Sales Coaching vs Sales Training: Key Differences

Sales coaching and sales training are often confused but serve distinct roles in improving sales team performance. Training focuses on teaching the "what" and "how" of selling - like product knowledge, sales techniques, and tools. Coaching, on the other hand, helps reps apply that knowledge in practice, addressing specific challenges and behaviors through personalized feedback.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Sales Training: Best for onboarding, product launches, or introducing new sales training tools. It’s standardized, group-based, and event-driven, focusing on foundational skills and knowledge.
• Sales Coaching: Ideal for ongoing performance improvement. It’s one-on-one, tailored, and continuous, helping reps refine their skills and solve deal-specific issues.

Why does it matter? Without reinforcement, up to 90% of sales training is forgotten within 120 days. Coaching bridges this gap, driving results like 16.7% higher revenue growth and 28% better win rates.

Quick Takeaway: Use training to build knowledge and coaching to turn it into action. Together, they help your team hit quotas, close more deals, and improve overall performance.

Coaching Is the Missing Link Between Training & Sales Success with Alice Heiman

What Is Sales Training?

Sales training is the structured process of teaching sales professionals the essential skills, techniques, and knowledge they need to succeed. Think of it as the starting point for sales development - where reps learn how to sell a product, navigate a CRM, and follow an established sales methodology.

It provides a foundational understanding of key areas like product features, value propositions, internal workflows, and tactics such as cold calling or handling objections. Typically, training is delivered in group settings through lectures, workshops, or online modules, making it an efficient way to introduce critical concepts.

"When you want to teach new techniques, skills and knowledge, or even language and culture shifts, training is where you should turn." - Justin Zappulla, Managing Partner, Janek Performance Group

Sales training is especially important during onboarding, when launching new products, or rolling out sales tools. However, it's worth noting that without reinforcement, 70% of training content is forgotten within just one week. This highlights an important truth: training alone isn’t enough. To ensure long-term retention and application, it needs to be paired with ongoing coaching.

Main Features of Sales Training

Sales training is designed to deliver standardized content to a broad audience. It’s not tailored to individual needs - whether someone is new to sales or a seasoned professional learning a new product line, everyone receives the same material.

The primary goal is to build a strong foundation. Training typically covers universal topics like prospecting strategies, lead qualification methods, negotiation techniques, and how to use internal systems effectively. The focus is on teaching the "what" and "how" before reps jump into real-world sales interactions.

Timing plays a key role, too. Training is often conducted during onboarding, as periodic refreshers, or when market conditions shift. Despite companies spending about $20 billion annually on sales training, the real challenge lies in ensuring the lessons stick beyond the initial sessions.

Common Sales Training Activities

Sales training often includes a variety of activities designed to engage participants and reinforce learning:

• Workshops: These can be in-person or virtual and focus on teaching methodologies like prospecting or lead qualification. Role-playing exercises are often included to simulate real-world sales scenarios.
• Product Knowledge Sessions: These sessions dive into product features, use cases, and market positioning strategies. They’re especially important during product launches or when entering new markets.
• On-Demand Learning: Quick, bite-sized video lessons that reps can access anytime. These are great for brushing up on key concepts right before a sales call.
• Assessments: Quizzes and evaluations that test knowledge retention and certify reps on new tools, products, or processes.

For instance, in 2025, Loopio adopted the Lessonly by Seismic platform to streamline onboarding and ongoing training. By automating notifications for new learning modules, they standardized their training process while freeing up managers for more personalized coaching.

This structured training approach lays the groundwork for sales coaching, which focuses on refining individual skills and applying them in real-world situations. Up next, we’ll dive into how sales coaching builds on this foundation to drive meaningful results.

What Is Sales Coaching?

Sales coaching is an ongoing, one-on-one process where managers work closely with sales reps to help them apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios. It’s not about simply teaching or instructing (like training); instead, it’s about guiding reps to uncover their own solutions through continuous feedback, consistent practice, and repetition.

