Improving Team Performance With Sales Training

Making sales is essential to drive revenue and business growth. But, for this to happen consistently, you need a high-performing sales team. There are many benefits to a high-performing sales team. These include building new customer relationships and closing deals. While their ability to talk to customers will lead to a higher rate of customer loyalty.

Of course, before you see these benefits, you need to build a sales team. And this all starts with the recruitment process. In an ideal world, you would be filling your sales team with experienced salespeople. But, this approach is expensive. A more cost-effective solution is to hire for potential. This means hiring people with traits that complement the role of a salesperson. Then, it’s a case of providing your new hires with the right learning opportunities. This will help your new hires develop their skills and realise their potential. Here’s a detailed look into how sales training improves performance. 

Latest selling techniques

Like anything, the corporate world is always evolving. So, the selling techniques that worked in the past, won’t necessarily work today. For a sales team to enjoy continued success, they need to use the latest selling techniques. That’s where sales training comes in. 

During the training, salespeople will be made aware of all the up-to-date tips and tricks. With quality trainers, the content goes beyond a basic presentation. Instead, they keep the salespeople engaged with various interactive sales-based activities. Taking part in role-play activities allows salespeople to try different selling techniques. They are then free to take what they have learned and apply it to their everyday role.

Using different channels

There is more than one way to make a sale. In fact, there are various channels available to salespeople. Once, cold calling would have been the favoured approach. But, new channels have since opened. Professional networking platforms like LinkedIn are providing salespeople with more opportunities than ever. Salespeople can now pitch to prospective customers on social media. This is referred to as social selling. 

In some ways, social selling can be more effective than traditional outreach methods. With cold calling, the intended recipient has to be at their desk. Otherwise, the message is likely to get lost. Social selling allows salespeople to build relationships with customers, no matter their location. As a result, team performance improves and more leads are converted. 

Knowledge

Using different channels and the latest selling techniques is important to make sales. But, if a salesperson lacks the right knowledge, they won’t have much luck. That’s because customers want to feel reassured that the salesperson is knowledgeable. Your sales team should have no problems answering questions. Whether this is about the products, services or the company as a whole.

If salespeople fail to show confidence in doing this, they risk losing customers. The phrase, ‘knowledge is power’ is thrown around a lot. And this is no different in sales roles. With sales training, your sales team will learn how to answer client questions. Sales training that's tailored to your business can be especially valuable. Here, the trainers will take the context of your business and its industry into account. This gives your salespeople the knowledge they need to deliver more effective pitches.  

Soft skills 

Soft skills are common transferable skills used in everyday life. But, they are particularly important in sales roles. This is due to the heightened number of interactions. Once a salesperson has nailed down some of the key soft skills, it’s then a case of refining them. And of course, this happens with practice. 

Sales training can help point salespeople in the right direction. The idea here is to help them become better communicators. A key, often overlooked soft skill is active listening. On a sales call, the salesperson should listen intently to what the client has to say. This is so they can work towards providing a viable solution. 

There is a wide range of other soft skills important to sales roles. These include teamwork, problem-solving and time management. All of which will go a long way to improving team performance.

Leadership 

Part of becoming a better communicator lends itself to more effective leadership. With sales training, your salespeople will learn to think more strategically. This will allow them to play more of a pivotal in your company's decision-making process.

Some people are more natural leaders than others. But, sales training can quite often help to reveal these traits. And with experience, your salespeople will be in a position to mentor your new sales hires. So, having more leaders in your sales team can help to improve performance.

Negotiation

A big part of making sales is possessing the ability to negotiate. Customer interactions won’t always go smoothly. A customer could be interested in moving forward, but might not be happy with one of the terms. If this isn’t dealt with, friction can start to occur. But, instead of losing the deal, both parties can come to a mutually beneficial agreement.  

Interactive sales training can teach salespeople the art of negotiating. Here, your salespeople will get the opportunity to plan and lead negotiations. This training will improve the ability of your sales team, allowing them to close more deals. 

Building resilience

Rejection is common in sales roles. Every time your salespeople pick up the phone, there’s the potential for rejection. After all, not everyone is going to be interested in your company. With rejection inevitable, it’s all about how your salespeople respond. 

Those who get past moments of rejection will have a successful career in sales. But, to do this, salespeople need resilience. Yet, resilience is something that has to be built. And with training, your sales team will realise the power of resilience.

Your sales team will learn about the importance of cultivating a growth mindset. They will come away from the training with the viewpoint that every setback is a chance to learn. Learning how to embrace rejection will take your sales team to new heights. Instead, of worrying about a missed opportunity, your salespeople will revise their approach. This will improve their confidence, allowing them to provide more value to customers. 

Do you want to improve team performance with sales training? If so, then head over to our sales training page for more information.