17 Sales Training Programs to Maximize Performance in 2023
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
Bianca is a staff writer at Fit Small Business who specializes in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
This article is part of a larger series on Sales Management.
Sales training programs are courses, seminars, tutorials, certifications, or simulations designed to improve the techniques and skills of salespeople. Through videos, class lectures, workbooks, role-play, and one-on-one coaching, the best sales training programs improve your team’s sales strategies, foster high performance, and increase your company’s sales. We’ve identified the 17 best options, plus tips to help you maximize your return on investment.
Below is an overview of the best sales training opportunities, including focus, price, and duration:
Top Sales Training Programs & Courses
Training Focus | Program Name | Price | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
General Sales | Free or $95 for the certification | Approximately four months for three hours per week (self-paced) | |
$29 per person, per month | 18 hours | ||
Free videos and paid webinars | Varies | ||
Contact for quotes | Varies; coaching sessions over periods from three to 12 weeks | ||
Prospecting & Inbound Sales | Free | Video courses range from 30 minutes to more than three hours | |
Free | 13 hours | ||
Contact for quotes | Half or full-day options | ||
$895 for the first attendee then $795 each | Two hours per week for four weeks | ||
Webinars are free; training packages range from $195 to $995 per person, per year | Varies from 2.5 to 15 hours | ||
Free | Two hours | ||
Sales Process | $997 | 12 weeks; 24 training module videos and workbooks delivered two per week | |
Contact for quotes | Varies | ||
Contact for quotes | Self-paced | ||
Selling Methodology | Contact for quotes | One to two days in-person plus online training | |
Contact for quotes | Two to three days | ||
Sales Management | Contact for quotes | Seminar varies; one to two hours for virtual | |
Contact for quotes | Eight hours |
Best General Sales Training Programs
These sales programs are designed for newer reps who want to gain a broad knowledge of the sales realm. They are also suited for experienced reps who wish to attend refresher training courses for sales to reinforce what they already know. General sales training includes all types of sales topics, including sales communication, sales goals, and creating and delivering a sales pitch.
1. The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process
The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process Specialization is offered by Northwestern University through Coursera. This general sales training program provides ways to make you and your sales team more effective and efficient in achieving sales goals. The Art of Sales is comprised of four courses: Customer Segmentation and Prospecting, Connecting with Prospects, Sales Pitch and Closing, and Building a Toolkit for Your Sales Process.
The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process Specialization courses (Source: Coursera)
2. Introduction to Sales by GoSkills
Introduction to Sales is a sales training program offered by GoSkills, a business training company that also has courses for project management, data analytics, productivity, and soft skills. Designed as an introductory course in sales for beginner-level reps, it uses a regimented curriculum to get students comfortable with each section before leading them into the next one.
Introduction to Sales course overview (Source: GoSkills)
3. Sales Hacker
Sales Hacker is a sales training program offering in-person classes and online sales training via seminars. It also offers training through media resources like podcasts, videos, articles, and online discussions. It’s a one-stop shop for training a high-performing sales team, covering various topics and methodologies, including virtual selling, sales sequences, international sales, team onboarding, and email selling.
Sample sales management video courses on Sales Hacker (Source: Sales Hacker)
4. IMPACT Sales Team Training by the Brooks Group
IMPACT Sales Team Training is a class designed by The Brooks Group with a focus on general sales topics. It teaches sales reps and managers about meeting prospects where they are in the buying process to build credibility and improve sales funnel predictability. Overall, this course for sales is designed to help reps better identify prospects and communicate more effectively to generate more sales.
Virtual IMPACT selling training program breakdown (Source: Brooks Group)
Best Prospecting & Inbound Sales Training Programs
These training programs are both for handling outbound sales prospecting as well as managing inbound sales leads. The programs include a wide variety of topics, including communicating with prospects, identifying and prioritizing high-quality prospects, setting meetings with prospects, closing deals, and tips for calling prospects.
5. HubSpot Academy
HubSpot Academy is free training offered by top customer relationship management (CRM) software provider HubSpot with a multitude of sales and marketing courses. Using online modules, lessons, e-books, and sales templates, sales reps of all levels can improve their skills and even receive certifications. You can also filter and find HubSpot Academy courses to address specific skills gaps based on sales category, content type, duration, skill level, and language.
HubSpot Academy sales courses (Source: HubSpot Academy)
6. SMART Sales System Training Program
Created by Sales Scripter, the SMART Sales System Training Program is designed to improve the prospecting skills of sales professionals. This sales training program dives into what to say and ask when talking with potential customers. It is entirely free as the video series is fully accessible on YouTube.
SMART Sales System Training Program modules overview (Source: Sales Scripter)
7. Accelerate Your Sales by Jill Konrath
Accelerate Your Sales is one of two workshops taught by Jill Konrath on successful ways to handle prospecting, specifically in the B2B space. It covers methods for quickly getting in the door of targeted accounts, setting high-quality meetings with the right decision-makers, and positioning yourself as someone who adds value to the prospect. The program includes the lessons in the workshop along with virtual seminars, coaching sessions, and videos.
Accelerate Your Sales outline (Source: Jill Konrath)
8. Smart Calling College
Art Sobczak’s Smart Calling College is a sales training course specifically focused on outbound calling. It includes information about gaining prospect interest, avoiding resistance, getting past voicemail, and setting up quality appointments while using the phone. This program also comes with videos, an online forum, access to a workbook, and optional live coaching sessions.
Smart Calling College course modules (Source: Smart Calling College)
9. Hoffman Training
Jeff Hoffman provides Hoffman Training courses in person and virtually on an abundance of sales prospecting, pitching, and closing topics. In addition to the seminars offered, there is also a blog, podcast, webinars, and YouTube channel full of content on ways to improve your company’s sales performance.
