Every year, it gets more and more expensive to run your business. To keep up, you expect your team to increase sales so you can meet your business goals.
Many business leaders look to improve the performance of their sales team by investing in a sales training program. These sorts of training initiatives are big business: U.S. companies spend more than $15 billion on sales training each year.
With a limited training budget, you need to know that the dollars you spend on training are going to come back to your business as increased revenue.
With that in mind, let’s look at some sales training options and what you can expect to spend on them.
Remember, sales training comes in all shapes and sizes — from free online options to AI training tools to fully customized training programs for enterprise-level teams. Below, I’ll break down some different options and what you (and your team) can expect to spend on each. I’ll cover:
A business cannot prosper without sales, and there are graveyards littered with organizations that wasted away because they couldn’t get prospects to buy.
Whether you’re a solopreneur or a company of thousands, sales success is vital to your growth. The better your sales conversations go, the better your bottom line.
But sales is hard. In 2023, only about a quarter of sales professionals exceeded their quota.
Improving these numbers takes time. In addition to sales training for your frontline sales reps, you should audit your entire sales process, including prospecting, sales enablement, pipeline management, and communication.
Sales performance depends on a dizzying number of variables, and the more you can improve each one, the more you’ll see your team sell.
For this reason, sales training is a crucial investment for companies of all sizes and types.
For the most successful sales teams, ongoing training is part of their culture. Sales reps are reviewing calls with their managers, practicing role-plays with their colleagues, regularly attending online workshops, and reading books to stay on top of their game.
If organizations don’t create a training budget and invest in their teams, their sales performance will suffer.
At the same time, just throwing money at a problem won't solve it. Sales success depends on both the desire to improve and the resources to learn how.
So, what should you expect to spend on sales training? You probably won’t be surprised to learn that sales training runs a wide spectrum in terms of cost. There are free options, and there are options that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
In general, what you’re going to pay will vary based on a few factors, all of which are pretty obvious:
While the costs can vary widely, you can expect to pay between $400 and $3,000 for a reputable sales training program. However, there are numerous free (and cheap) options for those with smaller budgets, as well as high-end options for larger teams.
One final note: This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive list of the best sales training programs. There are literally thousands of options and hundreds of companies out there that promise to help you improve your selling. The examples below merely represent a range of price points.
Now, let’s dive in, starting with free options.
Don’t look down your nose at free sales training programs. These are resources that you can consume on-demand, and some grant certifications as well.
Each year, there are whole libraries of new books written about sales — and weeks’ worth of podcast content. While these resources don’t offer you the interactivity of traditional training, they can be a vital supplement to learning you do through other pathways.
Pro tip: Want to multiply the learning you get from a book or online course? Take it with a friend or form a book group. Research shows that when you discuss ideas and engage with concepts, you’re more likely to retain what you learn.
There are thousands of online and in-person options for sales training, so picking the right one will come down to your budget, time frame, and area of focus.
Major universities offer sales certificate programs to enhance your skills and build your resume.
Pro tip: Many of these options offer online communities and forums for connecting with other sales professionals just like you.
Make use of these!
Network with your peers and see if anyone will be willing to practice what you’ve learned. When you do low-stakes role-plays, you maximize your learning.
At the top end of the sales training pyramid are customized learning experiences. These could occur on site at your location or online, but you’re paying a premium for a personalized training program.
This type of training prices out most buyers, so it’s specifically for corporate group training and high-earning individuals who are looking for that extra edge to advance. At this level, price is highly customized based on the needs of the client and the number of participants.
Organizations like Hoffman and Rain Group offer programs for teams to reach the next level. Here, a Rain Group spokesman explains one of its training options.
If you’re in the market for this kind of tailored program, talk to your network to try and get a recommendation. See what options have been most impactful for others. Then reach out and negotiate. If you’re a high-end client, firms will fight to win you, so take advantage of that position.
Note: You’ll be expected to pay travel costs if you’re looking to have an on-site training program.
Pro tip: You can make the best sales training even better by actively incorporating it into your company culture after the training ends.
Before your training starts, form an “accountability pact” with your team that helps you keep practicing what you learn. During the training ask for materials and recommendations for bringing what you learn into long-term practice
AI-powered sales training represents an exciting horizon. Need a late-night role-play session before a big pitch? Want feedback tailored to your specific field? An AI tool can be that tireless sparring partner that's training on company data.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there are over 13 million salespeople in the country. That’s over 8% of the total labor force in the United States.
But recently, that number has been shrinking as salespeople play a smaller and smaller role in customer purchases. Today, buyers are looking to self-educate, only reaching out to a sales rep when they are in the final stages of their buying journey — if they reach out at all.
In such a competitive marketplace, it’s imperative that sales teams stay on top of their game, sharpening their skills with regular training and self-study.
The options above can help you do just that.
At IMPACT, we know that marketing, when done right, can dramatically enhance your sales efforts. We've guided hundreds of businesses to sales and marketing success using our Endless Customers System™. If you're ready to finally get your team all pulling in the same direction, talk to us to see what's possible.