"The coaching model is based on the belief that the question is also the answer and that the coach is responsible for finding the answers themselves and developing their own problem-solving skills" - Keith Rosen, author of Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions.

This approach to self-discovery strengthens problem-solving abilities while driving measurable performance gains. For instance, teams that receive dedicated coaching experience 16.7% higher revenue growth, and 75% of coached sales reps consistently hit their quotas. Without reinforcement, however, up to 85% to 90% of sales training can be forgotten within 120 days. This highlights how coaching bridges the gap between learning and doing.

While training lays the groundwork, coaching takes it further by personalizing and refining those foundational skills through hands-on application.

Main Features of Sales Coaching

Sales coaching stands out because of its personalized and adaptable nature. Unlike generic training sessions, coaching focuses on the unique strengths, challenges, and deal scenarios of each individual. For example, a rep struggling with asking discovery questions might get targeted help, while a top performer could focus on strategies to close larger enterprise deals.

This process is dynamic and ongoing. Regular one-on-one sessions create a feedback loop, allowing skills to be honed over time rather than introduced once and forgotten.

A key aspect of coaching is its focus on real-world application. Managers often review live or recorded calls to pinpoint specific areas for improvement and help reps implement new techniques in their next conversations.

The role of a coach is distinct from that of a trainer. As Mike Montague, Global Head of Content at Sandler Training, puts it:

"There are no bad salespeople, only bad coaches. It's the coach's job to understand what a rep needs in order to be successful - and deliver it".

Interestingly, coaching middle performers - the core 60% of a team - yields the biggest impact. With the right coaching, this group can improve their performance by up to 19%.

Common Sales Coaching Activities

Effective sales coaching involves specific, repeatable activities designed to reinforce skills and drive improvement. These include:

• One-on-one feedback sessions: These regular meetings focus on individual skill development, pipeline reviews, and progress toward goals. Consistency matters - 65% of sales managers rely on scheduled calls to coach their team members.
• Call reviews: Managers analyze recorded or live calls to identify moments where reps excelled or missed opportunities, providing clear, actionable feedback.
• Role-play exercises: In a low-pressure setting, reps practice tailored scenarios, like negotiating with a particular buyer persona or handling tricky pricing discussions. Managers can also create AI role-plays for sales training to provide reps with consistent, scalable practice. Many teams now use AI-powered role-play tools to simulate realistic buyer interactions and get instant feedback.
• Pre-call planning and post-call debriefs: Before high-stakes meetings, managers help reps strategize their approach and prepare key questions. Afterward, a quick debrief highlights what went well and what could improve, turning every customer interaction into a learning moment.

Each coaching session should lead to clear, actionable steps. Ideally, reps leave with one or two specific changes to implement within a week, along with a timeline for follow-up. This ensures that coaching translates into tangible progress.

Sales Training vs Sales Coaching: Side-by-Side Comparison

Here's a closer look at how sales training and sales coaching differ, highlighting their unique purposes and methods.

Sales training is all about delivering structured information to groups, answering the question, "What should I do?" It’s often tied to key milestones like onboarding, product launches, or quarterly meetings. On the other hand, sales coaching takes a more hands-on approach, using real-time conversations and feedback to tackle specific challenges reps face in their day-to-day work.

The impact of coaching is undeniable - sales reps who receive regular coaching experience a 16.7% boost in revenue growth.

Next, we’ll dive deeper into how to decide when to use each approach.

Main Differences Between Sales Training and Sales Coaching

The comparison table above highlights the structural differences between training and coaching, but understanding the reasons behind these contrasts is what helps sales leaders decide when to use each approach effectively.

Purpose and Focus

Sales training lays the groundwork - it’s all about teaching reps what to do. This includes delivering knowledge about products, sales methodologies, and process frameworks. In short, training equips salespeople with the basics they need to know. Coaching, on the other hand, focuses on helping reps apply these skills in real-world situations by addressing specific behaviors and deal-level challenges.

As Sandler famously said:

"Sales training builds skills. Sales coaching builds behavior".

