Top 10 Sales Skills Every Sales Rep Must Master
Sales Success is 80% attitude and only 20% aptitude – so a saying goes and how true is it! A salesperson needs competent skills, talents and abilities in order to exceed targets and drive the revenue of the business. They are key contributors to the financial management of the business and therefore deserve special attention, with a special set of skills. Let’s see what it takes to become a successful sales rep:
Technology Cannot Replace Talent
Many companies are improving their marketing management and branding management strategies by adopting special technology tools like CRM, data analytics and more. While technology can help sales to some extent, getting the right sales talent is one of the most valuable assets of any organization.
From enthusiastic sales reps to motivational sales managers, it is talent that ultimately keeps the pipelines buzzing and the cash registers rolling.
The Best Sales Reps Don’t Close Sales, They Provide Value
Majority of sales rep try to adopt a manipulative tone in order to close sales and get done with it. However, this is not to be done. Is it mightier for you to ask for a sale or for the customer to ask you "when can we get started"?
Rather than offering the usual product pitch or price comparison mumbo-jumbo, jump onto the value rocket ship in order to give you an upper hand. So, how can you offer value to your customers? Follow this 9-point guideline:
- Establishing a relationship with the customer
- Ease of use after purchasing the product from you
- Customer is able to increase their productivity and profit
- Availability of service when the customer requires it
- Boost in customer morale after use of product
- Reasonable pricing, not just being the cheapest
- Matching to customer expectations
- Assure the customer that there is no risk involved in making a purchase with you
- Post-sales support
If you include all of these above aspects of making a value proposition to the customer, you are sure to win as a seller.
What Makes a Successful Sales Rep?
There are several books and studies that have attempted to identify vital characteristics of a successful salesperson, but they have not been conclusive. However, many agree on a set of indispensable and disparate skills. Here they are:
- Soft Skills
These are informal abilities that are usually mastered with experience and the ability of connecting with people.
- Building a Relationship – From liaising with customers and gathering referrals, this skill helps the sales rep to accomplish their tasks easily. It involves building a rapport based on trust and a genuine desire to help
- Listening – Listen to understand the customer’s pain points and assess how best you can provide solutions to their problems
- Communication – Don’t just showcase the features of your product. Instead, converse with your customers by telling your product’s story and connect with your customer
- Research – Gather the right information of your prospecting clients and do your homework to engage with the right customers. You should be well-versed with use of CRM tools, social media and other analytical tools to start off
- Critical Thinking - Salesperson have to dissect through heaps of information and derive insight into effective problem-solving skills
- Team Player – There is no one-man army when it comes to sales. The roles and outcomes are dependent on one other for collective success of the business
- Hard Skills
These are formal or technical capacities that are often mastered through courses, training or seminars.
- Product Knowledge – Inadequate knowhow of the product is absolutely unacceptable in the sales world. They should focus on building full knowledge and thereby offer value to the customers
- Presentation and Demos – From Powerpoint, keynote and Prezi they should be well-versed with presentation software to create an effective sales pitch
- Technology – They should also possess knowledge of tools like CRM, document management and workplace productivity software
- Social Media – It’s the era of social selling so it only makes sense to employ social media tools to create greater visibility for your products
- Role-Critical Skills
These are also hard skills that are specific to the sales function.
- Prospecting – Identifying the right leads of customers is the first step of the sales process and therefore this is a staple skill
- Lead Qualification - This skill enables salesperson to assimilate information about a prospect and offer them the right solution
- Negotiation – The art of negotiation is a mandatory skill for any salesperson. You need to establish mutual expectations and benefits between your company and the prospect
- Nurturing Clients – The buyer journey does not end after the purchase and you have to maintain a long-term relationship offering post-sales support
- Other Traits
Some other important and top traits that sales rep must have are as follows
- Self-motivated
- Adaptable
- Open to new ideas
- Goal-oriented
- Responsible
- Passionate
- Empathetic
- Outgoing and Social
Master These Skills and Win
Being a very highly competitive field, the right skills will get you where you want to be. Always keep learning and use online classes to your advantage to develop new skills.
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