Skills Every Salesperson Should Master

Sales is at the basis of the success of all businesses. Even if you don’t have the word ‘sales’ in your job title, chances are your role includes sales. In fact, while you are taking part in team meetings, customer service, conferences, business development, user experience, product management, and much more, you are engaged in the process of sales.

This is why it is important to have a good foundation in sales skills to give you an advantage over your competitors.

Read on for some of the skills that every salesperson should master…

1. Know your product

It is unforgivable for any salesperson to not understand the product they are selling. Thorough product training is essential.

The salesperson needs to be able to explain how the product works in detail, what value it offers, and why it appeals to clients. Deep product knowledge is what separate good reps from bad ones, so make sure you know your products inside out.

2. Develop your strategic prospecting skills

This is not cold-calling. This is when you look for referrals via the connections that you already have, as well as trying to revive Closed-Lost opportunities from the past. You should also ask existing customers for referrals.

3. Learn to build rapport

Some reps have the natural ability to create instant rapport, while others need to work a little harder. One way of setting out to build rapport is to research your prospect in advance, looking for common ground on which to build rapport.

4. Learn how to create a buyer-seller agreement

This is a verbal agreement made at the beginning of the sales process that outlines both side’s expectations. You could say something like this: “Is it alright if I ask you a few questions about your business? I can then do a demonstration of our product to see if it will work for you?”

This will prevent your prospect from feeling ambushed and create a two-way communication process.

5. Listen actively

There’s a difference between hearing and listening, and a very big difference between listening and ‘active’ listening. A sales rep might be comfortable with talking to a prospect but might need to learn to listen actively.

This means strictly focusing on the prospect and what they are saying, as well as asking logical follow-up questions. People know when someone is not listening to them, and most people appreciate someone who is a good listener.

6. Communicate effectively

You might have heard it before: it’s not what you say, but how you say it. If you speak in a monotone which is a struggle for the prospect to follow, you will be doing a poor job. Instead, a salesperson needs to speak clearly, and mirror the prospect’s tone and style of speaking.

This creates rapport and acts to create familiarity between you and the prospective client. Behave like a human being so that your prospect will know that you are interested in talking to them