Top 5 Sales Management Training Programs & Courses Online [2021]
Sales management training is often taken for granted. High-performing salespersons are straight-up promoted to sales managers without any specific training for their new role. Sadly, most organizations don’t really feel obliged to provide their workers with any resources to prepare them for this transition, even though it demands taking up a whole new set of responsibilities.
After all, a good sales representative is the only plausible candidate for the position of sales manager, right?
Well, yes and no. Being a good sales manager is like the minimum requirement for a sales manager- but that’s not it! A sales manager has loads of other responsibilities as well.
But sales skills are not scalable. A successful sales representative will not necessarily be a good leader and manager. Being a leader is easy, said no one ever- because it’s not! It is a challenging and often quite uncomfortable ongoing process of constant self-awareness.
Also, people tend to assume that dealing with clients is almost the same as dealing with a team, but that is just nonsense. Leading a team goes far beyond merely building rapport. It takes skills and ones which can almost only be instilled through proper sales management training.
Not to mention, promoting a certain individual from a group is bound to influence the overall sales team’s culture. Some people might not be too happy about it. Hence, a leader should understand how to deal gracefully with the baggage that comes with authority.
Thus, you absolutely need sales management training if you want to stay on top of your game. And here’s why.
The Benefits of Sales Management Training
A focused sales management training program can do a lot for an individual. As we said before, transitioning to a higher authority position is anything but easy. And if you want to survive in the competitive sales market, you need to look into sales management training right away.
Sure, you could adapt with time and experience.
But can you afford to do all the wrong things while you’re figuring things out?
If you’re still not convinced, here are a few perks that might finally sway you:
- A well-trained sales manager is more likely to deliver a company’s revenue targets. Why? Because they understand the assignment, and they understand it well. After all, they have been trained in this regard.
- Sales managers are adept leaders. They have mastered the interpersonal and leadership skills required to train and manage a team. Therefore, they always manage to stay on top of their goals and targets.
- They can communicate clearly. They know how to measure their overall progress. And they can, thus, deliver results. They know how to work, but more importantly, they know how to get their team to put in their best efforts.
- Trained sales managers can help generate long-term results because they have the required tools and skills to deal with any potential challenges effectively.
- Adequate sales management training also enables individuals to initiate collaborations and partnerships with other organizations.
Sales management training is now accessible for everyone who wants to lead more effectively.
What Should a Sales Management Training Program Include?
A skilled sales manager has two main jobs:
- To meet sales targets
- To lead their team effectively
What this really means is that they don’t just have to work, but they have to get other people in their team to work as well- and work well, at that. They need to manage sales progress but also team progress.
And how do they do that?
By enrolling in a program for sales management training, that’s how.
Thus, said course should deliver all the required skills and tools to facilitate these individuals to successfully adapt to their new role. Obviously, as a team leader, you must bring value to the table, and proper training allows you to do just that.
Boost Sales by Creating an Environment for Sales Success
Sales managers know how to handle people. They know that the only way to ensure success is by getting the whole team to put in their best efforts. But why should they? What’s in it for them?
People are often not motivated to do more than the bare minimum when they feel underappreciated. Moreover, in the absence of a satisfactory check and balance system, people are not very likely to work beyond the minimum requirement.
A well-trained sales manager, though, knows how to get the entire team thinking in the company’s best interests. They facilitate this mindset by fostering open communication, holding team members accountable, formulating a sound hiring system and, of course, investing a reasonable amount of time and effort into team training.
Because they are such excellent leaders and communicators, they have no trouble conveying their expectations as well as the consequences in case of failure to perform. Hence, they make sure that everybody is doing what’s needed to get the job done.
Encouraging Top Performers
Sales managers need SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals. They also need to be able to prioritize certain tasks over others so that they always invest their time in all the right things.
Also, they know that underappreciated individuals tend to develop a demotivated stance and thus, it is important to give appreciation where it is due. This encourages these individuals as well as others to give their best to the company.
Cultivating a Growth Mindset
A good leader is not a dictator but a coach. He leads by example, not by force. A good sales manager thus fully realizes the need to empower team members to come up with ideas and solutions of their own. Hence, they work towards cultivating a growth mindset, as all good leaders should.
Improving Weak Areas
Sales managers should be able to identify the reasons for low performance easily. Plus, they should be able to provide practical solutions to improve what needs improving and thus, get the job done.
Basically, they need to deal with low-performance concerns in an effective and timely manner if they actually want to overcome the problem. And as long as they have had adequate sales management training, they should have no problem in this regard.
Personalized Coaching Approach
One-on-one training sessions are sometimes crucial to overcoming certain obstacles. Because they know how to prioritize tasks, great sales managers are never behind in achieving organizational, professional and personal goals.
