Sales Tips

Sales Training Program For Your Sales Team: From Rookie To Veteran

Sales training isn’t just about having the right tools and tricks up your sleeve. It’s about being trained to leverage them right. That’s why you need sales training to ensure that the behaviors that help win deals can be codified and shared with new hires and trainees. 

This blog looks at how sales training should be approached by breaking it down into a clear 4-week timeline and how to structure your training into modules that can make it more effective.

Preparing a Training Program for your Sales Team

Day 1: Orientation 

On the day of orientation, acquaint your newly- recruited batch of sales representatives with how things work at your company.

Sales Training Program

Remember, sales is a competitive field. Offer an atmosphere conducive to the growth of the sales reps right from day 1. Budding sales reps need to develop the ‘never give up’ attitude, if they want to ace their role. 

1. Introduction to the Teams

To get started, conduct an ice-breaking session where you can introduce your team to the new recruits. The best way to derive maximum value from hiring these sales representatives is by offering an environment where they can learn and grow. support and guide your sales reps right from day 1.

2. Technical Setup

Provide your team with the tech setup needed for them to get started with their tasks. What CRM are you using, are you using any Sales Intelligence or Sales Calling platforms? Get relevant experts on the team to conduct a working session for the new sales reps.

3. Conduct a Run-through of the Company’s Sales Process

A seasoned sales rep should know the exact point at which they need to come in and close the product and where they can find the information they need for context. Do a run-through of the existing sales process and also ask them where you can improve it for future trainees. Ensure that there is a complete Knowledge Transfer in case of any take over of accounts so that your trainees are not walking into a minefield. 

Sales Training Program: Week 1

Here, the sales reps build essential skills. The new team gets acquainted with the product and its features.

1.Product (s) Demo 

Eventually, the sales rep will be pitching your product (s). Why not get them acquainted with the product from 1st week itself? Sales reps act as the first point of contact between the company and the customers. Product demos are vital for them to know the product through and through. Conduct product demo sessions to cover all the USPs, features, characteristics, and highlights of your product. Make sure to address all their queries and questions while in the demo. Once done with it, a sales rep will be able to answer the following questions.

  • What are the top features and characteristics of your product? 
  • How do you use it? 
  • What is the USP of your product versus the competition?

2. Analysis of Sales Reps’ Previous Projects

If there are any experienced professionals you’ve brought on board, look into their previous projects and portfolio. Identify their strengths and skills. Further, explore their portfolio to identify if they worked on any similar products so you can bring their wealth of experience to the larger team. 

3. Customer Persona Analysis 

In order to be able to understand the needs of the target customer, it is important to deeply examine them. Begin by building a basic understanding of who your target customer is. Create personas for the buyer and influencers so that you understand everyone involved in the buying decision and their problems. 

4. Building Familiarity with the Sales Toolkit

A lot of time gets wasted in the sales process due to manual tasks such as logging customer data, sharing it with your teams, and tracking previous conversations for context. But with the right tech stack, you can easily streamline projects, and focus on priority tasks. Take your sales reps through the sales tools you are using right now. Here are a few tools that are an essential part of any sales process:

CRM Software

CRMs help you easily organize and manage customer data. Sales, customer and marketing teams can all get access to customer data via CRM platform and enable smooth workflows. CRM allows seamless management of important deals. A good CRM tool helps get rid of the gaps in the workflow between teams as all data is in one place and only the required data can be fetched out easily.

Sales Contact Center Software

Consistent communication with customers is the foundation on which sales reps can build a valuable relationship with them. 92% of all customer conversations tend to happen over the phone. This is why sales teams should invest in a good phone system. To conduct smooth, streamlined communication with your customers, you need reliable sales call center software for your team. If you are trying to find a good quality phone system, look out for features such as auto-dialer, great native CRM integration, bulk SMS, call recording, analytics and more that will help your sales team ramp up productivity manifold.

Conversation Intelligence 

Sales Intelligence Software

Sales intelligence tools or conversation intelligence provides vital insights on prospects. With access to important information such as how customers are reacting to the pitch, key moments driving the deal forward, and points of interest reps can hone their pitch to perfection rather than shoot arrows in the dark. With coaching insights on every call, you can identify patterns and pinpoint strengths and weaknesses to sales reps and give them personalized training based on improvement areas.

Sales Training Program: Week 2

Now that the sales team is well-acquainted with the sales process, the product they are supposed to pitch, and the customer persona, it’s time to train your sales team on how to approach their sales pitches.

1.Define Goals

First and foremost, you need clarity on what the sales goal is. For every prospect based on the need, stage of the prospect, and the use-case, there will be a different sales pitch. Train your sales representatives on how to define the goals of each action be it an email, cold call or any other form of outreach. 

