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Even the best sales teams need periodic training. Sales training programs provide the skills and knowledge your team needs to excel.
Success in sales requires constant evolution, and sales training helps your team not just meet but surpass their goals.
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of options. From online and in-person to self-paced and free, there’s a sales training program available for every team and budget. And we are here to help you with the right choices.
We have compiled a list of the best sales training programs available today in the market.
What is a Sales Training Program?
It starts with sales trainers collaborating with sales managers to identify their team’s specific needs, whether in skill development or refining sales process methodologies.
Why Invest in Sales Training Programs?
Investing in sales training program will improve your team's performance and positively impact your organization’s bottom line. Here’s how:
1. Improved Sales Performance and Business Growth
Sales training gives your team the knowledge and tools to close more deals. They learn how to communicate value, handle objections, and qualify leads. Training in these areas helps sales professionals become more proficient, which leads to increased revenue and business growth.
2. Better Customer Relationships
A well-trained sales team understands how to listen to customers, identify their needs, and offer solutions that genuinely address their challenges. This approach not only builds trust but also improves customer satisfaction and helps build long-term relationships that contribute to repeat business and referrals.
3. Lower Sales Personnel Turnover
Sales professionals who receive proper training feel more confident and prepared in their roles. This reduces frustration and burnout and makes them more likely to stay with your organization. Investing in their development shows your commitment to their success, thus improving retention rates.
4. Lower Costs of Selling Activities
With targeted training, your sales team will become more proficient at prioritizing leads, improving conversion rates, and reducing time spent on unqualified prospects. These efficiencies will lower the overall cost of sales while maximizing the return on your investment in selling efforts.
14 Best Sales Training Programs
We have focused primarily on sales training courses that will assist entry-level sales professionals. Each of these courses is offered by industry-leading organizations and provides a variety of benefits, from teaching a specific sales methodology to learning important sales skills.
1. Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
The CPSP certification is a sales training program provided by the NASP (National Association of Sales Professionals) that promises to transform you into a top sales performer.
The CPSP program is created for sales professionals of all career levels, from entry-level sales reps to executives, CEOs, and even business owners. It teaches the NASP strategy and offers sales strategies for behavioral training and daily conditioning to build sales habits that will increase your skills as a salesperson.
The sales certificate also covers strategies for guiding clients through the buyer journey. And teaches you unique sales strategies used by Fortune 500 sales teams.
The main aim of this course is to replace outdated sales methodologies and habits with a modern approach based on buyer psychology. It promises to turn you into a certified salesperson by teaching you:
- Different communication styles to address the client’s personalized needs and build trust
- How to be confident in sales and stop sabotaging your success unconsciously
- Learn to negotiate a sale and move prospects down the sales funnel
2. Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP)
The CISP accreditation is an online sales training program covering a broad range of sales skills. It is provided by the AA-ISP (American Association of Inside Sales Professionals). It’s designed primarily for sales professionals who want to improve their knowledge of the sales process in the early to mid-stages of their careers.
The program is divided into ten separate courses. Every course ends with a mock live sales call role-play exam, in which the sales reps are tested on the competencies learned in the course.
The coursework spans foundational topics such as Business 101 and the Sales Process to advanced strategies like closing techniques, account management, and channel sales.
You can take the final exam after you complete the course. This is a series of pretend and interactive sales calls built around specific scenarios.
You are awarded the CISP certificate once completed. You can then refer to yourself as a CISP-certified sales professional for the next three years. You should stay up-to-date and active with the AA-ISP community during these three years to remain certified.
3. Certified Professional Sales Leader (CPSL)
CPSL is an online course provided by NASP focused on sales leadership. It is designed for sales executives, directors, account managers, Presidents, and sales professionals looking to move into leadership roles. The course covers strategies and behavioral techniques for managing sales teams.
This sales training program covers:
- How to train and lead a high-performing sales team
- How to adopt the leadership habits of Fortune 500 sales leaders
- Behaviors and strategies to equip your sales team and level up their performance
- How to develop an understanding of your sales team’s emotional needs and tailor your leadership and communication to have the highest impact
You must commit around 30 minutes every day to completing this course and should achieve a minimum correct score of 80% on the final exam.
If you are a current or aspiring sales leader, this sales training program will help you become a great sales manager. It equips you with the skills and techniques required to build strong rapport with your sales team, challenge them to grow as successful sales professionals, and align their emotional needs with your organization's business needs.
4. SPIN Selling
SPIN Selling is an online sales training certification by Huthwaite International. Developed over forty years ago, the SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need) Selling strategy is one of the most highly regarded and well-known modern sales methodologies.
The international training program is for experienced sales professionals looking to learn a world-class sales methodology, sales leaders who wish to apply the SPIN Selling strategy to their sales teams, and sales professionals who want to improve their performance.
