Imagine investing time and thousands of money into training your sales team, only to see the benefits fade away within a month! This is a frustrating reality for most (if not all) businesses. The knowledge gained during corporate training vanishes too quickly for most teams. A rather disturbing statistic says that 84% of all sales training is lost after just 3 months. Fortunately, this can be fixed. The solution is advanced sales training programs to boost retention and leave a permanent mark on your sales personnel. For corporates, it has become increasingly important to invest in robust training that can reduce the costs of retraining. EducationNest is one such leader in corporate training programs that offers customizable training programs for all kinds of corporate teams, in an affordable way.
Advanced sales methods are perfect for companies that want to:
- Win bigger deals
- Negotiate like a pro with tricky clients
- Rethink your underproducing sales strategy
10 Advanced Sales Training Methods for Corporates
The sales world is always changing, so companies need to use advanced training techniques for their sales personnel. Training programs that have a proven track record of success will give you a better edge over your competitors. Here are the 10 methods that you need to implement today to better your sales team:
- Nonverbal Communication
This is an area on which advanced sales training focuses. According to a study by the University of Texas, 55% of all communication is nonverbal. It will train your team on the importance of facial expressions, physical cues, and how to use verbal tone correctly.
Nonverbal communication can hugely impact how customers perceive a salesman’s professionalism. They can also perceive their interest in assisting them and if they generally understand the buyer’s pain points.
- Smart Negotiation Tactics
The end goal for all negotiations is to win or cut a good deal. But at the same time, a sales personnel should not risk a long-term client relationship for short-term gain. That is why they should be taught how to negotiate smartly.
Before entering a negotiation, salespeople should thoroughly understand their customers — know their budget, pain points, and needs. This is the key to sharp negotiation skills which can secure a win even before the meeting starts.
- B2B Sales Training
We all are familiar with B2C sales where buyers quickly make the decisions. However, B2B selling is much more complex as it involves longer sales cycles with multiple decision-makers. B2B transactions also often involve large investments. This is where there is a need for strong relationship-building.
For B2B sales, a salesman needs to be a master of consultative and solution selling. They must learn how to create win-win scenarios that benefit both their company and the client. This leads to long-term relationships with repeat business for the company. Only an advanced sales training course covering B2B sales can help you gain the kind of skill you will need to succeed in a B2B space.
- Asking Better Questions
While this might seem like a basic strategy every salesman should already know this, there’s more to it than meets the eye. The real is knowing which are the right questions to ask. This is an area where advanced corporate sales training can help you improve.
Salesmen must avoid the mistake of asking too many questions that feel like an interrogation. Instead, an organization should focus on teaching employees how to ask relevant, open-ended questions at the right moments.
- Social Selling
Social media has become the most powerful sales tool that cannot be ignored. 92% of businesses worldwide use social media today. This visibility pays off when sales agents reach out to potential clients. As a customer, which one will trust more — a brand you are familiar with or one you’ve never heard of? When used right, social platforms are a fantastic way of building a community of warm leads and making personal connections.
- Prospecting
Knowing how to build successful sales funnels can get you paid not in 6-figures but in 8-figures, and the foundation is prospecting. It is a crucial skill for a sales professional to know how to find the right customers for whom the product is perfect. It is about making the right leads ready to move through the sales funnel.
Effective prospecting involves a mix of strategies. Such a process might seem complex but it increases the chances of converting leads into long-term clients. This is what an advanced corporate sales training program can offer to step up your sales teams’ abilities.
- Objection Handling
Objections are actually a positive sign – they indicate that the prospect is engaged and mentally invested in the conversation. This is a crucial step towards making a sale. Most people come up with answers to sales objections on the fly, which is a huge mistake. A pro salesperson should know how to rightly handle objections and turn the conversation to their benefit. But a pro salesman is not born but trained! They must be taught how to turn the conversation when the customer says – “I don’t need this” or maybe “Yours is more expensive than that”.
- Active Listening
Younger or less experienced ones, eager to close a sale, may end up talking too much and not listening enough. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for disaster. Active listening is crucial to understand buyer psychology and tailor the conversation accordingly. Advanced sales training programs can teach the importance of active listening through role-play scenarios or shadowing. This will help you prepare your answers and increase your chances of closing a deal.
- Being Assertive but Not Pushy
A rather important advanced selling technique is making your agents understand the fine line between being pushy and being assertive. Pushy sales can, in fact, make customers walk away. Agents must know how to set clear boundaries and also stick to their viewpoints in meetings. However, pressuring the prospect can create tension and potentially jeopardize the sale.
- Consultative Sales Training
In consultative sales training, a salesman acts more as a consultant than a pushy salesman. The focus is on creating value rather than making a quick buck. For example, it could look like saying “I’m not trying to sell anything to you today but I want to understand if my company would be a good fit for what you’re doing”. You won’t believe how many opportunities this conversation could lead to.
Conclusion
Closing deals and attracting new clients are critical for businesses to survive. No matter which company you work in – service-based or product-based, this is one thing that is constant everywhere. It has always been and will always be the bread-and-butter of survival and growth of most corporates. So, when a company’s sales team cannot promise that growth, it spells disaster.
EducationNest is one of the best sales training providers to navigate the complex world of sales with confidence. Their courses are built by industry experts to instill confidence in your skills and help you close deals by using the most advanced sales training techniques.
