20 Proven Strategies To Level Up Your Sales Team’s Training

Sales training isn’t a one-and-done process; it’s an ongoing investment in your team’s success. From onboarding new hires to refining skills for seasoned reps, the most effective sales organizations take a thoughtful, structured approach to enablement.

Below, 20 Forbes Business Development Council members share the best practices they use to keep their sales teams motivated and aligned with business goals. Follow their recommendations to boost your team’s skills and effectiveness.

1. Have Each Employee Train The Next New Hire

Train your first hire thoroughly, then have them train the second hire while you observe and evaluate. Continue this chain with each new hire training the next, with the previous trainee evaluating. This approach ensures that knowledge is properly transferred and reinforced, as teaching others demonstrates true understanding. This method creates a sustainable system while maintaining consistent quality across the team. – Vipin Thomas, SparrowGenie

2. Incorporate Customer Feedback And Market Trends

Institutionalizing customer feedback and relevant market perspectives is key to being a great sales organization. Successful sales organizations understand their customers’ pain points, lead with questions instead of solutions and are equipped with overall market context information to have a relevant and meaningful conversation with potential buyers. – Jojo Duttaroy, EY

3. Have Top Performers Share Their Own Best Practices

Sales teams are inherently competitive by nature and they learn heavily on the job and through practice. They all aspire to crush their quotas and make more money. To this end, learning from their colleagues by creating forums where the best teams share their own best practices is a very effective way to land key messages and train the broader organization. – Anjai Lal, Google Cloud

4. Customize Training With Real-World Scenarios And Expert Input

One best practice is to tailor training to your sales team’s specific needs, using real-world scenarios and role-playing. Incorporate ongoing coaching, leverage data from CRM tools to identify gaps and bring in industry experts for insights. This keeps skills sharp, relevant and aligned with current market demands, boosting performance effectively. – Tomer Warschauer Nuni, Kima Network

5. Use Practical Examples From Real Customers

The best way a sales team learns is through practical examples. Showcasing the business pain a customer was looking to solve and how the product/service tackled it is pivotal. Instead of focusing on feature parity and market validation, teach your team that the best selling happens when people want to work with other people through trust and customer validation. – Olga Lykova, monday.com

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6. Offer Formal, Centralized Training Programs

Have a rigorous, formalized, classroom-type training program for new hires, quarterly training for seasoned sellers on changing paradigms and new technology (like CoPilot, AI and more) and mandatory, on-demand online training. It is most critical to ensure that all trainings are cataloged in one place. This can help build a sales force of the future – Ruchir Nath, Dell Technologies

7. Hire People Who Are Passionate And Eager To Grow

Hire the right people first—those passionate about the client, product and industry with a strong desire to learn and grow. Then, implement a continuous, structured learning program with hands-on coaching, real-world scenarios and data-driven feedback. Ensure dedicated team members own sales enablement and learning to drive consistency, skill development and long-term success. – Amit Ashkenazi, Artlist

8. Create Solution-Focused Training Environments

Create “solution sandboxes” where reps solve client problems with peers coaching in real-time, not just scripted role-plays. When training shifts from knowledge transfer to decision-making under pressure, you build sales muscle memory that works with real customers. Link training directly to what’s happening on actual calls. – Sidharth Ramsinghaney, Twilio

9. Leverage AI To Deliver Personalized, Adaptive Training

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest, so cultivate a perpetual learning ethos by leveraging AI for tailored coaching, real-time intelligence and adaptive instruction. This ensures sales teams remain agile and adept. Impart expertise in AI-powered tools that streamline, refine and elevate productivity. Continuously update training with AI innovations to enhance efficiency and performance. – Praneeth Kudithipudi, Sacumen

10. Combine Scenario-Based Learning With Peer And Mentor Feedback

Establish a perpetual transformation culture by combining scenario-based training with peer and mentor feedback. This ensures that knowledge sticks, fosters adaptability and boosts sales excellence. Real-time practice and relevant sessions empower teams to handle evolving challenges effectively, leading to lasting growth and performance. Dynamic development motivates teams to exceed targets. – Kiran Yelamaneni, TCS

11. Incorporate Peer Learning And Real-Time Coaching

One best practice is to create a continuous learning culture by blending structured training with real-time coaching, peer learning and practical application. Combine formal workshops, role-playing and e-learning modules with ongoing feedback and collaborative knowledge sharing, ensuring training stays relevant, actionable and evolves with changing customer needs and market trends. – Aziz Jafri, Reckitt

12. Have The Right Mindset About Enablement

Enablement is the magic word here. Many leaders think of enablement as a simple support role when they need to prioritize enablement as a strategic, transformational lever for their business. When done right, enablement becomes so much more than sales training—it can shorten ramp times, increase win rates and drive real business impact that brings out the best in their sales reps. – Toby Carrington, Seismic

13. Let Your Sales Team Shape The Learning Process

The best practice is to treat training as a continuous process, not a one-time event. Markets, clients and environments evolve constantly. Stay vigilant, adapt regularly and involve sales teams in shaping learning. Create space for them to ask questions, even anonymously, to address reservations and ensure training stays relevant and impactful. – Anna Jankowska, RTB House

14. Encourage Shadowing And Client Feedback

Foster ongoing learning by encouraging sales teams to shadow top performers, gather client feedback and adapt training based on real-world insights. Continuous improvement, shaped by both wins and losses, keeps training relevant. Training is not one-and-done. Build regular development opportunities and seek external insights for fresh ideas. – Alexander Masters, MBA, BIDA, Siemens

15. Have Leadership Set The Example

Our sales leadership set a fantastic example, offering hands-on support and leading by example to ensure the team is poised for success. Be present and participate in client meetings for the best training. This enables junior sellers to learn how to handle sales objections and position products consistently and accordingly. This can also inspire effective strategies to help the best sellers train others. – Michael Della Penna, InMarket

16. Use Recordings And Weekly Training Sessions To Reinforce Skills

Work with your top rep to build weekly training on the market, product, ICP, competitors and sales tactics. Reps should record demos for feedback. Start with small accounts before mid-market and enterprise. Give one to three months to ramp up to full quota. Regularly audit and update training materials to keep them fresh and aligned with strategy. – Raviraj Hegde, Donorbox

17. Identify Areas To Provide Individual Support

Establish regular coaching and feedback sessions, reviewing recordings of past client interactions. Foster continuous learning on industry trends and encourage thought leadership discussions to build subject matter experts. Share performance data periodically, covering pipeline management, deal close rates and revenue targets, and identify areas where individual support is needed for improvement. – Jayant Walia, Gainbridge

18. Train For Execution

Train for execution, not just knowledge. Sales training should be hands-on, strategically aligned and reinforced through sales enablement tools. Role-play real scenarios, drill objections and refine messaging—then back it up with AI insights, content libraries and coaching nudges in the flow of work. When training, enablement and strategy align, reps adapt faster and close with confidence. – Michael Fritsch, Smarter Operations

19. Work With Your Team During Live Walkthroughs

One best practice is to work closely alongside your sales team during live walkthrough sessions. By reviewing each case in detail and discussing the rationale behind every decision, you create an interactive training environment that enables your team to learn, adapt and master effective sales closure techniques. – Suhail Syed, Vesper Telecom

20. Align Training With Broader Business Goals

Align training with business goals such as increasing revenue, expanding product offerings and entering new markets. Partner with leading business schools to deliver targeted training to the right audience at the right time, ensuring alignment with business objectives. Regularly measure the ROI of training programs and update content accordingly to enhance effectiveness and relevance. – Salice Thomas, Wipro Limited