Sales Training Ideas – 5 x To Help You Succeed
These sales training ideas are a great way to make your usual sales training sessions fun, enjoyable, and easier to remember.
When sales training ideas are fun, there’s a better return on your time spent.
As per conducted studies, Neurologists have found that fun activities not only help your team remember what they learn longer, but they will also be keen in coming back for more.
In this article, we’ll explore five effective sales training ideas that you should do with your sales team.
Sales Training Ideas – 5 x To Help You Succeed
Sales Training Idea #1 – Objection Handling
There are numerous sales objections your team will come across when speaking with your potential clients, and if they don’t know how to effectively handle them – this can cost them the sale.
Objection handling is one of the more important sales training ideas, because it allows them to confront, unpack, and respond to sales objections before they come up in the real world.
When handling sales objections as a part of your sales training activity, don’t necessarily look for a script.
As per our article in Entrepreneur here, scripts can actually hurt your sales.
Instead, they should focus on a structure and format to help the potential client overcome the sales objection.
This looks like:
- Listen carefully, and ask them to expand on what’s on their mind
- In a polite tone, repeat back to them their area of concern
- Ask them politely to expand on their area of concern
- Validate the objection
- Agree with them and get on their level
- Re frame the objection into a question
- Politely, yet confidently answer the question
- Proceed with asking for the sale
If you’d like to learn how to execute these steps in greater detail, check out the related article below.
Related article: Sales Objection Handling – A Step By Step Guide
Sales Training Idea #2 – Booking In A Face To Face Meeting
The second on our list of sales training ideas is doing a role play with your team by breaking them into teams of two.
Have one of them be the Salespeople prospecting, and the others a potential client.
The aim of this activity is again, have your prospecting individuals follow a structure to book in a meeting with their potential client, whilst remaining natural and not looking and sounding robotic.
The steps you want your sales team to take are:
- A quick and polite greeting, yet short and concise
- An introduction, stating what you do and how you help your potential clients achieve XY & Z
- Expand a little on the benefits, and why it helps people just like them
- Ask for the appointment
Bonus points are given to prospecting team members who the do the following two steps:
- Reiterate that they did some background checks and digging on the individual earlier
- If given a “No, I’m busy” objection, come up with other times that can meet instead
#3 – Pre-Frame
In our sales training program, The 5% Sales Blueprint; we teach Sales Professionals and Business Owners to use a pre-frame prior to starting their deep diving questions.
A pre-frame sets a frame around how the conversation will go and gives your potential client expectations of how you will behave, and what is expected of them too.
This positions you as a specialist, and also removes a lot of the main sales objections Salespeople generally come across later in the sales process.
The pre-frame is a must need tool prior to starting your sales conversations, and one we would highly recommend.
We recommend this as one of our sales training ideas, because it’ll reinforce the importance of positioning yourself as a trusted advisor, prior to going into sales pitch or solution mode.
Check out the article below, to learn how to use the pre-frame in your sales dialogue.
Related article: Positioning In Sales – How To Sell Effectively
Sales Training Idea #4 – Why Should I Invest?
Split your teams into groups, and as the Sales Trainer for the session, present a product that is completely different to what they currently sell.
Then ask your divided teams, why should someone invest in this product?
Go around the group, and have people publicly answer and explore what it will mean if someone invests in the product you’ve mentioned for the sales training activity.
The aim of this exercise isn’t to just focus on the features and benefits, but more importantly – what it will mean when someone own’s the product.
This sales training idea is important, because it reiterates that people buy meaning – not the product or service itself.
To understand this concept more deeply, check out the article below.
This activity also builds their confidence to think on the spot, speak publicly about their thoughts and ideas.
Related article: Selling Features & Benefits – Why This Is Costing You Sales
Sales Training Idea #5 – Pick Your Product Out Of A Hat
Similar to sales training idea four, this one is very fun and highly effective.
Simply write out a number of random products on small pieces of paper and place them in a hat or something similar.
Then have your sales team pull out one randomly, until everyone has a product.
Once they have their products, go around the room and have them present what it will mean when someone own’s the product.
As mentioned, people buy what it will mean, not the features or benefits.
This sales training idea is a great way to reinforce this.
Final Thoughts
As captured, the effective sales training ideas you should be doing with your team are:
- Sales Training Idea #1 – Objection Handling
- Sales Training Idea #2 – Booking In A Face To Face Meeting
- Idea #3 – Pre-Frame
- Idea #4 – Why Should I Invest?
- #5 – Pick Your Product Out Of A Hat
Put these sales training ideas into action, and your team will have fun, yet effectively learn how to sell in a more consultative way.
If you have any other ideas that you’ve used and benefited from, feel free to share them in the comments.
Want To Close Sales Easier?
Are you committed to closing sales a lot easier, and consistently?
If so, you should check out our self-paced and affordable online sales training program; The 5% Sales Blueprint.
It’ll give you everything you need to close sales consistently.
To learn more, simply click on the link below for more information.
Our Online Sales Training Program – The 5% Sales Blueprint.
