Spaced repetition is practicing material or a skill in several short sessions separated by gaps that widen over time, so the skill lasts longer than it would after one long session.
Spacing practice on live deals
Across 63 studies, spaced practice beat massed practice (cramming the same hours into one block) by an effect size of d 0.46, a moderate and reliable gap (Donovan & Radosevich 1999; Cepeda et al. 2008). Testing yourself adds to it: people tested on material kept 56% a week later against 42% for those who re-read it (Roediger & Karpicke 2006).
Sales teams usually apply spacing to knowledge, with quizzes or flashcards pushed to phones. Skills need the same spacing on real conversations: a rep uses a new behavior on a live deal, gets debriefed, and repeats a week later, then two weeks later, then a month later. Kickoffs run the other way: a kickoff is one event, and our sales kickoff field study found real agendas give learning 11% of their minutes.
An eight-week schedule
After a methodology training, a manager books coached rounds with each rep for week one, week two, week four and week eight (illustrative). Each round starts with the rep explaining the behavior from memory, then applies it to the next call on a named deal, then a short debrief. By week eight the gaps are long and the behavior either shows up unprompted on sampled calls or the manager restarts the cycle.
- Week 1Coached round
- Explain the behavior from memory
- Apply it to the next call
- Short debrief
- Week 2Coached round
- Week 4Coached round
- Week 8Unprompted on calls, or restart
The recall step is the part teams skip, and it is the part the testing research supports. At week four the manager asks, "Without looking, what are the two questions you ask after a buyer names a problem?" A rep who answers "something about impact" needs the round. A rep who says "what it costs, and who else feels it" has the habit, and the round goes straight to the next live call.
Related terms
- Forgetting curve: the decline spacing slows
- How to reinforce sales training: the spaced routine, step by step
- Sales kickoff follow-up plan: spacing across the 90 days after a kickoff
FAQ
What is spaced repetition in training? Spaced repetition is practicing material in several short sessions with widening gaps between them, where massed practice puts the same hours into one block. In sales training, that means booking short coached rounds after the event on the rep's own deals, as in the eight-week schedule above.
How often should sales training be repeated? Start close together and widen: about one week, two weeks, four weeks and eight weeks after the training. Each round should ask the rep to recall the skill and use it on a live deal, then debrief.
Is spaced repetition the same as microlearning? Spaced repetition and microlearning are different ideas. Microlearning describes short content; spacing describes when practice happens. Short quizzes can be spaced, and so can coached conversations on real deals, which is where skills change.