FIND | New Business Development
CORE Telesales Skills Training
Better conversations. Stronger relationships. More sales opportunities.
The telephone remains one of the most effective ways to engage potential customers, develop relationships and create new business opportunities, provided the conversation is handled well.
Sure Train's CORE Telesales Skills Training helps salespeople plan their activity, build productive relationships with gatekeepers, engage decision-makers and conduct professional sales conversations that lead to meaningful next steps.
The programme combines practical techniques with interactive exercises and live calling sessions, helping participants put their new skills into practice during the training itself.
A more effective approach to telephone selling.
Sure Train's CORE approach is built on a simple principle: the most effective selling isn't about pressure or manipulation. CORE stands for Collaborative, Open, Relevant, and Effective—encouraging relationship-building, understanding customer needs, and creating relevant conversations instead of aggressive scripts or pressure.
Collaborative – Working with customers to explore opportunities together.
Relevant – Focusing on issues, challenges and opportunities that matter to the customer.
Turn more telephone activity into meaningful opportunities.
Success in telesales depends on more than just call volume. Common challenges like inconsistent planning, difficulty navigating gatekeepers, and pitching too early can stall progress. Our training addresses these hurdles to improve conversion and results.
Planning – More structured, measurable telesales campaigns.
Conversations – More effective questioning, listening and value communication.
Open – Asking questions, listening and encouraging honest conversations.
Effective – Turning conversations into clear, practical next steps.
Access – Better engagement with gatekeepers and decision-makers.
Progression – Greater confidence in agreeing appointments, quotations, follow-ups or sales.
Practical telephone sales skills that make a difference.
Participants develop a complete toolkit of telesales and telephone sales skills, including:
- Plan, manage and measure a telesales campaign.
- Understand activity levels and conversion rates.
- Develop structured gatekeeper engagement strategies.
- Build productive relationships with receptionists and gatekeepers.
- Identify, access and influence decision-makers.
- Prepare introductory emails and telephone approaches.
- Qualify prospects through effective questioning.
- Build trust and credibility over the telephone.
- Understand customer needs, wants and desires.
- Present products and services in terms of customer value.
- Handle objections using a structured approach.
- Agree meaningful next steps, appointments, quotations or sales.
- Apply new skills through practical exercises and live calls.
What's covered in CORE Telesales Skills Training?
Day 1: Telesales Campaign Planning and Gatekeeper Strategy
Module 1: Planning and measuring telesales activity
- Understanding sales activity measurement.
- Analysing conversion rates.
- Planning telesales activity.
- Creating an effective telesales campaign strategy.
- Setting meaningful activity objectives.
- Understanding how activity contributes to sales opportunities.
Effective planning helps salespeople focus on productive activity and evaluate their results.
Module 2: Building effective gatekeeper relationships
- Separating gatekeeper engagement from decision-maker conversations.
- Understanding the benefits of a structured gatekeeper process.
- Building professional relationships with receptionists and gatekeepers.
- Using effective questioning to gather important information.
- Understanding behaviours and reactions.
- Developing approaches that encourage a more constructive response.
- Practising gatekeeper engagement through interactive exercises.
We emphasise respect, professionalism and relationship-building; gatekeepers are people to engage with constructively, not obstacles to manipulate.
Day 2: Accessing and Influencing Decision-Makers
Module 3: Creating meaningful decision-maker conversations
- Planning the first approach to a decision-maker.
- Creating a structured process for making contact.
- Developing effective introductory emails.
- Preparing for the initial telephone conversation.
- Building credibility and trust.
- Developing relationships through relevant, professional communication.
Module 4: Qualification, questioning and value
- Advanced questioning techniques.
- Understanding a prospect's current circumstances.
- Identifying needs, wants and desires.
- Encouraging customers to consider opportunities for change.
- Understanding features and benefits.
- Connecting customer needs with relevant product or service benefits.
- The Need / Feature / Benefit / Hook approach.
Effective sales conversations begin with understanding, not pitching.
Module 5: Securing next steps and handling objections
- Using trial closes appropriately.
- Negotiating appointments and next steps.
- Agreeing follow-up actions, quotations or sales.
- Identifying common objections.
- Preventing avoidable objections through better conversations.
- Applying a structured objection-handling process.
- Introducing the LAP Technique for handling objections.
The objective is to help customers make informed decisions and agree sensible next steps.
Real calls. Real conversations. Practical learning.
A distinctive feature of CORE Telesales Skills Training is the opportunity to make genuine calls during the programme. Participants apply their new skills to appropriate calls such as gatekeeper engagement, appointment setting, and relationship development.
- For the live calling exercises, participants should come prepared with:
A clear brief of telesales responsibilities.A list of at least 20 suitable prospective customers.Company names and telephone numbers.A mobile phone suitable for making calls.
Live calling sessions are included in the standard two-day programme, subject to suitable facilities, arrangements and appropriate customer data.
Less theory. More practical development.
The training is highly interactive and workshop-based. Participants practise conversations, develop their own approaches, and discuss real customer scenarios. The emphasis is on understanding and applying effective techniques rather than memorising scripts.
Who benefits from CORE Telesales Skills Training?
This national sales training programme is designed for professionals who rely on the telephone to build commercial pipeline:
- Dedicated telesales teams – People responsible for generating opportunities, developing prospects and selling over the telephone.
- Internal salespeople – Teams that manage customer relationships and develop business remotely.
- Field salespeople – Sales professionals who use the telephone to arrange appointments and create new opportunities.
- Salespeople at different experience levels – Both newer and experienced salespeople who want to strengthen their telephone communication and sales skills.
“
Really informative and easy to follow. Very applicable to our business
RP, Nautibouy Marine
Experienced trainers. Practical skills. Commercial focus.
More than 20 years' experience.
Over 12,000 people trained.
Institute of Sales Management Endorsed Training Partner.
Practical, workshop-based delivery.
Tailored programmes.
Ethical, relationship-focused sales development.
Richard Palmer is Sure Train's founder and lead trainer and author of The Ethical Sales Handbook. Sure Train is an established organisation dedicated to professional sales development.
Frequently asked questions.
Is the course suitable for experienced telesales people?
Yes. The programme can be tailored to different experience levels, helping both new and experienced salespeople develop more effective telephone sales skills.
Does the course include live calls?
The standard two-day programme includes practical live calling sessions, subject to suitable facilities and arrangements.
How long does the training take?
The programme is typically delivered over two days. Shorter options are available where appropriate.
Can it be tailored to our products and customers?
Yes. The training can be adapted to your market, customers, products, services and sales objectives.
Is the programme suitable for B2B and B2C sales teams?
Yes. The content and exercises can be tailored to either environment.
How many people can attend?
The standard programme typically accommodates up to 15 participants.
Ready to make every telephone conversation count?
Whether your team needs to build stronger gatekeeper relationships, engage more decision-makers or improve the quality of its telephone sales conversations, let's discuss how CORE Telesales Skills Training can help.
0800 840 1501 | hello@suretrain.co.uk