When your sales team goes from 0 to 1 or 1 to 2, sales training is easy.

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Your new hire gets to work alongside you and absorb the sales process, see how you handle objections, and where you find leads. Lead by example with your sales training and youll have a strong Number Two willing to follow you into battle.

But once you start to scale your startup, you can kiss those carefree days goodbye.

Without fail, youll be taken away by other tasks, and the sales training for new team members will be pushed over someone else in the company.

As a sales manager, director, or founder, its your job to give your sales team the tools they need to be successful. Without effective sales training processes and techniques in place, youre basically playing a big game of telephone with your values and strategies. What you taught to your first hires might get passed on correctly. Or it might not.

And the next round of hires? Before you know it, your vision has been completely thrown to the side and your sales department has devolved into a free-for-all.

The right sales training resources let you download all of your knowledge, experience, tricks, and sales strategies into an easily digestible format for new hires. Its like Neo getting plugged into the Matrix and learning Kung-fu in a matter of seconds.

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Now, unfortunately, we cant expect those kinds of instantaneous kick-ass results. But you can look at proven sales training best practices to help make sure that your team is set up for real success.

Your sales training can cover everything from onboarding new hires to developing their skills, setting up criteria by which theyll change and adapt with the market. If you can do all this, youll be putting together the building blocks for an unstoppable sales machine.

This is no small task. So lets take this one step at a time, starting with assessing your own team, finding the right methods for delivering your sales training, and then end with the 10 pieces of sales training your team needs to succeed.

Whether youre a team of 1 or 100, your sales team will have its own unique strengths and weaknesses. When youre starting to put together your sales training process you need to know these inside out.

But what questions should you be asking to really dig into the details?

When CEO consultant Melissa Raffoni spoke with 50 top CEOs of companies with teams of 10 to 1000, she found these eight questions coming up over and over when assessing the quality of a sales team:

Going deep on these questions will give you a great overview of how your team functions, where youre killing it, and where things are falling apart. From this information you can start to craft the basics of your sales training.

But asking these questions once and then moving on is a recipe for disaster. Sales training, like all parts of your sales efforts, will constantly evolve as your team and product changes and adapts to the real world. So its smart to revisit these questions at least annually to see where you might want to switch things up.

With the raw materials in place from your assessment, youll want to go in and look at the different ways you can implement your sales training.

Theres a huge range of options on the table, and no single one is right for every company or every team. Instead, youll want to experiment with what is getting the best engagement and results and what works with your teams structure.

For example, if youre an early-stage startup with a small sales team, putting together some short courses or conducting in-person workshops can be a great way to build your teams skills while coming together as a group.

As you scale and grow, it might make sense to bring in an outside consultant or send key members of your sales team off to larger conferences to see whats coming up and adapt your sales training appropriately.

Lets take a look at some of the most common formats for delivering sales training:

No, were not talking about sending your sales team back to college. But the typical course format, either in-person or online, is a great way to transfer your sales knowledge to teammates. Also, the course format can allow your salespeople to do their training on a schedule that works for them while allowing you to keep track of their progress.

Short in-person workshops for your sales team break up the work day and can be a great way to build excitement around your sales training. If you can handle the whole team taking a few hours off its worth it to close up shop and bring everyone together.

When your team gets too big or you cant deliver effective in-house training, it might be time to look at hiring an outside consultant to come in. It might seem awkward to bring in someone outside of your team, but a good consultant brings tons of value in everything from customized sales tools, a wealth of experience and valuable market information. It can also help you get buy-in with your team faster by bringing in an expert.

Not only are conferences fantastic for networking, but they allow your team to learn from proven leaders and get a pulse on whats coming up in your market. And remember the Roman philosopher Senecas words, while we teach, we learn. Make sure to put the added pressure of bringing back value to the company not just to make sure your entire team gets the benefit of the chosen few attending a conference, but to help those who went solidify what they heard.

Sometimes the best way to learn is to be thrown into the deep end. Conducting an audit of past sales cycles, both successful and unsuccessful, as a team is a great way to train your sales team about the real-world applications of what youre teaching them.

While not necessarily a sales training technique like the others, having self-serve resources available for your team teaches them to always be learning. Set up a wiki or a Trello board with processes and resources for commonly asked questions. And when your team asks you specific things, point them in this direction. It might come across as a bit cold, but youre essentially training them to help themselves.

