Training programmes for sales and marketing professionals at every stage of their careers

Failing to invest in yourself can negatively impact the careers of any sales and marketing professional. New technology means many aspects of businesses are going virtual. An understanding of how digital technology can be used can provide you with opportunities for reaching out to new people or markets, making sales training programmes an essential investment to ensure your future success. 

Take social media, for instance, which has become an indispensable sales and marketing tool for professionals, helping companies to reach a wider audience, in addition to learning how to communicate better via different platforms and draw in more clients.  

They add that CEOs of more advanced upskilling organisations were more optimistic about global economic growth — 34% expecting improvement versus 15% of CEOs just beginning their upskilling journey. 

“These CEOs also had more confidence in their own revenue growth, with 38% ‘very confident’ versus 20% of beginners. This may suggest that taking steps to upskill helps organisations build confidence because it shows a clear, practical course of action in an increasingly uncertain world,” said the report.  

On Manufacturing Today, Ramesh Kumar, director – academics CG&O, Manipal Global Education Services, said the revival in economic activity is dependent on the sales community generating revenue and profits from every potential opportunity.

“The ability of a seller to speak to the customer, understand his/her needs and concerns, customise their product or service offering to their needs, and closing the sale determines how successful they are. Due to the change in circumstances, a sales professional needs to adapt to the new normal to continue to be successful,” he said, citing the example of remote selling due to the pandemic, leading to a whole new set of skills to be mastered.

So, whether you’re a newbie sales and marketing professional or a seasoned one, making the commitment to learn and grow will be essential to both yours and your organisation’s continued success.  

Training programmes for an unstoppable force

You don’t necessarily have to wait for your company to devise a training programme – with a pandemic on hand and businesses struggling to stay afloat, take matters into your own hands and find opportunities for upskilling. 

Mastering remote selling

Selling during a pandemic has its challenges for sales people who are used to meeting clients in the flesh, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn new tactics and meet your goals by doing things virtually. Many companies are quickly filling this gap by offering courses related to remote selling, including Richardson Sales Performance, a sales training and performance improvement firm. 

Their Virtual Selling Training equips salespeople with the skills and techniques to increase credibility, create connection, foster openness, and build trust in virtual sales meetings to drive momentum and win sales opportunities, notes its website.

Social media strategies 

Social media is a crucial tool for business marketing, and learning social media strategies can help you achieve your KPIs when used correctly. There are a variety of related courses online to cater to your level of understanding. Coursera’s Social Media Marketing Specialization beginner course, for example, helps you master a particular skill. Learners begin by enrolling in the specialisation directly, or review its courses and choose the one they’d like to start with. 

HubSpot Academy offers Social Media Marketing Course: Get Certified in Social Media Strategy, a free certification course which will help you develop an engaging and effective social media strategy for your business, learn how to build an inbound social media strategy that delights your customers and grows your bottom line and leverage on the power of social media to transform your business and your career.

Strategic sales

If you want to increase revenue, you’ll need to use a strategic sales approach. 

Strategic Sales Management Specialization is an intermediate level course on Coursera that is intended for sales professionals who seek to improve their sales planning and management competencies and skills. 

Learners will go through five courses — Effective Sales overview, Sales Strategy, Models and Frameworks to Support Sales Planning, Sales & Marketing Alignment and a Final Project — to gain the knowledge, competencies and skills regarding the sales planning process. 

There are many areas for sales and marketing professionals to upskill in, and being adaptable and open to learning new skills will bolster your efforts to stay relevant in the field.