SPIN Selling is grounded in an in-depth analysis of real-world sales behaviors (tailored to your global context) and is designed to apply key behavioral and psychological techniques. These techniques aim to improve your performance as a salesperson and drive more successful sales outcomes.
What sets SPIN apart is its strong foundation in data and evidence-based methodology. Many sales methodologies leave you unsure of their impact until you have put them into practice. SPIN Selling, however, is a proven, tried-and-tested approach.
Neil Rackham's SPIN Selling sales book complements the SPIN training course nicely by providing a detailed overview and backdrop for the program.
5. Certified Sales Executive (CSE)
SMEI (Sales and Marketing Executives International) offers the Certified Sales Executive accreditation. This sales management certification is targeted toward sales leaders and managers.
The CSE training program guarantees a comprehensive range of outcomes, including:
- How to define the roles and responsibilities of managers and the sales management process, and how do the sales and marketing strategies fit into your overall business strategy
- Learn some of the most successful contemporary sales leadership approaches
- Identify practical issues faced by sales managers and how to mitigate them
- Learn how to use training and team building for sales professionals to cultivate a high-performing salesforce.
You must complete a series of modules and quizzes to earn the certificate. Once you are ready, you can take the final exam. To receive your CSE certification, you must complete the exam with at least 75%.
You must pay an annual renewal fee to maintain your certification. You can maintain continued education via SMEI conferences, webinars, or other educational events.
6. RISE Up
RISE Up is the NRF (National Retail Federation) Foundation’s sales training program. It offers fundamental retail skills to help entry-level sales professionals strengthen their resumes and improve their chances of getting hired.
As part of RISE Up, NRF provides four separate entry-level accreditations. These are targeted toward different aspects of retail, right from the fundamentals to logistics. NRF offers the Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist certification for sales professionals.
The Certified Specialist accreditation teaches service and sales skills, starting with the sales cycle and leading to understanding customers and closing more sales.
It consists of five modules covering the following topics:
- Welcome to retail. This module explores retail fundamentals and how to understand customer mindsets and behavior.
- Know before you sell. This module teaches you how to thoroughly understand the product or service you are selling and how to connect with your customer’s needs and interests to sell successfully.
- Selling and service. This module provides in-depth strategies for meeting customer needs and closing sales, including technical information regarding transactions.
- Performing your best. This module offers ongoing training in communication skills and teaches how to maintain a brand-focused professional approach in sales.
- Workplace readiness. This module teaches important employability skills, including networking, job search strategies, and professional career planning.
It is a five-module online course that starts with sales theory and progresses to resume building and employability skills.
7. Challenger Trainer and Consultant Programs
Challenger Inc. provides several sales training programs, resources, and accreditations for organizations to level up their sales professionals' skills. Two of these are the Challenger Insight Consultant program and the Challenger Certified Trainer.
The Challenger Certified Trainer program provides trainees with the skills and authorization to deliver Challenger’s foundational selling workshop within their organization. Essentially, it’s a certification that allows organizations to develop their own in-house Challenger trainers.
The Challenger Insight Consultant program equips in-house experts to craft commercial insights and Challenger Messages.
These certifications are designed for organizations and agencies that wish to train in-house experts to implement and facilitate the Challenger methodology within their sales teams. This is advantageous for large organizations as it eliminates the need for sales leaders to outsource training for new employees or upskill their sales teams.
The Challenger Certified Trainer certification consists of a seven-module online course, followed by a one-hour final assessment and the eight-hour Challenge Yourself Workshop. The Challenger Insight Consultant certification includes an eight-module e-learning course, two-hour-long assessments, and a final eight-hour Challenger Insight Workshop.
8. LSE’s Negotiating Programme
The LSE (London School of Economics) is a world-leading institution in the social sciences. It now offers online certification courses to the wider public. The negotiation programme is one such program that focuses on developing negotiation skills.
Negotiation is a skill that is in high demand for many occupations, including sales. Sales professionals can use psychological biases and nonverbal communication by mastering negotiation skills to settle at better terms, maximize opportunities, and seal deals.
Course attendees develop their personal growth plans with support from small group discussions, course instructors, and a dedicated success team.
Learners will explore the following modules over the course of six weeks:
- Module 1: Core negotiation concepts, including key terminology, identifying various biases, and setting personal goals.
- Module 2: Negotiation strategies to improve the likelihood of achieving a positive outcome.
- Module 3: Principled negotiation, focusing on personal conflict resolution and negotiation styles
- Module 4: Creativity and emotions in negotiation to get into the impact of emotion, mood, and creativity through role-playing exercises with other participants.
- Module 5: Power, culture, and influence in negotiation, exploring how elements like non-verbal communication and cultural differences can shape the negotiation process
- Module 6: The future of negotiation, examining diverse communication channels, practicing negotiation tactics, and identifying techniques to retain for ongoing skill improvement.
