Why Traditional Sales Training Fails and 4 Strategies to Actually Change Behavior, With Jonathan Kvarfordt

I'm excited to share the latest Learning Unbound with Jonathan Kvarfordt, a Revenue Excellence, Enablement, and Acceleration Executive with more than 15 years of experience helping companies double their revenue. His diverse background includes selling everything from tires and wheels to SaaS products for Fortune 500 companies, giving him perspective on sales and enablement strategies across industries. From founding GTM AI Academy to his work as a life coach and his experience building enablement programs at companies large and small, Jonathan understands what drives people to learn and change behaviors. 

In this blog, we’ll explore how leaders can drive sustainable behavior change in their organizations. If you're interested in learning more about Jonathan and his expertise, I encourage you to listen to the full episode here:

Here are the takeaways we will explore below:

• Design Systems That Naturally Encourage Desired Behaviors
• Use Multiple Motivators to Drive Engagement
• Applying the LOPAFT Framework for Comprehensive Skill Development
• Clearly Define What Great Performance Looks Like

Design Systems That Naturally Encourage Desired Behaviors

Jonathan discussed how enablement leaders often focus on changing people and their behavior. Instead, he suggests they should be focusing on the environment:

"Instead of focusing on how someone can just behave differently, which is a very difficult task, we should create a system that naturally makes the person behave differently."

This approach shifts our thinking from forcing change through brute force to creating conditions where good habits form naturally. In learning, this could mean setting up workspaces or schedules that make it easy for people to learn and practice new skills daily. Consider redesigning workflows, adjusting team structures, or modifying physical spaces to promote collaboration and continuous learning. These adjustments may seem minor, but try them out and see the impact it makes on how your team learns and acts.

Use Multiple Motivators to Drive Engagement

When discussing how to motivate people, Jonathan shared a practical example from his work with a retail team:

"We set up a coaching system where someone could qualify as the coach of the month. They would come into an environment where they worked with me, and I would take them through a Franklin Covey-style facilitator program for coaching. The coach of the month would then be responsible for certain things happening within the store. They were also incentivized so that when those things happened, they got a bonus on top of their hourly wage, based on the store's performance. We tried to tap into as many of those progress factors as possible while also giving them the freedom to say, 'This is your team, your region. Let's think about and create something together that is your program, based on core principles that can actually impact people for performance.'"

This example shows how combining different types of rewards - learning new skills, gaining responsibility, and financial incentives - can be more effective than relying on just one. When planning training programs, consider incorporating elements that appeal to different motivations, such as opportunities for skill mastery, increased autonomy, or recognition from peers and leaders. Make sure the motivators will have a felt impact on those that you are trying to engage.

Apply the LOPAFT Framework for Comprehensive Skill Development

Jonathan introduced his LOPAFT framework, highlighting a common shortcoming in many training programs:

"What I see in enablement is that they usually stop at number one, which is learning or knowledge transfer. That's where someone presents the information to you, like a lecture. It's just about learning the content... That's absolutely crucial, but a lot of people stop there. That's all they do."

The LOPAFT framework addresses this issue by providing a comprehensive approach to learning and behavior change:

1. Learning: Acquire new knowledge and concepts
2. Observing: Watch experts demonstrate skills in action
3. Practice: Try out new skills in a safe environment
4. Application: Use new skills in real-world situations
5. Feedback: Receive constructive input on performance
6. Teaching: Solidify learning by explaining it to others

This approach ensures that learning experiences go beyond simple knowledge transfer. By incorporating all these elements, the framework fosters deeper understanding and more lasting behavior change.

Clearly Define What Great Performance Looks Like

Jonathan pointed out a common challenge leaders face when trying to improve their team's performance:

"Leaders usually have a pretty good gut feel about their industry because they're leaders for a reason, but they don't always have the ability to communicate that unconscious competence. They either have it and can't communicate it, or they can feel what good looks like but can't articulate it."

Many leaders know what good work looks like but struggle to explain it clearly. As learning professionals, we can help by working with leaders to put their expectations into words. This makes it easier to design training that meets the organization's needs and helps employees understand what they're aiming for. By facilitating conversations and providing frameworks for leaders to articulate their standards, we can bridge the gap between intuitive understanding and actionable guidance for teams.

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