time do you spend on training vs. coaching? Most teams are way out of balance.
2. Block dedicated coaching time: Put it on your calendar now – 30 minutes per rep per week, focused solely on skill development.
3. Pick ONE skill to focus on: Don't boil the ocean. Choose the highest-impact skill gap and make it your coaching theme for the month.
4. Create a simple coaching framework: What questions will you ask? What will you look for in calls? How will you track improvement?
5. Celebrate small wins: Recognize and reward progress, not just outcomes. Get addicted to the process and celebrate consistency.

Remember Tom from the beginning of this post? After implementing this exact plan, his team's conversion rates improved by 14% in just six weeks. The best part? They didn't spend a dime on additional training – they just activated what they already had through effective coaching.

The Bottom Line (Because We're All About Results)

Training teaches the what and how. Coaching ensures it happens when it matters most.

You need both, but if your coaching game is weak, even the best training in the world won't move the needle.

So let me ask you: What's ONE coaching conversation you could have this week that might transform a rep's performance?

That's your starting point. Go make it happen!

Want to Level Up Your Sales Coaching? Email me “scorecard” and I will send you a coaching scorecard to use for your team.

Keep your eyes open for two new K2 Programs opening for registration soon.

1) Fierce Feminine Founders: 8-week Hybrid ProgramWhere mindset meets sales and Bold women Rise.

2) Momentum: 8-week Hybrid Program- Sales RepsBuild habits, Close deals and grow faster together

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You'll get powerful self-paced training, real-time group coaching, and a community of women to support your transformation.

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