Looking to build a world-class sales team that repeatedly closes high-value leads?
Whether you’re recruiting new sales reps or helping current team members with their development, you’ll need to include sales training as part of their development program.
Related: What is sales enablement?
Why invest in sales training
High-performing sales organizations are twice as likely to provide ongoing training as low-performing ones. However, finding a quality sales training program can be tough — especially when a superb sales rep has a variety of skills that took years to master.
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though.
Sales training ideas
A few types of training programs to consider include:
Training on basic sales activities
Take note of the tasks your sales team are doing on a daily (or weekly) basis. These are the activities your training program must include, such as:
- Lead prospecting
- Writing outreach emails
- Sending follow-up emails
- Cold calling
- Creating proposals
- Onboarding new customers
It’s easy to glance over training on these activities. You’ve built a team with experience in sales, right? That’s no reason to overlook it — especially when 55% of salespeople lack basic sales skills.
But when you’re delivering training on these skills, it’s important to choose a program that teaches them practical skills.
Let’s say you’re selecting a training program on cold calling, for example. If the program includes a Word doc containing tips to have a “good” call, they’ll likely forget it for one reason: It’s boring. However, if you ditch the how-to guide in favor of a workshop where staff handle tricky cold calls, they’re more likely to remember it more.
Remember: People remember 10% of what they hear, yet 90% of what they do.
Input from inspirational managers
There are several soft skills your sales team will need to develop in order to close sales. These aren’t measurable skills (like ‘good on the phone’ or ‘computer literate’). Instead, they’re classed as characteristics of a person.
Soft skills could include:
- Time management
- Collaboration or teamwork
- Self-motivation
- Listening
- Empathy
- Adaptable
Sales software training
Your sales team might be able to email every lead that comes through the door. But if they’ve got no way of tracking their leads, it’s likely they’ll lose track of their progress — and fail to convert them.
That’s why your sales program should include training on your sales software. Regardless of the platform you’re using, sales reps need to know:
- How to store a lead’s name and contact details
- How to update a lead’s progress through your funnel
- How to add dates for when they last contacted a lead
Sales training programs for every level
In this guide, we’re sharing some of the most valuable sales training programs categorized by needs.
Best sales training programs
1. Brian Tracy International
2. Dale Carnegie
3. Sales Engine
4. SalesBuzz
5. Jeff Shore Sales Training
6. Richardson Sales Performance Training
7. Marc Wayshak Sales Research & Insights
8. Sandler Training
9. Score More Sales
For Newbies
Learn sales for the first time with the following sales training programs.
1. 21st Century Sales Training for Elite Performance, Brian Tracy
Course Format: Digital
Duration: 12 weeks
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: $997
Overview: This course goes over a system designed to double your sales in 35 weeks or less. The modules cover topics on how to build your prospecting funnel, build deep trust with your prospects, present your product in an engaging way, handle objections, close the sale and generate repeat business.
2. How to Cold Call and Build New Customers, Dale Carnegie
Course Format: Live online
Duration: 3 hours
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: $349
Overview: Through this course sales reps learn how to decrease stress from cold-calling, improve their hit ratio and improve their poise and confidence.
3. The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process Specialization, Sales Engine
Course Format: Digital
Duration: 4 months at 3 hours/week
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: Free ($95 for certificate)
Overview: This specialization includes four courses covering customer segmentation and sales prospecting, connecting with sales prospects, delivering the sales pitch and closing, and building a toolkit for your sales process.
For SDRs, ADRs and AEs
Whether you’ve hit a slump or are looking to be an even more efficient seller, the following courses will help sales reps develop skills and overcome challenges and fears.
1. Inside Sales Training, SalesBuzz
Course Format: Live Online
Duration: 8 weeks
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: $2,500
Overview: This course caters to reps who are struggling to make quota. It goes over a strategic sales process including creating an opening value statement, handling gatekeepers, asking questions to generate engagement, qualifying prospects, developing presentations skills and handling follow-up calls. The course also offers live role-playing and covers motivation and time management.
2. Be Bold Live Training Session, Jeff Shore
Course Format: Live On-site
Duration: 1 Day
Course Dates: By Appointment
Price: Contact for a quote
Overview: This in-person training with Jeff Shore teaches sales teams how to sell boldly including identifying and embracing fears and providing tools to overcome those fears. The course includes strategy and technique, case studies, practice sessions and personal application.
3. Consultative Selling Training Program, Richardson
Course Format: Digital and On-site
Duration: Varies
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: Request a quote
Overview: This course focuses on a repeatable process for sales conversations. It covers six critical skills for sellers to create a dialogue that fosters trust, and discusses a model to defuse defensiveness and resolve resistance. The course includes a digital learning platform and offers a one-day workshop.
For sales managers and executives
Sales managers need training too, so they can lead their sales reps effectively and develop effective systems and processes. The following sales training programs were developed specifically for sales managers and executives who want to develop their sales coaching abilities.
1. Sales Strategy for Management, Marc Wayshak
Course Format: Live On-site
Duration: 1 Day
Course Dates: By Appointment
Price: Request a quote
Overview: This course covers how to attract and hire A-level salespeople, close deals with greater frequency, increase prospecting output and develop key accountability metrics.
2. Online Leadership & Management Courses, Sandler
Course Format: Online
Duration: Varies
Course Dates: Ongoing
Price: $50-$200
Overview: Sandler offers several sales leadership courses including sales accountability, leading the next generation and Sandler rules for sales leaders. The courses provide instruction on hiring, communicating with younger workers, developing accountability ladders and avoiding organizational blind spots.
3. Sales Leaders Coaching Program, Score More Sales
Course Format: Live online or in-person
Duration: Varies
Course Dates: By appointment
Price: Request a quote
Overview: This session teaches sales leaders how to inspire sales reps, hire great team members and develop time management and communication skills.
Is your sales training program working?
Don’t fall into the trap of building a sales program and letting it fall to the bottom of your priority list. You’ll need to constantly check whether your sales program is working — especially when 84% of all sales training is lost after 90 days.
Evaluate whether your sales training program is effective by measuring your team’s activity. This could be in the form of:
- Percentage of leads they close
- Sales to date
- Revenue generated
Take a look at the figures for staff who took your training program. Have they improved since they took the program?
For example: If your team previously closed 30% of leads but now secure 65% after taking the training, it’s safe to say it’s a success. But if their close rate is stagnant, try to rework your sales training program to build their skills further.
You might need to include more content, alter the delivery format, or expand on certain topics.
Simply asking for feedback from staff who have taken the program is a great starting point for improvement.
Key takeaways
Are you ready to deliver a sales training program that helps your staff generate (and close) hundreds of new leads?
Remember to be consistent, teach basic skills, and involve company leaders to inspire your team. By building a training program that includes these five things, you can efficiently develop a team of excellent salespeople.
