Why Most Sales Training Fails | James Barton, Mentor Group

In the first episode of The Outside Seat, James Barton, Chief Solutions Officer at Mentor Group and co-author of Infinite Selling, joins Mike Tumalty to unpack why most sales training fails within 90 days, what genuinely sustainable selling looks like, and where AI is changing GTM versus where it is being oversold.

James brings a rare perspective. He sits inside more revenue organisations than most CROs will see in a career, designing the systems that turn training into measurable commercial outcomes. This conversation goes deep on enablement architecture, the gap between what clients ask for and what they actually need, the buyer journey as map rather than process, and the BDR redundancy question that every revenue leader is going to have to answer in the next 18 months.

What you will hear:

Why most sales training evaporates within 90 days The systems thinker's view of GTM transformation Buyer journey as map, not process Where AI genuinely augments selling, and where it is being oversold Why the BDR function is the most at-risk role in B2B sales today The Rapid Fire round: tools, myths, metrics, hiring stories, and the most underrated people in James's network

About James Barton:

James is Chief Solutions Officer at Mentor Group, a global sales performance consultancy that helps revenue teams turn sales training into sustainable selling and predictable growth. He is the co-author of Infinite Selling and one of the most credible voices on the architecture of commercial transformation.

About The Outside Seat:

The Outside Seat is a B2B revenue leadership podcast hosted by Mike Tumalty, founder of InsideNow. Every episode features an unfiltered conversation with the people who run the commercial engine in B2B technology. No recycled frameworks. No sanitised answers. Practitioner conversations from people who have been in the room.

New episodes every Tuesday 

Episode 1 is supported by Flourish, an early-career B2B sales recruitment and training business. If you are hiring sales talent, find out more at: https://info.helloflourish.com/hire-a-sales-exec/

Connect with James Barton on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamesabarton
Connect with Mike Tumalty on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/miketumalty 
Visit The Outside Seat: theoutsideseat.com 
Visit InsideNow: insidenow.co.uk

The Outside Seat is produced by InsideNow.