Right, so weve got all the main channels by which you can deliver sales training to your team, now its time to talk about what exactly your sales training will need to coverso that you can evaluate all of the options on the table for your organization.

Effective sales training can cover everything from how to create a sales planto getting over your fears of rejection, staying motivated every day, and more.

The goal here is that each individual component of your sales training helps your team grow and progress, so that nobody feels like theyve hit a ceiling in their career.

If you need some inspiration on what to include in your own sales training program, or want to make sure you choose the right facilitator, here are 10 essential pieces of sales training you should bring to your team:

As the Greek philosopher Epictetus so succinctly explains, You have two ears and one mouthyou should be using them in that proportion.

In the rush to explain features and benefits of what youre selling, its easy to talk over your prospect. This is a common mistake many inside sales rookies make. And the problem is, the second someone thinks youre not listening, youve lost them.

Active listening is truly the silent skill of sales. Throughout the sales cycle, prospects will drop hints about what theyre thinking, how theyre feeling, or problems they need solved. Addressing these can make or break your sale. But youll miss them if youre not listening.

Here are a few tips to incorporate into your sales training thatll help your team team to listen more intently:

Its probably a pretty safe bet that robots arent taking your sales job any time soon. Thats because working in sales requires constant problem solving, empathy, and the ability to think fast and act accordingly. To instil these qualities in your team, they need to adopt a problem-solving mentalitywhich can thankfully be done through proper sales training.

This one starts with empathy, seeing the world through the eyes of your prospect. Listening only goes so far and you should always assume the problem your prospect communicates isnt necessarily the real issue they need solved. Look at the bigger picture.

Great salespeople go beyond simply solving their customers problems and actually find the problems their customers are unaware of.

As Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is Human,said in a recent interview: If customers know precisely what the problem is, they can find a solution. Where youre more valuable is when they dont know what the problem is, or theyre wrong about the problem, and you can identify a problem they dont realize they have. Or you can look down the road and say Here is a problem youre going to confront. Youd better get ready for it now.

To do this, you need to develop both a problem-solving and problem-finding mentality that, when combined with empathy, will let you find the problems your customers really need solved. Start by asking a few simple questions:

Take your time and be creative.

Solving these invisible problems your prospects have is a powerful tool in getting the sale. Reiterate the importance of keeping these questions top of mind throughout your sales training process.

Knowledge is power. And the best salespeople always have a solid foundation to work from.

Use your sales training to get your team ready for identifying objections that come up time and time again. You can collaboratively craft scripts to help them deal with these issues. Now, the idea of using scripts is a contentious one in the sales community. No one wants to sound like a robot, and this isnt what you should be advocating for here. Instead, these scripts should help you assay client fears and move onto the real issues more quickly.

Think of it like a basketball team. They spend hours upon hours practicing the basicsdribbling, shooting, defending, reboundingso that when it comes to game day, they dont have to think about it and can focus on adapting to the team theyre playing.

In the same way, scripts help your sales team get past common objections quickly and move onto creative ways to close the sale. Not only that, but youll have a template you can share across your team and help them level up their sales game quickly.

As part of your sales training, have your team:

Time wasted chasing after the wrong prospects can crush your sales efforts and even your company. Large accounts can sometimes take 618 months to close. But thats only if they do close. And sometimes a bad client can be even worse than a lost sale, wasting your time, asking for refunds and generally speaking poorly about your company.

Your team needs to know what to look out for to make sure theyre going in the right directionwhich is where good sales training comes into play. And as someone experienced in selling your product or service, youve seen first hand the signs that led to a sale, and the ones that made you get off the phone as quickly as possible.

Heres a few key red flags you should be using sales training to teach your team what to look out for:

If youre using cold outreach over email as one of your main sales strategies, youll want to have some form of training on the basics of how you connect with prospects over email.

First off, why email? Well, despite doomsayers spouting off about social selling killing email, email is 40X more effective at getting new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. We put together a collection of 17 sales email tips that work you can check out, but here are the main pieces you should be covering in your training:

How to write subject lines that get opened: It might be just one line, but its the one that matters the most. Write like a human, avoid slogans, use lowercase text, and include your recipient's name if you can.