2.Cold Call Scripting 

Cold calling coaching is probably the most difficult and most dreaded part of sales training processes. What turns a cold call into a warm call? Wich questions will your prospects ask? What objections will they have? Using a sales readiness platform such as Dialworks can help you get the answers to all these questions and master the art of cold calling. After honing your pitch with simulated customers you can find out the cold call scripts that work and apply them on the field.

3. Map Customers’ Needs with Benefits of your Product

This is where the customer analysis of stage 1 comes useful. When pitching products to your prospect, focus on customers’ interests and pain points. You only need to highlight the USPs or features that will solve the specific problem that the user is facing. Even though it may be tempting, do not go after the customer with a laundry list of benefits. 

4. Handle Objections Smartly 

Are there any typical objections that sales reps encounter during their pitch? Point out the common objections that sales reps face, and lead them through how to handle each of them. You can get these insights from a conversation intelligence tool, discussed earlier in the tools/tech stack segment. You can also replay top calls based on the analytics derived from your sales contact center software. Here are some examples of objections that sales representatives may encounter:

  • “Now is not a good time”
  • “I’m already using X (competitors’ product)”
  • Just send the information to me”
  • “We’d prefer to work with a more well-known brand”

Draft a script that takes these possible objections into account, and how reps can break through those objections.

5.Organize Coaching Sessions by Industry Experts

Learning the ropes from industry experts themselves will be very helpful for the sales reps to better understand the space. Getting thought leaders to explain the problems faced by the industry and the broader landscape will help your sales team be well prepared for conversations with senior decision-makers. 

6. Addressing Reps’ Queries 

Whether your goal is to train a new batch of sales reps or to polish the skills of your sales team, the support and guidance of the senior sales leaders is vital. Senior sales managers and leaders should be easy to approach so that sales reps can clarify any questions or queries that they may have. The more clarity sales reps will have, the better equipped they will be at achieving their targets.

Sales Training Program: Week 3

Stepping into week 3, focus more on hands-on training and skill-building. Now that sales reps know how to write cold-call pitches, it’s time to put these skills to practice.

1.Conduct Sales Call Roleplaying

Modern sales-readiness platforms help your reps get a taste of real cold calls and arrive at the actual right pitch. Reps can get real-time coaching on objection handling from experts. Roleplaying cold calls will help identify every sales rep’s strengths and weaknesses. So, sales reps can enhance their skills right from ground zero.

2. Focus on Sales Skills to Build on 

While every rep may have his own set of strengths and weaknesses, sales professionals, need to master a certain set of skills before they connect with the customers. So, let’s look at the top skills that you need to coach your sales reps on.

a. Product Training

Sales reps need to have a thorough knowledge of the products they are attempting to sell. They should be adept at explaining the unique value proposition of the product and/or business to the customers. Being able to highlight important product and brand features is another skill that sales reps need to ace. In fact, the top 1% of the sales reps are those who have in-depth knowledge of the products.

b. Handling Fear

The initial sales calls are always tricky and difficult for newbies. Fear of being rejected by prospects or the discomfort of asking for the sale are common obstacles that they face. Hearing a ‘no’ from a prospect demoralizes most of sales reps. Getting accustomed to rejection and dealing with this fear with positive selling – these must be a part of the training. Since getting a negative response is a part of the process. Provide reps with the right set of techniques on how to deal with these outcomes. 

c. Effective Listening Skills

Sales reps need to be good speakers as well as good listeners. In the effort to take the customer through the product, sales reps may end up speaking more and end up irking the customer. Mastering the art of active listening and inculcating empathy is essential to sales success.

d. Decision – Making and Prioritization

Train your sales reps to give priority to the quality of leads they are prospecting. In order to assess the quality of a lead, sales reps need to ask the right set of questions. Questioning is an important part of assessing the needs of the customer. From making sure the speaker is the decision-maker to ensuring they have the budget for the tool, give your reps a set of qualifying questions that are right for your product. 

e. Building Rapport with Customers

In the absence of face-to-face contact with the customers, reps may find it particularly hard to build rapport. Some of them may have a natural finesse at handling customers while others may need to polish their skills. First and foremost, sales reps need to present a friendly demeanor. They should be easy to talk to and ask questions from. Being able to find common ground helps take the conversation further. The trick is to build an authentic bond through icebreakers and then gradually move towards pitching your product.

f. Following-up Religiously

Statistics show that it could take an average of 4-5 cold calls to reach a prospect. Every follow-up call can be a make-or-break deal. For this reason, sales reps need to excel at the skill of following up religiously on leads.Without appearing to be overly pushy, sales reps are supposed to lead prospects to take the desired action. Connecting with the prospect on LinkedIn, sending valuable content

Before all, reps should know exactly when to follow up. Badly timed calls can turn off your customers. Thorough preparation ahead of making the follow-up call will be very helpful. Most importantly, the conversation flow should be natural. Keeping track of conversations with the prospects will help in framing the follow-up pitch more competently.

g. Closing Deals

This is the most challenging part of the sales process. But, with the right amount of guidance and training, reps can become proficient at closing deals.

