Client Onboarding Checklist: Steps, Templates & Best Practices
![Sales Enablement Training: A Complete Guide [+ Top Courses]](https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Sales-Enablement-Training-How-to-Create-Your-Own-Top-Course-Free-Paid-to-Choose-From-Header.jpg)
Selling is competitive.
That's why sales enablement training isn't just nice to have. It empowers your sales to close more deals, drive revenue and ultimately increase competitive advantage.
According to the 2022 State of Sales Enablement Report, companies that implement a sales enablement department see a 12% increase in win rates and are 10% more likely to have high rep engagement.
Sales enablement training produces salespeople who are better at prospecting, nurturing and closing deals with larger margins and opportunity sizes.
So, where do you start? In this article, we’re going to break down the key components and steps that’ll help you conduct a winning sales enablement training in your company. We’ll also share some top courses if you don't want to create yours from scratch.
Let’s get to it!
Sales enablement training is the process of equipping sales teams with the knowledge, tools, resources and skills needed to effectively engage with customers throughout the sales cycle. It aims to enhance their abilities to close deals, drive revenue and foster stronger customer relationships.
Sales enablement training can cover various aspects of sales, including product knowledge, understanding buyer personas, communication techniques, sales methodologies, negotiation skills, utilizing sales technologies and more. The training can also be in the form of one-on-one training, peer group meetings, certification programs and more.
Let’s look at the advantages of sales enablement training for your sales team and company.
The most obvious advantage of sales training is the increase in revenue your company will see as a result of having better-trained salespeople. According to data collected by TaskDrive, the return on investment for training salespeople is around 353%.
When sales teams are empowered with the necessary skills, knowledge, tools and resources to better engage prospects, they can close more deals faster and improve the bottom line.
Training provides sales reps with updated knowledge, refined techniques and effective strategies, empowering them to engage prospects more efficiently.
For instance, when reps grasp the art of adapting to customer needs, they deliver more targeted sales pitches and engage in more informed conversations with customers. This doesn't just boost your company's revenue; it also contributes significantly to its long-term success.
An effective sales enablement training strategy also involves maintaining consistent follow-up and monitoring progress. This approach differentiates high-performing individuals from those who may be struggling, thereby enabling targeted support allocation.
For example, gathering feedback through quizzes or post-training assessments offers direct insights into employees' comprehension levels and pinpoints areas where they might require further assistance.
Sales enablement training sets the stage for new employees by providing them with the foundation needed to excel in their roles.
By equipping new hires with the necessary skills and knowledge, sales enablement accelerates their ramp-up time. This enables them to become productive and contribute to the team's success more rapidly.
Sales enablement training often includes understanding customer pain points and strategies for customizing solutions. When sales reps can offer personalized solutions based on a customer's specific needs, it not only helps acquire new customers but also leads to higher retention rates as customers feel understood and valued.
Effective post-sale engagement strategies also ensure customers' satisfaction with their purchase, fostering loyalty and reducing churn rates.
One great benefit of sales enablement trainings is that it creates standardized processes by providing a cohesive framework, tools, best practices and guidelines applicable across departments.
This ensures alignment between sales, marketing and other departments, fostering a unified approach to customer interactions and service delivery.
Now let's delve into the specifics of conducting effective training.
We will divide this into three segments: before, during and after the training to provide a broad understanding of the process.
Prior to commencing your training, here are the essential elements to establish:
Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the specific training needs within your sales team will enable you to create a targeted and effective sales enablement training program.
Here are some ways to assess your team’s training needs.
To facilitate this process, Visme offers some specialized training needs assessment worksheet templates. Here’s one you can customize to conduct your assessment efficiently.
After you have evaluated the training needs, it’s crucial to define the overarching goals. These goals serve as a guiding light. More importantly, it helps you assess your progress continuously. Your enablement vision will also help team members prioritize and approach their work strategically.
Align your goal on a sales process-related objective or key performance indicator (KPIs).
You can define your metrics for success based on sales team pain points, areas of sales that are least effective and sales rep behaviors that need improvement.
Some common sales enablement objectives and KPIs include:
You should also ensure that the goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. This provides clarity and makes evaluation easier.
Need help creating training-specific SMART goals? Explore our extensive guide on creating SMART training goals. Also, dive into this article to discover 17 goal-setting templates & worksheets you can use.
Here’s a SMART goal worksheet template that can assist you in creating yours:
Evaluate the resources you have and assess what you need to launch your sales enablement training.
Developing a training plan will help structure this phase effectively. A thorough employee training plan details the activities of a training program for a particular role, team, or company.
It typically comprises key components such as training goals, methods, learning materials, a checklist of items, timelines, budget, as well as assessment and testing.
Here’s a training plan template you can use.
What is the plan for your coaching approach? How frequently, where and when will sales representatives meet with their coaches and/or participate in learning "refreshers"? Do you plan on providing coaching in-person, online, or via a hybrid of these methods?
Your training method dictates the content of the training materials you provide. The most effective approach to training is the one that takes into account the learning preferences and schedules of your staff.
