Have you ever asked yourself, “What’s the best way to sell a product?” As a sales professional, you know that the top selling products are the ones that are easy to sell. In other words, they are products that are not only appealing, but also easy to sell. For this reason, you know that it is crucial that every sales person develops the right skills and traits before they can become a top performer in any sales role.
As a salesperson, you will have to deal with different situations and personalities. While some of these events are normal and common, you should always prepare yourself for possible scenarios. In this post, I will highlight the top 30 to 40 sales skills you should know so you can become a successful salesperson.
If you want to succeed in sales, you need to learn how to be a good listener. Listening to others builds rapport with customers, and helps you avoid making unhelpful sales mistakes. You also need to be resilient and confident; if you fall into the trap of falling into the unconscious habit of assuming you know what’s best for other people, you’ll just come across as stubborn and insensitive. However, this is not the only way to get customers to buy. You should also be confident in what you say, and have the confidence not to settle for second best.. Read more about top sales skills 2024 and let us know what you think.
Do you wish to improve your sales skills? And how about beefing up your sales CV so you can get a higher-paying sales job with more benefits? You’ll need to master a variety of hard and soft sales abilities, as well as be able to demonstrate improved income as a result of your efforts.
If you want to reach full sales enlightenment, we’ve prepared a list of the top 30 sales representative abilities you need to learn.
But first, while we have a generalized notion of “selling,” modern sales organizations have grown in complexity and have evolved into a roster of functions — such as marketing, business development, closing, account management, and customer success — that each require unique specialized skill sets for their respective teams.
Contents Table of Contents
What Are Sales Hard Skills? What Are the Characteristics of a Successful Salesperson? What Makes a Great Sales Representative? What should I include on my resume in terms of sales skills?
For Sales Professionals, Soft Skills
For salespeople, it’s important to have a set of hard skills.
For Sales Professionals, Role-Critical Skills
Successful Salespeople’s Top Qualities
Salespeople will never be replaced by technology. Master These Sales Skills & Get Ahead of The Competition How to List Sales Experience on a Resume
What Are Sales Hard Skills?
Hard skills for sales include role-critical talents that are tailored for a particular job, as well as formal and technical abilities acquired through academic institutions, businesses, seminars, mentorships, and training courses. Soft skills, on the other hand, are acquired talents that are acquired over the course of a person’s life and generally relate to a person’s ability to do routine activities and interact with others.
What Are the Characteristics of a Successful Salesperson?
These include a person’s mentality, attitude, and behavioral inclinations in general. While the lines between abilities and characteristics may get blurry at times, we strive to avoid these situations in order to preserve clarity. We’ve compiled a list of the top sales talents and key characteristics we think salespeople need to succeed in their professions and surpass their competitors.
What Makes a Great Sales Representative?
Many books, articles, and studies have tried to define the qualities of a high-performing salesman, but no agreement has emerged. Many people agree on a few essential abilities yet suggest a variety of skill sets and desirable characteristics. We identified at least 30 common denominators and compiled a list of the sales abilities you’ll need to learn — and include on your resume if you want to advance in your sales profession.
What should I include on my resume in terms of sales skills?
We’ve put up a comprehensive list of the 30+ sales abilities you’ll need to learn in order to become a top performer who produces consistent income and rise to the top of the sales field’s totem pole.
For Sales Professionals, Soft Skills
1) Relationship development
Any salesperson’s ability to positively engage others, establish long-term connections, and form mutually beneficial networks will come in handy on a regular basis. Relationship-building abilities allow a salesperson to complete duties more quickly and make better-informed choices, from visiting customers and collecting recommendations to seeking advice and accomplishing team goals. Building relationships requires trust, rapport, and a genuine desire to assist others. Don’t assume it’s simply a load of fluff since connection-building leads to relationship selling. If you play your cards correctly, this may lead to opportunities!
