Sales teams are a vital component of any organization because of their direct impact on revenue. Yet businesses still struggle to hire and retain the best talents long term.
Salespeople are credited for instinctive skills, including listening, communication, and relationship building but these fundamental skills often mean companies overlook their need for effective learning and development, especially when it comes to Sales training.
Achieving Sales goals is a long game that requires a variety of strategies and evolving sales enablement software. So one of the best ways to support your teams today is sales training software from the moment of onboarding. But why? Sales teams can be notoriously difficult to train because of their varying level of experience, lack of time, and strict quotas. Sales training software allows L&D and Sales managers to create accessible and scalable training materials that can be accessed immediately at the time of need and with full autonomy.
In this article, we’re going to break down key features of the best sales training programs on the market today. We’ll help you understand the need for digital sales enablement and identify what to look for in sales training software.
What are the best Sales Training Software (including key features) to look out for in 2023?
- Lemon Learning
- Brainshark
- Hubspot
- Mindtickle
- Edapp
- Lessonly by Seismic
What are the main features to look out for in Sales training software?
Sales training software can offer a range of different features and USPs, but should each provide the following:
- Content authoring: New feature? New update? Platform test? Or a global announcement? Salespeople need up-to-date information at all times, from prospect data to product updates. With a content authoring feature, editors can design, create, embed and update resources to reflect these changes.
- Knowledge base: A knowledge base is a self-service library containing company or customer documentation. It facilitates user onboarding and training, answers questions, displays tutorials, and provides editors with user analytics. Knowledge base documentation can include multiple formats, including workflows, videos, recordings, GIFs, infographics, and templates. Centralizing information in one place allows Sales teams to search and access materials at the time of need, reducing support requests and, in turn, support costs.
- In-app integrated training: The best Sales training software can seamlessly integrate with popular tools to provide in-application training exactly where they work. Salespeople are consistently alternating between their software stack, spending more time on CRMs such as Salesforce while infrequently accessing others. When it comes to training, external sources can be distracting, waste time, and decrease efficiency.
- Micro-learning content: One of the most effective ways to reduce the ‘forgetting curve’ is with micro-learning objectives. Bite-size content facilitates the practice of attention management over time management, allowing users to learn at their own pace.
- Ready-to-use guides: Sales training tools such as Lemon Learning provide ready-to-use content guides for leading market solutions including Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365, and Oracle.
B2B sales reps forget 70% of the information they learn within a week of training, and 87% will forget it within a month. To realize the benefits that technology can offer for training and coaching, CSO and sales leaders must embrace its advantages and understand its impact on sales processes.
– Gartner, The Evolution of Sales Training and Coaching Technology
6 Sales training software platforms
The following section breaks down 6 different sales training software on the market today, including features taken from leading review websites, including G2, Capterra, and GetApp.
1. Lemon Learning
Best known for: Microlearning, blended learning, personalized training
Best for: SMBs, global enterprises
Lemon Learning is an all-in-one training tool that helps to accelerate onboarding, training, and sustainable adoption of sales software. Lemon Learning integrates with any web-based sales tool to provide in-application prompts and learning materials, accessible at the time of need.
Lemon Learning integrates with leading market solutions, including Salesforce, Oracle, and Dynamics365. It offers 100+ ready-to-use content resources to help Salespeople create leads, reports, contacts, opportunities, and more. A knowledge base of bite-size micro-learning content facilitates attention management over time management, allowing users to learn while they work (learning by doing) at their own pace.
Key Sales training feature list:
Ready-to-use content resources: Access ready-to-use guides and Push notification templates instantly on leading market solutions.
Code-free content authoring: Design, create and repurpose existing content with code-free authoring. Import existing Sales training content into the Lemon Learning platform for repurposing, or design new content in multiple formats including guides, videos, infographics, gifs, and more.
On-demand content library: The self-service content library centralizes all training documentation for on-demand access. Users can ask questions to locate answers, tutorials, and guides with ease.
Quick integration: Integrate with any leading web-based market solution, including Salesforce, Oracle, Dynamics365, and even in-house tools.
Micro-learning: Reduce learning time with the learning by doing methodology and increase employee engagement with interactive workflows containing micro objectives (30 seconds to 3 minutes).
