Sales training
Sales training that changes how your people sell, for good
We train everyone who connects with a client (sales, service, account managers and leaders) to engage, communicate and sell better across digital, AI-assisted, hybrid and face-to-face buying. Not just to sell more.
Why sales training needs to change
Most sales training still teaches people to sell harder
The problem
Buyers have moved on
Buyers now complete most of their research, often with AI, before they speak to a salesperson. Training built around closing technique skips the steps that earn the meeting in the first place.
The shift
Being found, understood and trusted
Barrett’s research across 229 ANZ B2B organisations found three in four fail to give buyers a clear reason to choose them. That is a training gap as much as a strategy gap.
The solution
Selling better, not harder
We build the emotional intelligence, business savviness and value-based selling skills your people need to earn trust, in person and online, and to keep it.
Built to stick, not just land
Why one-off workshops don’t change behaviour
Most training fades within weeks because it is delivered as a single event. We train longitudinally instead: a little, often, every three to four weeks. Sessions are short, interactive and engaging, and leaders coach the skills into everyday work between them.
Same total time as a two-day event. Far more lasting change.
87%
of skills covered in sales training are lost within 30 days without systematic, on-the-job coaching
5–6×
more effective: how behaviour change embeds when training is spaced and reinforced, in our experience
70%
of learning happens on the job, which is why our programs extend into the field
12%
higher sales for salespeople with strong emotional intelligence (Harvard Business Review, 2022)
How we deliver
Building blocks that fit how your team works
Every program mixes these formats to suit your people, your geography and your timeline. Delivered in the classroom, in the field, online, or any mix.
Kick-off workshops
One or two-day in-person workshops that launch a program, align the room and build a shared language.
Town halls
90-minute whole-team sessions, run remotely, that land new content and keep everyone moving together.
Intensives
90-minute, hands-on sessions in cohorts of ten, with a leader in the group, applied to real conversations and real deals.
Coaching cadence
A leader kick-off, then 90-minute coaching sessions every four weeks, so managers coach the discipline into 1-on-1s and team meetings.
Induction & on-ramp tracks
A one-day foundation for new hires, followed by structured intensives that bring them to the team’s standard.
Leadership alignment
Short, regular sessions with the senior team, so leaders use the language and model the behaviour first.
Everybody lives by selling something
Is this training only for salespeople? No.
Customer service, engineers, delivery teams, internal teams and the C-suite all influence a sale at some point. Everyone can learn to engage, communicate, collaborate and sell better.
These are business and life skills, not just selling skills, and they travel with your people wherever they go. We train anyone who touches a client relationship, or an internal stakeholder relationship inside the business.
Programs
Sales training programs
Proven programs we tailor to your strategy, your buyers and your people.
Flagship · University accredited
Sales Essentials Transformation Program
Classroom, in-field and online learning over 12 to 40 weeks, covering sales planning, prospecting and solution selling. The first sales program of its kind to achieve university accreditation as a Diploma of Business.
Account managers
Key Account Management: Competitive Selling Strategies
Equips experienced account managers to identify, secure and grow key accounts as genuine partners, and protect margin as buyer power grows.
Partners & associates
R.A.I.N. Making for Professional Services
Helps lawyers, accountants, advisers, engineers and consultants move from share of wallet to share of mind, online and in person, without an overt sales pitch.
Get your teams AI-ready
AI and Human Skills Training
Practical, hands-on training in AI-powered organising, communicating, researching and planning, so AI does the work it’s good at and your people do the work only they can do.
Every team
Critical Soft Skills for All Teams
Stakeholder management, communication, emotional intelligence, influence and collaboration skills that break down silos and build trust, inside and out.
The foundation
Neuroscience and EQ of Selling
How the brain reads a room, manages pressure and builds or breaks trust, so your people perform consistently under pressure instead of relying on willpower.
Commercial capability
Business Acumen for Sales Professionals
Clients want business discussions, not product discussions. We build the strategic and financial understanding your people need to have them.
Events
Keynotes & Conferences
Keynotes from Sue Barrett and the team that weave neuroscience, psychology, business and economics into one system for selling better, plus simulations and role plays.
Sales Essentials Online
Online Learning
24/7 access to a rich library of sales training content, paired with coaching guides so leaders turn watching into lasting capability.
Topics
A customised curriculum, built from proven topics
Foundations
- Sales, territory and account planning
- Prospecting and new business development
- Social selling and digital prospecting
- Consultative and solution selling
- Difficult and strategic conversations
- AI-era selling
- Customer service and inside sales essentials
- Team selling and collaboration
Mindset
- The neuroscience of selling
- Sales psychology and optimism
- Resilience and a healthy sales mindset
- Overcoming sales call reluctance
- Purposeful optimism
- Managing how you’re perceived, in person and online
Advanced
- Strategic and key account management
- Influencing and negotiation
- Value added selling
- Finance and business acumen for sales people
- Storytelling in sales
- AI-augmented selling
- Effective proposal development
- Navigating the modern buying committee
Leadership & coaching
Sales training without coaching is a cost, not an investment
Leaders are the single biggest multiplier on any training investment. We build leaders who coach, not just manage, so new skills compound instead of fading.
Sales coaching
Infield, strategic, deal and sales process coaching, built on the 5 Sales Coaching Skills and the Sales Essentials Field Coaching Guide.
Leader as Coach
For sales and non-sales leaders alike: a consistent coaching cadence that makes any new capability or change actually stick.
Leadership & C-suite coaching
Confidential, one-on-one executive coaching to help senior leaders think clearly, manage complexity and get the best from their people.
Our L&D approach
Designed around how people actually learn
We follow the 70:20:10 framework: 70% of learning comes from real work, 20% from feedback and role models, and 10% from formal training. So every program is designed to carry learning from the room into the field.
Our consultants are qualified instructional designers, facilitators and coaches. We can design a 12-month blended program, review and update your existing sales training content, or design conference activities and simulations.
Start with the gap, not the course
A Training Needs Analysis identifies the gap between your people’s current skills and what your business goals require, so you know exactly where to invest. Validated assessments add insight into sales behaviours such as prospecting drive and call reluctance.
Results
What participants and leaders say
“
In the 2 years since we embarked on this development path with Barrett Consulting Group, we have radically improved our sales business results… Incredibly, we have not fielded one resignation from within the sales team since all associates graduated.
Don Sutherland
Sales Director ANZ, Dentsply
“
A staff member explains to your team how they have just won a significant new customer ‘because of the learnings’ from the Sales Essentials program… it’s certainly added value to our business.
Andrew Martin
Regional Manager, Rural Bank
“
Our relationship managers came away with: greater role clarity, heightened self awareness regarding the importance of goals, accountability, leadership, health and attitude for sales success; and practical sales tools to effectively plan, manage and deliver their sales targets.
Mark Hand
MD ANZ Commercial Banking (former GM ANZ Regional Commercial Banking)
Speak to us about your sales training needs
Talk to our Selling Better advisory team. We’ll help you quickly and accurately assess your next steps, and design a program that fits your people and your goals.