Sales training that shows up in customer conversations: with business actors, Golden Hour™ and trainers from the field
Sales training at selling2b is not a seminar day with slides. Your team trains on its own customers, against professional business actors, with a senior trainer who has spent years selling and leading sales teams. Afterwards we support implementation for twelve weeks, until the new routine is part of day-to-day business. In English or German.
Companies that train with us
Sales training changes behaviour, not slides
Sales training is professional development for people who sell B2B: field sales, inside sales, key account management and sales leadership. It trains the skills that decide between a deal and a rejection: finding and approaching customers, developing needs, arguing value, handling objections and price discussions, closing with commitment and growing the customer afterwards.
The difference between good and ineffective sales training rarely lies in the content. The methods have been known for decades. It lies in whether participants actually sell during the training, against a counterpart who cannot simply be talked round, and whether someone is there after the training when the new approach wobbles for the first time with a real customer. At selling2b, both are part of the programme, not optional extras.
The terms are often mixed up. This is how we use them:
Developing an entire sales team: process, conversation skills, routines and KPIs. In-house, multi-stage, with an implementation phase.
Focuses on the individual sales conversation. With us, a core part of every sales training and also available as an open sales training (German) for individuals.
Teaches product, process or tool knowledge. Useful, but it does not change how someone runs a conversation. That is why we combine knowledge input with simulation.
Working with one person on their specific cases, usually alongside training or for managers and self-employed professionals. Available with us in four formats; more on our page about sales coaching.
For sales teams that sell complex, consultative offerings and want to get more out of their conversations
Our clients come from industry and mechanical engineering, software and IT, electronics and measurement technology, retail, logistics, pharma and medical technology, energy, construction and services. What they have in common: their customers do not buy from a catalogue, they buy after a conversation. Typical triggers for a training are a new product, a new market, a pipeline that is too thin, or a team that has looked after the same customers for years and is out of practice at winning new business.
Developing needs with multiple decision-makers, price negotiation, negotiating with procurement, growing existing accounts instead of just servicing them.
Phone prospecting and follow-up, actively pursuing proposals instead of just resending them, cross- and up-selling by phone and video.
Technicians, engineers and consultants moving into sales: structure for the conversation, confidence with objections, the right attitude to selling.
Usually takes part, because the routine after the training depends on it: KPIs, joint customer visits, everyday coaching.
After two weeks, a normal seminar is forgotten. That is not an opinion, it is learning research.
Hermann Ebbinghaus measured it more than a hundred years ago, and every sales director knows it from experience: without repetition and application, most of a training day is gone within a few days. That is why at selling2b the product is not the training day, but the programme around it. In concrete terms:
- One or two days, then the trainer is gone
- Role plays with colleagues who go easy on each other
- Off-the-shelf slides, the same examples for every industry
- Success is measured by the feedback form
- One trainer for everything, regardless of industry and language
- Concept call, training, twelve weeks of implementation, review
- Simulations with business actors who cannot simply be talked round
- Your customers, your objections, your proposals as training cases
- Success is measured by behaviour and KPIs
- Senior trainers matched to industry, team and language
What runs differently after the programme
No sales training in the world doubles revenue in a quarter, and anyone who promises that has never measured it. What we can say reliably after more than 500 trainings: these four things change when the programme is completed in full.
Everyone on the team has a fixed hour for new business in their calendar and a prepared list. “When there is time” becomes a routine with a KPI. For teams that hardly prospected before, this is the biggest change of all.
The team runs conversations with the same structure, uses the same questions and the same responses to objections. Sales managers can coach instead of just asking for numbers. New colleagues become productive faster.
Anyone who clarifies value before price and has trained objection handling negotiates differently. In follow-ups, participants regularly report price discussions they would previously have ended with a discount.
Decision-maker conversations per week, meeting rate, proposal rate, closing rate: the team sees its own numbers, and sales leadership can show in the review what the training has achieved.
