Negosentro.com | 5 Sales Skills You Should Know as a Salesperson | Sales is a profession that utilizes many interrelated skills, including technology, communication and interpersonal relations. It’s important to be well-rounded if you want to be a salesperson. Here are five sales skills you should know as a salesperson.
1. Presentation
Most people have some experience with public speaking, whether from debate clubs, research presentations or other kinds of practice. However, sales presentations are much more specialized than other forms of public presentation. The key difference is that instead of a grade or constructive criticism, the stakes of your presentation are whether you make the sale. This means there can be much more pressure than in most other types of presentations. Your organization may have training courses or organizations available to help you hone your presentation skills. You may also have the opportunity to shadow a senior salesperson and work with him or her to improve your skills before striking out on your own.
2. Communication
This skill affects all other sales skills you can hone. Without communication, you can’t give a presentation, negotiate or explain how products work. You must be able to gauge the sales situation you’re in and communicate appropriately. Your communication while presenting your pitch may need to be more formal than your communication while making a sales call or doing a question and answer session. You also need to be able to build relationships with your clients and with other salespeople, hone your emotional intelligence in order to get more positive reactions from clients and be able to craft a story to engage your audience.
3. Negotiation
One of the final steps of making a sale, negotiation may not be thought of as an important skill for all sales. For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, you won’t be haggling with the customer like you would if you sell cars. However, there is more nuance to negotiation than that. You need to know how your pricing compares to others in your market and what kind of discounts you can potentially offer. You should also know whether your client is an existing customer or a potential customer, as that can affect your negotiation strategy.
4. Product Knowledge
Probably the most vital skill you need to have as a salesperson is an encyclopedic knowledge of the products or services you’re selling and your organization’s niche in the market. Without this knowledge, your pitches and presentations may be bland, meandering or unable to inspire confidence in your product for your audience. Establishing a reputation as a product matter expert will prove to your audience that you know what you’re talking about and will make you more likely to be able to answer questions clients may have, even curveball questions. You should take advantage of any product training sessions or workshops your organization offers. For example, if you work for a company that makes cameras, learn how to use the cameras and how they work so you can incorporate that knowledge into your sales pitches.
5. Sales Tool Use
As with many professions, there are new tools and technologies becoming available for salespeople to use seemingly every day. Different organizations will use different tools, of course, but it can be very beneficial to familiarize yourself with various types of tools. For example, while each organization will have a different data analytics tool, each tool has similar ways to perform the same function, so understanding the basics will allow you to adapt. Once you start a sales job, make sure you have access to training on each tool the sales department uses, both before you start and on the job. For example, you may have a sales route planner to help you keep your trips organized and keep you on track, but if you don’t familiarize yourself with the software, it will probably just hinder your work instead of assisting you, so get someone to walk you through how to use the planner before you head out.
There are many techniques that are useful in sales. If you do your best to become proficient in them, you’ll vastly improve your caliber as a salesperson.
