2.1 The Essential Sales Skills that Everybody Needs

Let's begin by looking at the essential sales skills that everybody needs if they want to make a success of a career within this industry no matter what type of sales we are talking about.It makes sense to examine the required skill set as it allows you to determine which areas you are perhaps lacking in alongside those that you believe already form a key basis of not only your sales approach, but even in your natural personality.

The problem here is that there are so many different people, or sales experts, who all claim they understand the different skills that every single salesperson should know. They think that they have the secret to the perfect salesperson, but here is an honest opinion. Most of what they say is actually the same as other people who also believe they have the answer to all of your sales questions.

So, keeping that in mind, the key sales skills are as follows:

1. Understanding the art of prospecting

The art of prospecting means you are putting yourself out there in order to find those deals rather than just sitting back and hoping that people will come to you. If you believe that this is the way forward, then stop right now and get out of sales as it is not the industry for you. Instead, a good salesperson will be willing to chase up every single opportunity in order to network, make connections, and even just get their name out there as being the person to approach if anybody is looking for the products or services that you have to offer. A quiet salesperson is going to fail more often than not, whereas the individual who understands the need to prospect and throw out a few fishing hooks to try and catch some bait will succeed more often than they will fail.

2. The art of questioning

Now, when we talk about asking questions we have to differentiate between just asking a question, and asking something that has real value. Too many salespeople who are at the lower end of their industry are floundering there simply because they ask the wrong questions or even ask things that are actually pretty much pointless. Avoid doing this because it only frustrates the potential buyer as they are not going to think too highly of you if they feel you are wasting their time with some of the things you are asking. Be sensible, be serious with your questions. Ask people what they wish to achieve. What are your problems? What are your needs?

3. The art of listening

A good salesperson is better at listening and understanding what they hear than they are at talking. Indeed, a good salesperson will do very little talking as they will be able to provide the buyer with quality sales talk rather than quantity.We mentioned in the previous module how people have a need to be understood and that is where listening comes into its own.

A good salesperson will listen to what the buyer has to say and then fit their sales pitch around what they hear. If you understand how to listen correctly, and follow what was said, then you will discover that the buyer is going to respond in a more favourable manner simply because you give them the answers they were seeking and it shows you are actually human and are not just prepared to give them a pre-rehearsed sales pitch.

4. The art of the presentation

Obviously the way you put across your sales pitch is going to be extremely important as it can make or break the entire deal, but at the same time there is no way that you should ever come across as being robotic. In addition, the way you deliver your presentation will also play a role, as does the amount of content you have in it.

One problem so many salespeople have is they feel that there is such a need to include as much information as possible in their pitch and they cram in everything they can think of. This is the completely wrong thing to do because all it does is confuse the buyer and if they are left with more questions than answers, then your chances of completing the deal are very low indeed.

5. The art of building a relationship

If you thought that a salesperson only had to build a relationship if they were going to deal with the buyer more than once, then think again. Instead, the buyer has to feel as if there is some kind of rapport pretty much from the get go, as this will help to provide them with some sense of being treated as a person rather than just a statistic. However, there is a real skill in building this relationship as the salesperson has to be able to identify areas where they could create some common ground and then work on those areas to help relax the buyer to such an extent that they almost feel compelled to complete the purchase.

6. The art of dealing with objections

Dealing with objections is undoubtedly an extremely useful skill for a salesperson to be able to master because they are going to have to deal with this on a daily basis. It is never a good idea for them to develop a sense of frustration at there being objections and instead they must show empathy and an understanding of the concerns that the individual has about the product or service. Indeed, the way in which you handle these objections will lead to it being more likely that you will manage to turn the situation around and benefit from it by being able to complete the sale.

However, in order to do this it is important that you are able to show empathy towards them for their objection or issues they are having. After this, there is a need for you to clarify what the problem is because this ties in with the ability to understand what is going on. Finally, you have to also show that there is a solution available to them and how you deal with each part is going to ultimately play a role in how you are perceived by the buyer.

7. The art of persistence

People already appreciate that a good salesperson is also very persistent and they are unlikely to ever let go of a possible sale and can chase after it until the avenue is entirely exhausted. However, there is more of a need for you to understand the difference between being persistent and not stalking somebody as that will clearly work against you. The key to all of this is making sure you are able to stay in the mind of the potential buyer and just making sure you have covered every eventuality that will ultimately lead to you hopefully sealing the deal.

8. The art of organising

A bad salesperson is going to be poorly organised and this comes in various forms. They will be poorly organised with their time, what they are going to say, and also just in their entire approach to the sales pitch. The problem here is that this comes across as being poor form on your part and it hardly builds confidence in you if you are coming across as being erratic and unprepared.

You need to have a plan. You need to know what you are doing with your time from start to finish. You need to understand how you can juggle the various aspects of your day to make sure that you can achieve your targets each day rather than rushing around and wondering what to do next.