Three building blocks that set our sales training apart
Developed over more than 500 trainings and sharpened every year. Every selling2b programme combines these three building blocks, weighted by what your team needs right now.
The customer in the training is a trained actor with sales experience. They play your buyer, your sceptical managing director, your existing customer who is about to leave, so realistically that participants forget after five minutes that it is a simulation. After each conversation they give feedback from the customer’s perspective: where did you lose me, what convinced me.
The difference from role play among colleagues: nobody goes easy on anybody, and the same situation can be played again straight away, better.
Most sales teams do not fail for lack of skill, but for lack of consistency. Golden Hour™ is a fixed hour a day for prospecting and follow-up, with a prepared list, a clear target for decision-maker conversations and KPIs the whole team can see. We introduce the routine in the training and support it during the twelve weeks that follow.
The method is described in the book Golden Hour by Marvin Verweyen (German) and explained on our page on B2B cold calling (German) .
Instead of one two-day block, we spread the training over modules across eight to twelve weeks. In between, every participant gets a challenge from real day-to-day business: ten new-business conversations, three price negotiations, winning back a lost proposal. The results are discussed in the next module. That is how learning turns into selling.
From the first call to the review: how sales training at selling2b works
Every programme follows the same framework. We adapt scope and emphasis to your team, but not the sequence, because the sequence is why the training still works three months later.
With sales leadership and management we clarify target customers, typical conversation situations, the real objections in your market and what should have measurably changed after the training. You meet the proposed trainer before you decide.
The trainer builds the programme around your cases: real proposals, real customer roles, your price list. Business actors are briefed. If you wish, we hold short calls with individual participants so that day one does not start with introductions.
At your premises, in a conference hotel or remote. Short input, then simulation with a business actor, feedback, next round. Participants spend around 80 percent of the time in conversation, not in front of slides. Six to twelve participants per group.
Golden Hour™ starts, challenges run, and the trainer supports with follow-ups every one to two weeks: reviewing KPIs, debriefing conversations, sharpening objection handling. This is where a good day turns into a different team.
With sales leadership: what has changed in behaviour and in the numbers, what remains open, what is the next stage. We measure training success by behaviour and results, not by the feedback form from the last training day.
Six modules from which we build your programme
No team needs everything. In the concept call we decide which modules are trained and in how much depth. Every module is worked on with your customers and your materials.
Why B2B selling is consulting, who your ideal customer really is, what a list for tomorrow looks like and which triggers justify a conversation. The foundation for everything else.
Phone, email, LinkedIn, trade fairs: reaching decision-makers, establishing relevance in 20 seconds, booking meetings. Plus the daily routine, so that prospecting actually happens instead of just being planned.
Questioning techniques that uncover the real need and the decision process. Listening, summarising, agreeing the next step. The heart of every sales conversation.
Value selling instead of feature lists: value in the customer’s language, proposals that prepare a decision, and a follow-up process that leaves no proposal unattended.
The eight most common objections in your market, with your own practised responses. Price discussions with procurement, pushing through price increases, closing with commitment, without pressure and without discounting as a reflex.
Cross- and up-selling, account development, CRM discipline. For sales managers: which KPIs matter, what joint customer visits look like day to day, and how the routine lasts after the training.
Topics we go deeper on
Each topic has its own page with methods, examples and figures (in German):
In-house, remote, one-to-one or open: five routes to sales training
The standard format is the in-house programme for teams. For individual salespeople, distributed teams and small budgets there are alternatives built on the same method.
For teams of six or more, at your premises or in a conference hotel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. One to three modules, business actors, twelve weeks of support. In English, German and other languages.
For distributed teams: sessions of two to three hours every one to two weeks via Teams or Zoom, with video simulations and tasks in between. The trainer stays the same.
For managing directors, self-employed professionals and individual salespeople: working on your own cases with a senior trainer, confidentially, remote or on site, usually alongside an ongoing programme.
