As a former business owner in retail, I can attest that sales is a skill you need to cultivate through hard work, an open heart, and constant studying. Drawing from my firsthand experience, I’ve put together this guide to help you take command of your sales journey with insights from industry experts and top-notch institutions.

Whether you’re mastering foundational sales techniques, exploring advanced B2B strategies, delving into the dynamics of sports business, or honing skills as artists or entrepreneurs, this Best Courses Guide (BCG) has your needs covered. We’ve handpicked the best courses from our catalog with over 1500 sales courses, offering a diverse range to suit different skill levels and interests in the art of connecting with others, understanding their needs, all while maintaining ethical practices in the field of sales.

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• Top Picks
• BCG Stats
• Why You Should Trust Us
• How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them

Here are our top picks

BCG Stats

• Combined, these courses have over 1.54M enrollments
• 3 courses are free-to-audit and 5 are paid
• The most featured provider is Udemy with 4 courses.

Best Short Intro to Sales Techniques for Beginners (Chris Croft)

Get practical advice on how to build a strong connection with your customers, understand the four basic types of personas and how to approach them in Sales Training: Practical Sales Techniques. This fun course is ideal for learners with little to no experience in sales. If you’re unsure if this is the right course for you, you can watch nearly 30 minutes of free content before committing to it. This course is also available on LinkedIn Learning.

Chris Croft is an international speaker and widely published author, who’s been teaching Sales skills to companies for over 20 years. He’s taught all over the world, as well as online, and has an entertaining and practical teaching style. He’s also been featured in our Negotiation BCG.

In this course, you will learn:

• Planning your toolkit
• Building a rapport and relationship
• Handling objections and hidden excuses
• Creating a foolproof efficiency system for organizing your sales
• Simple tricks to raise yourself above 90% of the competition
• Simple phrases that will get you a brilliant closing price
• And much more.

“Brilliant and mind opening. Short but you have to digest it. Also he answers when you write on Linkedin which is a cool thing. Thank you for the course!” İlker C., Udemy learner

Best Technical Course on Sales (Udemy)

If you are looking for a course that follows the best practices in Sales by the textbook and get a solid foundation for all technical aspects for your sales and process, How to Sell Anything to Anyone is perfect for you. This animated course lays down the foundation with a comprehensive curriculum covering all information you need to be successful in sales. Some learners complain about the pace of this course, but compared to similar offerings, this is very informative and engaging at the same time.

In this course, you will explore:

• The neuroscientific research behind sales tactics and human behavior
• How to create and articulate a personal value proposition
• Techniques for researching and understanding prospects
• Strategies for crafting impactful opening and closing statements
• How to minimize resistance from potential clients
• How to create win-win-win scenarios where the customer, the company, and the salesperson all benefit
• And much more.

“[…] this is hands down the best sales information I’ve ever learned! It is absolutely staggering! Thank you so much! I’m going to implement everything I’ve learned thus far! This is the ultimate how to do Sales 101 class.” Jeremiah A., Udemy learner

Best B2B Sales Course for Sales Rep (Udemy)

Regardless of whether you are in B2B or B2C sales, there is a common factor: dealing with people. The principles and techniques taught in B2B Sales Masterclass: People-Focused Selling are designed to be applicable to sales interactions with businesses or individual consumers. Taught by award winning sales leader Kevin Dorsey, this course focuses on fostering the right mindset and cultivating a positive and proactive approach to sales.

In this course, you’ll learn:

• How to use methods of influence to lead prospects to the best outcome
• Understanding the prospect’s problems
• Perfecting demos/pitches
• Gaining buy-in
• Conducting world-class follow-up
• Handling objections with ethical techniques.

“A lot of training programs out there sound good but it’s hard to find relevance in everyday use. I have over 25 years sales experience and this course is the most organized and to the point I have found with applicable scenarios and implementable tools.” Douglas M., Udemy learner.

Best B2B Sales Course for Consultants (Udemy)

If you are selling high-value services where you need to sustain professional relationships with clients and build a personal branding, then Sales Skills Training: Consultative Selling Master Class is the perfect course for you. Taught by Lawrence M. Miller, an author and consultant with over four decades of experience in major corporations, this course offers a wealth of insights derived from his role as CEO and owner of a successful consulting firm.

In this course, you will learn:

• How to sell consulting and other high value services in the spirit of service
• How to sustain a lasting professional relationship with clients
• Building your personal brand
• Mastering the art of building trust for high value sales
• Engaging your client in co-creating solutions that meet their needs.

“I’ve been in Sales / Account Management for over 25 years and what I am hearing here resonates a bit more than I would have expected when compared to other types of courses.” Anonymized U., Udemy learner.