2) Knowing When To Stop Talking
That’s correct. Shut up and pay attention! Listening is the most effective way to understand where customers are coming from, what their problems are, and how you can help them solve their problems. A salesperson’s listening abilities may jeopardize other phases of the sales process, such as lead qualifying and customer-solution matching.
3) Effective time management
While money is traded and used in the selling process, something much more valuable is exchanged and utilized along the way: time. Your client’s time is valuable. Yours is as well. The capacity of a salesman to manage time increases productivity and cost efficiency, providing the conditions for great performance. This soft talent, when combined with software automation, analytics, and other technology, generates a substantial return on investment for any company.
Pro Tip: Learn how to utilize these Chrome Extensions to increase sales productivity and efficiency and become a Google Chrome powerhouse!
4) Telling stories
Selling is not just demonstrating your product’s qualities, but also persuading consumers that these features will solve their problems or benefit them in some manner. In most instances, you’ll need to convey your message via a narrative that connects strongly with your target audience. Anyone considering a career in sales should be aware that a lack of basic communication skills is a major red flag.
5) Information gathering and research
Accurate information on clients, industry trends, competitor solutions, and other business data allows a salesperson to make better choices, interact with the appropriate customers more effectively, and complete high-value deals faster. Your CRM, competitive analysis tools, competitor websites, and social media are all excellent locations to start your investigation.
6) Problem-Solving/Critical Thinking
However, having a plethora of data is insufficient to get you anywhere. To process information, evaluate different facts, and filter through the jumble for important pieces of knowledge that will help you develop solutions for issues your prospects or team are facing, you’ll still require critical thinking abilities.
7) Technological Affinity
At the very least, tomorrow’s salespeople must be at ease using digital gadgets. This makes it simpler to adapt to upcoming technology breakthroughs in AI, big data, and other areas that will change the way companies operate and brands interact with their consumers.
8) Cooperation
Sales teams are seldom made up of a lone wolf. As a result, sales professionals must be able to match their own objectives, processes, and schedules with those of others. Sales teams follow a game plan that allocates various responsibilities to members and demands varied results. For collective success, the majority of these responsibilities and outcomes are interdependent. As a result, a lack of collaboration and flat leadership will almost certainly result in unfavorable results and failed goals.
For salespeople, it’s important to have a set of hard skills.
9) Product Expertise
In the realm of sales, having little product expertise is unacceptable. Any salesperson who goes out into the field without a thorough understanding of the product’s features, advantages, and flaws will struggle to make successful presentations and link client requirements to the best solutions available. High sales success requires a thorough understanding of the product. Furthermore, showing that you are a subject matter expert builds client confidence.
10) Strong Knowledge of Common Business Software & Sales Enablement Solutions
Through CRMs, document management software, and office productivity applications, sales operations and sales enablement technology makes selling simpler and more lucrative. Salespeople should get familiar with the software, platforms, and other tools used by their companies to manage operations and engage customers.
11) Professional Communication
Your ability to engage prospects during a sales discussion or articulate an idea may still be improved for today’s business environment. Salespeople must understand the best practices in both oral (phone calls, presentations, pitches, etc.) and written (proposals, memoranda, referral requests, etc.) communications. This will help you interact with customers more effectively and have a good influence on how they view your brand.
12) Client Interaction
People skills and the ability to communicate effectively are prerequisites. There is a science and a technique for developing and sustaining great client engagement for high-performing sales people. There are sales call tactics that can help you establish rapport with a prospect, research methods that can help you get important information about a customer, and communication skills that can help you cultivate long-term connections with customers, for example.
13) Paying Attention
There are various degrees of listening, but when it comes to your consumers, you need to go all out. In sales, active listening requires concentration as well as occasional/follow-up questions. These enable you to not only get full and accurate information from your customers, but also to establish connection with them and show that you really care about their problems.