There can be different approaches to asking prospects for a close. One way to approach this is by providing a summary of the pitch and then asking for the close. Reiterating the features of the product can leave an impression on the customers. Second, by offering a customized solution to match the requirements of the prospect. This will be a proposition that the prospects may find difficult to say no to.

Yet another approach to closing sales deals is by invoking a sense of urgency. Especially when a prospect is attempting to make a decision quickly, putting forth a limited-time offer can be a smart way to close the deal.

Sales Training Program: Week 4

In the 4th week of the sales training program, the focus can be more on sales call role-playing, shadowing senior sales reps, product demo practice sessions and sales call monitoring.

1.Shadowing Senior Sales Reps

sales-training-program-timeline-to-build- killer-sales-teams

Shadowing seniors is used as a part of the on-the-job training process. Job shadowing would involve junior sales reps to observe and follow the role of senior sales reps. So, by stepping into the shoes of their seniors, junior sales reps can learn the different facets and responsibilities that the job entails.

2.Product Demo Practice Sessions 

Sales reps are now experts at conducting product demos. Remember that a sales rep’s job does not end with pitching products. Product demos are an integral part of the sales process. Sales reps should know how to carry out excellent product demos for the prospects. Create a tried and tested product demo structure for sales reps to follow. Train your sales team to customize the language and flow of the product demo according to the prospects. It is very likely that the prospects will have many questions during the course of the product demo. Sales reps should be ready with all the answers to the questions that they pose.

3.Call Monitoring of Sales Calls 

Following all the training, coaching, and skills enhancement over the course of the past 3 weeks, sales reps finally take on sales calls with their respective prospects.

But are they really ready to handle customers? For first-timers and newbies, handling the first few customers can turn out to be difficult. Senior sales reps and managers can help the junior sales reps through call monitoring. For junior sales reps, hurdles such as difficult prospects or big-ticket deals may be very difficult to handle.

With call monitoring, senior sales managers can listen to sales calls, live and guide sales reps on how to handle prospects. With call whispering, senior sales reps and managers can guide agents without the prospects knowing about it. Senior sales reps can also opt to barge into the call happening between the agent and the customer.

From Trainee To Veteran 

Now that we’ve covered the theoretical and training aspects of getting your sales team up to speed, let’s look at how they can become a veteran on the field. 

Acing Cold Emails

  1. Never Mislead

Although giving clickbait subject lines might give you a higher open rate, it’s highly unlikely it will convert into a sale. This could also result in landing your email id as spam or blocking your email id forever.

  1. Give Value First

Sell the value, not the product and you will create a long-lasting impact on the prospects. Keep the message casual, and display the benefits instead of attributes or features. Setting the context with case studies, testimonials that build trust will also help build your case so that the prospect can engage. 

  1. Regular Follow-ups

Smart sales professionals are persistent and regularly follow up to stay top of mind when the opportunity arises. 

  • It is important that you showcase your customers a different angle of your product/service each time you follow up.
  • Follow-up email should display different advantages of your product.
  • Follow up can showcase more social proof in terms of case studies.
  • You can also send across blogs or whitepapers that help the prospect get better at their role. You can easily automate sending follow-up emails using a cold email tool. 

Acing Cold Calling

  • Believe in your own value

Call reluctance is an emotion with which many sales people struggle. Next time you feel afraid to make a cold call, remember this; you have value as an individual, and the product you’re selling creates great value as well. This belief inspires confidence and can also help in closing rates when matched with the right customer.

  • Set the context

Break the ice with the prospect by sharing some common ground, you can bring up a LinkedIn community they are a part of, a social post or blog they had written, an insight that you had about their website, anything to differentiate yourself from the conventional cold call. If you establish a commonality it becomes difficult for the prospect to dismiss you outright. 

  • Listen

While it is necessary to highlight the points of your product, you need to listen to what the prospect is saying. Listening is an important part of your sales arsenal. Listening also helps you figure out if the prospect is a real decision maker and what exact problems they are trying to solve. 