Best Inbound Sales Course (HubSpot)

Reach your customers through content marketing and multi-channel engagement in Sales Training for High Performing Teams Specialization by HubSpot, which is tailored for sales professionals at any career stage. Learn to discuss sales strategy, apply what you’ve learned to your own organization or the organizations you’re applying to, and participate in and review peer discussions to build sales skills that will serve you at all stages of your career.

To access the free-to-audit option, visit each course page linked below. For more information, see A Guide on How to Sign up for Coursera Courses for Free.

The specialization encompasses 4 courses:

• Building Your Sales Career – Learn the fundamentals of inbound sales methodology, differentiating between active and passive buyers, building relationships, and understanding buyer contexts.
• Techniques for a Human-Centric Sales Process – Master an inbound approach to sales, focusing on being helpful rather than salesy. Gain skills in prospecting, qualifying prospects, booking meetings, handling objections, and negotiating deals.
• Sales Team Management – Learn to define target markets, create scalable sales processes, and establish training, coaching, hiring, and onboarding programs for effective sales team growth.
• Inbound Business Strategy – Learn how to align marketing and sales for optimal efficiency.

“Another excellent course provided by Coursera/Hubspot. Either or not you will be using the Hubspot software, this series of courses are a must!” Dr M B F, Coursera learner.

Additional Info

If you’re interested, HubSpot also offers courses with free certificates on their platform, e.g. Inbound Sales and Sales Management.

Best Negotiation Course (University of Michigan)

Effective negotiation is a cornerstone of successful sales. Successful Negotiation: Essential Strategies and Skills is a free-to-audit course that provides crucial insights into psychological tools, traps to avoid, and hands-on learning opportunities that enhance a salesperson’s ability to navigate and influence negotiations. Taught by the renowned professor George Siedel, this course addresses the fundamental principles, ethical considerations, and culture differences in negotiation, providing a valuable asset in your toolkit.

If you want to know more about the course, you can also check out Naveena’s in-depth review here. This course has also been featured on 250 Top FREE Coursera Courses of All Time,  The 250 Most Popular Online Courses of All Time, and Negotiation BCG.

“[…]I am sure I will be applying the ideas and tools discussed during the entire duration of the course in my daily life as well as in my workplace. I am especially grateful for the instructor of the course Mr. George Siedel whose light-hearted yet significant lectures made me feel connected, even though they were in videos.[…]”, Naveena Vinny.

Best Sales Course for Artists and Photographers (CreativeLive)

In this comprehensive course, Tamara Lackey, a sales professional with 15 years of experience in 100%-commission-based sales, guides small business owners and artists through the art and science of mastering sales. Sales, Sales, Sales. goes beyond traditional sales techniques, focusing on building rapport, trust, and creating a positive client experience. Tamara shares insights on conquering fear, addressing self-doubt, and consistently achieving high sales averages across various genres.

In this course, you will learn:

• How to identify common problems in sales and redefine the role of a salesperson.
• Explore why people buy and understand what makes you a desirable seller.
• Techniques for establishing rapport and trust with clients to enhance the overall sales process.
• A step-by-step walkthrough of the sales process, including effective communication and active listening.
• Insights into pricing strategies and real-life testimonials from past students.
• Practical sessions on shooting for maximum client satisfaction, post-shoot debriefs, and detailed evaluations of student sessions.
• Addressing common challenges such as handling criticism, lack of confidence, and self-doubt.

Best Course on Sales in Sport Business (University of Alaska)

Sales in Sport Business provides an in-depth exploration of the sales and revenue generation aspects within the professional sports industry. This free-to-audit course aims to equip students with the fundamental principles and practical skills required to excel as sales executives in the dynamic field of sports management. Taught by industry professionals, the course covers various aspects of sports sales, including ticket sales, corporate sales, group sales, and the broader landscape of sports business.

In this course, you will learn:

• The principles of sales and revenue generation in professional sports, with a focus on various income streams
• The sports sales process, including relationship-building, customer service, and business development
• Different types of sales in sports, such as business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and sponsorships
• Guiding customers through the sales funnel, covering needs analysis, presenting solutions, overcoming objections, and obtaining commitment
• Closing deals and managing relationships through retention, referrals, effective communication, and CRM systems
• Insights from industry professionals, providing practical knowledge for success in sports sales.

Why You Should Trust Us

Class Central, a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 60 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 200,000 online courses and 200,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees. I’ve personally completed many online courses in a variety of topics including sales.

How We Made Our Picks and Tested Them

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.

First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn about sales.

When choosing courses, I considered the following factors:

• Renowned Institutions: I looked for recognized institutions in sales
• Instructor experience: I sought instructors with extensive experience in sales and engaging presentation styles
• Course content: I examined courses that covered a range of topics and presentation styles, including the basics and more advanced topics. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken
• Learner reviews: I read learner reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as available course provider reviews.

Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A sales course can cover various topics, so I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields.

Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a reliable way to learn about sales.