A company’s success heavily depends on its sales teams’ ability to close deals. While the initial sales training companies offer is a great start, continuous investment in the development of employees’ skills and knowledge on a regular basis is needed to take their selling efforts to the next level.
From inviting customers to share specific feedback to providing role-play workshops for employees to gain more experience, there are a number of ways for leaders to go about re- and upskilling sales teams. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members share examples of training and development opportunities leaders can provide to their sales teams to boost their skills and effectiveness.
1. Build A Strong Foundation
I’ve seen remarkable results by aligning the brand story, marketing, sales and the full customer journey. Before teaching sales, it’s crucial to align their mindset with the company’s DNA. Sales training often reflects personal biases, so a pre-sales foundation focused on the company’s values can shift perspectives to be company-centric. This enhances overall effectiveness by a significant amount. – Rifat Ahmed, MonsterClaw LLC
2. Evaluate Current Sales Training Processes
Sales training should be methodical, deliberate and engaging, not just passive observation. After each activity, engage proactively with the team to evaluate success, identify improvements, plan follow-ups and refine strategies for the next step. This approach applies to every sales phase, from cold calls to client expansion, ensuring continuous skill development and effective techniques for success. – Sal Pazhoor, Naztec International Group LLC
3. Improve Understanding Of The Product
Anyone who understands the product can sell it. Start by enabling and improving the relationship between your salespeople and the products they sell. This will help them connect emotionally to the product and allow them to understand the benefits and challenges like the back of their hand. They should ideally try or test the product at least once or multiple times depending on its complexity. – Magnus Tuxen, Assiduus Global Inc.
4. Listen To Recorded Client Calls
When a client or potential client’s phone call is recorded, with their permission, of course, it can be analyzed later to see if there are hints or even overt requests for certain products and services they want. This can lead to additional sales down the line. A recorded phone call also helps salespeople understand how they can tweak their styles to make more progress with different personalities. – Zain Jaffer, Zain Ventures
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5. Develop Their Emotional Intelligence
Invest in training that develops emotional intelligence within your sales team. Sales is about understanding human needs and motivations. By enhancing their empathy and self-awareness, your team can connect with customers on a deeper level, build stronger relationships and, ultimately, close deals with greater authenticity and integrity. – Elie Y. Katz, National Retail Solutions (NRS)
6. Implement Mandatory MEDDPICC Training
We recently rolled out mandatory MEDDPICC training for our customer growth organization. This framework empowers our sales team to improve customer relationships, accelerate sales cycles and increase deal sizes through active listening, insightful questioning and value delivery. The training will help us continue to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive sustainable growth. – Dana Berg, SADA, An Insight company
7. Leverage Learning Platforms
Online learning platforms, such as LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and Udemy, could be a great source of skill building. Further, several renowned universities have their own platforms that provide targeted, self-paced courses. This includes Harvard Business School online, eCornell, Wharton and more. – Ikram Bhuiyan, La Baker Inc.
8. Explore Generative AI
A sales enablement framework for 2025 must include capability building with generative AI. Sales teams can drastically boost their effectiveness and productivity by using large language models. Opportunities include conducting market research, analyzing competitors and profiling clients. A quick win for teams is using AI to better personalize email marketing and lead nurturing. – Alex Brueckmann, Brueckmann Strategy Consultants Ltd.
9. Present Learning Challenges And Drills
Leaders should present short, bite-sized learning challenges and drills that are personalized to the confidence level and knowledge gaps of every salesperson. These can also then be gamified to create the right motivation and incentive to learn frequently. Validating what they’ve learned gives everyone confidence that training is sticking. – Manoj Kulkarni, Realizeit
10. Involve Them In Customer Success Stories
Get sales teams deeply involved with customer success stories. When sales reps truly understand how their solutions impact customers long term, they sell differently. Trust me; I’ve seen how it transforms the process altogether when sales reps start focusing on lasting results instead of just closing deals. – Samuel Darwin, Sparkle
11. Uncover Customer Pain Points And Priorities
Leaders should help sales reps uncover customer pain points and priorities. Teach them how to position products or services as solutions to specific customer challenges. Build stronger, trust-based connections and leverage insights to personalize interactions and track progress. Aligning solutions with customer needs increases conversions. – Mohit Gupta, Persado Technologies
12. Develop Their Communication Skills
Communication is important to all employee development. Whether you are selling, promoting or attempting to engage partners, communication is critical to gaining buy-in from customers, leaders and peers. Being able to connect on multiple levels will allow sales teams to not only sell products but also create long-lasting relationships that are productive and beneficial to business success. – Alberta Johnson, People Experts LLC
13. Offer Role-Play Workshops
Providing role-play workshops is a powerful training tool for sales teams. These sessions simulate real-world scenarios, allowing team members to practice handling objections, refining pitches and building confidence. By creating a safe space for feedback and improvement, leaders equip their teams with practical skills that directly enhance their effectiveness and sales outcomes. – Beth Worthy, GMR Transcription Services, Inc.
14. Explore Team-Building Activities
Team-building opportunities that directly benefit the community at large are great ways to boost team camaraderie and give back to the community the company serves. Taking employees to places outside of the office where they can work together to serve others boosts morale, allows authentic connections to be made and enhances the office culture in intangible ways. – Christine S. Ghilain, Brain Health Neuropsychology & Brain Health Consulting
15. Implement Cross-Departmental Training Across Teams
Cross-departmental training with product, marketing and customer support empowers sales teams to build a deeper, more well-rounded understanding of the market strategy, buyer needs and product fit. Arming sales teams with greater knowledge and context improves their ability to deliver more authentic consultative sales presentations that inspire trust and close business. – Scott Paddock, Wondr Health
16. Hold Peer-To-Peer Learning Sessions
Offer virtual peer-to-peer learning sessions where sales team members share successful strategies and challenges. This fosters collaboration, leverages diverse experiences and builds a supportive team culture. For remote teams, it’s an engaging way to learn, connect and grow together. – Braden Yuill, Virtual Coworker
17. Enable Real-Life Opportunities To Gain Experience
The best training and development tool leaders can provide their inexperienced team is experience—first-hand, real-life and game-time experience. At Brunner, we’ve created a learning lab of real-life opportunities for people to hone and practice their skills, gain confidence and learn how to receive and react to constructive feedback. We then ask team members to do it again and again in a variety of scenarios. – Jeff Maggs, Brunner
18. Emphasize The Importance Of A Consultative Sales Approach
Leaders should emphasize the importance of a consultative sales approach, which starts with actively listening to client needs and understanding their goals. Equally critical is the role of timely and personalized follow-ups, as they build trust and demonstrate commitment. By focusing on these aspects, sales teams can foster stronger client relationships and drive long-term success. – Marco Scanu, 345 Group LLC (dba Visa Business Plans)
19. Do Reverse Role-Play Sessions
Conduct reverse role-play sessions in which sales reps take on the role of the customer. They can see what that experience is like first-hand and get deeper insights into the buyer’s pain points. This hones empathy and polishes their methodology. – Chris Kille, EO Staff
20. Encourage Them To Seek Out Local Leadership Groups
One opportunity that is available in many areas is leadership courses offered through governmental small business agencies and business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce or SCORE. Building leadership skills automatically transfers to sales skills by boosting their confidence and giving salespeople the knowledge to talk to anyone, even those outside their social circle. – Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure
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