Sales training programs are conducted in pretty much every organisation.  After all, sales is a prime function. And if you are unable to sell your product or service, there’s not much any other function will ever get to do!

This makes getting your sales skills training programs right extremely important. And that’s what I’m going to give you some valuable tips on today.

• Practice, practice, practice – Your sales training program should give your sales executive plenty of opportunities to practice. This could be anything from mock cold calls to greeting etiquette demonstrations to how to close the sale. For its only when they get their hands dirty will they realise what they are good at and where they need to put in more effort.

• Teach them something new – Although this is a standard for all training sessions, its especially important for a sales skills training program. Why? Because of the personality type that most sales executives belong to. They love learning new things and implementing them on the field. So, give them something fresh to play with. A new sales skill, concept or information. And see how kicked they are about giving it a try!

• Tell them stories – We all love hearing success stories. It raises our spirit and gives us the horsepower to go that extra mile. They are therefore a great way to make your sales training programs more effective. Especially when sales are the function where sales executive have to face the maximum amount of rejection! Which also brings me to my next point…
• Teach them how to manage their emotions – Now this is one of those things that every sales training program requires but most tend to miss out! Teach your team how to be confident, strong and resilient. And I’m not just talking about the confidence you get by looking or speaking better. You have to develop true inner confidence that comes by working on your thoughts and emotions.

• Follow up – Last but not the least, build in a solid follow up to the sales skills training. Conduct mystery audits and see how each individual is faring. Provide them on the job coaching where needed. Be there to answer their queries. Help them constantly upgrade the sales process they are following. Ask them to make a list of the typical objections they face and how they will tackle them. In short, be sure to invest time and effort with a good corporate training company to bring your sales team up the curve. Trust me, it’s worth it!