If you are a sales manager then you know that your role within your company is one of the most important ones.
Sales management is a competitive field and it grows more competitive every day. You need to know how to stay on top of market trends, apply various skills to your company and serve as a leader to the rest of your team while you are doing all of it.
So how do you stay ahead of your competition and make sure you are effectively guiding successful sales?
To really be the best, you need to actively participate in sales manager’s training. It can be hard to know which management training programs to choose from, especially when there are so many out there with not a lot of information on which one will be the most worthwhile.
Luckily, we did the tough research for you so that you can guide your career in the right direction. Read on to figure out what manager training programs are the right fit for you.
What is Sales Management Training?
To properly understand what this sort of manager training is, you first need to understand the accurate definition of a sales manager. Even if you are a sales manager and have a pretty good idea of your job title, it is key to refresh your memory to get you on the right track.
According to Indeed, a sales manager is the person in charge of the day-to-day operations of the general sales department. They hire, onboard, and train sales team members and act as the liaison between the upper management and general staff. Ultimately, they need to generate leads through understanding market data and working with sales quotas.
After-sales managers understand what they are working with, they are responsible for divvying up tasks among the sales team.
They also need to possess a particular repertoire of sales manager skills to truly succeed through growing the company and staying abreast of the competition.
For example, a competent manager will be in charge of promotional campaigns, plan and execute sales actions throughout the region, properly budget, analyze market trends and data, and help customers and clients with any concerns they may have. More on that later.
Essentially, sales management training are courses that give you a competitive edge for employers and, if you are already a part of a business, bring you up a notch in effectiveness as an employee. Through these management training courses, you develop as a leader by learning tools and techniques specific to your market.
What Training Is Needed for Sales Managers?
There are a countless number of programs out there for you to take advantage of. The best one for you depends on what your specific field is and what it entails.
There are courses for general leadership, sales leadership, technology-based training, overall sales training and methodology, to name just a handful.
It could be helpful to see what your company values in a sales manager and base your choice in training programs on that. This way, you will show your employer what you are capable of and how much you care about the overall success of the business.
It would also serve you well to identify your strengths and weaknesses. If you are falling behind at a certain aspect of your career goals, look for a training program that will help you improve your weaknesses.
At the end of the day, your company’s goals, your personal goals, and whatever particular program fits your field will be key in determining what course to enroll in.
How Do You Know If Sales Management Training Will Be Worth It?
How Do You Know If Sales Management Training Will Be Worth It?Ultimately, you choose your path to success and how it will impact your career. This is no different from choosing how much you want to invest in that success.
As a sales manager, you are responsible for how to allocate the budget of your company. The budget of your company itself, however, is not your personal decision. You get much more freedom deciding the actual budget of your own education and progression.
The fact of the matter is that sales manager skills always need to be improving, or your company’s profit stays the same in a fast-paced sales environment. That means that there is no profit in the long run since sales quotas rise regardless.
Basically, if you value the growth of your business, then you should place the same value on your own growth as a career professional. Your achievements will multiply when you multiply your skillset. Your skillset is multiplied by the effort you put into it.
If this appeals to you, then it can be said that sales management training is worth it.
Some of the Curriculum Areas for Sales Training
Above, we mentioned that each sales manager’s skill can be improved depending on which of those you choose to study through the various training programs. Now, we can expand on four different areas of the curriculum that you can choose from when you are trying to pick.
There are slight distinctions between each of these, but we base our analysis of them on two constant factors: what each training entails and who they are aimed towards.
Sales Management Training
If you consider yourself to be a sales manager without all of the bells and whistles, sales management training is right for you.
Later on, we will discuss the particular options you have. But for now, we can explore the structure of this sort of training method.
This entails a detailed and effective training process that shows you, in real-time, how to be a proficient sales leader.
These pieces of training are dedicated to managers at the forefront of the sales process by giving them the appropriate tools to recruit team members, teaching them how to excel and encouraging them throughout the whole process to perform well. This team-building ideology will end up reflecting well on you as a sales manager and on your business as a whole.
If you do not want to waste valuable time, energy, and money on attending this kind of course in person then there are plenty of virtual options. Virtual options are also preferable to those who manage a sales team within an entirely virtual business.
There are companies that offer this service that focus on delivering a positive sales performance, coaching the rest of your team, and draft sales plans that elevate your sales-closing statistics. This is done through a team-based approach to your sales management.
Additionally, there are plenty of fast-paced training programs to match your fast-paced work environment. These sorts of courses offer a lot of great information and techniques to boost sales as a leader, all in a short amount of time.
Product Sales Training
This group of training courses targets a lot of tech businesses, like software companies and tech sales.