This six-week online course requires a time commitment of 7 to 10 hours per week. It also includes an orientation and provides CPD points for professionals in the U.K.
9. Scaling Sales with Sales Enablement
This sales training program is the #1 program on sales enablement and revenue operations. It is created for sales professionals who wish to scale their sales without reinventing the wheel. The program offers self-paced learning content that can be completed in seven hours over three weeks.
It provides downloadable sales templates and also covers comprehensive strategies for designing sales playbooks, managing organizational change, building an airtight onboarding flow, and choosing appropriate sales software
The program provides expert advice on building a capacity planning growth model, getting the most from your sales technology, and training sales reps. A dedicated lesson focuses on recapping the course to reinforce core concepts and strengthen your understanding.
10. Inbound Sales Training
The Inbound Sales Training program by HubSpot is a free certification course for small business owners who wish to improve their inbound strategy, sales professionals looking to expand their customer base through personalized outreach, as well as individuals who want to improve their sales presentation skills.
The course focuses on understanding the buyer’s context and delivering tailored sales presentations to prospects. It includes quizzes for knowledge retention and is offered in five languages.
11. Introduction to MEDDIC
MEDDIC (metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, identify pain, and champion) is an important sales methodology that guides the sales process. It helps sales reps determine if further efforts to move a prospect down the sales pipeline are required or not.
The Introduction to MEDDIC course by MEDDIC Academy provides sales professionals with an overview of the MEDDIC and MEDDPICC sales methodologies. This foundational mini-course explains the MEDDIC framework and guides sales reps on using the MEDDIC checklist. The course includes a video lecture, slides, and a quiz for comprehensive learning.
12. OnePageCRM Sales Academy
OnePage CRM Sales Academy is an online sales training platform providing free CRM courses tailored specifically for OnePageCRM users. The training is structured into three stages, CRM Apprentice, CRM Qualified, and CRM Master, designed to guide sales reps through increasingly advanced levels of customer relationship management.
Upon completing all three stages, participants receive a CRM Expert certificate and are officially recognized as OnePageCRM Champions.
13. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
The LinkedIn Sales Navigator course, taught by Thomas Creighton de Farias, is designed for beginner sales professionals. The course covers essential topics such as managing leads with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, identifying key accounts and prospects, and gathering competitive intelligence. It also includes strategies for finding leads and tips to earn client trust.
Upon completing the course, learners receive a certificate of completion, which they can print, save, download, or share on their LinkedIn profile.
14. Sales Prospecting Advanced Techniques
Sales Prospecting Advanced Techniques is a free YouTube course offered by SalesScripter that provides training on sales prospecting. The course features 12 video modules covering important sales skills such as creating a unique selling proposition (USP) to attract leads, identifying prospects' pain points, building rapport and trust, and targeting ideal prospects.
Some modules focus on improving selling techniques, including asking the right questions for successful negotiations, strengthening client relationships, and mastering the sales takeaway approach.
To improve selling skills, the course also covers strategies for maintaining mental strength in sales, using networking to maximize ROI, handling and structuring client appointments, being a consultative sales professional, and using LinkedIn for sales prospecting.
How to Choose the Best Sales Training Program?
Here’s how to select the best sales training program for your team:
1. Comprehensive content
Many online courses only skim the surface of the topic and leave you with a basic understanding. Look out for courses that offer value-packed content. Focus not just on quantity but on the depth and quality of the information provided.
Two simple ways to identify courses with comprehensive content are to evaluate the reputation and experience of the course provider or instructor and analyze the course structure. Reputable institutions and experienced instructors are more likely to offer well-rounded and in-depth course material.
2. Relevance and up-to-date information
Relevant and timely courses are important in sales because of ever-changing sales trends. When selecting a course, ensure it is both applicable to your industry and up-to-date with current practices.
The course should feature the latest tools, trends, and technologies that will contribute to your success as a sales professional.
3. Credibility of the provider
Free online courses are plentiful with a mix of information and "expert opinions." However, you should ensure that the information and advice you receive come from credible sources. To verify this, research the course provider's credibility by reviewing their industry experience, professional background, and feedback on their previous sales courses.
That said, less popular or emerging providers can still offer excellent courses. Nonetheless, a well-established provider will probably deliver reliable, thoroughly vetted, and high-quality content.
4. Positive user feedback
User feedback is a valuable resource for understanding a course's content, strengths, and weaknesses. It offers real-world experiences and opinions from past participants, giving a clearer idea of what the course delivers and what it may lack.
Which sales training program will you take?
Sales training programs, though not always necessary, can improve your employability, help advance your career, and even boost your organization’s sales performance.
When selecting a training program, ensure it aligns with your needs, budget, and goals and that it is offered by a reputable provider with a proven track record. If the program helps you improve your sales team’s performance, it will undoubtedly be a worthwhile investment.
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