The global LMS market is projected to reach $30.0 billion as learning technologies and enablement tools scale. But 14% of employees report that their organization provides no training. Meanwhile, 48% of learning leaders say measuring training impact is their biggest challenge.
Key Takeaways
- 14% of employees reported that their organization provides no training at all
- 3 out of 5 employees say they would stay longer with a company that invests in their career development
- 48% of learning leaders say their biggest challenge is measuring the impact of training
- The global LMS market was valued at $18.0 billion in 2020
- The LMS market is expected to grow to $30.0 billion by 2026
- The global online training market is projected to reach $521.0 billion by 2028
- Companies using social learning report 5 times greater knowledge retention
- A 2015 meta-analysis found that training programs produce an average performance improvement of about 17% over control groups
- A meta-analysis reported that the average job performance effect size across training studies was d = 0.64
- 55% of employees watch training videos at least once per week (survey statistic)
- 39% of organizations say their employees use external resources rather than official training content
- 67% of companies use a learning management system to deliver training content (survey statistic)
- E-learning can be 30% to 70% less expensive than traditional classroom training (industry benchmark)
- Online learning reduces total training costs by 35% (benchmark reported in learning evaluation literature)
- A 2014 study found that the cost of workplace injury is associated with training interventions costing $1.5 million per program (health & safety context)
Without measurement and relevant content, many companies underinvest in training, despite clear performance and retention benefits.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends6 stats
01
14% of employees reported that their organization provides no training at all
02
3 out of 5 employees say they would stay longer with a company that invests in their career development
03
48% of learning leaders say their biggest challenge is measuring the impact of training
04
65% of organizations use a Learning Management System (LMS) for training
05
81% of organizations plan to use Learning Management Systems by 2023
06
58% of sellers say they struggle to find relevant content when selling
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
With 14% reporting no training at all and 58% struggling to find relevant selling content, the data shows a clear gap in effective enablement even as 65% use an LMS and 81% plan to use one by 2023.
02 · Category
Market Size22 stats
01
The global LMS market was valued at $18.0 billion in 2020
02
The LMS market is expected to grow to $30.0 billion by 2026
03
The global online training market is projected to reach $521.0 billion by 2028
04
The global coaching market size was $27.0 billion in 2023
05
The global corporate coaching market is projected to reach $22.0 billion by 2030
06
The global sales enablement software market was $1.6 billion in 2022
07
The sales enablement software market is forecast to reach $5.8 billion by 2027
08
The global customer training market was estimated at $17.0 billion in 2022
09
The customer training market is projected to reach $31.0 billion by 2030
10
The global sales technology market is expected to reach $60.0 billion by 2026
11
Sales technology spending in the U.S. is expected to exceed $58.0 billion in 2024
12
Global spending on learning technologies is forecast to total $28.0 billion in 2024
13
Worldwide technology spending on learning is forecast to total $25.6 billion in 2023
14
Global spending on learning technology is projected to grow by 12.4% in 2023
15
The global virtual classroom market was valued at $3.4 billion in 2020
16
The virtual classroom market is projected to reach $12.7 billion by 2028
17
The global digital coaching market is projected to reach $16.3 billion by 2030
18
The corporate training software market is projected to reach $21.0 billion by 2028
19
The global talent management software market is expected to reach $20.1 billion by 2027
20
The global talent management software market was valued at $10.7 billion in 2020
21
The sales enablement platform market is expected to reach $5.4 billion by 2027
22
The sales enablement platform market was valued at $1.3 billion in 2020
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
Spending on sales training and enablement is scaling fast, with the LMS market expected to rise from $18.0 billion in 2020 to $30.0 billion by 2026 while sales enablement software grows from $1.6 billion in 2022 to $5.8 billion by 2027.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics25 stats
01
Companies using social learning report 5 times greater knowledge retention
02
A 2015 meta-analysis found that training programs produce an average performance improvement of about 17% over control groups
03
A meta-analysis reported that the average job performance effect size across training studies was d = 0.64
04
The median sales cycle length is 84 days (3–4 months) across many B2B sales organizations
05
Learning that uses practice and feedback is associated with improved performance compared with learning without practice
06
Workers who participate in structured mentoring programs are 20–50% more likely to complete training successfully (study range)
07
In a Controlled study, sales training increased average conversion rates by 29%
08
Skill-based sales training can increase quota attainment by 11% (reported in training effectiveness research)
09
An empirical study found that sales training is positively related to customer retention (beta reported as positive)
