10 Effective Sales Training Ideas For Your Sales Reps in 2024 and Beyond

Do you know what the most critical aspect of sales training is? It is behavioral change. 

Sales skills are always learned on the job along with the necessary application. 

When done well, sales training enables businesses to achieve their organizational goals, such as:

• improving win rates; 
• getting more strategic accounts; 
• enhancing their sales cycle time; 
• building a large pipeline; 
• increasing the average project size, etc.

The global sales training market is estimated to be $4.6 billion. However, most sales training ideas fail to provide long-lasting results.

It is because most businesses don't have a solid sales training approach. It is often categorized as a one- to two-day program just brushing up on the basics. There is no follow-up on the application of the ideas. That is a wasted opportunity.

Discover some of the best sales training ideas that will make a difference.

💪 What is sales training?

Sales training refers to the process of providing individuals, typically sales professionals, with the skills, knowledge, and techniques necessary to effectively sell products or services. This training aims to improve the performance of sales teams by enhancing their ability to connect with customers, understand their needs, and successfully guide them through the sales process.

Sales training facilitates sales teams to learn the techniques and skills necessary to determine sales opportunities, pitch to prospects, and close a sale. 

In a nutshell, it educates the sales professional to use different sales tools, follow a sales structure, engage efficiently with the prospects, and reduce any shortcomings in their sales performance.

Research from HBR shows that businesses with efficient training have more sales reps reaching their targets than those without a sales training program. 

Specific training topics for sales teams have helped them grow their skill-sets and technical expertise to perform exceedingly well and increase the average deal size.

💡 Tip: Develop a world-class sales team, and increase productivity and performance by developing the right competencies.

Enabling employees with the required knowledge and tools is a driving factor in enhancing sales teams' performance. Plus, increasing the sales teams' motivation and identifying the star performers is also essential. 

You want your sales reps to be more confident in their job.

Training remote sales teams

Conventional sales training involves various sales techniques, policies, and other organizational processes. 

Unfortunately, businesses relying on these old training models are falling short of their expectations.

The sales industry is constantly changing. Businesses are switching from field sales to remote selling to hiring freelancers at an increasing rate, and for a good reason. 

Online sales teams are less expensive to manage, easier to onboard, more responsive, and have a substantially quicker sales cycle. 

Moreover, sales training for remote teams cannot follow the same classroom-style training. Therefore, you need a sales training platform to conduct training programs for remote sales employees and freelancers. 

Apart from that, there must be a significant shift in updating the training processes and technologies along with the training content to suit the remote teams. 

Tip: Look for a sales training platform incorporating new and scientifically proven methods, such as microlearning and spaced repetition.

 🤩 4 Ways to deliver training to sales teams

Sales reps who look at the training content from multiple lenses go through a lasting change. There are different ways which include online learning with in-person training. It results in a dynamic understanding of the approach required to win in sales.

In-Person training

In-person training is a type of training that includes face-to-face sales training sessions between the sales team and program instructors.

Remote instructor training

Remote instructor sales training essentially replicates the in-person experience in a virtual setting. The program instructor offers training sessions via a cloud call system or video conferencing. 

Online sales training

When opting for online sales training, employees sit through sessions via recorded videos, tools, assignments, etc., providing an excellent self-learning experience.

A huge part of a proper sales training is using the right tools. Give your sales team access to software that will ease up their workload and see how much they will benefit from it. Here you can find some of the best sales funnel builders on the market to equip your team with.

Sales coaching

Sales coaching meetings enable sales managers and team leaders with the training abilities required to lead world-class sales teams. 

💡 10 Effective sales training ideas

Competitor analysis

Before starting a sales training session, it is best to prepare your competitor analysis.

The primary idea of this approach is to identify your competitors' strengths and weaknesses and use them to enhance your sales pitch. 

A detailed competitor analysis document allows your sales team to:

• Properly understand your position in the market. 
• Gain a better understanding of your products/services. 
• Get an exhaustive outline of your competitors' sales strategy. 

Using this document, your sales team can plan their sales pitch better.

Regular assessments

Sales training often provides a theoretical viewpoint of the sales process. However, sales managers need to conduct regular practical assessments to offer real-life examples.

