37 Gross sales Coaching Video games, Actions, & Concepts to Ramp Up Your Group

There are over 13 million salespeople working in the US, they usually spend weeks and even months coaching for achievement of their roles.

Given the completely different tasks, industries, and crew buildings salespeople encounter, it’s laborious to advocate a one-size-fits-all strategy to gross sales coaching. Your reps have to be taught and retain all the company-specific abilities and data with a purpose to succeed of their jobs.

That’s why we’ve made a listing of the perfect gross sales coaching concepts, actions, and video games. Learn by means of the listing to find out the perfect techniques and packages to make use of when coaching your gross sales crew.

1. Use a gross sales coaching template. [Featured Resource]

Obtain This Template for Free

A gross sales coaching and onboarding plan consolidates position expectations, coaching timelines, and sources into one place to your newly employed salespeople.

Since each gross sales crew has completely different objectives and expectations, it’s necessary to craft a customized coaching plan particularly to your new gross sales hires.

This template is pre-filled with the sections you’ll discover on most gross sales coaching plans. You should use it to construct out a extra detailed and particular onboarding plan to your group.

2. Subscribe to trade publications, newsletters, and podcasts.

One of many mottos we love right here at HubSpot is “All the time be studying.“

Complacency can kill in a gross sales job, so encourage salespeople to hearken to gross sales podcasts and subscribe to newsletters from the finest gross sales blogs, no matter the place they’re of their profession. Because the trade shifts and new thought leaders emerge, reps can use the data from these publications to remain in contact with new finest practices and repeatedly construct their data base.

3. Have the crew do objection-handling coaching workouts.

I as soon as spoke to a software program engineer who described his job as “coming in and determining break our software program each day.” He and his crew labored to find out the perfect methods to make sure that the break or breach wouldn’t occur.

Why not take an analogous strategy along with your gross sales crew?

Have your reps provide you with all the causes they’ve heard why somebody would reject your product. Then, have them develop — on their very own or in teams — probably the most convincing counters to these objections. That manner they’ll be locked and loaded when somebody brings that concern up on a name.

4. Get licensed.

Strengthen your crew’s understanding of promoting finest practices by requiring or suggesting they purchase a helpful gross sales certification. For instance, HubSpot Academy has a free Inbound Gross sales Certification and Course accessible on-line, together with insights and recommendation from trade specialists. The course has been taken 1000’s of occasions and could be a useful step in making salespeople higher at their jobs.

5. Host success (and failure) panels.

Honesty goes a great distance in coaching, as do private connections.

Internet hosting panels with salespeople in your org that spotlight their tales of success can function steering and inspiration to each new and present salespeople.

Nonetheless, what is likely to be much more helpful is a gross sales failure panel. Reps can open up a couple of time the place they fell quick, didn’t make the deal, or didn’t obtain the result they have been anticipating. Extra importantly, they’ll clarify what they realized and the way they addressed the issue subsequent time.

6. Hearken to and assess name recordings.

Generally known as “What did you hear?” this gross sales coaching train includes enjoying recorded gross sales calls or conferences and discerning the great, the unhealthy, and the ugly.

Hearken to the decision alongside your rep, with every of you writing down what you heard that might have been stated higher, or what was stated that caught out in an effective way. Examine notes to see how attentive your rep is and to listen to their opinion on how the decision went.

This equips reps to enter calls with extra confidence, the appropriate vocabulary, and a transparent path wherein to take the dialog.

7. Current your purchaser’s journey.

After new hires are educated, have them give a presentation on what the standard purchaser’s journey seems to be like to your services or products.

The presentation may observe certainly one of your purchaser personas realizing their drawback, on the lookout for options, how they stumbled upon your small business, and what made them select to do enterprise with you.

It will make salespeople sympathetic to their future clients’ issues, get a grip on all the gross sales cycle, and perceive how your product/service is definitely useful.

8. Conduct a aggressive evaluation.

“Maintain your pals shut, however your enemies nearer.” Chances are high, your organization has some perception into your competitors. You would possibly even have a whole aggressive evaluation crew. Nonetheless, your new gross sales rent won’t know all your comparative strengths and weaknesses, though these factors could come up on their very first gross sales name.

Having reps conduct their very own aggressive evaluation provides many advantages for you and your organization. For instance:

• It exposes your reps to what inside documentation you have already got on the topic.
• It will probably concentrate on one particular facet of your product/service for a extra thorough deep dive.
• It compares you to your competitors with a contemporary set of eyes, which may supply new speaking factors and arguments for future gross sales conditions.

9. Present alternatives for shadow packages.

Right here’s the place you’ll pair a brand new gross sales rep with a extra established, profitable one. The present rep can stroll new hires by means of the day-to-day of the job, present what success seems to be like, and function a mentor for private {and professional} progress.