14) Conflict Resolution and Management
Expect to deal with complaints, disputes, and rejections on a frequent basis in sales. Clients, colleagues, management, and other stakeholders may all be involved in these events. Because crises may happen at any moment, salespeople must understand and practice how to address objections and resolve disputes in advance. These events have been known to be used by high-performing salespeople as a platform for converting new prospects or presenting a workplace solution to management.
15) Sales Presentations & Sales Demos
In the beginning, there was PowerPoint. Now you have Prezi, Keynote, and other presentation software. Whatever tool you use, being good at presenting and public speaking is a great skill to have in the world of selling. Excellent sales demos & presentations convey subject mastery and build trust around your brand. For B2B sellers, conducting a lively and compelling demo is also a requisite skill.
16) Social Media & Social Selling
Because social media has become such an important part of our digital lives, many businesses now hire social media managers to manage their online presence. You don’t need to be as technically savvy as these experts, but you should be familiar with social media. Knowing the best techniques and tactics for engaging prospects on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms can aid your lead generation and conversion efforts for B2B sellers.
For Sales Professionals, Role-Critical Skills
Prospecting (number 17)
Prospecting allows you to fill your customer pipeline with people and companies that may be interested in your product. At this point, the selling process begins in earnest. This is a necessary ability for many professions, but it is more essential for salespeople. 18) Qualification of the Lead
This ability enables salespeople to collect and evaluate information about a prospect in order to determine whether existing solutions or product characteristics directly address the pain points of the prospect. It may also show if your product and the prospect are mismatched, enabling sellers to save time by sending the prospect to other solution providers and concentrating on the next lead.
Contract Negotiation (19)
Selling is essentially a negotiation. Negotiation abilities may be categorized in any of the categories we mentioned because of their applicability in so many different fields. Closers, account executives, and managers, in particular, need to know how to negotiate contracts. Establishing an environment in which your business and your prospect may define common expectations and advantages is an important part of contract negotiation.
PODCAST 20: How to Manage the Sales Negotiation Process Like a Pro is RELATED.
20) Policy Understanding
Sales directors, managers, and other executives must be well-versed in their company’s governance and policy problems. Policies are linked to a company’s vision and strategic objectives, and they serve as guidelines for sales teams to follow.
Referral Marketing (number 21)
One great method to keep your pipeline humming with fresh leads is to collect quality recommendations. This is very essential for salespeople.
22) Closing Techniques
This ability may possibly encapsulate the essence of selling, capturing the moment when a prospect fully understands, accepts, and buys (literally) your product’s reasoning. Closing sales transactions should be a standard practice throughout the sales organization, but in bigger organizations, the job of closing is frequently delegated to more senior sales representatives and account directors.
23) Customer Success (also known as Client Nurturing)
Many companies have realized that closing a deal does not always mean the buyer journey is over. You may still provide extra value and create new revenue with current clients, depending on your product or service. The key is to treat your paying clients like VIPs and offer great customer service. While some savvy sales companies delegate post-sale relationship management duties to account managers or customer success leaders, separate customer success teams do most of the hard work.
Successful Salespeople’s Top Qualities
24) Ambitious/Self-motivated
Self-driven and ambitious salespeople, whether they call it grit or toughness, can work under pressure, accept rejection graciously, bounce back, and yet outperform their less motivated colleagues.
25) Capable of being trained, coached, and open to new ideas
Sales are changing, and sellers who refuse to abandon outdated methods will be left behind. To thrive in the business landscapes of the future, salespeople must embrace change and be ready to learn new ways of doing things.
26) Versatile
Not just in nature, but also in the world of sales, adaptability is a survival strategy. The tools have evolved, as have the demographics of the customers. There are new ways to interact with people. To reach to their goals, smart salespeople understand that they must navigate the currents of change.
27) Companionable
The days of lone wolves are long gone. Teamwork and cooperation will be the driving forces behind tomorrow’s workplaces and sales transactions. At all levels, smart sellers must be social.
