Would you like to become a true sales professional? Get a huge portfolio of clients and have the companies in the sector raffle off your hiring? Or maybe become an independent sales consultant that large companies turn to to solve their great dilemmas of marketing and organizing their sales force? If so, do not doubt that it will be necessary to fully exploit your sales skills, as well as develop others that you think you do not have and polish the odd little flaw that you always have.
As for the defects to polish… what are we going to tell you that you haven’t already been told? Surely you yourself know which are those facets in which you limp a little. Well then, remember that we are not born learned, skills are learned and improved with effort and dedication, so… it is time to get down to work! make one list of reviews that you have received throughout your career from colleagues, clients, bosses and subordinates, do not be ashamed of it because we have all received this type of comments, analyze it and identify in it those elements that you have to improve to achieve your dream of Be a great sales professional.
Once you have analyzed your particular case, review these 10 Skills Every Sales Professional Should Have:
- Passion for the work
- Planning, organization and methodology
- Creativity
- Persistence and desire to excel
- Empathy
- Modesty
- Transparency
- Negotiation
- Communication
- Proactivity and autonomy
The new skills of the sales professional
With the advent of new technologies and the change in the sales landscape, people have already begun to talk about new skills for the sales professional. For example John Jantsch, in his book The Commitment Engine: Making Work Worth It talks about 6 new skills:
community building
Generating a community, focusing attention on the education of those who make purchasing decisions, at all levels, is the new long-term strategy that new sales professionals must be able to propose. Only by giving value to the community will the final sales objective be achieved, but always putting customer satisfaction before selling for the sake of selling.
Lead definition
A sales professional must be able to study the market and go after new potential customers, analyze their behavior and establish the ideal interaction patterns to achieve sales objectives. In other words, today a sales professional must have extensive knowledge of marketing because we are increasingly facing a more heterogeneous and changing public, for which we will have to adapt our sales strategies practically individually.
Difference-making
You make a difference to connect with specific market niches, showing passion for the sector, company and brand, are elements that will make the target audience feel more attracted to that brand than to any other of the competition. Salespeople who are truly passionate about what they sell, beyond their economic interests, act as a bridge between brand and client.
Channel guidance
The sales professional must know how to guide their potential clients through the sales funnel and its 7 channels (know, like, trust, try, buy, repeat and refer). This is how happy customers are achieved as a completely natural result of the sale.
Reputation building
The reputation of the brand is in the hands of each and every one of its salespeople and communication channels. For this reason, it is essential to take care of it at all times and communicate, controlling as sellers all kinds of communication channels on and offline, indistinctly.
Inbound attracting
That the sales professional himself has a well-cared image on the Internet is an added value that today has become fundamental and essential to stand out from other professional colleagues. A website and/or blog where the professional’s interest, knowledge and passion for the sector is shown, as well as careful social networks through which they can interact with clients, suppliers, colleagues and other professionals in the sector, are two elements that can clearly mark the difference between two professionals.
How about these skills that every sales professional should have? Do you think you gather many, some or few of them? Remember once again that skills are learned, so don’t hesitate to develop those you lack to become the sales professional you want to be. And once you have them all… remember to keep them up to date! You can always improve more 😉