For individuals and small teams: the annual open training near Munich, held in German, with a maximum of eight participants and a business actor. Two days, with cold calling and the sales conversation as core modules.
Golden Hour™ and other methods for self-study, as preparation for an in-house programme or for salespeople who want to start straight away. Also available as a module for your own LMS. Courses are in German.
Golden Hour, 22 Strategien für mehr Neukunden and Du kannst nicht NICHT verhandeln by Marvin Verweyen (in German): the methodology of the trainings to read up on, for the team or as preparation.
Trainers who have sold and led themselves
Every senior trainer at selling2b has their own sales career behind them, usually with leadership responsibility, plus methodological training and ongoing development within the team. Business actors complement the trainings as a counterpart who cannot simply be talked round.
Industry, language and team decide which trainer suits you. You meet them in the concept call before you commit. Larger programmes run with two trainers, or with a trainer and a business actor in parallel.
Three examples from industry, automotive and promotional products
Programmes that could run in a similar way for you. Quotes are translated from German. More examples from sensor technology, tyre retail and electronics are on our references page (German).
DEIF GmbH
ProgrammeTwo-day sales training in Munich for the sales team of a Danish manufacturer of control and energy management solutions: a shared sales process, approaching new customers, simulations with a business actor in the customer role, followed by a hands-on workshop on site in Bensheim.
ResultsA structured sales process for the whole team and a sales force entering the next prospecting phase with new confidence.
Cox Automotive
ProgrammeSales training for the sales team with a business actor: sales conversation, objection handling and new customer contact based on real customer situations, with reflection on each person’s own conversation behaviour after every simulation.
ResultsNew customers contacted straight after the training, noticeably different conversations and a format the team describes as modern and practical.
EIDEX GmbH
ProgrammeSales programme for the sales team of a leading full-service promotional products provider, with senior trainer Phil Rafferty and business actor Wolfgang Schatz: new business prospecting, trade fair prospecting, needs analysis and cross-selling on the team’s own customer cases, for young and experienced salespeople together.
ResultsInitial scepticism in the team turned into enthusiasm, the methods are used in day-to-day business, and a follow-up programme has been booked.
Philip Rafferty and Wolfgang Schatz delivered a great, authentic and honest training for our sales staff. Initial scepticism among colleagues quickly gave way to the enthusiasm both of them sparked in younger and older salespeople alike. Wolfgang is very charismatic and able to put himself into every kind of customer and supplier role. Philip is a very good facilitator, motivator and observer who worked out numerous tips and suggestions for improvement with our staff. Unfortunately the time went by far too quickly. We will soon book a refresher to deepen what we learned and start the new year perfectly prepared.
Thomas GottschallCEO, EIDEX GmbH
Particularly effective: the realistic role plays with the actor in the customer role, intense, challenging and instructive. A personal follow-up in our own offices consolidated the content further, and the team is now entering the next prospecting phase with fresh know-how and greater self-confidence.
Leonie CoemansRegional Marketing Manager, DEIF GmbH
Absolutely recommended. The content was superbly prepared. What was especially exciting was that a professional actor was there to simulate real sales situations. That made the theory immediately tangible and helped us reflect better on our behaviour in sales conversations. A completely different, modern training format.
Hakan IcerHead of Sales, Cox Automotive
With new approaches, the trainings stand out clearly from other sales trainings. Our sales staff use the tools and concepts they learned successfully to perform better in everyday sales.
Bernhard BrandlHead of Transport Logistics, Kiessling Spedition
At first I was sceptical whether I could apply the basics in practice. And lo and behold: it works. I have now built Golden Hour into my daily workflow. The more regularly you do it, the easier it gets.
Alexandra DremmlerDirect Sales Munich, Linde GmbH
What sales training costs and what drives the price
We price per programme, not per participant, and give you a binding range after the concept call. So you can estimate in advance where you will land, here are the five factors that determine the price.
