Why do sales training programs matter?

The first few months on the job is critical for sales reps. During this time, there’s a lot of information and skills to learn to get up to speed, hit quota, and become an all-star rep. 

It’s no secret that onboarding sales reps is a big challenge. In fact, 22% of organizations have no formal onboarding program and 60% fail to set milestones for new reps. But building a strong sales onboarding program is the best way to engage new reps, increase retention, and drive sales performance. Instead of simply checking a box with annual sales training, organizations need to build and deliver a training program that helps reps learn, practice, and perform like never before. 

Despite the importance of sales training programs, onboarding is a pain point for many companies. Most sales leaders we talked to say that onboarding plans take too long and fail to thoroughly prepare reps for the role.

Sales Training Topics in a Top Sales Training Program

Today’s sales reps have to navigate a quickly changing business landscape, meet the increasing needs of prospects, and cultivate lasting relationships. The best sales training programs recognize and prioritize a variety of skills to do all of these things and more. If you’re trying to figure what to cover in sales training, Lessonly’s guide features 75 sales training ideas that focus on hard and soft skills training. Here’s a glimpse at some of the topics we tackle in this free sales training program guide. 

Sales overview: Every rep should understand how their sales team operates and what to expect in their role. 

Best practices: It’s beneficial to share winning sales strategies and best practices across the team. This gives every rep the content they need for any situation. 

Buyer personas: Buyer personas help sales reps better understand their customers. Companies may also have more than one persona, so it’s important to deliver training on each one. 

Understanding the tech stack: Sales teams use numerous software applications. Break down and provide training on each piece in a micro-learning format for easy consumption. 

Prospecting: Prospecting is a huge undertaking for sales reps. That’s why the best programs include tips and tricks for emails, calls, and other helpful communication touchpoints. 

Making a first call: Cold calling can be intimidating. Outline important characteristics of successful cold calling that gives reps the confidence to pick up the phone. 

Setting meetings: There’s a lot of work that goes into setting a meeting with a prospect. Sales training programs should break down every touchpoint and task that goes into scheduling a meeting. 

Delivering demos: A personalized demo is a great sales tool. Help reps learn the basics of delivering a demo and provide guidance about what makes for a successful conversation.

Communicating pricing: Pricing is a critical conversation in the buying process. Provide reps with a high-level overview of pricing strategy for products and services. 

Closing deals: Finally, it’s crucial to show reps what needs to happen to close a deal and what happens after a contract is signed. 

Some of our favorite sales training program examples provide reps with skill assessments, practice opportunities, and feedback. Our guide also includes lesson ideas that help leaders implement these elements into their onboarding program.

Assessments and certifications: Instead of hoping that training simply sticks, give reps assessments to gauge their process. Great sales onboarding programs use knowledge checks and quizzes to ensure reps master key concepts.

Practice scenarios: Practice is a critical component of sales training. Help reps hone their skills with realistic practice scenarios like negotiating and overcoming customer objections.

Feedback and coaching: The best sales managers are phenomenal coaches. Whether refining a pitch or closing a deal, reps who get helpful feedback and coaching from their managers improve faster.