Sales is widely known as a difficult job. It is often attributed to the traits of a person. Therefore, unlocking your potential is paramount in staying competitive in today’s dynamic marketplace. While experience and skill development play significant roles in shaping successful sales professionals, obtaining relevant certifications provides you an edge. This blog will explore the best sales certifications that can empower your team and propel their performance to new heights.
What is a sales certification?
A sales certification is a credential that validates an individual’s expertise and knowledge in the field of sales after completion of a respective course. Generally granted by professional organizations or certification bodies, it is bestowed upon individuals who have completed a specialized training program or examination.
These courses not only enhance the knowledge and expertise of salespeople but also validate their capabilities in specific areas of sales and customer engagement.
Whether you are a sales manager seeking to upskill your team or an individual salesperson looking to boost your career prospects, this comprehensive guide will help you navigate the realm of sales certifications and make informed decisions to drive success in your organization.
Why should one get a Sales Certification?
Obtaining a sales certification has several benefits for salespeople. The best sales certifications are a significant investment of your money and time. These programs could improve the chances of getting hired, boost confidence and unlock success in the field of sales.
Here are some convincing reasons why one should consider pursuing sales certifications.
1. Enhanced Knowledge and Skills: Sales certifications provide structured training and education in specific areas of sales, equipping professionals with in-depth knowledge and skills necessary to excel in their roles.
2. Professional Validation: They serve as a formal recognition of an individual’s expertise and proficiency in particular areas of sales.
3. Competitive Advantage: In a competitive market like today’s, having a sales certification will make candidates stand apart from others and give them a competitive edge in interviews, promotions, and new career opportunities.
4. Exponential Growth: Companies are willing to offer a higher salary to candidates holding sales certifications. They can positively influence the earnings of an individual.
5. Continuous Development: Sales industry is evolving constantly and at a faster pace. And sales certifications make sure salespeople are up to date with strategies, trends, tools, and techniques. It also helps them stay ahead of the competition and continuously hone their skills.
Suggested Read: 30 Tried & tested ChatGPT Prompts for Cold Outreach
Top 8 Best Sales Certifications for your professional growth
Here is the outline of the best sales certifications listed in this blog. The details of the certifications are followed by the outline.
| Course Name | Duration | Cost |
| Certified Professional Sales Person certification | 6 Weeks | $600-$750 |
| Certified Sales Leadership Professional | 6 Weeks | $695-$795 |
| Certified Master Sales Professional | 14 Months | $2900-$3400 |
| SPIN Selling | 7 Weeks | Depends on the provider |
| Challenger Sales Certification | 2-day workshop | Depends on the provider |
| Certified Sales Executive | Self-paced | $989 to $1049 |
| How to Sell Anything to Anyone | Self-paced | Depends on the provider |
| Software Certifications | Self-paced | Depends on the provider |
Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
The Certified Professional Sales Person certification is one of the best sales certifications that is recognized globally. It includes a six-week course focusing on aspects of the sales process – prospecting, negotiating, and closing deals. This sales certification allows you to develop a different approach to sales. After obtaining CPSP certification, one would have learned how to effectively communicate between peers, and customers, while in a group or during presentations.
The CPSP certification aims to educate individuals on replacing their existing behaviors, which may be hindering their performance, with new ones that motivate them to achieve their sales objectives more swiftly and consistently.
Participants can learn to build the habits of top Fortune 500 sales teams. They can develop expertise to negotiate deals, use customer-centric skills to navigate the customers through the buying process and guide the prospects through the sales funnel. This certification is one of the best to make a salesperson stand out from the crowd.
Sales Professionals armed with CPSP certification
1. 8 styles of communication to close more deals.
2. Improve confidence in handling all sales situations.
3. Gain the trust of customers faster.
4. Navigate through four phases of performance to consistently achieve goals.
5. Understanding the unintentional ways salespeople sabotage their sales and success.
6. Learn to sell to prospects’ emotional needs.
7. Establish instant engagement with prospects.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – 6 weeks.
> Cost – $600 to $750.
> Mode – Online.
Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP)
The Certified Sales Leadership Professional (CSLP) is a uniquely designed sales certification course that transforms your Sales Leaders into the top Sales Leaders in the world of sales.
The CSLP program aims to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and tools to effectively lead sales teams, drive sales performance, and achieve organizational sales goals.
This certification allows you to communicate with your team, management, and CXOs effectively. You will be able to help your team members with achieving their quotas, motivating them, turning their weaknesses into strengths, build a high-performing and self-starting team.
By completing the CSLP program, individuals can enhance their capabilities in areas such as sales strategy, team management, coaching, and developing a high-performance sales culture.
The 4 key results that CSLP provides:
1. Learn the habits of top Sales leaders.
2. Develop the skill to lead and manage sales professionals.
3. Train your team to influence, not sell.
4. Create habits that drive long-lasting success.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – 6 weeks.
> Cost – $695 – $795
> Mode – Online.
Extra resource: Best Interval Between Sales follow-ups
Certified Master Sales Professional (CMSP)
This sales certification provided by the National Association of Sales Professionals is the most advanced certificate program for established salespeople. This is a 14-month program that includes both Certified Professional Sales Person and Certified Sales Leadership Professional sales certifications and Advanced Sales Influence Program on top of it.
The CMSP program typically involves comprehensive training and assessment to validate a sales professional’s knowledge, skills, and experience. It may include a combination of training modules, workshops, exams, and practical assessments. The program is designed to cover various aspects of sales, including sales techniques, negotiation skills, relationship building, prospecting, closing deals, and managing customer relationships.
