Question 1

How much does sales training cost?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the course, the delivery mode and whether you book public seats, a private session for up to 20, or an annual programme. Select the price control on any course to see its rate. All prices exclude VAT.

Question 2

Which sales course should we start with?

Accepted Answer

Start sellers on Sales Foundations, or Deal Economics and Negotiation if discounting is the problem. Send managers on Sales Management and Coaching. Commercial leaders should start with the Sales Leadership Briefing. The course selector at the top of this page suggests a starting point.

Question 3

Do you offer short sales courses, or only the 12-month programme?

Accepted Answer

Both. Choose a two-hour clinic, a one-day course or a 3-month manager course, or the 12-month programme for lasting change across the team.

Question 4

Is there a version of Sales Foundations for our kind of selling?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Choose the B2B consultative, professional services, inside sales, retail and face to face, or public sector and tenders edition. The day and price are the same; the role-plays match how you sell.

Question 5

Can you train our team privately?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Private sessions are one flat fee for up to 10, 15 or 20 delegates, online, at your premises or hybrid.

Question 6

Do you train in person outside the main metros?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We train in person in any South African city. Travel and accommodation are charged as disbursements that you approve before we book.

Question 7

Can we pay for the annual programme monthly?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Core Uplift and Full Operating System can be paid in 12 monthly instalments, and Regional Rollout is invoiced quarterly. Select the price control for the amounts.

Question 8

Is the training accredited?

Accepted Answer

Okiru issues a certificate of completion once the course assessment is passed. The courses are not registered qualifications.

Question 9

What is a sales capability programme and how is it different from sales training?

Accepted Answer

Sales training teaches skills in isolation. A sales capability programme builds an operating system: judgement, governance, deal economics and manager cadence embedded over time. The aim is lasting behaviour change rather than a short boost that fades within weeks.

Question 10

How long does it take to see results from sales enablement?

Accepted Answer

We measure qualification, pipeline hygiene and forecast accuracy from month 1, and margin and win rate from the second quarter. Results depend on the team, the market and how consistently managers run the cadence.

Question 11

Is a 12-month programme worth it, or should we do a short workshop?

Accepted Answer

Workshops create awareness, but they rarely change behaviour on their own. A 12-month model builds habit, reinforcement, governance and measurable performance shifts. If your sales problem is structural and not just a knowledge gap, a once-off workshop will not fix it.

Question 12

What does a 'sales operating system' mean in practice?

Accepted Answer

It means every seller on the team uses the same stage definitions, qualification criteria, deal scoring logic, and exit decision rules. It also means managers have the dashboards and cadence to coach consistently. An operating system reduces dependence on individual star performers and makes the team scalable.

Question 13

Who is this programme designed for?

Accepted Answer

Sales professionals, account managers, business development teams, sales managers, and commercial directors. All three tiers support team-level deployment, from a single corporate team to multi-region rollouts with governance cadence and calibration sessions.

Question 14

Can the programme be tailored to our industry and sales cycle?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We configure the deal economics module, legal gate content, pipeline stage logic, and AI role-play scenarios around your sector, sales cycle length, and typical buyer roles. A short scoping call confirms the design before we begin.

Question 15

What is AI role-play practice and do sellers need to be technical?

Accepted Answer

AI role-play practice uses your organisation's approved AI tool (Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude or Google Gemini) with Okiru scenario scripts and coaching rubrics. Sellers rehearse discount pressure, finance review and procurement objections, and managers review the scores. The Okiru AI Training Simulator is coming to Okiru Learn as a planned addition. No technical background is required.

Question 16

Does this training count toward our B-BBEE scorecard?

Accepted Answer

Training spend may be recognised under the Skills Development element of the B-BBEE scorecard, depending on the Codes, the type of training and the evidence kept. Okiru's Skills Development team can confirm how your training will be treated and manage the evidence and WSP/ATR reporting.

Question 17

What does Okiru's Sales Strategy Training cover?

Accepted Answer

The programme covers strategic selling methodology, client needs analysis, solution positioning, proposal development, negotiation techniques, objection handling, pipeline management, account planning, and closing strategies, all contextualised for professional services and consulting firms operating in the South African market.

Question 18

What is strategic selling and how does it differ from traditional sales?

Accepted Answer

Strategic selling focuses on deeply understanding the client's business challenges, stakeholder landscape and decision-making process before positioning any solution. Unlike transactional sales, it emphasises long-term client relationships, co-created value, and competitive differentiation based on expertise, rather than price alone. This approach is especially effective in B-BBEE, HR, compliance and professional services markets.

Question 19

Who should attend Sales Strategy Training?

