Online Sales Training: More Useful than You Might Think

You sell way more often than you think. Job interviews, meeting new people, simply offering plans for the weekend to a friend. With online sales training, you can make sure you’re conveniently developing your skills to confidently achieve the results you want.

When you hear the word “sales”, you probably think of business negotiations, financial transactions, or other situations where you’re trying to close a purchase. Well, those are definitely not the only circumstances where you would use sales skills.

Knowing how to sell is useful in both personal and professional worlds. It’s not necessarily selling a product or service, it’s also selling your idea. Your plan. Your marketing idea for the new product. It’s selling yourself as being confident and competent in the workplace.

So, whether you want to use it for professional or personal reasons, I’m sure you agree sales skills are highly beneficial. With various options on online learning platforms, learning and developing those skills is now easier than ever.

Different Sales You Can Do

Part of being a good salesperson is being able to distinguish what kind of sale you’re engaging in. What type of sale you're doing, significantly changes the selling approach you should use. There are various characteristics of sales, and you can look at them from several different angles.

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For example, there are 2 main segments for business sales, depending on who you’re trying to sell to - business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-client (B2C). These two categories of sales should be quite self-explanatory - if you’re a company, you may sell to either another company (B2B), or to an individual (B2C).

In business-to-client, the process is relatively simple and the deal is made quite quickly. Usually, there is also only one decision-maker involved - the customer.

In business-to-business, it gets quite more complex. In most cases, there are several decision-makers involved. Due to this and due to higher levels of responsibility for a business purchase, the process can take quite longer than in B2C sale.

Sales can also be divided into inside sales and outside sales. Inside sales mean you’re selling the product or service remotely. You're staying in-house to make the sale. In other words, you close the deal or make a sale while not directly interacting with your customer.

Outside sales usually are done while in the same place as the target customer. They can be done remotely as well (for example, during a video call or an online presentation), but essentially you’re directly interacting with your customer in order to close the deal. It's as if you're going outside, to meet the customer.

What Is Sales Engineering?

A somewhat special sales branch I want to talk about is sales engineering. You might have heard about it before, but even if you haven’t - you’ve probably wondered how to become a sales engineer.

This branch combines two aspects - sales (obviously), and engineering (also obviously, but not as much). It is relevant in industrial and commercial markets. In these markets, customers make their buying decisions mostly based on the actual product.

I mean, in standard markets you still do think about the product, but you’re also heavily influenced simply by its marketing campaign, style, and similar more subjective things. In industrial/commercial markets, the decisions are more strongly focused on technical aspects of the product and similar rational analysis.

But, a sales engineer is not just someone who is a salesperson within the relevant industrial field. Firstly, they are not just a salesperson. They must have significant technical knowledge of the product. They don’t just sell the product, but also provide advice and support regarding it.

Also, a sales engineer does not have to stick with one product. They can provide their expertise and services to several different manufacturers, distributors, or a third party.

As you can see, there are several different types of sales you can do. Usually, they require a different approach and different mindset or even skills to use. That being said, there are a good number of universal skills that you can apply in several different sales situations, or easily adapt them.

How to become a sales engineer? A great way to start is with one or several of these top online sales training courses.

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Sales Training: Practical Sales Techniques (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Udemy
• Duration: 1h 51min
• Price: €89.99
• Certificate: YES
• Level: All levels
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

At first, you may not know what type of sales you’d like to go into. And that’s perfectly fine. With plenty of online sales training options available, you can start off by learning general and quite universal sales techniques. And this course is one of such sales classes, where the knowledge learned can be easily applied to many situations.

This sales class teaches you what techniques to use during multiple stages of a sale. It covers planning and preparation, establishing and building a relationship with your customer, how to handle objections, and how to close a deal. Especially with a price that’s beneficial for both you and your customer.

What I personally like about this sales class a lot is that it gives you plenty of real-world examples, rather than just focusing on the theories and general instructions.

The course instructor Chris Croft is a management trainer, a speaker, and an author of 15 books about management. Not surprising that he is one of the UK’s leading trainers. He has almost 30 courses on the Udemy platform, in the areas of sales, management, negotiation, and others.

This sales class takes a bit under 2 hours and is divided into 31 lectures. The course material starts with explaining how to build a business relationship and diagnose a sale.

Part of diagnosing the sale is understanding the customer’s need, and that can be done by realizing the difference between features and benefits, as is covered in the following part of the course.

The material finishes off with discussing how to handle objections and finally, how to close the sale. The sales class will teach you simple tricks and simple phrases that to make sure you stand out from the competition.

