November 03, 2021
Think of the last time you started a new job. What was your training like? Did you have the resources you needed to hit the ground running? In most cases, no matter how diligent the firm, the answer to this is no.
In investment sales, you often only have eighteen months to prove yourself. Eighteen months to learn the ins and outs of a firm, define your goals, and start fundraising. It can be a daunting task, especially if you’re new and just learning how to make an impact; getting your footing in a new job can take every one of those eighteen months.
So, how do you ensure that you’re up to the challenge?
Outside training is a great option. At Dakota, more than anything, we believe in continuous education and career growth. Since Dakota’s founding in 2006, our team has hired and trained a full team of salespeople who have gone on to have fantastic success.
We also know that this is not always the case. When you hire someone, you’re investing in them and their career. No one wants to spend valuable time hiring and training someone, only to lose them in a matter of months. It’s important to invest the time and provide the resources they need to be successful up front.
When looking for additions to your sales team, you should be contemplating longevity, and to do that, training is critical.
In this post we’re comparing six different sales training programs that could be a fit for your investment sales team. Full disclosure: you’ll see Dakota’s own Rainmaker training course on this list, too, but we’re not here to tell you that it’s the only solution for you.
Instead, after reading this article, you’ll have an understanding of how a variety of sales training courses work, what they cost, and what the time commitment looks like, so that you can find the right fit for your team.
Through the Art of Sales program, you’ll build many sales that are required for becoming a high-performer in sales. Craig Wortmann, CEO, leads these four courses in this specialization. The course is 100% online, making it completely flexible, and perfect for beginners. At the end of this completely online course, you’ll receive a shareable certificate. The course is 100% online, a flexible schedule, and beginner level.
There are four courses: customer segmentation and prospecting, connecting with sales prospects, sales pitch and closing, and building a toolkit for your sales process. You will move through building the foundation for sales and obtain a new mindset for becoming a high-performer in sales. Moving into the second course you will learn the proper way to run high-impact meetings to separate yourself from others your customer comes into contact with. Through the third course, we touch on presentation skills and branding. Lastly, we’ll bring it all together so you’ll be able to utilize your Sales Toolkit.
The Art of Sales program is approximately a 4 month duration. They suggest a pace of 3 hours a week.
You can enroll for free.
Dale Carneige’s Sales Training program evolves people from using traditional transaction-based to relationship-based sales professionals. His proven selling process involves human relations skills grounded in timeless fundamentals from “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.
It’s important to have a relationship-selling approach that leads to a profitable relationship. Through this course you will learn the importance of a confident attitude when interacting with customers. Not only this, but you’ll also learn how to establish credibility, and communicate your value by focusing on customer-centric solutions.
This course is self-paced and can be taken as you have time for it.
The price of this course was not specified.
IMPACT has repeatable steps in their business sales training program that permits your sales team to meet prospects and customers where they are in the buying process to maintain alignment, build credibility, improve the predictability of your sales funnel, and engage in meaningful dialogue that progresses the sale.
Through this course you will learn about the 6 straightforward learning steps IMPACT has outlines for the selling process. With IMPACT, their simple framework will be easily adapted to reflect your organization’s real-world sales environment.
This training seminar is over the course of 2 days and can be done virtually, in-person, or even hybrid.
The price ranges depending on how many IMPACT selling seats you choose:
Through the Morning Brew Accelerator course you will broaden your skill set embracing excelling in a few skills rather than expertise in one. Included are interactive, modern-day case studies, applicable skills and frameworks, intimate peer groups, and engaging events all with an intimate community of professionals across the country.
There are 3 units in this course that cover communicating, operating, and innovating. Communicate like a leader in a crisis and target your message to the right audience, make impactful decisions using financial and business model analysis, and ideate new products using innovation and problem solving frameworks.
This is an 8-week program.
The price for this program is $1,499 and will increase to $1,599 on November 21st, 2021.
Dakota Rainmaker is an investment sales training course that compiles fifteen years of investment sales experience and distills it down into four modules. The course is designed for new investment salespeople, and helps to outlines the industry-specific systems, processes, and procedures needed to grow an investment firm.
With Dakota Rainmaker, you'll learn the four principles of Sales the Dakota Way. The course is broken into four modules, including:
Dakota Rainmaker is completely online and self-paced, and includes seven hours of investment sales training content.
Dakota Rainmaker is free for Dakota Members, and $1,500 for non-members.
While all of the courses offer valuable insights and information, it depends on the needs and goals of your firm. Here are a few things to consider as you start to weigh your sales training options.
If you...
Are looking for a more general, sales-focused program, with little time or price commitment required, then The Art of Sales is a great first step as you test the waters of sales training.
Have a bit more of a budget and want to dive into a live, structured course, Morning Brew Accelerator might be just the thing you're looking for.
Looking for an investment sales-specific course, are a Dakota Member, or are ready to invest in a self-paced course, Dakota Rainmaker could be the solution for you.
Gui Costin is the Founder and CEO of Dakota.
