The 10 Top Skills You Need To Excel In Sales

This is a guest post by Darya Jandossova Troncoso of MarketSplash.

Within the competitive world of sales, a sales person and sales teams need to possess a strong set of applicable skills that can help achieve professionalism and experience when dealing with customers and prospects. 

Along with these skills, the use of sales products like Salesforce and its alternatives is especially on the rise.

The skills below are the most vital for a salesperson in order to gain consistent experience and grow their career. 

1. Effective Communication 

Communication is an essential part of selling. It helps you understand what your customer wants and needs. You need to be able to ask questions and listen carefully to get the information you need.

You need to listen carefully to what your customers or potential customers say and understand how they feel about your products and services. This helps you create a positive relationship with your customers.

2. Confidence

If you want to be successful at selling, you need to believe in yourself. You should not doubt your ability to sell or think that you cannot make a sale.

Salespeople need confidence because sometimes they are selling something intangible, such as ideas, solutions, or services. They must be able to persuade others to buy from them. Confidence helps a strong sales team communicate effectively with customers and prospective customers. 

3. Flexibility 

Flexibility is important in sales because you need to be able to adapt to different situations. If you don't know how to do something, then learn from others who have done it before you. The best way to learn is through trial and error. 

Salespeople who are flexible will adapt to changing circumstances and respond well to new challenges. They’re able to think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to problems. 

4. Time Management

Salespeople who are able to manage their time well tend to be more successful than those who don’t.

This is because they know what tasks need to be done and when, so they can focus on the most important things first. They also know which tasks take priority over others, so they can plan ahead and avoid being distracted by lower priority tasks.

The same goes for sales managers and leaders. Time management skills are important because they allow you to focus on the work that matters most. 

5. Active Listening

Active listening involves paying attention to what someone else says without interrupting them. It’s a skill that many people struggle with, but it’s one that will pay off if you want to build strong relationships with clients. 

Active listening is one of the most important skills you can develop as a salesperson. It helps you understand what customers want and need, and it gives you the confidence to ask the right questions.

6. Prospecting

Prospecting in sales is an activity that involves identifying potential customers for a product or service. Sales and marketing are aligned throughout prospecting lead generation processes. 

Prospecting is one of the most important skills in sales. It’s not just about cold calling, it’s about understanding what motivates customers to buy from you. Prospecting is one of the most effective ways to find new business opportunities. 

7. Technologically savvy

Salespeople are always looking for ways to improve their performance. Technology can help them with this task by providing tools that make their jobs easier.

For example, sales automation tool can automate repetitive tasks like email follow-ups, while CRM systems provide real-time access to customer information. 

A salesperson needs to understand how these systems work and how to gather important analytics and other information from them to improve their knowledge of customers, and possibly new customers. 

8. Storytelling

Storytelling is a powerful tool for any business. It can be used to build trust, increase engagement, and drive conversions. Salespeople who are able to tell stories effectively are more likely to close deals with customers. 

Storytelling can be an effective way to engage with prospects and customers. It helps sales teams understand their needs and motivations, and it gives them something to relate to. Salespeople can also use stories to help empathize with their audience and build trust. 

9. Negotiation Skills

Negotiation is one of the key skills required by any salesperson. It is also one of the most difficult ones to master.

Salespeople are often faced with situations where they have to convince their customers to accept lower prices or better terms. Negotiation is a type of skill needed by any salesperson and can contribute to positive or negative buyer relations in the future. 

Mastering this skill takes time and experience and a strong sales team or salesperson understands that negotiation skills are key to having a competitive edge in the sales world. 

10. Collaboration 

Sales teams are often made up of individuals from different departments within an organisation. This means they may not always understand each other’s roles and responsibilities. Collaborative selling is important in keeping sales functions and teams working well together. 

It’s important that team members collaborate well together so they can share information and resources efficiently, and this will benefit the entire team.

A strong sales team knows how to collaborate and understands that although sales is a competitive business environment, teamwork can assist them with reaching career goals and business development goals. It can also create better relations within sales teams, enhance company culture, and ensure communication with customers is done more effectively.

About the author

Darya Jandossova Troncoso is a photographer, artist, and writer working on her first novel and managing a digital marketing blog - MarketSplash. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, creating art, and learning everything there is to know about digital marketing.