- Trainer daysHow many modules with how many days, whether one or two trainers are in the room, plus concept and follow-up time. This is the largest item.
- Business actorWhether, and on how many days, a business actor takes part. The extra cost is modest; the effect is the part of the training participants still mention years later.
- Participants and groupsSix to twelve per group. We split larger teams so that everyone gets into conversation often enough.
- Support after the trainingTwelve weeks with follow-ups is standard. If you want closer support, joint customer visits in the field or coaching for managers, plan in more time.
- Location and languageOn site in Germany, Austria and Switzerland or remote, in English or German, and in other languages with trainers from the team. Travel costs are charged at actual cost, with no flat fees.
What you get in the initial call
- An honest assessment of whether training solves your problem, or whether the issue lies elsewhere
- A proposal for scope and format to suit your team and budget
- The trainer who suits you, with reasons
- A price range within one working day
No fixed budget? Tell us what should change, and we will work back from there.
Questions about sales training
What is the difference between sales training and selling skills training?
Selling skills training focuses on the individual sales conversation: opening, needs analysis, argumentation, objections, closing. Sales training is broader: it develops an entire team with process, routines, KPIs and leadership. At selling2b, the sales conversation is the core of every sales training. If you only want to train for yourself, the open sales training (held in German) is the right fit.
How long does sales training take?
A single module takes one to two days. A programme consists of one to three modules plus twelve weeks of implementation with follow-ups. From the concept call to the review typically takes four to five months. A single day without follow-up support is possible, but we advise against it because the effect fades after two weeks.
How many participants make sense?
Six to twelve per group. Below that, simulations lack dynamics; above that, not everyone gets into conversation often enough. We split larger teams into groups, with two trainers in parallel or at staggered times.
What does a business actor do in the training?
A business actor is a trained actor with business experience who plays the customer in the training: buyer, managing director, sceptical existing customer. They react the way your customers react, and afterwards give feedback from the customer’s perspective. This replaces role play among colleagues, where everyone goes easy on each other.
How much does sales training cost?
The price depends on trainer days, business actor, number of participants, length of support, and location and language. We price per programme and give a binding range after the concept call, usually within one working day. The factors are explained above in the pricing section.
Does sales training work online?
Yes, as interval training with sessions of two to three hours every one to two weeks. Simulations with a business actor work well by video, because many customer conversations take place by video today too. For the kickoff and intensive simulation days we recommend meeting in person; the implementation phase runs remotely anyway.
Which industries is the training suitable for?
For B2B sales of complex products and services, across industries: industry and mechanical engineering, software and IT, electronics and measurement technology, retail, logistics, pharma and medical technology, energy, construction, services. The cases in the training come from your market, and the trainer is chosen to match your industry.
How do you measure the success of sales training?
On two levels: behaviour and numbers. Trainers and sales leadership observe behaviour in simulations and follow-ups. Depending on the goal, the numbers are decision-maker conversations per week, meeting rate, proposal rate, closing rate or average margin. We agree what will be measured in the concept call, not after the training.
Is the training also suitable for experienced salespeople?
Especially for them. Experienced salespeople benefit most from working on concrete situations with a business actor: negotiating with procurement, a price increase for an existing customer, stakeholders in the buying centre. The content is matched to the team’s level, and in our experience mixed groups of young and experienced salespeople work very well.
Do you also train in Switzerland and Austria?
Yes. selling2b is based in Zug and trains in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on site and remote. Trainers on the team know the market differences, for example in the legal rules on cold calling or in negotiation culture.
Which languages can the training be delivered in?
English and German with trainers from the team, and other languages such as French, Italian and Spanish for business actor simulations and selected trainings. We train international teams in English, if needed with a trainer and business actor from different countries.
What happens if the training does not work?
Then it is usually down to the implementation phase, not the training day. That is why it is part of every programme. In the review we discuss openly what worked and what did not, and propose the next stage. Our interest is in you coming back, not in a one-off booking.