This online sales training course has an average rating of 4.5/5, with 90% of the reviews being 4 or 5 stars. The comments are raving about how enjoyable the course was and how it had just the relevant information, no playing around.

“Nice really friendly advice. Can be game changing if you are new to sales, though there are some good gems if you have been at it a while as well. Never a bad idea to go back to your baselines and see another's approach. Happy with this course and instructor.” - Matthew Smart

The course is €89.99, which is a very reasonable price for a course of such valuable material and useful instructions. In addition, you can use our coupons to get it even lower!

Throughout this sales class, you will learn:

• How to build a relationship with a client
• Handling objections
• Key phrases for the negotiation process

Start the course NOW.

The Art of Sales: Mastering the Selling Process Specialization (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Coursera
• Duration: 48 hours
• Price: from $39 per month
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Beginner
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

Sales can be a complex topic and therefore only a single course of online sales training may not be enough. Well, I am here to your rescue!

Or rather, Coursera is. This platform offers sales specializations, which essentially are groups of sales classes online. After these several courses, you will also have a hands-on project and will earn a certificate upon completion.

This specialization consists of 4 courses:

• Customer Segmentation and Prospecting
• Connecting with Sales Prospects
• Sales Pitch and Closing
• Building a Toolkit for Your Sales Process

The specialization aims to teach you how to become a high-performing salesperson within your company. The first course explores the mindset you should have, teaching you about the knowledge, skill, and discipline you need to make it in the industry.

The second course on the list teaches about performance in a business meeting, so that you definitely leave a great impression. The third course coaches you about how to make great presentations and develop your brand. The fourth and final course will mix the skills, learned from the first 3, and help you to create your sales toolkit.

The specialization is provided by Northwestern University. Its instructor Craig Wortmann has been an entrepreneur and a salesperson for over 20 years. Currently, Craig is a Clinical Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and has designed an award-winning course.

As mentioned, the specialization consists of 4 online sales training courses. Each of these sales classes takes 3-5 weeks to complete, accounting for a pace of just 3 hours per week.

All four courses are rated as 4.7-4.8 out of 5. For most courses, about 97% of the ratings are 4 or 5 stars. Numerous reviews said the students learned valuable new points about sales. They also admired Craig as the lecturer and appreciated his competence.

“You learn a lot of stuff that no one else teaches you. You definitely get out of this course armed with another experience and a good amount of knowledge about sales and the whole process of selling.” - MA

Coursera specializations start at $39 per month, depending on specific specialization. Very much worth the money in this case, but if you want to cut it down even more, you can catch some special deals or apply for financial aid.

This specialization will teach you:

• The proper mindset for a businessperson
• Create high-impact in business/sales meetings
• Give great presentations with style

Start the specialization NOW.

How to Deliver Memorable Elevator Pitches Everyday (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Udemy
• Duration: 1h 14min
• Price: €49.99 (now only €9.99)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: All levels
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

The first time I heard of the elevator pitch principle, I was amazed. Such a simple concept, and yet feels such a great one. Elevator pitch is the principle that a sales pitch (for either idea or a product) should be short, concise, and catchy. Such as that you would be able to sell this idea to someone else, during a single elevator ride.

Now, of course, you have different buildings and elevator speeds, and other factors. So, the exact duration of such pitch depends on the source, but it usually falls between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. It’s not just about the short time you have to sell the idea, but also about the ability to catch your target’s attention and interest.

That’s what this sales class teaches you - how to make memorable elevator pitches. This course considers the elevator pitch duration to be as if going from the first to the 15th floor. It presents 4 different frameworks to develop your elevator pitch. This way, you’ll be able to choose the best fit for your personality and needs.

The course instructor Mike Pagan is a coach, speaker, and author. He has over 20 years of experience in the field, and he makes people reach success through behavioral change.

The class has 9 lectures and lasts for a bit over 1 hour. The course material starts with general tips and the 4 different frameworks. It also includes common mistakes for elevator pitches and elaborates on the value of practice.

The course has an average rating of 4.2, with 85% of reviews giving it 4 or 5 stars. A lot of reviews complimented the teacher and his engaging demeanor. The course also received praise for its usefulness for the future.

“Just what I needed. Someone to explain to me what is required with NO FLUFF. During the course I have actually started to write my speach and practicing. He really does bring it home what you should do to get it right then the rest is up to me to do it. So pleased I took this course. Highly recommended. Thank you.” - Dragana Milosevic

This course usually costs €49.99, which in itself is already a very reasonable price. If that wasn’t enough, at the time of writing, it’s actually discounted to €9.99! Definitely a steal with the discount.