Training answers questions like, “What features does our product have?” Coaching, however, digs deeper with queries like, “How do I position this feature when a prospect pushes back on price?”

Without consistent reinforcement, training quickly fades. That’s where coaching steps in - it provides the feedback and practice necessary to ensure that training sticks and translates into measurable results. Together, these distinct objectives create a complementary system for improving sales performance.

Delivery and Approach

Training typically follows a structured, one-to-many format. A trainer delivers standardized content - often through lectures, workshops, or videos - so everyone gets the same foundational knowledge.

Coaching, however, is a one-on-one, collaborative process. Managers work with reps to help them uncover their own solutions and address their specific challenges. As Keith Rosen, author of Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions, puts it:

"The coaching model is based on the belief that the question is also the answer and that the coach is responsible for finding the answers themselves".

While training sticks to a fixed curriculum with pre-set schedules, coaching adjusts dynamically based on what’s happening in a rep’s sales pipeline. It’s a personalized, adaptable process.

Timing and Frequency

The timing of training and coaching reflects their distinct purposes. Training happens at specific intervals - during onboarding, annual sales kickoffs, or when launching new products. It’s event-based, designed to deliver concentrated knowledge at key moments.

Coaching, on the other hand, is woven into the daily rhythm of a sales team. It’s continuous and ongoing. This regular reinforcement is crucial for counteracting the rapid knowledge decay that often follows training programs.

In fact, without reinforcement, between 85% and 90% of sales training is forgotten within 120 days. Coaching plays a critical role here, as consistent mentoring is the strongest predictor of training success, accounting for 35% of the effectiveness in successful programs.

Personalization and Scale

Training is designed for scale. It uses standardized content - playbooks, slides, and assessments - to ensure consistency across the entire team or organization. While this approach works well for delivering foundational knowledge, it doesn’t address the unique challenges individual reps face.

Coaching, by contrast, is highly personalized. It’s tailored to each rep’s specific needs and focuses on their unique challenges. The tradeoff? Coaching requires more time and effort, as it’s delivered one-on-one. However, the payoff is undeniable: coaching middle performers can improve their performance by as much as 19%.

Outcomes and Impact

The goals of training and coaching differ significantly. Training emphasizes knowledge retention and certification - ensuring reps complete modules, pass assessments, and grasp the content. While these metrics are useful, they don’t necessarily translate into better performance.

Coaching, on the other hand, is all about driving behavioral change and tangible outcomes. It leads to higher win rates, faster ramp times, and better quota attainment. For example, sales reps who receive consistent coaching experience 16.7% higher revenue growth and up to 28% higher win rates. Additionally, 75% of reps who receive regular coaching hit their quotas.

When companies combine foundational training with behavior-focused coaching, the results are impressive. Reps ramp up 30% to 50% faster, and organizations that provide on-the-job coaching see an average annual improvement of 20% in seller retention. By understanding these differences, sales leaders can determine the right strategy to deploy at the right time, maximizing both individual and team success.

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When to Use Sales Training vs Sales Coaching

Knowing the right moment to apply training versus coaching can be the key to turning efforts into measurable results. Understanding this distinction helps align the approach with your team’s specific challenges.

Use training to establish a foundation. Training is ideal when you need to standardize knowledge quickly - whether onboarding new hires, launching a product or service, rolling out tools like a CRM or AI-powered sales assistant, or shifting your sales methodology. It ensures everyone gains the same core understanding efficiently, creating alignment across the team.

Turn to coaching to transform knowledge into action. When your team knows what to do but struggles to execute - like closing deals or overcoming objections - coaching bridges the gap by addressing individual behaviors. It’s especially valuable for the "middle 60%" of performers, who stand to gain the most; studies show effective coaching can boost their performance by up to 19%. Coaching also helps combat the forgetting curve, reinforcing skills over time to ensure they stick.