10. Record your potholes.

Dan Tyre, a gross sales director right here at HubSpot, recommends a tactic to foster self-reflection and private progress in new hires. He suggests new reps arrange a written listing or spreadsheet of the three “potholes” they fall into every day, as a manner of holding themselves accountable, taking dangers, and reviewing progress alternatives.

11. Conduct newcontact icebreakers.

Even probably the most seasoned reps want a bit of assist breaking the ice with new contacts and prospects. A good way to maintain contacts engaged (apart from sending the dreaded “checking in” emails) is to ship content material your contacts could also be curious about to maintain the dialog going. Whereas it might sound easy, there may be an artwork and a science to utilizing this methodology to maintain contacts engaged.

Spend a while along with your crew taking them by means of completely different engagement strategies to assist them keep away from being ghosted by their contacts. This may be a good time to have a few of your senior reps share finest practices with newer members of the crew.

Picture Supply

In case your gross sales crew wants a extra strong answer for maintaining the dialog going, take into account coaching your crew to make use of software program akin to Icebreaker by UpContent. Icebreaker integrates immediately along with your CRM to trace and log the effectiveness of third-party content material shared along with your leads.

Gross sales groups want time and area to work together and bond in non-competitive methods. Strengthen your crew with these participating video games that anybody can take part in.

1. Choice-making simulations.

Choice-making is likely one of the key abilities that gross sales folks want to accumulate and hone within the position.

Create sensible eventualities the place members should make advanced selections through the gross sales course of. These eventualities may embrace role-playing a shopper with a restricted price range however could be a robust customer-fit, or promoting a customized enterprise answer to a big shopper.

The purpose right here is to flex these critical-thinking muscle tissue in order that when an actual life situation comes up, the gross sales rep is ready for the problem.

2. Thriller procuring workouts.

There is no higher option to practice for a gross sales position than to be bought the product you promote! 

Assign crew members to behave as thriller buyers, offering suggestions on the gross sales expertise. It will assist them establish areas of enchancment and encourage a customer-centric strategy to gross sales.

3. Gross sales negotiation workshops.

As soon as your gross sales crew has accomplished formal coaching, this interactive enrichment train is the proper follow-up.

Conduct an interactive workshop the place members can follow negotiation strategies they realized by means of role-playing workouts. Present suggestions and steering on the effectiveness of the negotiation methods they used. 

4. Gross sales boot camps.

Studying in neighborhood is likely one of the finest methods to soak up plenty of info in a brief time period. In case your gross sales onboarding is fast-paced, strive a gross sales bootcamp to manage conventional and interactive studying curriculums.

Host a multi-day immersive gross sales coaching program that features workshops, crew challenges, and simulations, specializing in numerous points of the gross sales course of. Finish this program with a celebration or certificates of completion to finish the expertise on a grand notice.

5. Gross sales know-how demos.

It is one factor to learn advertising supplies concerning the product you promote. It is one other to strive it out for your self.

To present your gross sales reps an genuine promoting expertise, conduct gross sales tech demos as a part of the gross sales coaching course of.

Organize hands-on demos of various gross sales instruments and applied sciences, permitting members to discover and perceive their advantages and performance. 

6. Cross-department shadowing.

Flip interplay on its head with the shadowing approach. 

Pair up gross sales crew members with colleagues from different departments (e.g., advertising, customer support) to advertise collaboration and understanding of all the buyer journey.

Gross sales reps will stroll away from this coaching with a distinct perspective on the way in which a buyer interacts with the enterprise when making a purchase order. 

7. Area journeys or web site visits.

If your small business has brick-and-mortar areas, implement a web site go to to your reps who work in a distinct location or remotely. 

Arranging these visits permits them to watch and be taught from real-life gross sales interactions. Plus, fostering networking alternatives throughout these occasions is an added bonus.

8. Gross sales pitch makeovers.

Gross sales coaching does not cease at onboarding. Ongoing refinement of gross sales abilities, particularly pitches, is important all through a gross sales particular person’s profession.

Have members overview and enhance their present gross sales pitches with the assistance of peer suggestions and steering from gross sales trainers. Encourage creativity and experimentation for the perfect outcomes.

9. Social promoting challenges.

What higher option to shake issues up than to go digital with the promoting course of? Prospecting is one a part of gross sales the place reps can get artistic, however that does not imply it ought to be a free-for-all. Coaching round social promoting pays dividends in the long term.

Encourage the usage of social media platforms for prospecting and constructing relationships. Set targets for engagement and content material creation, and reward the simplest methods.

10. Mock gross sales conferences.

Conferences might be a number of the alternatives to promote as a result of it is a concentrated surroundings of your audience who’re open to studying concerning the services or products you promote. 