They know how to coach team members to help them overcome their shortcomings and deliver to the best of their abilities. Thus, they are great coaches who always give individual attention to their team members to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Overall, sales management training is beneficial for both sales managers as well as the organizations that they are working with. Obviously, when taking on a new role, individuals will need some form of guidance to help them adjust without a lot of hassle. And only when given the appropriate training can these individuals reach their full sales manager potential.
Sales management training is now accessible for everyone who wants to lead more effectively.
Top 5 Sales Management Training Courses
Now that we know how important it is to seek sales management training on an individual as well as organizational level, we are inclined to think: where and how can we get this training?
Well, you’ll have to see what suits you specifically. However, to help make this decision a lot easier, we have listed our top 5 picks, just for you!
Sandler Management Solutions
This sales management training course by Sandler training is great because they understand the challenges that come with becoming a sales manager, such as the following:
- How can you meet your targets?
- How can you transfer your people skills to other people?
- How can you train your team?
- How can you evaluate performance?
- And of course, how do you know who to hire in the first place?
The Sandler Management Solutions program has all the answers and more. They claim to help you with both the how and the why of management techniques. This entails that you will not only understand what you need to do, but you will actually be able to do it as well.
SMEI Certified Sales Executive® (CSE®) Exam Preparatory Online Course
This sales management training program leading to a professional certification is beneficial because it will serve as proof of your competence. It strives to help you with mastering the sales process and leadership skills as well as providing guidance for pursuing collaborative ventures.
One thing that really stands out with the SMEI Sales Management course is that it can be taken completely online at your convenience and is self-paced. The online textbook is also a great resource to refer back to when you come across future challenges in your sales management career.
Once you’ve completed the course, you can apply for the online certification exam. If you manage to pass the exam with a minimum 75% score, which you should if you paid attention during the course, you will get your very own digital certification badge from SMEI. The badge can be plugged in to your LinkedIn profile to verify your credentials and help boost your social profile. You will also be able to use the CSE designation after your name on your social profiles, business cards and email signature. This will really help add to your credibility with your team and your customers.
RAIN Sales Management Training Program
Rain Group understands that the responsibilities of a salesperson and a sales manager are, in fact, very different, and excelling in one does not guarantee success in the other. Thus, they have taken a modular approach to help managers with real-life sales debacles.
Their basic aim is to master all aspects of being a great sales manager. Thus, they leave no stone unturned in helping you acquire the necessary tools and skills. They even provide a RAIN Group Sales Opportunity Planner to help you make the most out of every deal.
They use a variety of techniques- from onsite workshops, virtual training, win labs, coaching, and assessment, as well as others to make you better than the rest. In fact, they even won a prestigious Stevie Award for Sales Training or Coaching Program of the Year- so, you know it’s worth it.
High Impact Sales Manager Program
This is a sales management training program for B2B companies by the Sales Readiness Group. The course basically focuses on five high-impact sales management skill areas:
- Sales coaching (to make sales managers effective coaches)
- Managing sales performance (to train sales managers to evaluate their team appropriately and to build a high-performing team)
- Managing the sales pipeline (to enable sales managers to make better sales forecasts)
- Sales leadership (to enable sales managers to lead a sales vision in their organization)
- Recruiting and selecting sales STARs (to help sales managers hire the right people to drive better sales)
The Sales Readiness Group believes that the most important part of a sales team is the sales manager because they are responsible for:
- Hiring people
- Producing sales results
- Making accurate sales forecasts
- Coaching and managing team members
Unfortunately, these sales managers don’t get the proper training that they need to be able to coach other people or to transfer their sales skills to their team. But this program aims to change these behavioural patterns through the simple act of reinforcement.
So, they’re not just working to develop skills- they’re working to instil habits.
Sales Management Training by The Brooks Group
The best part of this management training group is the fact that it is pretty straightforward. The team at The Brooks Group breaks down the most important sales management success elements into simple, actionable components. It is super easy to follow and, thus, one of the best sales management programs out there.
But what sets this course apart from others?
Well, it is the only sales management training program in the industry that:
- Aligns with a sales strategy at every point of the procedure
- Integrates with a sales hiring assessment that connects sales leadership, coaching and development
It follows an 8-step training process:
- Recruit
- Hire
- Establish expectations
- Train
- Coach
- Course correct
- Measure accountability
- Sustain
The Bottomline
Sales managers are the most integral part of the sales process because they are not only responsible for managing sales and driving results but also recruiting and hiring new people for the team. Plus, they are supposed to coach all of their team members to ensure that everyone is giving their best.
Therefore, they need to motivate them by creating an environment for sales success. This entails fully understanding the sales pipeline as well as inculcating the necessary sales management skills through appropriate sales management training programs to optimize overall performance and maximize results.