  • Use emotion

Emotions in a conversation come through even on a call. Make sure that you’re conveying energy and positive associations rather than seeming tired or frustrated on call.

  • Use a client-focused script

The script you use during the call should be focused on the prospect, not on you. Highlight their unique business problems and their landscape. Using targeted scripts creates a positive image in the mind of your prospect that you’ve done the groundwork before picking up the call. 

Handling Objections

Step 1: Stay Calm and Pause to Think  – Do not get nervous or speak more than required. Listen with patience. Do not interrupt.

Step 2: Repeat the last few words of your buyer’s sentence –  This triggers the sense of trust and being in their shoes. This makes the buyer elaborate their objection with comfort. 

Step 3: Grab the core objection clearly before shooting your solution – Ask as many questions as needed to ensure you understand the objection clearly.

Step 5: Do not “suggest” without establishing credibility – That brings to the buyer giving a false yes and ignoring it away. Instead, establish that you’ve dealt with a similar situation before and how your product can solve for it, having a case study handy really helps. 

Step 6: Bring it to the end line with urgency –  If they insist that teams are too busy, give them an expiring offer to sweeten the deal

Dealing with Ghosters

Getting ghosted hurts on both a business and personal level. It’s a surprise that doesn’t seem to make sense. Everything is going smoothly. And then? Radio silence.

Why do Prospects Ghost you?

There is a wide range of reasons why a prospect might stop reaching out to you. It could professional, personal, or a mix of the two. It could be that your prospect:

  • Never had the authority to make a decision and didn’t tell you.
  • Was instructed by their boss to not work on your project.
  • Doesn’t like conflict and doesn’t want to tell you no.
  • Found a review on your company that wasn’t flattering.
  • Had a death in their family and are out on leave.
  • Your prospect suddenly found a severely bad customer review about your company while doing a final background check on your product.
  • They misunderstood something and interpreted it to be a hidden cost you weren’t willing to divulge before they become a paying subscriber.

Those are just a few. There are a slew of other reasons that could lead to the relationship going cold.

How not to Get Ghosted in the First Place?

  1. Be specific about your next point of contact with the prospect 
  2. Pitch it as soon as the time is emotionally right
  3. Follow up on time keeping a close gap
  4. Build a relationship, showcase your human side
  5. Give out offers or personalized discounts

Measuring your success

1. Sales Cycle Duration

Sales cycle duration = Total no. of days taken to close all deals/ Total no. of deals

Measuring your sales cycle duration can be an important step in optimizing your sales process. Whether you need to change your prospecting strategy or your closing techniques, your sales cycle duration is an indicator of the intensity of your efforts. 

2. Sales Pipeline Velocity

Sales Pipeline Velocity= (Sales qualified leads X Overall Win Rate X Average Deal Size)/ Length of the sales cycle in days

3. Monthly Sales Growth

Monthly Sales Growth= (Net sales revenue for the month- Net sales revenue for the previous month/ Net sales revenue for the previous month) X 100

4. Sales Win rate

Win rate= (No. of deals closed/ Total no. of opportunities) X 100

5. Email and Call Analytics

How many cold emails are you putting out every day? What is the number of follow-up emails you are sending out? Since emails are an integral part of sales prospecting, keeping tabs on these numbers will be crucial for developing effective sales outreach plans. Besides analyzing these numbers on a daily basis, you may also want to look at it from a longer-term perspective.

6. Percentage of Sales Quota Hit

Percentage of Sales Quota Hit= Total net revenue from deals won for a given time period/ Sales target (in terms of monetary amount) for the given period

Sales Reporting and Templates – How to showcase success to Stakeholders?

The purpose of a sales report, above all, is to showcase your or your teams success and get buy in for the initiatives that will help you improve.

Here’s a systematic, step-by-step approach to structuring a sales report:

  1. Who’s the Target Audience?
  2. What goals do you seek to achieve through the process?
  3. How do you rightly assess performance?
  4. By what frequency do you assess?
  5. How do you finally present? 
  6. What are the key takeaways from your findings?

Sales can be a daunting role for any beginner and without the right mentorship and guidance, it is easy to be sidetracked and stressed. We hope that this ultimate sales training guide has provided immense value to you and your team on you sales career. 


For any further guidance on sales training or help setting up your sales contact center, you can speak to our team to get more clarity!

Sandy leads the US Sales team at JustCall and he has been integral in growing JustCall’s ARR by 5X while bootstrapped. He is a big believer in using tech to enable sales and is the first person to try out every new feature in the JustCall stack. While he’s not writing high performance email cadences for his team, he dabbles in blogging about Sales Strategy, Sales Tech and Sales Training.

How useful was this post?

0/5

-

( 0 votes)