Why Traditional Sales Role Plays Fail (And How to Fix Them)
Sales role plays, while theoretically valuable for skill development, often become dreaded exercises that fail to deliver meaningful improvement. Traditional approaches frequently create uncomfortable, artificial experiences that waste time rather than build confidence and capabilities.
The Problem
Only a few times in my life have I seen reps volunteer to role play. They are usually the new hires. As soon as they can avoid them, they will.
The typical set-up goes like this: "John, why don't you do a role play with Jane? You are the rep, and she's the prospect. Pretent it's a cold call. Go."
Well-intentioned sales and enablement leaders can kill valuable role play sessions quickly. What can they do?
Ideas
- Make them realistic. Provide as clear of a context as you can. Who are you calling? What's their business? What are their challenges? Take scenarios from the pipeline or use AI to generate them for you.
- Keep them short. How many times have you seen a role play go on for 5 or 10 minutes? It's an eternity in the Instagram/TikTok generation. Pick a specific goal for the role play, do it within a few minutes, and engage the group in providing feedback.
- Give precise feedback. "That was good." "He built rapport." "Nice pitch." How many times have you heard that kind of feedback? Be precise. For example, "When you said X, and he responded with Y, you asked a great question to acknowledge their objection and challenge their thinking at the same time."
Remember: The goal of role plays isn't to create perfect performances, but to build practical skills that drive revenue. Focus on creating safe, engaging environments where reps can experiment, learn, and grow their capabilities.
If you could use help with designing better role play sessions or would love to have a facilitator do it for you, contact me!