Here are a few fun ways of conducting regular assessments:

• Create quizzes, polls, etc., to determine sales teams' understanding of the training material.
• Encourage the sales team to create their version of an elevator pitch to handle a new prospect.
• Track periodically to see if the reps are using the practical lessons.

Peer learning sessions

A dynamic peer learning sales training session can help the sales team learn various crucial aspects of the role from each other. As a result, sales reps are always eager to adopt a peer learning session.

For example, if an experienced sales manager is bidding goodbye to your organization, request them to conduct a knowledge transfer session that would help the juniors. Businesses can record these sessions and use them for the training and induction of new sales reps. Due to this, new joiners can learn from the best in their industry and know what to expect. 

Inclusive sales training

It is vital to ensure that your sales training targets a diverse group. 

For instance, some sales reps would like an informal training session with easy-to-manage content that can be easily accessible anywhere and anytime. 

On the other hand, other representatives might prefer in-person training sessions with a practical approach and case studies and assessments. 

As an organization, you need to identify the different types of learners within your sales team so they can get the flexibility to learn according to their capabilities.

Incorporate your sales training initiatives into comprehensive employee development planning. Each employee will know exactly how they can grow their careers and how training will contribute to it.

Don't miss out on objection-handling training

Objection handling is a fundamental element of selling. Most objections are not unique and often follow a particular pattern. 

Hence, sales training must target the most popular types of objections. Plus, it would help if you offered a proper framework so the sales reps can deal with these objections efficiently. 

An ideal approach is to get your sales reps together to reflect and report on every unique objection they face. 

The entire sales team can engage in a brainstorming session to analyze the reasons for these objections and come up with potential solutions. 

Curiosity training

Have you ever heard about Selling Through Curiosity (STC)? 

Curiosity selling is one of the most prominent sales training ideas to revolutionize a startup into a successful organization. 

The objective of STC is to connect with your prospects, ask valid questions, trigger critical thinking, and finally make your assumptions about the prospect. 

This specialized training lets your sales team stay curious and improve their sales strategy. 

The STC approach also allows you to understand your prospects better and helps you to drive purchases. 

The right combination of curiosity and authenticity can take your sales team to the next level. 

Upskill your sales team

Sometimes, sales training exclusively focused on theory won't work unless you relate it to developing the competencies of your sales team. 

You can start with a skills matrix to help identify the comprehensive skill set, experience level, and general competence required for a position or a project.

How are your sales reps living up to those expectations? 

You can also carry out a training needs assessment survey to identify areas where your reps lack confidence.

Maybe they need help with their communication skills or would like to improve their proficiency in your sales tech stack.

Don't wander in the dark, and ask them directly.

Invest in good quality e-books, courses, video tutorials, and courses from sales experts for self-training and learning. 

If you are running low on budget, it is best to look for some free resources for educating the sales team. Some free resources offer valuable insights and sales tricks for your sales reps to learn and grow in their role. 

Include industry trends

Sales teams often lack the time and bandwidth to read research reports, but converting these reports into easy-to-read blog posts or tutorials is a great way to share knowledge. 

Keeping your sales team up to date with the latest industry trends is essential for reaching your business goals. 

At the end of the training, conduct a quiz to know if they could retain the critical insights from the most important industry trends and news.

You can always follow up with knowledge nudges delivered via Slack or email. 

➡️ Check out how Freeletics combines three training initiatives to enable their next generation of leaders.

💡 You will see how microlearning and peer learning are essential for modern training initiatives.

Mock presentations

Sales and marketing teams often like informative and vibrant presentations for training and development. 

In sales training sessions, mock presentations can be your go-to resource to explain your products/services to the sales team. It is best to explain the features, product USP, and competitive advantage using pictures and videos to help them plan their sales strategy. 

Train your managers

Think about a training program for your sales leaders and managers to improve their sales training potential. 

Sometimes, it becomes difficult for managers and team leaders to train reps, which can impact your overall sales team performance. 

However, regular manager training and feedback sessions allow your managers to stay on top of their game and devise an incredible sales strategy for your organization.

➡️ In need of extra inspiration? Check out 15 best practices for training employees.

➡️ Kick-start your sales training and development initiatives with Zavvy

A vigorous sales training program is one of the most obvious ways to reach your revenue targets. 

Sales training allows you to onboard new sales reps faster, drive high performance, create a culture of learning in your workplace and retain your sales employees.

Begin your sales training program with Zavvy today.

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