October 17, 2026 | Read online
Behind on target? Keep the training.
by Kevin 'KD' Dorsey
The Training You Cancel Is the Training Your Team Needs
“We don’t have time to train. We’re behind.”
Y’all, think about that sentence for a second.
The team is missing the number. Something in the sales motion needs to improve. And the first thing we cut is the time set aside to help people improve it.
Then we send everyone back to the same calls, with the same habits, and ask for a different result.
What, exactly, is supposed to change?
When the pressure goes up, training has to get more focused. Give the team something they can practice today and use on the next call.
Here’s a way to do that in 30 minutes.
Pick one skill before you walk in
“Get better at discovery” is too broad.
Choose a specific moment:
- The buyer gives a vague answer and the rep moves on.
- The rep hears a problem but never explores its impact.
- The call ends with “I’ll follow up” and no agreed next step.
Pick the one that matters most for your team right now. Let’s use getting from a problem to its impact.
Minutes 0–5: Make the behavior clear
“When a buyer names a problem, stay with it long enough to understand what it affects.”
Give the team a starting question:
“When that happens, what does it create for the rest of the team?”
Then show how they could follow the answer:
“Who ends up dealing with that?”
“What gets delayed?”
“What have you tried so far?”
They don’t need to ask all four. They need to listen well enough to choose the next one.
Minutes 5–12: Review one call moment
Play a short clip from a recent call. Pause where the buyer mentions a problem. Ask the team what they heard and what they’d ask next.
Keep the discussion on the behavior. Avoid turning it into a public review of everything the rep did wrong.
Choose one question together. Say it out loud.
Minutes 12–22: Run one roleplay
Pair up. One person plays the buyer. One practices the question. Then switch.
Give the buyer a recurring problem, an initial vague answer, and a consequence they can explain if asked.
The seller’s job is to follow the answer without jumping into a pitch.
Keep the feedback specific: Did the question help us understand the impact? Did the rep listen and build on the answer?
Minutes 22–30: Decide where it gets used
Ask each rep to name an upcoming conversation where this skill could help.
Then agree on what you’ll review: one call moment where they tried it, what the buyer said, and what they’d do differently.
That gives the practice somewhere to go.
Your move this week
Protect one 30-minute block.
Choose one skill. Review one call. Run one roleplay. Apply it.
If the team is behind, they already know the number.
Help them change something that could move it.
What’s the first skill you’d work on with your team? Hit reply and tell me.
KD
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