How to write effective email copy: Dont waste your prospects time. Be brief. Give context. And end with a clear call to action. Each sentence needs to show your value props and push your prospect closer to the next step.

Unusual ways to make your emails stand out: We all have overflowing inboxes. So to stand out, try a few tricks like: Adding value in your signature by including recent blog posts, news, or videos; include a personal note or some company humblebrag in the P.S.; and use formatting to your advantage by bolding important information and using bulleted lists.

Email experiments to run: Even the best email templates go stale. Start by deciding what you want to test: open rate or response rate/action. Then, try a few experiments like A/B testing subject lines, changing the From name, using personalization, or sending at a different time.

How to follow up properly: If your cold prospects arent responding, implement this follow-up formula into your sales training process:

If your salespeople are picking up the phone, youll for sure want to be training them on what to do when their prospect answers.

Your cold calling strategy should start with a funnel that looks something like this:

To help your team get the most success from this funnel, youll want to provide them with some simple tools and training around lead sourcing, sales call scripts, and how to handle objections.

Remember to incorporate teaching your team to keep it simple and focus on one step at a time throughout your sales training.

Can you reach one person? Qualify that person? Demo a prospect? Close a deal? The training should focus on pushing through and getting each prospect to the next step. So dont worry if the conversion numbers are bad to start.

Nothing kills a sale faster then not being able to tell someone why they need what youre selling. People buy results, not just products or services.

Your salespeople need to know how to clearly articulate the value that your product or service will provide for the prospect. They need to be educators and storytellers, explaining why what youre selling is so great and then getting the prospect to imagine themselves in a better life because of you.

Start by going through your customer profiles. Why are they good prospects for what youre selling? How can you show them the value youre providing? Do you have case studies or testimonials you can use?

Role play and get your team to practice articulating the value of your product until they can do it without even thinking.

If youre dealing with sales training for new or less experienced salespeople, youll want to train them not only on how to sell, but how to feel good about doing it.

Calling up or emailing strangers and asking them to buy what youre selling isnt something we normally do. And fear is only natural when youre put into an unfamiliar place. Taking the time to train your team about how to handle that fear will make them more confident, friendly, and ultimately happier.

Start by looking at all the places in your sales process where your team might be feeling anxiety or fear and how to address it:

Most people might assume theres no interest in what theyre selling if they dont get a response. But the follow-up is your key to higher conversion rates, and without it youre not likely to close many deals in the long run.

Steli, the CEO of Close.io here, follows a simple follow-up philosophy: Reach out as many times as necessary until you get a response. If a prospect says theyre busy for two weeks, he sets a reminder for 14 days.

Now, your own follow-up philosophy will come from your values and sales process, but the key here is that you need to have something your team can follow. Decide what frequency youre going to follow up, how youre going to track your messages, and which medium youre going to use. Then, teach your team to use their judgement and experiment.

One of the most important pieces of sales training your team needs is how to close the deal.

Without providing guidelines and processes for asking for the close, youre basically giving your team liberty to ask whenever they want. And unfortunately, too many salespeople wait until that nonexistent perfect moment to ask.

Here are a couple techniques you can try adding to your sales training:

The virtual close: As soon as youve qualified your lead and given them your pitch,ask for the sale. At this point, you basically know theyre going to say no. So follow up by asking, "Whats the process we need to go through in order to get you ready to buy?" With this simple question, youre getting them to draw you a roadmap to the sale youll eventually get.

Take the sale away: When objections arrive at the 11th hour, its easy to get desperate and make promises you cant keep. Instead, teach your salespeople to "take the sale away"by being decisive on pricing, emphasizing that youre building a long-term relationship, and imposing a break in the conversation. By using this technique, youre not only pushing people to close, but showing them that you value the service or product youre selling.

Sales training never really ends.

There are always new techniques, better scripts, new objections to overcome, new issues to address, another competitor entering the market that you and your team will need to learn how to combat.

The best salespeople have a drive to learn and be the best, and your sales training will help them get there. Invest in it early on and youll have a team that cant be beat.

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Feature Announcement Email Sequences: email drip campaigns for salespeople. Schedule sequences of emails to be automatically sent over days or weeks. Learn more or try for free.

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