Consumers and business owners are actively marketed to sales representatives who sell a variety of products and services. Few colleges offer degree programs to prepare people for careers as sales representatives, but some community colleges do offer short-term vocational sales representative training courses. In addition, many large companies provide in-house training, and some train employees to work as sales representatives for other companies.
While a salesperson’s responsibilities vary company, anyone working in this field should be familiar with basic negotiation techniques and business practices. Community colleges offer sales representative training classes that teach attendees about closing techniques and different approaches to marketing products, such as benefits-based selling or telesales. Customers service and professionalism are also taught to students. These programs also teach other useful skills such as time management.
Many businesses employ a large number of salespeople, and these employees may receive in-house sales representative training from a corporate trainer. In such cases, the training curriculum focuses on the company’s own products and services rather than general marketing techniques. Many companies have a code of conduct, which states that all employees must act ethically and meet or exceed production goals without deceiving clients or making false statements. During training, attendees are taught about the firm’s expectations, and the class facilitator also shares ideas and best practices that long-term employees have found to be successful. Workers frequently attend a series of classes, each of which focuses on marketing a specific product.
Some independent companies organize training sessions for salespeople within specific industries. One company may organize classes to prepare people for careers as investment representatives, while another may develop courses to prepare people for careers as automobile salespeople. Some of these businesses organize programs in neutral locations such as hotels and conference centers, where employees from a variety of businesses may attend. In other cases, representatives from these companies may spend a few hours, days, or weeks visiting a company’s plants and offices, providing on-the-job training to employees.
Some salespeople are required law to receive industry-specific training in addition to learning negotiation techniques and business principles. Before they can market pharmaceutical drugs or insurance products, those who sell them must first complete licensing and certification classes. Although the classes focus on disclosure laws and liability issues rather than closing techniques, they are frequently required as part of a sales representative’s training.