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March 15, 2017 [Updated October 2, 2026]

Find a sales tool to train your staff sales reps

By Farah Benghanem

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sales reps ’ training has long resembled an annual event: a packed day, a thick manual, and daily life taking over again the very next day. This model is no longer viable. Faced with complex sales cycles, better-informed buyers, and artificial intelligence that is redefining the profession, expertise is built continuously, in small steps, as close to the front lines as possible. Here’s why continuous learning has become a driver of performance—and how sales enablement and AI are transforming it.

The basics in 30 seconds

  • Training is no longer an annual event; it takes place continuously, in short, repeated sessions.
  • Its greatest enemy isforgetting: without practice, the essentials of a skill fade away within a few weeks.
  • It must adapt to the nature of the terrain: autonomy, mobility, offline operation, and hidden time.
  • Data makes training easier to manage: quizzes, usage statistics, and identification of courses that aren't being used effectively.
  • AI and agents are a game-changer: preparation, feedback, and coaching are now continuous and personalized.

Continuing Education: An Investment in Performance

Changes in the sales profession have shifted the focus toward performance and sales optimization. In this context, training is not an expense—it is an investment. It makes teams more efficient, more responsive, and better able to quickly adapt to changes in a connected market, where buyers are actively engaged and competition is fierce.

The marketing department regularly updates offers, messages, and new products. Without a continuous training program, these changes take months to reach the front lines—if they reach them at all. A sales force that receives ongoing training absorbs these changes, puts them into practice, and thereby ensures the success of product launches and the ongoing development of the teams’ skills.

Training thus becomes a guiding principle: it outlines the skills to be acquired, developed, or reinforced, and supports each individual’s professional growth. It serves as a catalyst for growth, and its return on investment is evident in the field—in the ease with which employees interact with clients, their ability to listen, and the quality of the solutions they offer.

The Real Enemy of Learning: Forgetfulness

One-time training faces a well-known obstacle: memory. Hermann Ebbinghaus’s work on the forgetting curve established this more than a century ago, and nothing has contradicted it since.

Feature · The Curve of Forgetting

Without review, a large portion of the knowledge acquired during training is forgotten within a few weeks: nearly 87% one month after learning, according to Ebbinghaus’s research. Spaced repetition is the primary known remedy.

The key lies in one word: repetition. Regular exposure to the right content helps knowledge take root over the long term. Changing a sales habit isn’t achieved with an annual reminder, but through small, repeated steps over time. That’s the whole principle behind continuing education, and that’s where a sales enablement tool used on a daily basis makes a difference—by exposing the sales force to content as they go about their work.

Train According to the Pace of the Field

A sales team cannot be away for an entire day—or even several days—without it affecting business operations and customer relationships. Ongoing training resolves this tension: it consists of short sessions that salespeople can access whenever they choose, and it accommodates each person’s schedule—whether early in the morning, between appointments, or during a commute.

This flexibility turns downtime into productive time. Travel—a major and largely unavoidable expense—becomes an opportunity for training, even without an internet connection. It’s a way to optimize both time and organization.

Continuing education also empowers salespeople to take charge of their own development. Rather than sitting through a long day of slides, they choose their own modules, progress at their own pace, and put what they learn into practice when they need it. Gamification—with its challenges, quizzes, and leaderboards—keeps them engaged where a single module might be forgotten.

That remains to be seen. Quizzes assess knowledge on a specific topic, while usage statistics reveal who has been trained, on what, and where gaps remain. This allows us to identify when a course is not being mastered sufficiently, adjust the content, and tailor our support. Training ceases to be a matter of intuition and becomes a managed process.

AI: A New Catalyst for Continuing Education

This is the game-changer of recent years. Artificial intelligence does not replace trainers or managers; rather, it amplifies their impact. By automating preparation, information gathering, and note-taking, it frees up time for sales reps —time that can be used for both training and sales.

Above all, AI turns every meeting into a learning opportunity. AI agents prepare for meetings, suggest next steps, and provide managers with actionable insights—all without requiring the sales rep to enter any data. An assistant like Marvin puts useful information at your fingertips, right when you need it.

Coaching is also changing in nature. Rather than relying on impressions, managers now coach based on measurable metrics, in line with a practice-based management approach. The results are documented.

Structured Coaching: Measurable Results

+32%
An increase in the conversion rate (win rate) among organizations that receive consistent and measured coaching.
Source: Korn Ferry, Sales Enablement Study
+28%
Achievement of sales quotas by teams operating within a formally structured coaching framework.
Source: Korn Ferry, Sales Enablement Study

When used effectively, AI can even help salespeople better prepare for and follow up on meetings. Continuing education is no longer a one-time event—it has become a stream of measurable, personalized micro-improvements integrated into the sales rep’s daily routine.

See it in action

Provide ongoing training to your sales reps as they go about their work

In 20 minutes, our experts will show you how Salesapps exposes your teams to the right content, tracks their progress, and turns every meeting into a learning opportunity.

Discover, Train, and Coach Your sales reps

What Our Customers Say

Our sales reps s save a tremendous amount of time preparing for their appointments—for example, by accessing the training materials for new hires. With Salesapps, we quickly reached a 100% adoption rate.

Sophie Saussier, Manager of Sales Support Tools, Moët Hennessy Diageo

With Salesapps, the time required to onboard and train new sales reps has been reduced by a factor of four, from an average of one month to one week.

Franz Thibault, CEO, Thibault Bergeron

Key takeaways

5 Key Takeaways

  • Continuing education is an investment in performance, not an expense: it safeguards product launches and accelerates skill development.
  • The real enemy is stillforgetting: only spaced repetition can firmly anchor knowledge over the long term.
  • Effective training adapts to the realities on the ground: short sessions, self-directed learning, flexibility, and offline access.
  • Data is transforming training into a management tool: quizzes, usage statistics, and identifying knowledge gaps.
  • AI and agents enable continuous, personalized learning and support evidence-based coaching.

Frequently Asked Questions About Continuing Education for sales reps

Why provide ongoing training for your sales reps instead of just once a year?

Because one-time training is quickly forgotten and does not lead to lasting behavioral change. Ongoing training, delivered in short, repeated sessions, reinforces knowledge, allows salespeople to adapt to changes in the product lineup and the market as they occur, and accommodates each salesperson’s pace.

How long do people retain what they learn from a one-time training session?

Not much, without review. Ebbinghaus’s work on the forgetting curve shows that a large portion of what we learn—nearly 87%—is forgotten one month after learning it. Spaced repetition is the primary known method for countering this phenomenon.

How can we provide training without disrupting business operations?

By shifting from a one-day training session to short modules that are available on demand—even offline—sales representatives can train between appointments or while commuting, without interrupting their work or compromising their responsiveness to clients.

How can we measure the effectiveness of training?

Using the data. Quizzes assess knowledge of a given topic, usage statistics show who has completed training and on what topics, and analysis of the results highlights areas where mastery is insufficient. We then adjust the content and target support where it is needed.

What role does AI play in the training of sales reps ?

AI frees up time by automating tasks that do not add value and transforms every meeting into a learning opportunity. AI agents prepare for meetings and provide actionable insights to managers, who can then coach based on measurable metrics rather than impressions. Learning becomes a continuous, personalized process.

Take action

Make continuing education a driver of performance

In just 20 minutes, discover how Salesapps, sales enablement, and AI expose your teams to the right content, make progress measurable, and turn every meeting into a learning opportunity.

Request a personalized demo

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