Effective Sales Training 101

Sales training is the process of enhancing sales professionals’ skills, knowledge, and attitudes to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in selling products or services. An effective sales training program includes both training on the company’s products and soft skills training.

Product knowledge training

When building product training, include information that will help sales teams communicate features, benefits, and applications of the product or service being sold. You will also want to include information that trains sales professionals on communicating the value of the company’s products, overcoming objections (reasons for not buying the product), and how the company products meet specific customer needs.

Hands-on demonstrations on how the product functions, including any software tutorials or physical product demonstrations, are also very helpful as they allow sales teams to understand the practical application of the product and prepare them to demonstrate it effectively to potential customers.

Since companies are usually up against competitive products, information on how the company’s products compare to competitors’ offerings, including strengths, weaknesses, and unique selling points, will allow sales teams to overcome objections. A feature-by-feature comparison table that sales teams can use as a reference guide is a good thing to consider.

Soft skills training

Soft skill training focuses on the personal attributes and interpersonal skills that allow sales professionals to interact effectively with customers, partners, and colleagues. There are many soft skills that sales teams need, but here is a list of a few to consider:

Communication Skills: Listening effectively, asking the right questions, and conveying information clearly and persuasively.

Sales Techniques: Training on consultative selling, solution selling, and value-based selling.

Negotiation Skills: Techniques for negotiating terms, prices, and agreements.

Time Management and Organizational Skills: How to prioritize tasks for managing a sales pipeline, scheduling meetings, and ensuring follow-ups are conducted in a timely manner.

Persuasion and Influence: How to communicate the value of a product or service, including understanding psychological triggers, storytelling, and the ability to inspire action.

Teamwork and Collaboration: Including communication, conflict resolution, and the ability to contribute to and support team goals.

How to structure a sales training program

Sales training can be delivered in various formats, including in-person workshops, eLearning, online courses, mentoring, and coaching sessions. The program should be tailored for all levels of sales professionals, including new hires who need to understand the basics of selling, sales managers needing to increase the team’s performance and experienced salespeople looking to refine their skills and strategies.

To start your sales training program, define the objectives of the training program. This may be eliminating sales performance gaps, educating on new product functionality, or supporting market expansion plans. Analyze the sales team’s current skills, knowledge, and performance levels to tailor the training content.

Develop training content that covers essential sales skills, product knowledge, market understanding, customer insights, and soft skills. Tailor content to different roles within the sales team.

Once you have created your in-person workshops, online courses, interactive sessions and live webinars, schedule training sessions at regular intervals to maintain engagement and allow time to apply learned skills. Include assignments or projects that require sales reps to apply their training in real sales scenarios. Finally, use quizzes, role-playing evaluations, and performance metrics to assess knowledge retention and skill development. How to store and track your sales training

To meet the needs of growing sales teams, create a repository of sales resources, case studies, and best practices for ongoing reference and learning. Ensure that the materials are updated regularly so sales teams deliver the right information in a timely manner. To track progress, integrate sales enablement tools, CRM systems, and other technology into the training to enhance learning and efficiency.

By following this structure, you can create a sales training program that not only improves the skills and performance of your sales team but also aligns with your organization’s strategic goals, adapts to the changing sales landscape, and fosters a culture of continuous improvement and excellence in sales.