What does a sales trainer do?

Sales trainers help companies generate revenue by training and coaching sales representatives and other sales professionals. They may perform training needs assessments to help determine which topics to cover in new training programs. Sales trainers also commonly facilitaterole-playing exercises to help participants improve their product knowledge and ability to overcome sales objections.

In a business-to-consumer (B2C) environment, the sales trainer may teach sales professionals how to perform product demos, engage in active listening and close deals effectively. Your sales trainer may also manage the budget for sales training activities.

Sales trainer skills and qualifications

Sales trainers typically have a combination of sales, customer service and training skills. To attract quality candidates, you might mentionhard and soft skills in your job descriptions.

Skills for your sales trainer job description might include:

• Ability to design effective training programs for sales professionals
• Proficiency in leading discussions, facilitating role-playing exercises and incorporating training methods into sales training programs
• Knowledge of adult learning principles
• Ability to build rapport with sales professionals and customers
• Excellent time-management skills to address time-sensitive training needs

Sales trainer experience requirements

Skills-first hiring may benefit your sales trainer hiring process. Consider prioritizing empathy, time management, problem solving or interpersonal skills over technical abilities or formal education. You might also connect with candidates who have experience from sales or training roles, such as a learning and development assistant or a training coordinator.

For example, a previoussales associate may have experience overcoming customer objections, demonstrating product knowledge and closing deals. A customer service representative may also have relevant skills, such as the ability to assess a customer’s needs. They can also make relevant product recommendations, which can help identify workers’ training requirements.

Sales trainer education and training requirements

Formal education typically isn’t required for a sales trainer, which allows you to prioritize skills-first hiring, such as creating training presentations, coaching team members and monitoring sales metrics.

Sales trainers can often learn required skills on the job, depending on their company’s training resources. For example, if your sales trainer will use customer relationship management (CRM) software, you might offer free online training or a CRM training seminar. For sales trainers who work in the software industry, you might request Google Cloud or AWS certifications in your job description.

Job description samples for similar positions

If this sales trainer job description doesn’t align with your needs, you can review these sample job descriptions for similar positions:

• Corporate trainer
• Sales manager
• Sales representative