Here are common training methods:
Here’s a training video template you can customize:
The quality of your training program hinges on the quality of your training materials. Therefore, these resources lay the groundwork for the entire learning experience.
Craft comprehensive training materials covering product knowledge, sales strategies, customer personas, objection handling, market trends and more.
While there are various different sorts of enablement training materials, focus on generating the assets that will be the most valuable for your team.
Here are some sales enablement training materials that team members can use:
Looking for an excellent tool to create these sales enablement training materials? Visme is your sure bet. It is an all-in-one content authoring solution that can simplify your instructional design and delivery.
You can take advantage of Visme’s tools and features to create sales enablement training materials that your sales team will benefit from.
Let’s go through a few sales enablement training materials you can create with Visme. We’ll also share some customizable templates and Visme’s features that’ll assist you in creating them:
A sales handbook typically contains strategies, techniques and best practices for individuals or teams involved in sales.
Here’s an employee handbook that you can customize easily:
Need seamless customization of your handbook? You can utilize our Brand Wizard to ensure consistent branding throughout your training content. The tool automatically pulls up your brand assets and saves them in a brand kit.
Additionally, you will get branded template suggestions You can also enrich your sales with Visme’s interactive features like quizzes, engaging illustrations and animated graphics for a more immersive experience.
The customer persona training guide gives a sales or marketing team every information they need to know about their target audience.
Steal this customer persona guide template to create yours:
Sales training manual provides guidance on various aspects of the sales process, such as prospecting, pitching, objection handling, closing techniques and customer relationship management.
You can enhance your sales team's learning experience by infusing interactivity into the course. Introduce clickable menus, animated transitions and special effects for easier navigation.
A well-designed and delivered sales training presentation can be used to educate sales teams about various aspects of the sales process, techniques, strategies, or product knowledge.
Here’s a template to jumpstart your presentation:
Visme boasts a rich library of graphics, stock images, icons, 3D animations, illustrations and videos. Leverage these visuals to enhance the appeal of your sales presentation training.
Looking for distinct graphics for your presentation? Visme's AI image generator is what you need. The tool lets you generate high-quality visuals like images, paintings, icons and illustrations.
You can as well utilize the AI editor to refine images or graphic content. You can effortlessly erase unwanted objects, enhance low-quality images, enlarge them and modify or eliminate backgrounds.
To use these AI tools, simply input your prompts and watch them generate your results in seconds.
Sales battle cards equip sales teams with competitive intelligence and information about how to position their offerings against competitors.
Utilize this sales battle card template to boost your ability to secure more successful deals.
You can tailor this template to meet your needs. You can modify the text, incorporate your brand's colors and replace icons and images using Visme's diverse library of design elements or by uploading your own.
A sales playbook serves as a guidebook to help the sales team operate effectively and consistently.
Here’s a sales playbook template you can easily customize:
Struggling with creating content for your sales playbook? Our AI writer can kickstart your writing process. You can also proofread and edit existing content with this tool.
You can utilize sales training videos to craft educational sales enablement training materials for sales representatives.
Here’s an explainer video template you can customize:
Visme's Presenter Studio also allows you to easily record and share your sales enablement training courses and presentations with your team.
Utilize training worksheets to monitor and evaluate your employee training sessions.
You can get a headstart with this template:
For a lively data representation, utilize our data visualization tool. Access various data widgets, including tables, charts and maps to vividly showcase figures.
Once you are done creating, you can share or download the material in different formats like HTML5, xAPI, SCORM or HTML, simplifying their integration into any LMS of your choice. You can as well distribute and download content in various formats like JPG, PDF, PNG, or embed it on a webpage.
If you wish to distribute your training content to employees via Slack, you can achieve this using Visme's social sharing feature or share it with them as a live link.
Hear what one of our customers has to say about their experience with Visme:
Adjunct Professor
These steps should be taken when the training commences and continued throughout its duration.
When delivering online or in-person training, you should strive for maximum interaction and make it dynamic.
When sales reps aren't convinced they'll benefit from sales enablement training, you can see a lack of engagement. They might feel you're taking away time they could spend collecting leads or making calls. It is up to you to convince them that investing in training will pay off in increased lead generation efficiency.
If you make the training interactive and put the audience first, your sales team will anticipate these sessions, knowing they'll gain knowledge that boosts their success and the company's.
Here are some ways to improve engagement during your training sessions:
To help your sales teams get the best out of the training, blend it seamlessly into the sales workflow. You can achieve this by equipping the team with resources and tools applicable to their daily tasks.
Tailor the training to match the customers’ journey, recognizing their evolving needs at different stages. You can curate a comprehensive information hub using an LMS, categorizing resources and tools according to each journey stage.
For instance, for customers in the awareness stage, provide guidance on effective strategies like targeted social media ads or optimized blog content. This repository ensures the sales team can access pertinent information whenever needed.
If you want your sales enablement strategy to be successful, you must have your sales and marketing departments on the same page. It is essential that both groups have aligned objectives, strategies and messaging.
Given the interconnected nature of their roles, coordinating sales and marketing will also aid in maintaining a coherent brand identity and voice.
This improves sales success by facilitating better communication, teamwork and a unified strategy for engaging customers.
