In order to improve the effectiveness of training, it is important to train and coach sales team on a full range of sales topics on a continual basis. Here are top 10 effective sales training topics for sales team readiness and improved sales productivity:
1. Sales Planning
Sales planning is a crucial aspect of sales training giving directions to the sales team on how to segment customers, using bottoms-up approach, researching and leveraging social media, budgeting numbers and other sales activities, leads management (generation, tracking and conversion) and setting up SMART goals to achieve customer expectations.
2. Lead Generation
A structured training on lead generation techniques can significantly boost sales pipeline and overall revenue. It involves identifying and attracting potential customers. Effective lead generation training should include types of leads, lead generation vs lead qualification, types of customer personas, ideal customer profile (ICP), market segments, lead generation strategies such as cold calling, email outreach, SEO, networking and referral events.
3. Preparing to Pitch
It focuses on training sales teams with the skills and strategies to effectively pitch to customers. Preparing the pitch focuses on storytelling and the importance of weaving a narrative to persuade customers of the benefits. The pitch also includes the key USPs of the product or service offered, features, differentiating factors which specifically appeal to the target audience. This sales training topic should encourage sales team to practice their pitch delivery, paying attention to their tone of voice, body language, and overall demeanour. Confidence and enthusiasm can significantly impact the reception of the pitch.
4. Value Based Selling
Value based selling is a type of selling which focuses on the value which the customer will derive by using the product or service, instead of focusing on the product or service features/benefits. It is a customer focused approach displaying how the product or service will address their pain points.
Here are 7 key principles of value based selling by HubSpot
5. Understanding Customers’ Needs
Understanding customers’ needs is about identifying and addressing what drives the purchasing decisions for a customer. It includes customer profiling, customer segmentation, active listening techniques. Needs assessment can be done via frameworks such as BANT framework (Budget, Authority, Needs, Time) and SPIN selling technique (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need payoff). By understanding the customer, sales team can tailor the interactions based on customer preferences and behaviours.
Read: 3 effective methods for assessing customer needs by Harvard Business School
6. Handling Objections
Handling customer objections is a critical skill in sales. Objections are a natural part of sales process. Anticipation of such objections and queries & being prepared is the first step of handling customer objections. Sales team can be coached on common objections around price, features, timing, competition and the root causes of such objections which maybe unmet needs, fear or misinformation. Engage in role-playing scenarios to practice handling objections in a low-stakes environment.
Read: Master Sales Excellence with AI based role-plays
Other sub-topics to be covered are effective response techniques, converting the objection into an opportunity to show how the product or service addresses customer’s concern. Here are 7 steps for effective objection handling by Salesforce.
7. Negotiating and Closing Deals
Negotiation requires a mix of strategy, communication and psychological insight. A structured approach to training on negotiation includes negotiation styles (collaborative, competitive, compromising), preparation, information gathering before entering deal negotiations, relationship building techniques to build a rapport with customer and finalising the deals.
Negotiation Tips by Harvard Business Review
8. Handling Rejections
Rejection is an inevitable part of the sales process, but how sales professionals handle it can greatly impact their success and resilience. Sales team must spend time in understanding rejections - discuss why rejection occurs and its common forms, including outright refusals, objections, and silence. Explore the emotional aspects of rejection and how it can affect motivation and self-esteem. Thereafter the team can be trained on building resilience with a growth mindset. Analysing rejections by identifying patterns and feedback collection from prospects to understand their reasons for rejection helps the sales team to learn from it.
9. Communication Skills
Effective communication is foundational to successful sales. It encompasses not only how you convey information but also how you listen, understand, and engage with your prospects and clients. Sales team training on communication skills should include types of communications, active listening techniques, presentation skills, building rapport and handling difficult conversations.
Here are 10 Critical Sales Communication Skills For Success in 2024
10. Time Management
Effective time management not only improves productivity but also enhances sales performance. It is imperative for sales team to be trained on managing their daily, weekly, monthly schedules with SMART goals and other prioritisation frameworks such as ABC matrix, Eisenhower matrix. Automation tools can be a boon for sales team to streamline repetitive tasks and workflows. Here are 13 Time Management Hacks for Sales Reps.
Each of these topics can be tailored to your specific industry and target audience to ensure that your sales team is well-equipped to understand and address customer needs effectively.
Master-O®, a frontline sales readiness and gamification platform, has powered several sales enablement & frontline readiness programs for enterprise customers and been a key driver of sales strategies for leaders across industries. To make capability development, sales enablement & engagement more personalized, Master-O® empowers sales managers tap into various data points and analytics for coaching & upskilling their frontline reps. This gives sales leaders and managers much-required objective perspective to reimagine their sales coaching, capability development & enablement approach and realign it with performance metrics.
To learn more about Master-O®, please visit masteroapp.com or schedule a demo to discover how Master-O® can redefine sales readiness & frontline capability development for your organization.