2. Brainshark
Best known for: Video coaching, built in LMS
Best for: SMBs, large organizations
Brainshark is a sales readiness platform offering onboarding, training, and user analytics to improve sales performance. Brainshark focuses on readiness objectives to coach Sales teams by use case, role, and industry. Brainshark has a built-in LMS to centralize and create learning content with a particular focus on video content.
Key Sales training feature list:
Coaching assessments: Use video and text coaching assessments to prepare Salespeople.
Certifications: Facilitate mandatory training with badges and certifications upon completion.
Online & offline content: Access learning content on the go, on any device both online and offline.
Readiness scorecards: Gain visibility into user performance using scorecards. Track readiness programs alongside user metrics.
3. HubSpot
Best known for: CRM, HubSpot Academy, free training
Best for: Beginners in Sales, Hubspot users, large organizations
Hubspot Academy is a global leader in Sales, inbound marketing, content management, and education. It offers 5 Sales certification courses and 40 individual lessons to coach trainers and Salespeople on a variety of topics.
The Inbound Sales course, for example, contains 5 lessons aimed at Sales reps and Sales managers. Hubspot Academy is a free training resource for sales enablement providing hours of autonomous learning. The platform is ideal for Sales teams implementing the Hubspot CRM but also learners new to Sales.
Key Sales training feature list:
Video tutorials: Hubspot hosts hours of relevant video training content.
In-course assessments: In-course assessments test learner knowledge during and at the end of training modules to facilitate engagement.
Certifications practice tests: Hubspot offers 5 Sales certifications and practice tests for professional certification exams.
Administrative dashboard: Companies that purchase HubSpot have access to learning analytics dashboards.*
4. Mindtickle
Best known for: AI powered training, conversation intelligence
Best for: Enterprise & mid-market companies with large sales/ customer facing teams
Mindtickle is a Sales readiness platform and LMS known for coaching, content management, and extensive user analytics. Companies can import existing Sales and Marketing materials, or use a content collaboration functionality across departments. Online content collaboration allows teams to curate materials together, wherever they are.
Mindtickle generates extensive reports tracking the learning process and user interactions with content; it is also able to evaluate role-play and real-world performance with AI. Mindtickle integrates with CRM solutions such as Salesforce and Veeva.
Key Sales training feature list:
Conversation intelligence: Analyze sales conversations with AI to find out what works.
Sales readiness index: Create a benchmark for the ideal Sales representative and use the index to identify personalized programs.
Content collaboration: Use the content collaboration feature to build new resources across departments, inside Mindtickle, and at a distance.
Sales certification: Create skills-based training certifications to win buy-in from Sales reps.
5. EdApp
Best known for: Microlearning, gamification
Best for: SMBs
Edapp is a mobile-first learning management system that focuses on the gamification of training content. The app is ideal for Sales reps that require assistance out on the field or frequently travel.
Edapp allows you to create original training content, import and convert existing Powerpoint training content, or refer to the platform’s existing content library containing 1000+ ready-made courses.
Key Sales training feature list:
Group training: Record the attendance of learners automatically without the need for attendance sheets.
Practical assessments: Assess the skills and progress of your Sales team from onboarding to certification.
LMS: Access 1000+ free courses for customization or choose from 80+ templates for content creation.
PowerPoint converter: Upload any existing PowerPoint deck for content conversion.
6. Lessonly by Seismic
Best known for: Simple training
Best for: Enterprise and growing companies
Lessonly by Seismic is a training software designed for customer-facing teams, including Sales enablement teams, Sales, Marketing, and customer service. Ideal for enterprise and growing businesses, Lessonly allows Sales reps to share personalized content with buyers and clients in-app.
Use real-life use cases to create interactive learning experiences and data analytics to improve the process.
Key Sales training feature list:
Content automation: Create personalized content, including pitch books, proposals, and factsheets.
Learning and coaching: Curate interactive sales training courses that simulate real-life scenarios with role plays using video recording.
Integrations & APIs: Integrate with Salesforce, Google Chrome, Slack, and more. Developers can also leverage APIs for a custom employee experience.
The best Sales training software is unique to each organization. The right software is able to meet the specific needs of your Salespeople and help alleviate the wider challenges of your organization.
Are you ready to take the next step? Contact us to learn more about the Lemon Learning platform, and we’ll answer any of your questions.