28) Accountable
Top salespeople admit to making errors and taking responsibility for their results. When things don’t go as planned, they never offer excuses or point fingers.
Goal-oriented (n.d.) (n.d.) (n.d.)
Excellent salespeople are inspired by the belief that:
- There is a lofty objective to be achieved.
- It is a goal that can be achieved.
- It feels wonderful to have accomplished it.
- At the finish line, there is a prize.
Given this mentality, many sellers will go to great lengths to achieve or exceed their goals.
The key to developing highly motivated, goal-oriented sales representatives is to have excellent sales leadership.
30) Compassionate
Buyers are almost always the focus of successful sellers. They may be proud of their goods, but they care more about assisting consumers in resolving issues. These salespeople have a high level of empathy, which allows them to comprehend their customers’ perspectives and pinpoint their problem spots.
31) Enthusiastic About Selling
A passion for selling, maybe even more powerful than grit or ambition, may be the most important characteristic for salespeople. Doing what you like will naturally motivate you to succeed in your profession and achieve continuous success.
Check out the Complete List of Sales Skills and Traits Infographic if you’re a visual learner.
Technology Will Never Replace Sales Talent
Many businesses are boosting their branding and marketing efforts by using technological enablers like CRMs, sales automation, and data analytics.
While technology has a beneficial effect, every sales organization’s most important asset is its people. Talent is what keeps pipelines humming and revenues flowing in, from sales representatives to sales coaches.
Master These Sales Skills & Get Ahead of The Competition
Rival companies compete to outshine each other in the eyes of their customers in the area of sales. Professionals in sales companies compete as teams or as individuals. Sellers may better evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and take corrective steps to strengthen their credentials as gamification becomes more enjoyable and performance indicators become more precise.
You can figure out which sales abilities you need to acquire or practice in order to advance. The proper selling abilities on your sales CV can help you progress in your profession and reach the next level of success.
RELATED: How to Improve Your Sales Skills (Essential Guide and 4-Step Checklist)
Learning new abilities may be done in a variety of ways. You may go through your company’s knowledge base or see if any of the forthcoming training sessions are appropriate for you. There may even be a mentor who is ready to help you get in shape. You may also enroll in a traditional college or take an online course.
Whatever path you choose, the main thing is that you should never stop learning!
How to List Sales Skills On Your Resume
There are a few approaches to include sales abilities on your resume for your next sales position. Basically, you may include them into your professional experience section, particularly when discussing your prior job’s sales achievements. Alternatively, you may establish a separate “Skills” section and list your selling abilities there.
Reflect on your previous experience and ask your peers to help you determine your greatest abilities, or the ones you want to emphasize the most. There are a few options for doing so:
- If you earned any rewards, make a note of what talents you used to get them.
- Inquire of previous colleagues about qualities you may not have seen in yourself.
- Speak with other salespeople, especially in the area you’re interested in.
Indeed offers a fantastic and easy-to-read advice on how to utilize your sales talents to your advantage while searching for new possibilities in your sales CV. Take a look!
Also available on Medium.
No matter what industry you work in, the one thing your sales rep should never overlook is the need to be a great listener. This is because great listening skills can help you build a rapport and form a lasting relationship with your client.. Read more about skills for sales resume and let us know what you think.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What personality traits make a good salesperson?
A good salesperson is a person who is able to work well with others and has the ability to be persuasive. They are also able to be persistent in their efforts, as they will not give up easily.
What are the most important sales skills?
The most important sales skills are being able to listen and understand your customer. It is also important to be able to identify the needs of your customer, and then provide a solution that will meet those needs.
What skills do you believe make for a great sales representative?
Sales representatives are typically people who have a strong work ethic, good communication skills, and the ability to sell their product or service.
Related Tags
This article broadly covered the following related topics:
- sales skills
- how to be a good salesman
- what makes a good salesman
- 10 qualities of a good salesman
- skills of a salesperson