Accepted Answer

Business development managers, account executives, consulting professionals, practice leads, and any team member responsible for winning, growing or retaining client relationships. The programme is equally valuable for experienced sellers looking to sharpen their approach and for technical professionals transitioning into client-facing roles.

Question 20

How do I improve my sales team's performance in professional services?

Accepted Answer

Consistent performance improvement comes from building structured sales processes, coaching disciplines, pipeline visibility and deal review cadences, not from motivational training alone. Okiru's programme combines skills development with practical frameworks that teams implement immediately, including client segmentation models, proposal templates, and structured pipeline review tools.

Question 21

What is a sales pipeline and how do I manage it?

Accepted Answer

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of all active sales opportunities, organised by stage, from initial qualification through proposal, negotiation and close. Managing it requires regular pipeline reviews, accurate stage progression criteria, clear next-step discipline, and honest deal scoring. For consulting and compliance firms, pipeline management that accounts for procurement cycle lengths and RFP timelines is especially important.

Question 22

What is the difference between B2B and B2C sales strategy?

Accepted Answer

B2B (business-to-business) sales involve longer decision cycles, multiple stakeholders, formal procurement processes, and solutions that require organisational adoption. B2C (business-to-consumer) is typically faster, more emotionally driven, and involves a single buyer. Professional services and compliance consulting is almost exclusively B2B, requiring relationship depth, technical credibility, and multi-stakeholder influence strategies.

Question 23

How do I pitch B-BBEE or compliance services to clients effectively?

Accepted Answer

Effective positioning of compliance services focuses on commercial risk (what non-compliance costs), competitive advantage (how a strong B-BBEE level improves tender success), and operational efficiency (how outsourcing to Okiru reduces internal burden). Leading with pain and commercial consequence, not technical detail, is the most consistently effective approach across all client segments.

Question 24

What is account management in professional services?

Accepted Answer

Account management is the ongoing nurturing, expansion and retention of existing client relationships. In professional services, it involves regular client engagement, awareness of the client's changing needs and strategic priorities, proactive introduction of additional services before RFPs are issued, and building relationships with multiple stakeholders within the client organisation. Okiru's training covers both new business development and account management as distinct disciplines.

Question 25

Can Sales Strategy Training be tailored to our industry or firm?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. For in-house sessions, Okiru tailors content to your firm's specific service offering, client segments, competitive environment, and most common sales challenges. This might include analysing your current pipeline, reviewing proposal win rates, or workshopping specific deal scenarios your team encounters. Generic training rarely shifts behaviour; contextualised training does.

Question 26

How do I close more deals in consulting and advisory work?

Accepted Answer

Deal closure in consulting is rarely about a single closing technique; it results from thorough qualification, consistent stakeholder engagement, proposals that clearly link your solution to client outcomes, removing procurement friction, and creating urgency through commercial consequences of inaction. Okiru's programme covers the full deal cycle with specific focus on the qualification and proposal stages where most deals are won or lost early.

Question 27

What is value-based selling?

Accepted Answer

Value-based selling is a methodology where the price and positioning of your offering is anchored to the commercial value it creates for the client, not to your cost base or market rates alone. For compliance services, this means quantifying the cost of non-compliance, the revenue upside of a stronger B-BBEE level, or the operational savings from AI automation, making price a smaller part of the buying decision.

Question 28

What is a sales playbook?

Accepted Answer

A sales playbook is a documented set of processes, messaging, objection responses, qualification criteria, proposal structures, and competitive positioning guidelines that your sales team uses consistently. A well-designed playbook accelerates onboarding, improves deal quality, and ensures that your best practice is reproducible, not dependent on one individual's intuition. Okiru can facilitate playbook development as part of in-house training engagements.

Question 29

What is client needs analysis and why is it the foundation of sales?

Accepted Answer

Client needs analysis is the structured process of understanding a client's current situation, specific challenges, desired outcomes, constraints, decision criteria and stakeholder landscape before positioning any solution. Skipping this step, and leading with your service offering instead, is the most common reason proposals miss the mark. Okiru's training dedicates significant time to diagnostic questioning, active listening and needs mapping.

Question 30

How do I build a high-performing sales team in professional services?

Accepted Answer

High-performing sales teams are built on clear role definitions, rigorous recruiting standards, structured onboarding with a sales playbook, consistent coaching rhythms, transparent pipeline metrics, fair and motivating incentive structures, and a culture where losing deals is analysed and learned from, not ignored. Okiru's programme addresses both individual skill development and the management systems that sustain performance over time.

Question 31

Do training prices include VAT, and how many people can attend?

Accepted Answer

All Okiru prices exclude VAT. Group training is limited to 20 participants per session. Per-person fees apply to each delegate; per-session fees cover the stated group session. Additional sessions or customised delivery are quoted separately.

Sales Training South Africa for B2B Teams | Okiru