Train Your Sales Team to Maximize Success

Developing a high-performing sales team requires investment in the team’s professional development. Learn how to help your sales team succeed.

Your sales team is essential to the success of your company. To ensure team members are performing to their full potential, it is essential to craft a sales training and development program that focuses on continual learning and professional improvement. EBSCO Corporate Solutions has outlined the steps necessary to create a program that will help your sales team thrive.

Onboard New Hires

Ensure that all new hires are ready to succeed with an intensive onboarding program. If necessary, divide your training program so that your new hires can fully immerse themselves in each facet of their job. You may want to focus on aspects including the product, the customer, the technology and the necessary soft skills. After the onboarding program, reinforce important concepts with follow-up materials. EBSCO’s Accel5 features exclusive videos and business book summaries to help new hires hone their soft skills.

Utilize Existing Resources

Employ the help of your most valuable resources — your existing employees. Meet with your department or team supervisors and have an honest conversation about their top performers and challenging employees. Request that top performers serve as “team mentors” to provide extra attention to new hires or those that need extra attention. Be sure that you regularly check in with mentors and mentees to confirm that the program is effective.

Training and developing your sales staff is critical if you want to see an increase in sales and revenue.

Provide Incentives to Succeed

Reward success with incentives that will drive your sales team. Think of personal rewards that will make your team feel valued. For example, while many employees prefer bonuses, others might choose extra vacation time. Also, be sure that you come up with small ways to reward your staff throughout the year — especially high performers who have volunteered to be team mentors. Even a simple lunch can go a long way to show your appreciation.

Create Opportunities for Ongoing Development

Give your salesforce the tools it needs to develop skills over time. You can host lunch-and-learn meetings where sales staff can get together in an informal venue and share tips for success. You can also invest in technology that provides access to quick and actionable lessons, such as the microlearning tool Accel5.

Training and developing your sales staff is critical if you want to see an increase in sales and revenue. Download our infographic to learn how you can create an effective and cost-efficient sales training program of your own.