Sales training: how to turn a new salesperson into a pro step by step

4 Key Areas of Sales Training

For your business and customer base to grow, your people need to grow first. Regular training of salespeople should focus on these four key areas:

1. Market and customers – Explain to your salespeople how big the market is or which part of it you operate in. Help them understand why and to whom they’re selling, what the customers’ needs are, and what they can offer them.
   
   
2. Product and competition – Clarify why you’re selling a particular product or service, what problems it solves for customers, how it works, and what value it brings. If salespeople don’t fully understand the product they’re selling, they won’t be able to present it well to customers. They should also know who your competitors are and what sets you apart.
   
   
3. Sales – Teach your salespeople tactics and methods for pitching and selling, as well as how to behave in meetings. Focus on developing traits like empathy, active listening, and confident client communication.
   
   
4. Technology and tools – To help your salespeople spend as much time as possible with customers, teach them to effectively use the tools that enable and streamline their work.
   
   

We’ve described each training area in more detail in an article on Sales Driver.

4 Effective Training Formats

There are various ways to educate salespeople. Everyone prefers something different, and different formats are suited to different areas. Plus, beyond sharing know-how, it’s essential to reinforce and practice that knowledge.

That’s why it’s a good idea to try different formats and use them based on your current needs:

• Presentations, lectures, or seminars are great for initial introductions to a topic or area.
• Peer learning from colleagues works well for applying newly acquired knowledge in the field. Salespeople can first observe experienced teammates and then try things out themselves with support.
• E-learning is ideal for regular review. It doesn’t require a trainer's presence, and everyone can go through the training at their own pace and when it suits them.
• Webinars, blogs, podcasts, and newsletters offer a gentle way to get inspired and learn new things. Share interesting articles and episodes among teammates that could help them grow.
  
  

You can read more in a dedicated article.

3 Rules for Effective Sales Training

To keep training from becoming boring or feeling like a waste of time to your salespeople, follow three key rules: just enough information – tailored to me – at the right time.

In practice, this means:

• Don’t try to cram everything into one session—focus on a specific topic or break the content into shorter, more digestible trainings.
• Tailor the training to your salespeople’s actual needs—make sure it’s relevant and useful to their day-to-day work.
• Time the training so they can immediately apply what they’ve learned. For example, if they’re about to start calling clients, focus on cold calling techniques.

Sales Training Schedule for the First Year

While continuous learning is important throughout a salesperson’s career, most attention is naturally focused on the first year. New hires need to get familiar with the product they’re selling, the company, and its processes—and absorb as much know-how as possible.

To help new salespeople get off to a good start and become successful quickly, establish a structured onboarding process. This gives you a clear overview of what your new colleague has already mastered, what’s still ahead, and makes it easy to track progress. Plus, when onboarding someone new again, the process is easy to repeat.

For better clarity, create a training schedule to guide the onboarding. It might look like this—adjust the phases based on how your company operates:

• Day 1 (Week 1) – The newcomer gets to know the team, is assigned a mentor, visits each department, and learns to use the tools needed for the job.
• Month 1 – The salesperson gradually learns key processes, gets trained in the four main areas mentioned above, practices what they’ve learned, and receives ongoing feedback.
• Month 2 – The new colleague starts interacting with clients, learns new tricks, adds to their sales know-how, and practices handling various scenarios.
• Month 3 – A review takes place: what the colleague has learned, where they need improvement, and what to focus on in the coming months. Both sides should now know whether the newcomer fits the team, will stay with the company, and continue with regular training.
  
  

You can find more about how to set up a first-year sales training plan in our Learning Hub.

4 Final Tips

To make your training truly effective, give it plenty of attention and strive to make it the best it can be—here are four tips to help you succeed:

1. Leverage available technologies, platforms, and train online – Give your salespeople the flexibility to learn when they have the time, motivation, and energy. It’ll be much more effective for them.
   
   
2. Focus on soft skills – For salespeople to succeed, they need to listen well, communicate effectively, and manage their time. These are all skills that can be learned or improved—so help them grow through training.
   
   
3. Be practical – People retain information better when they try things themselves. Make your sales training hands-on with activities that help turn knowledge into practice. Let them role-play sales conversations, present a product, or create a deal in the new CRM.
   
   
4. Gamify the experience – Reward completed lessons, assign points for training milestones, let teammates climb leaderboards and compete to learn the most over the year. Tap into their sense of play and you’ll see that the old saying “learning through play” really works.

Sales Training by Raynet

We regularly share sales know-how and tips on how to use Raynet CRM—on our website, YouTube channel, and through trainings and webinars.