Hoffman training programs (Source: Hoffman)
10. Inbound Sales by HubSpot Academy
Inbound Sales is a specific course offered by the HubSpot Academy deserving of its own spot on our list. As the name suggests, its content is specific to inbound sales activities, such as identifying new leads, exploring prospect needs, and connecting with them to move them through the sales pipeline. This course also enables you to attain a HubSpot certification upon completion.
Inbound Sales course curriculum (Source: HubSpot Academy)
Best Sales Process Training Programs
Sales process training focuses on getting leads through the sales funnel or pipeline and into purchasing positions. These training programs focus on process-related aspects such as creating an optimized sales process, streamlining sales strategies, and getting more qualified leads
11. 21st Century Sales Training for Elite Performance
The 21st Century Sales Training for Elite Performance program is an online course from Brian Tracy International that focuses on improving the sales process through workbooks, videos, role-play exercises, and learning modules. It includes sales insights to optimize your prospecting funnel, build rapport, identify a prospect’s problems, present solutions, handle objections, and close deals.
21st Century Sales Training for Elite Performance training modules (Source: Brian Tracy)
12. Engage Selling
Engage Selling is unique in its approach to sales training in that Colleen Francis, the owner, conducts an in-depth analysis of your sales operation and team prior to conducting training. Based on her findings, a personalized course is created for your business focused on your sales organization, the sales process, performance management, salespeople training courses, and support.
Engage Selling’s training program overview (Source: Engage Selling)
13. Value-Based Sales Training Program
ValueSelling Associates uses a customizable, modular approach when delivering the Value-Based Sales Training program. They start by seeking the root cause of malfunctions and then tailor your sales team training based on their observations. Programs are offered through either ongoing training (in-person or virtual) or flexible, self-paced online modules.
Best Selling Methodology Training Programs
These training programs are meant to help improve sales results using the respective training methodology or specialized sales techniques for business-to-business (B2B) selling. These are more appropriate for experienced sales reps looking to add new sales methods to their knowledge base. However, they can also aid any sales rep whose sales process routinely involves identifying and overcoming prospect objections.
14. Richardson’s Consultative Selling Skills
The Consultative Selling Skills training program offered by Richardson Sales Performance is a specialty course on how to diagnose buyer needs and identify the right solutions. It teaches sales pros to employ a consultative approach in sales conversations using six key Consultative Selling Framework skills. These skills help reps demonstrate their value, differentiate their business from competitors, and dramatically improve the quality (and outcomes) of sales calls.
Six steps of the Consultative Selling Framework (Source: Richardson)
15. SPIN Selling From Huthwaite International
Huthwaite International’s SPIN Selling is a business-to-business (B2B) course addressing the consistent behaviors of the most successful B2B sales reps. One of the main tactics is asking questions to build value with prospects and mitigate their objections. This course is useful for individual sales reps and managers who oversee a sales team.
SPIN Sales Training overview (Source: HubSpot)
Best Sales Management Training Programs
These sales management training programs are designed for managers or executives who oversee sales teams or departments or manage sales-oriented businesses. Within these programs are learning opportunities for strategizing and running a sales operation. They also cover recruiting, onboarding, and training sales reps.
16. Sales Academy
The Sales Academy program offered by Richardson Sales Performance provides customized sales training to fit the needs of its clients. Courses for sales can be personalized for reps, managers, and executive-level positions, depending on the client’s preferences. Upon undergoing training, sales employees should be able to absorb the content and immediately apply what they learned to their day-to-day behavior.
Components of an Agile Sales Academy (Source: Richardson Sales Performance)
17. Sales Recruitment Training by Sales Gravy
Sales Recruitment Training by Sales Gravy has a different approach compared to the other sales training courses listed here. It focuses on how to find the right sales employees for your operation rather than training the team you already have. It also teaches sales managers how to improve recruiting, interviewing, selecting, onboarding, and retaining sales talent. Upon completion, an advanced course on sales recruiting is also offered.
Sales Recruitment Training program overview (Source: Sales Gravy)
Maximize the Value of Sales Training Programs
Signing up and participating in sales training courses isn’t enough to gain valuable insights and improve sales performance. You and your team must come prepared and exert proven learning behaviors to maximize the training’s value.
- Be fully present: When attending sales training classes in person or online, ensure you and your team are fully paying attention by taking notes and participating in the conversation. Come rested, dedicate time, and minimize distractions to learn as much as possible.
- Be open and eager to learn: Sales training is an opportunity for reps at all levels to learn new skills and techniques that can dramatically improve performance. So, be open to the dialogue and lessons. Review any notes taken during the modules and complete the take-home materials assigned.
- Quickly apply what you learned: One of the best ways to retain information is to apply what you learn as soon as possible. For example, the SPIN Selling course teaches you how to use questions to better identify and fulfill prospect needs. Try using the techniques the next time you speak with a prospect.
- Measure results and adjust when needed: Evaluate whether or not you see improvements in the areas you want to enhance after completing sales training. If not, reinforce training through supplemental methods. These are offered by the programs in the form of videos and workbooks. You can also practice sales skills as a team through role-playing and coaching.
Bottom Line
The most effective sales training programs improve your team’s ability to meet and achieve sales goals, in turn increasing your company’s bottom line with more leads, conversions, and sales. You can further identify and impact areas that need improvement through specific sales topic training. Sales managers can also gain new insights into not only sales training and coaching, but also the hiring, onboarding, and retaining of talented sales professionals.