Think of it this way: training teaches the basics - like how to structure a cold call or explain product features. Coaching, on the other hand, fine-tunes those skills, helping a rep adapt their pitch when a prospect pushes back on price or timing. Training works best for large-scale knowledge-sharing, while coaching is tailored to individual, real-world scenarios. Timing plays a role too: training is event-driven - like onboarding or product launches - while coaching should be a regular part of your team’s workflow, happening weekly or bi-weekly.

When evaluating performance gaps, ask yourself: Is this a knowledge issue or an execution challenge? If the problem is a lack of product understanding, training is the answer. If the issue lies in applying that knowledge to close deals, coaching is the way to go.

Using Sales Training and Sales Coaching Together

Blending sales training with coaching is a powerful way to boost your team's performance. While training ensures everyone has the same foundational knowledge, coaching takes it a step further by turning that knowledge into actionable skills. Without coaching to reinforce what’s learned, the impact of training fades over time.

How to Combine Training and Coaching

Pair every training session with focused coaching. For example, after introducing a new product or sales methodology, schedule one-on-one coaching sessions right away to help your team apply what they’ve learned to real deals. Coaching sessions can also uncover common challenges - like gaps in handling objections - which can guide updates to future training content.

AI-powered role-plays can be a game-changer here. After training on objection-handling techniques, reps can practice in realistic simulations before stepping into live sales conversations. Setting up a regular coaching rhythm, such as weekly or bi-weekly sessions, ensures that skills from periodic training events are consistently reinforced. Interestingly, focusing coaching efforts on middle performers - the middle 60% of your team - can yield significant results, with performance improvements of up to 19%.

"The real effects of sales training are more likely to last if followed or complemented by sales coaching." – Federico Presicci, Enablement Advisor

By integrating these approaches, you can make learning stick and help your team apply their skills in real-world situations.

Real Examples

Take Samcart, for instance. In 2025, they managed to double their sales in just one week after adopting Kendo's AI-powered system, which allowed reps to immediately practice handling buyer objections. Similarly, Loopio combined automated onboarding training with AI-driven coaching through the Seismic platform. By providing instant feedback on training exercises, they created a faster feedback loop that helped new hires ramp up more efficiently.

On-the-job coaching also has a direct impact on retention. Companies that prioritize coaching often see seller retention rates increase by about 20% annually. By combining the structured learning of training with the tailored guidance of coaching, you’re not just educating your team - you’re setting them up for success in the field.

AI Tools for Sales Coaching and Training

AI tools are reshaping how sales teams approach training and coaching, offering real-time feedback and performance analysis that’s both immediate and objective. Sales reps can now practice whenever they need to, with instant support that helps them refine their skills. This frees managers to focus more on strategic guidance while ensuring every rep gets consistent and fair evaluations.

How AI Helps Sales Enablement

AI takes the guesswork out of feedback and efficiently pinpoints skill gaps. By analyzing elements like tone, pace, and language in real time, these tools provide actionable insights while the practice session is still fresh. This removes human bias from the equation, ensuring evaluations are based on consistent standards.

The results are clear. AI-powered coaching has been shown to drive revenue growth, and combining AI with human coaching can increase sales performance by 25%. For instance, in 2025, the healthcare company Precina used Salesforce's Agentforce AI coaching to train clinicians for patient intake calls. The AI offered real-time feedback on accuracy, compliance, and empathy, allowing the company to scale training without being limited by manager availability. This also led to better call quality.

"AI sales coaching offloads the work of coaching and training while giving sales people the chance to practice when they want, as often as they want, in a non-judgmental environment." – Salesforce

AI tools can even simulate complex buyer personas, giving reps a safe space to move from theory to practice without risking real customer interactions. Tools like PitchMonster take this a step further, refining role-plays and delivering personalized feedback.

How PitchMonster Supports Sales Teams

PitchMonster is designed to help sales teams prepare for live calls through AI-driven role-plays, custom scorecards, and detailed feedback. It’s a tool that bridges the gap between learning the basics and applying them in real-world scenarios.