To assist your reps put together for these events, manage a simulated gross sales convention, the place members can follow presenting and networking in a sensible convention setting. Present suggestions and tips on public talking abilities.

1. Promote Me This Pen

Ever seen The Wolf of Wall Road?

As real-life investor (and criminal) Jordan Belfort, Leonardo DiCaprio delivers this line to a gaggle of colleagues in an impromptu promoting train, difficult them to create a necessity within the eyes of a possible purchaser.

The problem may contain selecting something within the room or workplace. Process your reps with figuring out what the issue is to which the obscure merchandise is the answer. From there, in a mock promoting scenario with a prospect (both one other new rep or somebody on the coaching crew), have the rep attempt to get the prospect to establish the necessity themselves, and supply the answer (on this case, the obscure product).

2. Match Recreation

If your small business sells a number of merchandise, software program, or upgrades, make a listing of the important thing ones. Then, write out a one or two-sentence situation the place a possible buyer would profit from it.

Shuffle each lists and have salespeople match the issue to the answer to allow them to decide when somebody is an effective candidate for a sure answer. Right here’s an instance of what which may appear like.

3. What’s a …?

Maintain new hires on their toes with this enjoyable exercise.

After a brand new gross sales class is onboarded, inform them that the remainder of the corporate has been instructed to — at any time through the workday — strategy new gross sales hires and ask, “What’s a…” adopted by the identify of your organization, your product, or your software program.

At a second’s discover, and with out hesitation, salespeople ought to be prepared to clarify what it’s that they’re promoting in a concise, convincing, and clear manner. That is very true if your organization sells advanced software program or if it’s a more recent, lesser-known firm.

As an added bonus, this will function an introduction for brand spanking new hires to workers from different departments.

4. Jeopardy!

On the finish of your coaching, quiz new hires on 5 to 10 completely different classes, with every class containing 5 questions of accelerating problem and level worth. This sport is especially efficient with an enormous onboarding class or for retraining a big group of present reps.

If you happen to’re in want of a Jeopardy! fashion template, Lifewire has compiled a resourceful listing of templates you should utilize to quiz your salespeople on product coaching.

5. Elevator Pitch (or E-Pitch)

The idea of the elevator pitch (or e–pitch) is straightforward — you’re in an elevator with any individual you’re making an attempt to promote to, and have solely 30-60 seconds to make your case earlier than that particular person will get off the elevator.

E-pitch competitions are a staple for brand spanking new rent coaching, as they power reps to get the worth of a product out clearly and shortly. Nonetheless, you may as well run e-pitch competitions for continued gross sales coaching, placing random objects or concepts in a hat and difficult present salespeople to select one at random and brainstorm a pitch to work on their public talking, persuasion, and brevity abilities.

6. Pop Quiz

Probably the greatest methods to your reps to retain info might be so that you can reinforce it through the coaching. Spontaneous pop quizzes throughout coaching and onboarding periods can maintain your salespeople engaged, significantly if the testing is gamified.

You should use mobile-based quiz platforms like Kahoot to place the quiz proper within the palms of your trainees, guarantee everybody’s involvement, and analyze the place the gaps in knowledge are in your group afterward.

7. Make a Industrial

On this sport, the gross sales supervisor or coach splits reps into a number of groups and distributes a random object to every crew. The item might be one thing summary like an odd Lego construct, or it might be an on a regular basis merchandise laying across the workplace.

Every crew then collaborates to provide you with a objective for the merchandise, establish the ache it solves, and script messaging for a “business” to “promote” the merchandise to the group.

On the finish of the displays, maintain a vote and provides a prize for the perfect business.

This sport develops creativity, positioning, and presentation abilities.

8. S’up

S’up is a typical gross sales sport for constructing reps’ confidence.

Take your crew to a public place, like a mall or networking occasion, and have them pair up for accountability. Every rep should provoke a dialog with a stranger and “prospect” for private info through the course of the dialog.

Increased factors are awarded for info that is harder to acquire (e.g. what that they had for lunch is value lower than a narrative about their childhood).

9. Nonetheless Do not Get It

Much like S’up, this sport can be performed in public. Instruct every rep to strategy a stranger and ask a query. (This sport is commonly performed by asking for instructions to someplace, however any query will do.)

When the stranger gives the reply, the rep should probe for extra info as in the event that they “do not get it.” Factors are awarded to reps primarily based on what number of occasions they can push the stranger for extra info. This develops gross sales reps’ muscle tissue for studying prospects and figuring out when to push additional or give up.

10. Chilly Name Bingo!

Have certainly one of your reps make a chilly name whereas the remainder of the crew listens on speakerphone. Every listening rep has a Bingo! card with widespread gross sales techniques and milestones (akin to “value objection” or “want/ache recognized”). The purpose is to get the crew actively listening for and figuring out prospect dealing with strategies whereas studying from a dwell instance.