10
In a meta-analysis, training transfer to the job had an average effect size of r = 0.26
11
Using e-learning can reduce training time by 40% compared with traditional training (study statistic)
12
E-learning can increase retention by 25% to 60% (range from training evaluation literature)
13
Computer-based training is associated with an 18% higher learning outcome than traditional methods (meta-analysis)
14
A workplace training meta-analysis estimated an overall effect of g = 0.56 on post-training performance
15
In a laboratory and field study, role-play increased performance scores by 14% compared with observation-only
16
In a meta-analysis, practice testing improved learning with effect size of d ≈ 0.83
17
Feedback interventions produce medium effects on performance (Hattie & Timperley summary: effect magnitude about 0.79)
18
A meta-analysis found that simulation-based training has a mean effect size of 0.50 on skills acquisition
19
Sales reps who receive product training show a 20% lift in early pipeline creation (reported in industry study)
20
Customers served by trained sales teams report higher satisfaction; average CSAT increase of 0.3 points (industry study)
21
A meta-analysis found coaching improved performance with an effect size of g ≈ 0.38
22
Sales training reduces sales cycle length by an average of 10% to 20% (industry research)
23
Companies using evidence-based sales training saw 14% higher win rates versus control groups (study result)
24
Managers who coach at least once per week are associated with 5.2% higher team performance (meta-level HR research)
25
Training that includes knowledge checks improves retention by about 12% compared with no checks (learning science study)
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across these sales training findings, structured and practice based approaches consistently boost results, with knowledge retention rising up to 5 times and overall job performance improving by about 17% over control groups, often alongside faster outcomes like a 10% to 20% shorter sales cycle.
More related reading
04 · Category
User Adoption9 stats
01
55% of employees watch training videos at least once per week (survey statistic)
02
39% of organizations say their employees use external resources rather than official training content
03
67% of companies use a learning management system to deliver training content (survey statistic)
04
37% of sales reps say training is too theoretical (survey statistic)
05
63% of organizations provide coaching along with training for sales teams
06
53% of learning leaders plan to implement learning analytics in the next 12 months
07
33% of organizations report their training content is not updated frequently
08
36% of sales training is delivered digitally (share of delivery format)
09
39% of employees report they use self-directed learning tools
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 67% of companies already using an LMS, sales training still struggles with freshness and relevance since 33% say content is not updated frequently and 37% of reps feel training is too theoretical.
05 · Category
Cost Analysis14 stats
01
E-learning can be 30% to 70% less expensive than traditional classroom training (industry benchmark)
02
Online learning reduces total training costs by 35% (benchmark reported in learning evaluation literature)
03
A 2014 study found that the cost of workplace injury is associated with training interventions costing $1.5 million per program (health & safety context)
04
The average employer in the U.S. spent $1.08on training per hour worked (BLS-reported training expenditure proxy)
05
Companies adopting cloud-based LMS reduce administrative costs by 20% (industry benchmark)
06
Cloud-based LMS spend is forecast to reach $10 billion by 2026
07
VR training can reduce training time by 40% to 60% compared with traditional methods (cost-time linkage)
08
The average cost of replacing a lost employee is 6 to 9 months of salary (context for sales training retention value)
09
$2,000per employee is the typical annual cost for learning tools and platforms (L&D budget benchmark)
10
LMS implementations typically require 3 to 6 months to deploy and can reduce administrative effort by 30% (implementation benchmark)
11
L&D technology spending is expected to total $28.0 billion in 2024 (spend impacts training cost)
12
In 2022, organizations reported 4% to 6% reductions in training costs when switching to digital formats (benchmark)
13
Organizations in the U.S. spent $86.7 billion on training in 2021 (training spending estimate)
14
Organizations in the U.S. spent $79.3 billion on training in 2020 (training spending estimate)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
Taken together, these figures suggest that moving sales training to digital platforms can materially cut costs and time, with online learning reducing total training costs by 35% and VR training cutting training time by 40% to 60%, while U.S. training spending still totaled $86.7 billion in 2021 and is projected to keep climbing as cloud LMS adoption reaches $10 billion by 2026.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Julian Richter. (2026, February 13). Sales Training Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sales-training-statistics
MLA
Julian Richter. "Sales Training Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/sales-training-statistics.
Chicago
Julian Richter. 2026. "Sales Training Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sales-training-statistics.
Sources & references
59 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+30 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)