The 5 key results that CMSP provides:
1. Effective ways of communication – with clients or your teams.
2. Smart techniques to navigate deals through the pipeline and close them.
3. Establish rapport with your team through motivation and influence.
4. Be equipped to encounter objections.
5. Learn to read between the lines of customers.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – 14 Months.
> Cost – $2900 to $3400
> Mode – Online.
SPIN Selling
This sales certification technique focuses on the people skills aspect of selling. SPIN stands for Situation, Problem, Implication, and Need. It was introduced by Neil Rackham in his book. This course focuses on consultative selling techniques and trains participants in asking effective questions to uncover customer needs and drive the sales process.
SPIN Selling helps professionals develop an ability to ask strategic questions that guide customers toward understanding the challenges and propose a solution that is of value to them. This certification is suitable for SDRs, Sales Management, Managers, and customer-facing professionals.
This course is designed and provided by Huthwaite Internation, which helps salespeople improve their emotional intelligence, learn methods of selling, understand customer psychology, plan sales calls, and develop impactful sales habits.
The 4 key results that SPIN Selling provides:
1. Effectively engage with customers to understand their challenges.
2. Improves Active listening.
3. Gain insights from the discussions.
4. Tailor the right solution for the customers.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – 7 weeks.
> Cost – Depends on the provider
> Mode – On the job.
Challenger Sales Certification
The Challenger Sales Certification is a training and certification program developed from the book “The Challenger Sale” by Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson. The course helps professionals to develop sales skills and knowledge based on the book.
The certification involves a combination of training modules, workshops, assessments, and role-playing exercises. Challenger Sales Certification aims to equip sales professionals with the necessary skills to engage customers in meaningful conversations, challenge their assumptions, and ultimately guide them toward making a purchase.
The course is suitable for all sellers and managers who are willing to be the challengers, high-performers, problem solvers, and the ones to take initiative. Upon completing the certification, your sales team will be able to discover how to attract and retain prospective leads, overcome objections, and take control during the sales cycle.
The 4 key results that Challenger Sales Certification provides:
1. Understanding customer personas.
2. Hone your conversation skills.
3. Guide customers on making a purchase.
4. Deliver insights to help customers make informed decisions.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – 2 days workshop.
> Cost – Depends on the provider
> Mode – Offline.
Certified Sales Executive (CSE)
The Certified Sales Executive is a professional certification course provided by the Sales & Marketing Executives International. The course is designed for professionals who are looking to achieve a high level of expertise and proficiency in sales leadership and executive-level sales management.
The CSE certification program usually involves educational coursework, practical experience, assessments, and sometimes an examination. This sales certification program covers various aspects of sales leadership, strategy formulation, forecasting, customer relationship management, team management, and development.
This is an intensive sales certification program that involves quizzes and multiple modules that needs the participants to complete the final exam with at least 75%. To retain the certificate, professionals will have to pay annual fees of $95 and attend Sales & Marketing Executives International webinars or conferences.
The 5 key results that Certified Sales Executive certification provides:
1. Define Sales strategies and fit them into your organization’s goals.
2. Learn successful sales leadership approaches.
3. Deep understanding of buyer-seller relationships, and how to build them and maintain them.
4. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your salesforce and combat them via necessary training.
5. Learn to optimize the performances of the salespeople and motivate them to achieve targets.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – Self-paced.
> Cost – $989 to $1049
> Mode – Online.
How to Sell Anything to Anyone
The next course is my favorite. How to Sell Anything to Anyone is one of the top-rated courses on Udemy and rightly so. Because this course is designed for anyone who wants to learn sales. This sales certification starts from the basics of selling:
1. Understanding your product or services.
2. Identifying customer needs.
3. Building rapport with the customer.
4. Learning to communicate effectively.
5. Objection handling.
6. Close the deals.
It does not matter if you are a beginner or an old hat in the field, you can use this course to brush your skills and build a strong foundation. The trainer shows sales techniques that are data-backed and proven results that drastically improve your success in sales.
This course is perfect for Entrepreneurs, Managers, Sales Executives, and Business Directors. This sales certification will teach the participants how to devise a win-win situation where the customer wins by getting exactly what they wanted, and you win by getting the desired results.
The 4 key results that the How to Sell Anything to Anyone certification provides:
1. Learn to gather real-time insights about your prospects.
2. Communicate better so the prospects don’t resist your reaching out.
3. Learn to bypass gatekeepers and assistants.
4. Stay motivated irrespective of the results.
Some details of the course:
> Duration – Self-paced.
> Cost – Depends on the provider
> Mode – Online.
Software Certifications
In today’s digital age, the importance of software tools and their associated knowledge cannot be overlooked. Regardless of the industry you work in, staying proficient in relevant software tools is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Here are a couple of popular software certifications provider in the field of sales.
Salesforce Certifications
Salesforce is a widely used customer relationship management platform across the globe. It provides several certifications including – Salesforce Administrator, Salesforce Developer, and Salesforce Sales Cloud Consultant. Aspiring candidates and salespeople need to learn and understand how the platform works.
Hubspot Certifications
Like Salesforce, Hubspot is also a popular platform used for sales and marketing. One of the top-rated certifications by Hubspot is the Inside Sales Certification program which focuses on developing the skills and competencies required for success in inside sales roles. Inside sales typically involves selling products or services remotely, without in-person interaction with customers.
Conclusion
Sales certifications are a worthwhile investment for professionals aiming to excel in their careers and drive success in a highly competitive sales landscape. This list is by no means an exhaustive one, countless other certifications are available from many vendors. These 8 certifications ensure you cannot go wrong by choosing to pursue them.
While sales certifications are a great way to take your career to the next level, individuals should make sure the certification matches their requirements, and budget and is aligned with their goals.