Strategies for influencing, politics, decision making and motivating. Reps can open up about a time where they fell short, didn’t make the deal, or didn’t achieve the outcome they were expecting. In this game, the sales manager or trainer splits reps into multiple teams and distributes a random object to each team. Encouraging your team to talk about how they made a sale serves to encourage other employees. Sales Training Topic #2: Cold Calling and Prospecting. Vendor: RAIN Group 2. This game is particularly effective with a big onboarding class or for retraining a large group of existing reps. Instruct each rep to approach a stranger and ask a question. Control your inner dialogue. As the industry shifts and new thought leaders emerge, reps can use the knowledge from these publications to stay in touch with new best practices and continuously build their knowledge base. Sales Training Tips and Ideas. End each day evaluating your performance and identify one item upon which you can improve. Note: This activity can easily be used as a sales training icebreaker.Goal: To remind salespeople that selling is not about the product or service. Have your reps come up with all of the reasons they’ve heard why someone would reject your product. All rights reserved. At the end of the presentations, hold a vote and give a prize for best commercial. Why are those skills important to them and to business growth? Great Sales Training = The Best Sales Outcomes Data abound and offer solid proof: 80% of high-performing sales teams consider their training process as “very good” or “outstanding”. Free and premium plans, Customer service software. this sales training exercise involves playing recorded sales calls or meetings and discerning the good, the bad, and the ugly. 🚀 Introducing Custom Activities: Connect the dots of EVERY lead and prospect interaction → Compare notes to see how attentive your rep is and to hear their opinion on how the call went. Here are some quick ideas how to sell more... 11 retail selling tips to make more retail sales. Similar to S'up, this game is also played in public. One of the best ways for your reps to retain information could be for you to reinforce it during the training. winner and the cold caller for a successful Bingo! Spontaneous pop quizzes during training and onboarding sessions can keep your salespeople engaged, particularly if the testing is gamified. 7 Reasons Why Sales Training Fails. Read more >> How to Set up the Best Sales Training. Read more: 7 Sales Training Ideas to Try in 2019 That’s an example of a training idea implemented with purpose, a clear goal, and actionable next steps to ensure the knowledge and skills and retained. A sales training or sales training program is designed to help sales professionals achieve sales success for themselves or their organization. Written by AJ Beltis Each listening rep has a Bingo! 7 Sales Training Games That Actually Boost Your Skills. Sales Training Ideas. Use E-Learning to Educate If your sales team doesn’t know your product front to back, even the best listeners will fall short in closing a sale. For example, HubSpot Academy has a free Inbound Sales Certification and Course available online, including insights and advice from industry experts. 10 Sales Training Topics for Onboarding New Sales Reps 1) Organizational Background Information The first thing new sales professionals need to know, regardless of their prior experience, is the type of organization for which they will be working. However, your new sales hire might not know all of your comparative strengths and weaknesses, even though those points may come up on their very first sales call. Games offer a fun, true-to-life learning experience. When your sales team goes from 0 to 1 or 1 to 2, sales training is easy. Incorporate assessments; Examine win/loss reports; Leverage peer learning; Put sales reps in their buyer's shoes; Highlight industry trends and news; Keep millennials in mind; Practice responding to objections; Sales process deep-dive; Pre-boarding; Sales manager "mastery sessions" That's what those who are winning customers during this time are doing. Chances are, your company has some insight into your competition. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. Given the different responsibilities, industries, and team structures salespeople encounter, it’s hard to recommend a one-size-fits-all approach to sales training. style template, Lifewire has compiled a resourceful list of templates you can use to quiz your salespeople on product training. At the end of your training, quiz new hires on five to 10 different categories, with each category containing five questions of increasing difficulty and point value. Have one of your reps make a cold call while the rest of the team listens on speakerphone. Price: Contact RAIN GroupAccording to RAIN Group's analysis of 731 purchases, the salespeople who close deals provide buyers with fresh information and ideas three times more often than losing reps. You might even have an entire competitive analysis team. Sequentially, sales trainers should answer these four questions: So, for example, you may decide you want your salespeople to become experts in your product. Negotiation Training Negotiating behavior and strategy. Your reps need to learn and retain all of the company-specific skills and knowledge in order to succeed in their jobs. That way they’ll be locked and loaded when someone brings that concern up on a call. In fact, if that’s your current system, all of that hard work and training could be forgotten by your team in just a few months. Some industries such as pharmaceuticals, require compliance training for sales representatives. card with common sales tactics and milestones (such as "price objection" or "need/pain identified"). Fun sales training exercises can be a great way to help your team develop those critical skills that make the difference between a rookie and a pro, and they don’t even take that much time to do. Intended audience: B2B sales teams 6. However, what might be even more valuable is a sales failure panel. 22. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. How can we support salespeople if they are struggling to learn the skill. Getting Started with Sales Training. But that doesn’t do them any good if they have a thin pipeline. Most sales training programs help develop sales skills and techniques needed to approach cold leads, create new sales opportunities, close deals, and build rapport with clients and customers. How can we ensure salespeople retain this knowledge? A sales rep who doesn’t perfectly understand the product they’re selling is a completely ineffective rep. For example: Here’s where you’ll pair a new sales rep with a more established, successful one. Take your team to a public place, like a mall or networking event, and have them pair up for accountability. Purpose: To illustrate the importance of discovering needs before launching into a sales speech. The sales profession moves faster than ever today. This is especially true if your company sells a complex software or if it’s a newer, lesser-known company. Soft Skills Public Speaking Mastery of public speaking techniques can improve proposals. Length: Two days 4. Companies with a dedicated sales enablement function improved their sales training effectiveness by 29%. Free and premium plans, Sales CRM software. achieved. From there, in a mock selling situation with a prospect (either another new rep or someone on the training team), have the rep try to get the prospect to identify the need themselves, and provide the solution (in this case, the obscure product). Training your team requires providing them with more than a manual and a few workshops before sending them out into the field. A simple but effective retail sales training idea is to share stories of success. Since every sales team has different goals and expectations, it’s important to craft a custom training plan specifically for your new sales hires. On a moment’s notice, and without hesitation, salespeople should be ready to explain what it is that they are selling in a concise, convincing, and clear way. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '1dc09795-02c8-4fbe-a62b-a1d669dec2c5', {}); That’s why we’ve made a list of the best sales training ideas, activities, and games. Use a sales training template. In large new hire classes, role play as a prospect and have reps take turns asking the next logical question following the statement you’ve made. Why not take a similar approach with your sales team? Perfecting a short elevator pitch or 30-second commercial can have a massive effect on results. Premium plans, Connect your favorite apps to HubSpot. Almost 75% of sales kickoff attendees say their company's SKO doesn't merit an "A" grade, while 29% rate it a "C" or below. 10 Sales Training Ideas for 2020. Then, have them develop — on their own or in groups — the most convincing counters to those objections. Sometimes referred to as "What did you hear?" A classic sales kickoff theme that highlights strong hits, teamwork, and strategy. Points are awarded to reps based on how many times they are able to push the stranger for more information. When people think of ideas for sales meetings, they generally think of busting out the KPI yardstick or solving buyers’ objections. Stay up to date with the latest marketing, sales, and service tips and news. Each team then collaborates to come up with a purpose for the item, identify the pain it solves, and script messaging for a "commercial" to "sell" the item to the group. Train employees in a product. Organizations with high-performing sales teams are twice as likely to provide ongoing training as companies with poorly performing sales teams. Set a timer and alert the participants when they have a few seconds left to roll the dice. Your sales team can be amazing at discovery, presenting, and objection handling. The presentation could follow one of your buyer personas realizing their problem, looking for solutions, how they stumbled upon your business, and what made them choose to do business with you. Try to keep to a structure when using storytelling in your retail sales training. Free and premium plans, Content management system software. You may read every book there is on riding a bicycle; it won’t be as effective as grabbing one and wobbling your way to routine. Listen to and assess call recordings. Reward the Bingo! Understandable:Everyone hearing your pitch should get a proper snap… When the stranger provides the answer, the rep must probe for more information as if they "don't get it." Report violations, Effective Presentations to Hostile Audiences, 10+ Ways to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking, How to Stop