During this online sales training class, you will learn:

• 4 different frameworks for an elevator pitch
• How to turn strangers into useful connections
• Get your message across in a short and powerful manner

So go ahead and start the course NOW.

Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Coursera
• Duration: 17 hours
• Price: from $49 per month (free audit available)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Mixed levels
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

This online sales training course aims to train your negotiation skills specifically. It will teach you the 4 important steps in how to make the negotiation process go great for you. University of Michigan's professor of Business Administration and Business Law George Siedel is your instructor for the journey.

He has received multiple teaching awards, the most notable of which is Executive Program Professor of the Year. George received this award in 2018, and it was established by an association of 36 high reputation universities, promoting international education.

This sales class is distributed across 7 weeks, with 2-3 hours per week of needed studying. Aside from introductory and final examination weeks, the main aspects of the course are these 4 points:

• Planning the negotiation strategy
• Key factors for success during negotiation. This part will discuss the usage of power and psychological tools
• Establishing details of the contract, once the initial agreement is made
• The post-deal evaluation of your agreement, and performance to adhere to its clauses

Almost all weeks in the sales class have both video and reading materials, and a quiz. Week 6 is meant for practicing your gained knowledge. Aside from the obvious choice of finding a friend in person, you are encouraged to find another student in the discussion board and practice with them. How cool is that?

The course has an average rating of 4.8. From my experience, perfect 5.0 scores are extremely rare among sales classes - online classes overall rarely have perfect scores. Therefore, 4.8 or 4.9 average is essentially as near to perfection as it can be.

A lot of reviews showed admiration for George, students were impressed by his personality and teaching manner, as well as the contents of the course itself.

“I had a great time attending this course. Its like a long journey which you don't want to come to an end. Dr. George Sidel and his great efforts behind creating this course should sure be applauded.” - Kartik G

Coursera classes start at $49 per month for a single course enrollment. However, I do recommend Coursera plus - such subscription starts at $59 per month, but instead of giving you access to just one course, it enables you to enroll in several available courses on the platform. Definitely worth looking into that special deal.

By the end of this sales class, you’ll be able to:

• Prepare analysis before your negotiation
• Use psychological tools to get the wanted outcome during your negotiation
• Create and close the initial binding contract with your negotiation partner

Start the course NOW.

Business Development & B2B Sales for Startups- Sales Valley (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Udemy
• Duration: 6h 21min
• Price: €89.99
• Certificate: YES
• Level: All levels
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

This online sales training course is meant to be a full playbook for startups to develop their B2B sales strategies. One of the very common challenges for startups is to even agree on meetings to be able to sell their products. And even if you do get a meeting, there's still the challenge of selling yourself and your product or business to seal the deal.

Well, this sales class is exactly about that and other related instructions on how to improve your sales skills in the B2B market. It aims to help startups to establish business relationships and make their own business grow.

The course instructor is Patrick Dang. He’s an international sales trainer, who started his career at one of Silicon Valley startups - Oracle. Right now, he shares his knowledge with others in the sphere of sales. Aside from this online sales training course, Patrick has 7 more sales classes available on the Udemy platform.

The class consists of 39 lectures and in total lasts for a bit under 6 and a half hours. At first, Patrick discusses the overall strategy for business development and, more specifically, sales. One of the ways to reach a high level of sales is cold emails, and that’s what follows next.

The course will teach you how to make cold emails engaging and hook the potential client. This section is followed by teaching sales skills, from the first meeting to actually closing the deal. At the end, the course briefly explains the difference between remote and traditional sales, and how to excel in the former.

The students are amazed by this online sales training class. 4.6 average rating, 87% percent of evaluations are 4 or 5 stars, great comments. The review section has plenty of testimonies about how useful and helpful the material was, how motivating and inspiring the lecturer was.

“Thorough and concise, step by step instructions covering a wide range of possibilities. Insights coming from a true professional, and well thought out.” - Robin

This course is only €89.99 - a great bargain for such an expert material, both quantity and quality wise. One of the reviews said it was "extreme stuff" for the money they paid. And if you check out some of our coupon deals, you could make that drop even more!

By the end of this online sales training course, you will know how to:

• Send cold emails to get a response and a meeting from a business client
• Pitch your idea and close the deals
• Scale your business

Start the course NOW.

Enterprise Sales (Enroll Here)

• Platform: edX
• Duration: 80-120 hours
• Price: $447 (now only $402.30) (free audit available)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: Introductory
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

This online sales training program aims to teach main sales strategies and propel your sales career to a whole new level. The program consist of 3 sales classes:

• Enterprise Selling
• Strategic Account Management
• Sales Enablement & Analytics

The first course, Enterprise Selling, is gonna teach you to how to distinguish enterprise buyer behavior from customer buyer behavior and how that influences the way you should sell. It explains certain frameworks (for example, sales funnel), how to construct your proposals, or how to deal with objections. 