The platform evaluates speech patterns, messaging accuracy, and how well reps handle objections, offering immediate and actionable feedback. Managers can also create AI scorecards to ensure every rep is assessed consistently and fairly. The impact is tangible:

• JustSchool improved sales conversion rates by 8.3% and saved managers 5 hours per week on coaching.
• PRN Health Services saw a 22% improvement in call quality and a 14% increase in scheduled interviews or appointments within six months.
• Mentor Group cut new hire ramp-up time in half.

"It doesn't matter if they do 10 or 10,000 role-plays per day; they will always receive feedback as if it were from you." – PitchMonster

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Team

Sales training and coaching work hand in hand to create a stronger, more effective salesforce. Training gives reps the knowledge they need - covering products, methodologies, and processes - while coaching takes that knowledge and turns it into consistent actions and real-world results. Together, these strategies can lead to 16.7% higher annual revenue growth, a 28% improvement in win rates, and help 75% of reps meet their quotas.

Each approach plays a unique role but complements the other perfectly. Training is ideal for onboarding new team members, introducing new products, or rolling out a standardized sales methodology. Coaching, on the other hand, is best for addressing individual performance gaps, reinforcing skills during live deals, and ensuring that knowledge translates into action. Focusing coaching efforts on the middle 60% of performers is particularly impactful, as this group has the potential to improve by up to 19%, offering a strong return on investment.

"Training lays the foundation, but coaching ensures growth and mastery over time." – Revenue.io

Technology can amplify the effectiveness of both training and coaching. AI-driven tools like PitchMonster allow reps to practice pitches and objection handling independently, while managers gain data-driven insights to tailor their coaching efforts. By analyzing CRM and conversation intelligence data, you can determine whether a rep needs additional training or more focused coaching.

Starting with training and following up with consistent coaching creates a path to mastery. When combined with the right technology, these strategies help your team close more deals and hit their targets with greater consistency.

FAQs

How does sales coaching help boost win rates compared to sales training?

Sales coaching plays a crucial role in improving win rates by providing personalized, ongoing support that helps sales reps put their skills into action in real-world scenarios. While sales training lays the groundwork by teaching essential knowledge and techniques, coaching takes it a step further. It sharpens and strengthens those skills through tailored feedback, hands-on guidance, and continuous development.

Research highlights that well-executed sales coaching leads to noticeable performance improvements, including increased win rates and revenue growth. By tackling specific challenges, enhancing the quality of sales calls, and equipping reps to handle various buyer situations, coaching gives sales teams the tools they need to close more deals and consistently meet their goals.

What are the main advantages of using AI tools in sales coaching?

Integrating AI tools into sales coaching brings a range of benefits that can transform how sales teams perform. One standout advantage is the ability to deliver personalized, data-driven feedback. By analyzing each rep’s performance, AI pinpoints specific skills or behaviors that need attention, helping reps sharpen their abilities and improve customer interactions. This tailored guidance can lead to more closed deals and stronger client relationships.

Another major perk? AI takes the burden off managers by automating tedious tasks like reviewing call transcripts, tracking sentiment, and identifying areas for improvement. This means managers can spend less time on administrative work and more time having impactful coaching conversations. Beyond that, AI tools reveal patterns and insights that help leaders fine-tune strategies, manage larger teams with ease, and onboard new reps faster. In short, AI brings precision and efficiency to coaching, paving the way for better performance and results.

When should a company focus on sales coaching instead of sales training?

When a company wants to sharpen the practical application of skills, offer tailored feedback, and boost ongoing performance, sales coaching becomes a key focus. It’s most effective after sales reps have completed their initial training and are ready to fine-tune their techniques, improve call quality, or tackle specific hurdles they face in their day-to-day sales efforts.

Sales coaching also plays a crucial role in nurturing traits like accountability, resilience, and confidence - qualities that are essential in today’s competitive, ever-evolving sales landscape. For seasoned teams, coaching is particularly valuable. It helps maintain high performance over the long haul by reinforcing skills and encouraging consistent growth through hands-on, real-world practice.

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