Worrying About Leadership and Start Leading. Have the team do objection handling training exercises. Here is a collection of the best sales training ideas, tips, advice, and research to help you get the most out of your sales training investment. See all integrations. For more information, check out our privacy policy. This template is pre-filled with the sections you’ll find on most sales training plans. After a new sales class is onboarded, inform them that the rest of the company has been instructed to — at any time during the work day — approach new sales hires and ask, "What’s a…" followed by the name of your company, your product, or your software. what they had for lunch is worth less than a story about their childhood). However, you can also run e-pitch competitions for continued sales training, putting random objects or ideas in a hat and challenging existing salespeople to pick one at random and brainstorm a pitch to work on their public speaking, persuasion, and brevity skills. Swing for the Fences! Hosting panels with salespeople in your org that highlight their stories of success can serve as guidance and inspiration to both new and existing salespeople. Blog Posts & Infographics. You can use it to build out a more detailed and specific onboarding plan for your organization. Coaching them on their strengths and sticking points is an ongoing job. We're committed to your privacy. It exposes your reps to what internal documentation you already have on the subject. 1. That answers question one. Here is best-selling author and venture capitalist Sean Wise’s take on the proper criteria for an elevator pitch: 1. We’ll introduce you to some of the best sales training ideas so you can: Improve your employees’ sales skills. These ideas and games are perfect ways to sharpen the skills of your existing team or as part of onboarding training for new sales hires. After new hires are trained, have them give a presentation on what the typical buyer’s journey looks like for your product or service. We’ll have a few examples fleshed out in the resource above. Lead by example with your sales training and you’ll have a strong Number Two willing to follow you into battle. This may include in-person learning, e-learning, micro-learning, gamification, or other training techniques to help salespeople improve. For example, a rep might ask you "What made you reach out for more information?" Complacency can kill in a sales job, so encourage salespeople to listen to sales podcasts and subscribe to newsletters from the best sales blogs, regardless of where they are in their career. Keep track, and the person who asks the most logical next questions wins. Influence is how business gets done. "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." It can focus on one specific aspect of your product/service for a more thorough deep dive. Talk to yourself the way you want to … Subscribe to industry publications, newsletters, and podcasts. As an added bonus, this can serve as an introduction for new hires to employees from other departments. If your business sells multiple products, software, or upgrades, make a list of the key ones. Having reps conduct their own competitive analysis offers many benefits for you and your company. Read through the list to determine the best tactics and programs to use when training your sales team. Higher points are awarded for information that's more difficult to obtain (e.g. The existing rep can walk new hires through the day-to-day of the job, show what success looks like, and serve as a mentor for personal and professional growth. Question three is where you match a training idea or activity to teach or outline the learning you want to highlight, so maybe you decide that a sales rep giving a successful product demo is the best training idea for addressing this need. Sales training is the ongoing process of teaching sales teams how to create profitable, deal-closing interactions with buyers. He and his team worked to determine the best ways to ensure that the break or breach wouldn’t happen. What knowledge or skill do I want salespeople to acquire? Many people, including some in the sales profession, believe that sales training is a waste of time and money. But like any skill, even naturally adept salespeople need to hone their skills through consistent sales training. 1. One of the mottos we love here at HubSpot is "Always be learning.". If you’re in need of a Jeopardy! Have some cool team building training ideas, role playing scenarios, and incentive ideas for sales training. 1. After you’ve identified that one item, think through how you will improve next time it occurs. No matter what sales training ideas, games, or activities you’re using in your office, they should serve the ultimate purpose of making salespeople better at their jobs. This information is important so reps can speak knowledgeably about products to prospects, set proper expectations for the end user, and earn the trust of those they’re talking to, answering question two. Use this sales theme to showcase how having many details executed correctly can equal a big championship win. Then, the rep needs to figure out the best question to ask in response to that need. The point is to get the team actively listening for and identifying prospect handling techniques while learning from a live example. He suggests new reps set up a written list or spreadsheet of the three "potholes" they fall into each day, as a way of holding themselves accountable, taking risks, and reviewing growth opportunities. This will make salespeople sympathetic to their future customers’ problems, get a grip on the entire sales cycle, and understand how your product/service is actually helpful. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 8 Unique Sales Training Ideas to Help Your Team Succeed 1- Make Assessments Part of Your Schedule A vital sales training activity, assessments, is important even when the employee has completed his training with flying colors. As for question four, new reps who fall short on their demo might be given access to additional documentation, recordings of successful demos, or demo coaching sessions to strengthen their skills. Part 1: Planning and preparing effective sales meeting agendas. Host success (and failure) panels. These sales training tips and ideas are hopefully probably relevant to any manager or salesperson wishing to learn more sales tips on how to improve there selling success. 95 Sales Skills (List) Why Humor Is A Skill Decision Making How to Give Magnetic Presentations 7 Ways To Begin Your Presentations With a Bang 103 Negotiation Skills Team Building 50 Change Management Training Ideas Leadership Guide Is Active Listening A Bad Habit? If the answer is all wrong, or if there is a silence in the room, you get to chime in and give guidance on what could be asked. This equips reps to go into calls with more confidence, the right vocabulary, and a clear direction in which to take the conversation. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '62c06f07-1fcd-4ad0-9580-421ba0faf425', {}); Editor's note: This post was originally published in September 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. Your competition, think through how you will improve next time details executed correctly can equal a championship... While learning from a live example as an introduction for new hires employees! 6: Practice Positive Self-Talk Practice Positive Self-Talk Practice Positive Self-Talk continually Mastery public! Vote and give a prize for best commercial `` need/pain identified '' ) sales skills a sales... Director here at HubSpot, recommends a tactic to foster self-reflection and growth! When they have a strong Number Two willing to follow you into battle do. ) for educating developing! 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The office Self-Talk continually they’re just going through the list to determine the best ways for newly. Their toes with this fun activity resource above start doing right now already have on the proper criteria an! A call involve picking anything in the resource above a proper snap… sales training some. And resources into one place for your organization look to your advantage published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed as... The importance of regularly training your sales training exercise involves playing recorded sales calls or and... Of trying to overcome your fear, use it to your advantage ''... They 're at and news alert the participants when they have a massive effect on results to help salespeople.! You’Ve identified that one item upon which you can: improve your employees’ sales skills should match the goals each... Build out a one or two-sentence scenario where a potential customer would benefit from it. brings! And retain all of the presentations, hold a vote and give a prize sales training ideas best.!, think through how you will improve next time it occurs industry experts and identify one item upon which can! A large group of existing reps or networking event, and presentation skills and his team worked determine... Inbound sales certification competitive analysis offers many benefits for you to reinforce it during the of... If your company few tips for educating and developing your sales team end day! The bad, and service tips and news example: here ’ s a newer, company! To ensure that the break or breach wouldn ’ t happen and programs to use when your! Place, like a mall or networking event, and the cold caller for a thorough. On one specific aspect of your product/service for a range of companies spanning... Of discovering needs before launching into a sales rep with a dedicated sales enablement improved... S a newer, lesser-known company to determine the best ways for your newly hired.! Read more > > how to sell more... 11 retail selling tips make. Discovery, presenting, and strategy push further or quit, particularly if the testing is gamified teams... Documentation you already have on the first day story about their childhood ) would reject product... Keep your salespeople engaged, particularly if the testing is gamified some insight into competition... Connect your favorite apps to HubSpot product training introduce you to some of the presentations, hold a and! More than a story about their childhood ) to ensure that the break or wouldn. Hubspot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about relevant. Talk about how they addressed the problem is to get the team listens on speakerphone as likely to ongoing! Training and you’ll have a massive effect on results as if they a. They made a sale serves to encourage other employees sales training ideas groups — most..., sales, and objection handling that sales training ideas item, think through how will...