Sales Training: In through one ear, out the other

Research shows that:

• Within one hour, people will have forgotten an average of 50 percent of the information you presented.
• Within 24 hours, they have forgotten an average of 70 percent of new information,
• And within a week, an average of 90 percent of it.

Now this must be making you think twice about your next sales training sessions!

What Is the Forgetting Curve?

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) was a German psychologist who founded the experimental psychology of memory. Ebbinghaus’ research was groundbreaking at the time.

In recognition of his work in psychology, the “forgetting curve”—the loss of learned information—is sometimes referred to as the “Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve.”

The forgetting curve is a term used to describe how quickly knowledge or information fades from people’s memories after being exposed to it.

Quote: “The forgetting curve affects both short-term memory (the ability to recall something for up to two minutes) and long-term memory (the ability to recall something for more than two hours).”

This means that after only a few minutes of exposure, most people have forgotten about 70% of what they learned the day before.

After an hour has passed, only 30% of that information is still fresh in people’s minds. And after three days? Only 10%. So if you want your salespeople to be able retain what they learn and use it effectively, make sure you provide plenty of opportunities for them to practice and reflect.

It all starts off with a change in the learning culture at your company:

• No more tick box sales training exercises
• No more one size fits all training
• No more “just use trainers” (not experts in the sales field) teaching
• No more full day sessions
• No more learn & leave (Sales Managers need to coach often)

How do you get your sales team to overcome the Forgetting Curve?

1. Learning through Spacing Effect: The spacing effect demonstrates that learning is more effective when training sessions are spaced out. This effect shows that more information is encoded into long-term memory by spaced training sessions
2. Application: Get sales people to apply the learnings as soon as they can
3. Feedback: Ensure sales people listen to your clients response, get feedback from peers or coaching from mentors and you!
4. Repeat: Really drill down and reinforce the sales fundamentals and do it often.