Reward the Bingo! winner and the chilly caller for a profitable Bingo! achieved.

11. Subsequent Logical Query

In giant new rent lessons, position play as a prospect and have reps take turns asking the following logical query following the assertion you’ve made.

For instance, a rep would possibly ask you “What made you attain out for extra info?” You’d then specific a typical drawback a possible buyer would possibly look to your organization to unravel. Then, the rep wants to determine the perfect query to ask in response to that want.

If the reply is all improper, or if there may be silence within the room, you get to chime in and provides steering on what might be requested. Maintain observe, and the one that asks probably the most logical subsequent questions wins.

It doesn’t matter what gross sales coaching concepts, video games, or actions you’re utilizing in your workplace, they need to serve the final word objective of constructing salespeople higher at their jobs. Ross Nibur, Director of Income Operations and Technique (and former Director of Enterprise Improvement) at Toast, proposes a four-step course of to creating and implementing any gross sales coaching thought.

Sequentially, gross sales trainers ought to reply these 4 questions:

1. What data or ability do I would like salespeople to accumulate?
2. Why are these abilities necessary to them and to enterprise progress?
3. How can we guarantee salespeople retain this data?
4. How can we assist salespeople if they’re struggling to be taught the ability?

So, for instance, chances are you’ll determine you need your salespeople to develop into specialists in your product. That solutions query one. This info is necessary so reps can converse knowledgeably about merchandise to prospects, set correct expectations for the end-user, and earn the belief of these they’re speaking to, answering query two.

Query three is the place you match a coaching thought or exercise to show or define the educational you need to spotlight, so perhaps you determine {that a} gross sales rep giving a profitable product demo is the perfect coaching thought for addressing this want.

As for query 4, new reps who fall quick on their demo is likely to be given entry to extra documentation, recordings of profitable demos, or demo teaching periods to strengthen their abilities.

That’s an instance of a coaching thought carried out with objective, a transparent purpose, and actionable subsequent steps to make sure the data and abilities and retained.

1. Frequent Floor

This sport works significantly nicely for groups working in digital environments. Break up members of your crew into smaller teams by way of your digital assembly software program’s convention room function and have them provide you with three issues all of them have in widespread that don’t contain work.

Ideally, members of every group will discover a wide range of subjects earlier than determining what all of them have in widespread. This train helps construct belief and familiarity amongst crew members, which is crucial for making a supportive work surroundings.

2. Guess Who

Have every particular person in your crew submit a enjoyable reality about them that the remainder of the crew doesn’t know. When it’s time to play, undergo every enjoyable reality (you are able to do this by making a presentation with one slide per reality, with enjoyable GIFs to maintain it attention-grabbing) one after the other and have your crew guess who the very fact belongs to.

3. Digital Escape Room

An escape room train might be an effective way to assist your crew bond and work by means of problem-solving eventualities collectively. Due to know-how, digital escape rooms make this exercise much more accessible.

Whereas collaborating in a digital escape room, groups typically have to work collectively to unravel a difficult riddle, acquire digital clues, and work by means of advanced puzzles below a time crunch to maneuver on to the following stage. Firms akin to The Escape Recreation supply guided digital escape rooms groups can play from wherever by way of Zoom.

Let’s be sincere, gross sales crew conferences should not all the time probably the most thrilling a part of you or your crew’s week. In case your gross sales crew conferences are all about diving into the numbers, strive certainly one of these actions to liven issues up.

1. Product Jeopardy

How nicely does your crew know your organization’s services or products? Assist them brush up on their abilities by creating your individual Jeopardy sport targeted in your firm historical past and merchandise. Begin by creating 5 classes associated to your organization’s choices. Pattern classes can embrace particular product names, firm mission, and values, or buyer stats.

Then create 5 questions for every class with assigned level values between 100 and 500 correlated to the problem of the query. You may make this sport distant work-friendly by making a template utilizing PowerPoint or Google Slides.

2. Circle of Kudos

Gross sales reps can generally really feel underappreciated working in such a high-stakes, aggressive area. Ensure everybody in your crew feels appreciated with this “circle of kudos” train.

One after the other, have every member of your crew give a shoutout to a different crew member about strengths they’ve or one thing they’ve accomplished nicely just lately. As soon as a crew member has acquired their kudos, it’s then their flip to share their sort phrases about one other member of the crew. Proceed popcorn fashion till all your reps have shared and acquired kudos.

These concepts and video games are excellent methods to sharpen the talents of your present crew or as a part of onboarding coaching for brand spanking new gross sales hires.

Editor’s notice: This submit was initially printed in September 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.