Your sales and marketing leaders should work together to develop a comprehensive sales enablement strategy using Visme’s collaboration feature.
Team members can delegate specific tasks, collaborate in real-time, comment and grant permissions for particular actions within the document. This feature ensures smooth collaboration as everyone contributes, ideas are implemented and collective efforts yield results.
To monitor progress effectively, regularly assess your team's engagement with the training. Are there any sections or resources they spend so much time on? Do they have a hard time grasping some concepts?
This knowledge will not only help your sales teams get the best of the training but also provide valuable data for refining future sales enablement strategies.
Visme's analytics functionality empowers you to monitor how employees or learners engage with your training materials, providing comprehensive insights such as visit/view counts and time spent. Leverage this data to comprehend your audience's learning behaviors and determine the most effective methods to support their needs.
These are important steps to take after the training has been completed.
After you’ve completed the training, make sure to gauge how much impact it has had. Assess key metrics to measure the effectiveness of the training. Track sales performance, conversion rates, customer satisfaction and the application of learned skills.
Estimating the results will also serve as a basis for analysis the next time you want to create a training course for them.
Look out for factors like how many team members passed the assessment and how many are already applying what they have been taught. Points like this will be very helpful.
No sales enablement training can remain the same forever.
Sales standards and technology are changing; hence, practices have to change too.
To remain effective, you need to re-evaluate the training program regularly to ensure that your sales team stays at the top of their game. There is always going to be room for improvement. Figure out where your strategy needs to improve and make the required changes from time to time.
One of the greatest methods to achieve this is to evaluate the results of the training a few months after it was implemented to see if it was effective.
Equally, you can use Visme forms to request feedback from trainees to find out what they think of the content and how it might be improved.
Keep in mind that sales enablement training is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. To achieve results, ensure continuous learning by providing salespeople with opportunities for refresher courses, coaching sessions and access to updated resources.
We believe you now understand what it takes to create sales enablement training material.
However, if you don’t want to go through the long route of building one, there are many already-built courses you can share with your team.
They cover various topics on sales and we believe many of them are exhaustive and beneficial to your team.
Let’s have a look at some of them.
This Hubspot course teaches your team ways they can connect with inbound leads and ultimately convince them to be loyal customers of your business. The course will help your team identify potential customers and understand the buyer’s journeys to align them with your company’s sales strategy.
You’ll also discover how you can attract, engage and impress your prospects with personalized conversations.
It contains five lessons spread across 22 videos and also contains quizzes. Completing this course gives you access to a special badge that you can put on your business website or LinkedIn profile.
Salespersons, marketers specializing in inbound sales, sales managers and sales trainers.
It's totally free.
This sales training course dives deeper into one of the most effective ways to sell: creating a trust-based relationship with your customer. It provides sales techniques that you can use to win leads over, gain their trust and make them repeat customers.
The course focuses on training the salesperson how to utilize skills like persuasion and effective communication to understand things from the customer’s perspective and position their product /service as the solution.
The training can either be online live or in person and is usually divided into 3 to 8 sessions or within a period of 12 hours to 8 weeks.
All sales professionals and teams who want to build relationship-focused sales strategies and sales skills.
The price for this course ranges from as low as $21.
This online training is a compilation of different topics like sales training, sales leadership, customer success, prospecting, etc. It’s great for salespersons who want to learn the foundations of sales, adopt effective sales strategies and increase their expertise in areas like negotiation and customer retention.
By purchasing this course, you gain access to a ton of materials like podcasts, webinars, white papers, articles and so on. The course is self-paced, which means you can set your time of completion. It also offers certification benefits.
Sales teams, sales professionals/leaders and anyone who wants to improve their knowledge of B2B.
The starting price for any material in this training is $8.
This is a negotiation guide that focuses on teaching you strategies to close sales effectively. It's a short and straight-to-the-point guide available on Udemy. It teaches unique techniques given by the creator, Steli Efti to help you improve your existing negotiation skills.
It's a 1-hour, 30-minute video with 11 lectures. Unfortunately, it does not come with certifications or access to the instructor.
This course is for salespersons, teams, or anyone who wants to learn negotiation strategies that will be helpful in their business.
This course is free on Udemy.
This is a training platform that provides a database of relevant content to help companies grow their sales. It offers materials on a variety of sales topics, with the focus being on:
It also provides customized training options based on the sales stages/levels and complexities of each team and company.
It provides the alternative of a one-day physical class or a two-day virtual class. There are additional complimentary resources that come with the course, such as ebooks and articles.
This is best for sales teams in large companies.
The price for this course varies. To get a price quotation for your team, contact their sales team.
A well-structured sales enablement training will equip your sales teams with the knowledge, skills and tools they need to effectively engage with customers, understand products and services and navigate complex sales processes.
Developing an impactful sales enablement training program doesn't have to be challenging, though. You can utilize Visme to effortlessly craft your sales enablement training content. With its myriad templates and features, Visme empowers you to elevate your training materials.
From presentations and video tutorials to interactive modules, workbooks, case studies, job aids, sales battle cards and beyond, Visme provides the tools to excel in your training efforts.
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