The Back to School ads are everywhere and serve as a reminder that there has been a long break in learning for millions of kids in America. While you may have a nostalgic notion of summer camps, swimming and playing in the sun, this traditional school schedule may result in a real learning loss.  

Research published by the American Educational Research Association examined the effects of summer vacation on standardized achievement test scores. The results from 39 studies indicated that summer learning loss equaled at least one month of instruction. Children’s tests scores in areas such as math and spelling, were lower in the fall compared with the scores when students left in the spring.

Unfortunately, a lot of sales training schedules unintentionally fall into the same pattern with long summer-length breaks between sessions. This is not ideal for learning and retaining information. 

According to the Aberdeen Group, only 44 percent of organizations use continued learning reinforcement to support their sales teams after initial training. When learning is continuous, results are noticeably better. Investment in training pays off with an average of 79 percent of sales teams attaining sales quota versus only 69 percent of those without continuing training.

Brain science has proven that most of our learning is lost after the first 90 – 120 days if you don’t revisit the information in some way. Yet usually sales training is planned around a two or three-day motivational event without much follow up incorporated beyond that. No matter how great the event, the initial enthusiasm fades and true long-term learning doesn’t happen. Only through consistent repetition and practice do sales team internalize training to adopt better skills and change behavior.

Happily, incorporating a successful continued training program can be easy to tag on to your current foundation. Technology today makes it easy to put in place activities that seamlessly encourage repetition and practice to improve and hone skills during the work week. Continuous training reinforcement will keep the sales team refreshed without having to start over after long breaks.

Here are four tips for incorporating continuous learning:

• Keep information and modules short. Design brief learning modules (under five minutes) that provide information when salespeople really need it.
• Make information easy to get to, searchable and fast.  Integrate the information and training to be part of the daily workflow. Even better if sales reps can access it in just two or three clicks. Add learning modules and prompts to the CRM if possible.
• Combine content, training and coaching.  Have all three and in context when a sales rep needs it.
• Create interactive activities. Encourage salespeople to think through sales scenarios and participate in providing an answer. Memory games and exercises are enjoyable and will improve recall.

Technology and sales enablement applications can make continued training a seamless part of the workday by being quick, flexible and relevant.  Many of these learning activities can be automated and fun for everyone to use and even better – they don’t add to the workload.

Let your competition deal with the back to school blues and review while your sales team speeds by with no stops and starts.  

Chanin Ballance is the CEO of Veelo.