Usually, sales are about finding new people to sell to. However, in Strategic Account Management, you’ll learn how to keep up with the current customers and make sure they keep buying from you as time goes by.

This sales class focuses on the sales processes and skills, used by organizations to manage relationships with retailers and sellers. It will teach how to implement a sales strategy so that your customers’ needs are tended to.

In other words, this course is about teaching you how to keep your customer relationships in the long term.

The third course for this online sales training program will revisit the first two courses. However, here it will be done through the lens of data analysis and its tools. Knowing how to use data is extremely relevant, because that way you simply can make better analysis for our decisions and know what actions to take.

Let’s meet the instructors. Jim Hamilton is a sales and marketing executive, with a total experience of over 20 years. He has been a leader of sales and/or marketing for various organizations. He also owns his own advisory firm, specializing in sales, marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), and reputation management.

The other instructor, Michael Cant, has over 25 years of experience, mainly in global marketing and sales. He has worked both in startups and in already established companies like AT&T. Both instructors represent Queen’s University.

As mentioned, this sales classes online program consists of 3 courses. Each of the courses is estimated to take 6 weeks, if you spend about 4-6 hours on it per week.

“Through a series of practical activities and engaging role-plays, students will not only have the opportunity to read about techniques of effective salespeople, but also see them in action to hone their own skills. Graduates of this professional certificate will have a strong foundation for a long career in sales leadership.” - Richard Hamm

The program is priced at $447, discounted to $402.30 at the time of writing. This is a great price for such an extensive online sales training program. Also, with the help of special deals or coupons, you’ll be able to cut that price down even further.

If you’re not interested in the full program, you can take the courses individually. Each course costs $149, so the total amount would sum up to the exact price of the full program. With the price currently discounted, this makes it even more exciting to sign up for the whole program, right? 

After completing this program, you will have learned:

• The buyer decision-making process 
• Sales funnel concept and why it matters
• To analyze data, in order to increase productivity and efficiency

Start the program NOW.

Sales Skills Training: Consultative Selling Master Class (Enroll Here)

• Platform: Udemy
• Duration: 5h 58min
• Price: €94.99 (now only €10.99)
• Certificate: YES
• Level: All levels
• Discount: Available
• Apply HERE

Consultative selling is a type of selling where the focus is on the customer, and not on the product or service. This approach is used in order to better understand the customers’ needs, and therefore to provide and present your solutions in the most appealing and relevant way.

And that’s what this online sales training class aims to teach you. The class gives instructions on how to build relationships with your customers, and how to continue them even after the initial sale.

The course is mainly based on the instructor's own experience, while working as a decision-maker for a consulting firm. Lawrence M. Miller is an author and a leadership coach.

He has been consulting large-scale companies for about 40 years. Lawrence has authored 11 books and 16 other courses on the Udemy platform. Most of those classes are about management or about leadership.

The class consists of 55 lectures and lasts for 6 hours. This material covers the 5 main topics:

• A case study of how successful salespeople conduct their business
• The structural process of consultative selling
• Establishing the connection with the client, helping them to identify their needs, and adding value to theirs
• Keeping the relationship after the initial sale
• Communication skills

The course has an average rating of 4.6 out of 5. 91% of reviews are of 4 or 5 stars. The reviews talked about how useful the program was. Lawrence’s passion, competence, and experience also shone through.

“Loved the way the entire program was structured and presented. The proofs shared were also quite relatable. since I am from IT, would have loved more IT related experiences, but overall a wonderful 6 hours worth of learning. Thank you.” - Chandrakala Banne

This sales class online is priced at €94.99, which is a great price for a course of such length. In addition, at the time of writing, Udemy has a huge discount and this master class costs only €10.99. I would recommend snatching this course while the discount is still live. And if you miss it, you can always use some of our special deals.

Completing this master class will teach you how to:

• Plan your sale
• Figure out customers’ needs
• Maintain your clients loyal 

Start the master class NOW.

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Conclusions

You apply sales skills and techniques significantly more often than you might think. Online sales training is a great way to make sure those skills are at a high level. That way, you can be confident in selling yourself or your business.

There are several different types of sales. Most common distinctions are business-to-business and business-to-client, and it focuses on whom you’re selling to. Another common grouping is inside sales vs outside sales, which concerns if you’re making the deal directly or indirectly.

The best online learning platforms for you to take sales classes online on are Udemy, edX, and Coursera. These platforms have great choices for your learning needs.

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