3 Sales Certifications for Career Growth and Skill Building

If you’re a sales professional or considering a sales career, earning a sales certification can help you learn new skills and stand out from other applicants when applying for job roles. Three certifications for sales professionals include: 

• Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)

• Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist

• Salesforce Certified Sales Representative

Learn more about these sales certifications, how to earn them, and tips for choosing the right certification for your career goals. 

Types of sales certification

You have many options to choose from when deciding which sales certification is right for your career goals. You can earn a certification from an industry organization for sales professionals, such as the National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP) or the National Retail Federation (NRF). You can also explore certification programs from companies that can help you demonstrate your knowledge of sales topics or tools relevant for sales professionals, like those offered by Salesforce. Explore three sales certifications, including the CPSP offered by NASP, the Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist offered by the NRF Foundation, and the Salesforce Certified Sales Representative.

Certified Professional Sales Person: CPSP certification

Offered by the NASP, the CPSP signifies you completed the six-week training course to earn this certification, covering topics such as negotiation, professional behavior, and the habits of successful salespeople. 

Requirements: NASP does not list any prerequisites for this course. 

Cost: $795 [1]

Who should get the CPSP? This course can help sales professionals, sales executives, and business owners refine sales skills. 

Course topics: Habits and behaviors that can help you succeed in sales, the customer journey, how to speak to customers’ needs, and understanding the psychology behind selling

Other certifications: NASP offers the Certified Professional Sales Leader (CPSL) certification for professionals like sales managers, director of sales, or those who want to move into these leadership roles. You can also choose the Certified Master Sales Professional (CMSP) certification, an all-in-one program that allows you to complete both the CPSP and the CPSL simultaneously. 

Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist

The Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist is a certification from the NRF Foundation’s program RISE UP. The NRF Foundation is a nonprofit organization that offers resources and support for professionals working in retail careers and is part of the National Retail Federation, a trade association for retail professionals.

Requirements: This certificate is intermediate level, but the organization doesn’t specify any requirements for this course. You can start with the organization’s Retail Industry Fundamentals Specialist certification for professionals developing career readiness or preparing for their first retail job. 

Cost: Exam: $55; course: $65; course bundle: $115 [2]

Who should get the Customer Service and Sales Certified Specialist? The certification can benefit those who want to master their customer service skills and key sales concepts like communication and customer mindset.

Course topics: Customer life cycle, strategies to engage customers, closing sales, meeting customer needs, problem-solving, and retaining customers

Other certifications: You can explore other certifications from the NRF Foundation, including: 

• Customer Conflict De-escalation Specialist

• Business of Retail Certified Specialist

• Supply Chain, Inventory, & Logistics Certified Specialist

Salesforce Certified Sales Representative

This certification demonstrates that you have a broad knowledge of sales topics, such as the sales pipeline, forecasting sales, managing deals, and researching customers. Salesforce is an industry leader in customer relationship management (CRM) technology.

Requirements: You’ll need at least six months of experience as a sales representative before qualifying for this exam. Salesforce offers courses and exam prep material to help you prepare. 

Cost: $200 [3]

Who should get the Salesforce Certified Sales Representative? This credential is for sales representatives and any professional who would benefit from demonstrating their sales, customer relationship management, or sales pipeline skills.

Course topics: Sales planning, customer engagement, deal management, pipeline management, forecasting, and customer success

Salesforce Professional Certificates

You can also earn a Professional Certificate in sales. These credentials usually cover a smaller range of material and take less time to complete than a certification. A certification can help you demonstrate mastery of industry-standard skills to succeed as a sales professional. A Professional Certificate can be a great choice if you want to earn role-specific skills or prepare for an entry-level job. Two examples of Professional Certificates offered by Salesforce include: 

• Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate: Develop the skills you’ll need to start an entry-level role as a sales development representative or business development representative. 

• Salesforce Sales Operations Professional Certificate: Learn what you’ll need to be successful in an entry-level sales operation specialist or sales operations analyst career. 

How to choose an online sales certification

To choose a sales certification, you will want to consider your career goals, research the prerequisites for any certification you might pursue, and consider how much time and commitment you have to put toward certification. Review the following:

• Consider your career goals: Spend time thinking about what you’d like to do with your career and choose a certification that can help you get there. For example, if you want to move into a leadership position, you could look for a certification demonstrating leadership or teamwork skills. If you want to improve your sales, you might choose a certification focused on closing deals and understanding your customers’ needs. 

• Research prerequisites: In some cases, you’ll need experience in sales before enrolling in a certification. It’s important to look for each certificate’s prerequisites ahead of time to know what you qualify for now and what you can work toward in the future. 

• Consider fees and time commitment: You can find certifications for different budgets and time commitments, from a full course to an exam, so consider your resources and how much time you can invest in your certification. 

• Explore exam prep: You will often find exam prep, courses, and other resources to help you prepare for your exam offered by the company or organization that sponsors the exam. You can also find courses online to help you build your skills and learn new sales concepts, like Sales and CRM Overview offered by Salesforce. 

What jobs can you get with a sales certification?

Your sales certification can be applied to several sales jobs. Three examples you might consider are sales representative, sales development representative, and sales operations specialist. 

Sales representative 

Average salary in the US (Glassdoor): $75,765 [4]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 1 percent [5]

As a sales representative, you will sell products or services to your customers. You’ll listen to your customers and understand their needs, then introduce them to the solutions your company provides. In this role, you can work in many different industries selling a wide variety of products. 

Sales development representative

Average salary in the US (Glassdoor): $52,288 [6]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 1 percent [5]

As a sales development representative, you will be responsible for qualifying leads and finding more customers for your sales funnel. You will concentrate primarily on top-of-the-funnel activities like reaching new customers and work with other professionals who will nurture and close these sales. 

Sales operations specialist

Average salary in the US (Glassdoor): $65,886 [7]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 6 percent [8]

As a sales operations specialist, you will be an expert on your company’s sales operations and find ways to improve processes and meet company goals. In this role, you will gather and analyze sales data to decide if the sales team met past sales forecasts and determine forecasts for the future. 

Earn your sales certification on Coursera.

Earning a sales certification can help you learn new skills and demonstrate your commitment to the field. If you want to take your sales career to the next level or train for a new role, you can find helpful courses and Professional Certificates on Coursera. For example, you can choose a Professional Certificate to train for an entry-level career, like the Salesforce Sales Development Representative Professional Certificate.