9. The art of staying focused

Finally, there is a major need for you to be focused on what you are doing because a lack of focus will lead to you missing out on a number of opportunities and, as a result, there will always be missed sales. Being focused means being able to concentrate and when this happens your mind will be more razor sharp, leading to the likelihood of converting that sales possibility into something more concrete.

There is no doubt these skills are probably not the list that you would expect to see, but they do form the basis of every pitch you will ever give to a potential buyer. However, as you browse through them you can see how they are not necessarily things that everybody has naturally and there is a need to seek to develop them in order to improve yourself and the results you can then achieve as a salesperson.

2.2 How to Develop those Skills by Yourself

We have just discussed the different sales skills we believe every successful salesperson needs no matter what products they are dealing with or the industry they are working in.However, as we also stated in the earlier section, you have probably now identified certain areas where you feel you are lacking and it is now time for us to examine how you can develop those skills on your own.

There are various ways in which you can do this, but the key is to not only practise, but to be willing to accept criticism from those who are giving you honest feedback. It is always best for you to practise your sales pitch with people who know you and who you trust with what they say. You are going to hear some harsh things at times, but it allows you to fine tune your pitch and the buying public will respond in a much better way.

There are also a number of options for you to develop individual skills you believe you are lacking in. Indeed, some salespeople will go on courses to improve their confidence and self-belief. They will study psychology to be able to put what they learn into their sales pitch. Others will seek to improve their understanding of body language or even just how to talk to people since that does play a major role in how you come across. Basically, you have to seek out individual courses or avenues to explore that are directly connected to the particular skill simply because of the way in which it has a direct impact on your ability to complete the sale at the end of the day.

Furthermore, this is also partly the reason why there are sales managers and also sales training. However, the problem with this is that companies will focus on teaching new salespeople about the products they are selling and the benefits associated with them. This is only to help the company in question, but the difficulty is that they do not actually focus on the skills themselves which will help them to achieve the end result, which is closing the deal.

In other words, it is going to be up to you to develop those skills and one additional way is to goahead and learn from those who are experienced in the industry. Having a sales mentor will allow you to receive some criticism on the job and it is always better to have an individual hold your hand through the early days until you get on your feet.

FACT

Basic starting salaries for Sales Representatives can be between £15,000 and £20,000 a year, plus commission. With experience this can rise to between £35,000 and £50,000 or more.

Source:nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk

2.3 Pitfalls you Need to Avoid

As you have just seen, being able to develop those skills is not going to be as difficult as you perhaps thought and that in itself is a blessing.However, complacency can be an issue as it can ultimately lead to you coming across a number of pitfalls which are best to be avoided. The only problem is that those individuals who are new to sales will not even be aware of the pitfalls themselves and will merrily stumble into them blindly.

The first point to mention is that there is a need for you to not become over confident in what you are doing because over confidence will ultimately lead to people getting the wrong impression. If you thought a good salesperson had to be brash and in your face, then this is not true because people actually turn against it and your ability to convert it into a sale will diminish. People hate those who are overconfident and if you feel this does not include the hard sale, then think again. The hard sale is actually hated more than those people who are overconfident, so avoid both at all

times.

Furthermore, another pitfall is when you become too obsessed with yourself that you are unable to listen to what the potential buyer is saying. The inability to listen will only serve the purpose of getting the backs up of the buyer and it becomes all too easy for you to lose a sale you almost had sewn up. Some salespeople are unable to open their ears and really pay attention to what the individual is saying and instead they only hear what they want to. This is going to destroy your ability to complete the sale and instead you will only irritate individuals and turn them against you making your job so much harder than it has to be.

You must also be honest with yourself and understand that there is the need to accept criticism. People are going to be objective and tell you what they think, but at times this is not going to be nice words to hear. You have to learn how to avoid letting this get to you because both frustration and depression will severely damage your ability to get the deal closed.

The main pitfalls are purely going to be connected to how you are as a person and the way in which you handle the situations. You cannot become too absorbed with yourself even though you are indeed your best asset.

2.4 The Difference it will Make to your Sales Record

Finally, in order to really stress the importance of seeking to improve your sales skills, we have to show the difference it can make to your sales record as a form of inspiration.

By developing these key skills, which we will go into in more detail later on in the course, there is no doubt that you are going to see an increase in the number of sales you are going to achieve. However, the complete opposite is also true and the key is for you to keep track of what is going on and then decide if you have to make changes to what you are doing or if you just need to keep on repeating what you are doing due to the success you are having.

This goes back to the point regarding being organised, as you have to be aware of your own progress and the areas where you are perhaps still lacking somewhat and really need to up your game. Remember that there is no such thing as a perfect salesperson, as even those at the top are still looking to see where they can improve due to their desire to reduce the number of rejections or failed sales they get even though they may win a lot more than they lose.

Being brutally honest with yourself and your own personal skills will ultimately lead to having a direct impact on your salary at the end of the month.In other words, you need to be on top of things or else you are going to find yourself making a number of wrong decisions. However, there is also the need for you to understand that everybody does make mistakes and it is going to be a case of how you handle those mistakes that makes the difference between a good and bad salesperson.