These programs show you every step of the sales process, starting with how to engage the customer and ending with closing the sale.
Whether you already have a product on the market that is not performing as well as you anticipated, or you have a new product that needs to hit the market with a bang, product sales training provides you with tools with which you can fill your pipeline.
The standardized goal of this training is to increase revenue from a particular product or set of products by successfully catering to a certain market segment.
Sales Force Automation
Sales force automation is a method in which some of the sales processes are redistributed to an automated software system. This is another great set of programs to use if you are part of the tech world.
Usually, sales force automation training lessons are based on problem-solving scenarios instead of the traditional lecture format.
Sales Methodology Training
Sales Methodology TrainingA sales methodology is a system that takes into consideration every stage of selling, not just the final outcome or how to get there. This is a more modernized approach since today’s customers expect a solution-based look at how you and your product or service are going to help them achieve their own goals.
Think of the sales process as a linear map showing you how to achieve your sales goals. Now think of sales methodology as a chapter book of fundamental rules and truths that you can follow to get to those sales goals.
Each management training program for sales methodology should really care about your approach to selling and show you how to do it.
Through value-based selling, for instance, you quantify the benefit of profit to that of the solution you offer your customer. This is achieved through acknowledging each customer as an actual person with needs that need to be addressed.
When choosing what sort of curriculum you want to learn, you should also think of the age-old stereotype of salespeople with the monotone and only care about closing the deal without really knowing why. These pieces of training teach you to reevaluate why you care and in turn, how to make your customers care.
Best Sales Managers Training
That was a lot to unpack. You might feel a little bit unsure of how to choose the best sales managers training from that list even if you understand the value in each of them.
We made sure to take into account all of the options and provide you with the five best management training programs for your professional development needs in 2021.
BCI’s Tailored Fit Analysis
Baker Communications, Inc. provides a great sales management training program with their Tailored Fit Analysis.
BCI goes by the mission statement of “Hire right. Train smart” and offers this free training session virtually. It typically takes about one hour and 45 minutes to complete.
Their Tailored Fit Analysis goes by a process of three steps:
- Step one: You, as a sales leader, will fill out an online questionnaire called “Selling Profile/Role Specification.” This step takes 10 minutes.
- Step two: You will send the generated link to the assessment to three to five top performers and three to five low performers. This step takes approximately 35 minutes.
- Step three: You will schedule an hour-long meeting with BCI’s professionals to share and review the results.
High-Impact Sales Manager (SRG)
Sales Readiness Group, or SRG, cares about your success. They create a top-notch sales team with you as their highly-trained sales manager.
They work to provide you with the tools you need to succeed in sales through a detailed framework of sales manager skills and constructive tools. This will lead you to hire the best sales team members available and motivate your team with these learned techniques.
This virtual training course delivers results with 61 video lessons, 25 tools you can install on your devices, 50 scenario exercises, and a series of workbooks.
Tenbound Sales Dev Manager and SDR Training (Tenbound)
Another excellent example of a virtual training experience is Tenbound’s program. It targets sales development managers and individual sales development representatives.
Their aim is to hone your sales management skills and encourage you to then use them both efficiently and effectively.
In these courses, you spend two days on Zoom taking group classes with up to eight participants and then can choose to receive individualized coaching on a monthly basis.
The prices vary depending on what class would best serve you. The group class costs 3,600 dollars, the self-paced and individual course for sales development managers is 395 dollars, the individual sales development representative course is 295 dollars, and every month that you choose to participate in one-on-one coaching is 875 dollars.
Selling Systems™ (Selling Revolution)
Selling Revolution’s Selling System™ uses custom training to increase profits, close more sales and bring in a higher average number of sales. This is in stark contrast to the generalized approach to training that most companies use.
If your training modules are generic then there is no way to stand out.
Selling Revolution eliminates this problem by generating more leads with more likely to close the sale. When you use Selling Systems™, you actively find elite sales team members who share company values.
This system looks for 6 Key Factors™ that are really barriers blocking your company’s potential:
- Internal and External Communication
- Sales Processing and Training
- Employee Compensation Models
- Recruitment and Onboarding
- Product and Service Pricing
- Selection and Production
Virtual Sales Rep and Manager Training (Factor 8)
With the advent of the digital age came a huge uptake in virtual selling. To remain competitive in a heavily populated market, Factor 8 designed their Virtual Sales Rep and Manager Training to ensure your success as a sales leader within the online era.
Prices vary, but you can expect six weeks to over one year of virtual training.
Overall, the best sales managers training fits your needs. If you want to cultivate a successful sales team through training opportunities, book a call with us and we will guide you in the right direction.