Sales skills or the art of selling! People consider sales skills to be second-class.
Most of us might have frowned when people tried to sell their products to us. Exactly! People frown on sales because it seems “Pushy” or “Scammy”.
A sales career is persuading customers to buy items and services by emphasizing the benefits of doing so. Sales is a sensible and exciting career choice for everyone entering the job market because salespeople can expand their careers depending on their particular interests and ideal lifestyle.
Have you thought of what skills you need in sales to boost your career? Like, what actually matters!
I’ve been doing sales for the past 6 and a half years and here’s what I have learned from sales that you can use as a super-power. These are, according to me, ABC of sales.
Sales skills as a super-power
If you are a person who is considering a career in sales, these are certain things that you must understand.
Learning by doing
As for me, I believe there’s no skill more important than sales. Many people believe that selling is an innate ability that cannot be taught. You don’t get to learn sales in school.
Sales is a skill that can be learnt only by doing it, rather than learning from the books. You may read a thousand books or blogs on sales, but when you start selling, the game changes.
Being in sales, I have understood that sales is about being empathetic and observing. In sales, you have to observe your audience, understand their problems, providing a solution by being empathetic. By being empathetic, what I mean is experiencing their problem by putting yourself in their shoes.
You learn with each customer, and the art of selling can be mastered only when you do it. You learn as you do!
You buy or sell always
You are selling in every conversation you make to people or yourself. Either you’re buying an idea or selling it. Each conversation leads you to buy something or sell something, be it an idea, a product or service.
Your communication skills does not mean just knowing to understand or speak in sales, rather it translates to how you take the conversation forward eventually leading to sales. So, the fact is we are selling our services, products, ideas and whatnot every single moment through not just words, but through actions and gestures too.
At this point, I am reminded of a quote:
“ You can always buy something in English, but you can’t always sell something in English.”
Problem, Solution, Guidance
It’s something everyone is probably bored of hearing, for every problem there is a solution. Yes, you can figure out a solution. But there is something in between the problem and the solution, which is the question of how you find your way to the solution.
When it comes to sales calls or demos, you see a doctor and coach at the same time in a salesperson. The doctor part of the salesperson understands the problem statement and finds the solution. The coach part of the salesperson is to guide the prospects through success.
Modern Selling aka Facilitating
In modern sales, you are not selling rather facilitating. People can find most of the information online.
Everyone nowadays is looking at the reviews, testimonials, ratings, etc., before buying something. Also, people are knowledgeable about the products as well.
Your job as a salesperson is to help them choose the right product, which could be yours. This makes sales a multi-faceted process as selling includes customer service, research, marketing, updating, etc.
Building Trust
One thing that I have noticed is that people do not trust salespersons. And for this reason, a salesperson has to go an extra mile to build trust with the customer. And this can be done by valuing the customer.
How do you build trust? By being honest and building a rapport.
You build trust by researching everything before the call and after. That's not all, you can also build trust by being the product expert. Not many can do that. You should study what you are going to sell and know all aspects about it, both pros and cons.
You tell the story of your customer
A salesperson should understand that they are a storyteller, not someone who takes orders. You, as a salesperson, have to tell a story that emotionally hooks with the needs of the prospects. You present your product that fits as a solution that makes the customer a hero in the story.
For example, take the infamous ‘sell me this pen’ scene from the movie Wolf of Wallstreet. Everyone must have understood about supply and demand.
But have you noticed that there is a story created? The demand is the story of the customer created by the supplier, who is the storyteller.
Sales is not about discounts
Sales is about articulating value, not offering discounts. Only offer discounts when you have a long-term deal and that could be retainer.
When engaging with prospects, value selling is one of the more customer-centric ways salespeople may use. It is a concept based solely on "consumer satisfaction." If you want to make the most of the method, start with empathy, think about your prospect's needs holistically, listen intently, and take an advisory role in the process.
Discounting may appear to be a fantastic approach to boost conversion rates and sales, but it actually drains your profits and tarnishes your brand. Increasing the value your consumer receives rather than lowering the cost of your goods is a better way to encourage sales.
Don’t say ‘Yes’ to everything
Yes, you read it right! Don’t say ‘Yes!’ Disqualify hard. Don’t be greedy and keep saying yes to everything.
The wrong use-case fit customer will always be an unhappy customer. Moreover, they are harder to support and a bad referral later on. Bad fit customers also give negative reviews/feedback which could be bad for the business.
Need Analysis
Need analysis is where you win. If you can describe their problems better than your customers can, they will assume you have the best solution.
By providing your customers insights into immediate needs, future needs, you can not gain the trust of your customer and can close the deals.
Your prospects should do the talking, and you connect the dots.
Smart Follow Ups
The ultimate purpose of post-sale follow-up is to increase sales. Customers are significantly more inclined to buy from someone they know and trust, who appreciates their business and gives good service.
Stop using phrases like “just checking in,” “circling back,” “Bumping this up.” Instead, find genuinely interesting information to start the conversation.
Wrapping Up
Learn to emulate the best salespeople, because honestly, you can never be good enough for the customers. The best salespeople are empathetic storytellers, smart copywriters, honest and thoughtful leaders who are active listeners. They are also shrewd negotiators and are most often naturally curious.
To make the greatest deals for your clients, you will draw on your expert product and industry expertise, colleagues, contacts, and influencers. Learning about your customer's strategic goals, market, and financial and economic impacts is endlessly intriguing.
I hope this blog helps you if you are seeking a career in sales or even reading the blog randomly. Because in every conversation, you buy or sell!
Check out the webdew career page too! Don’t miss your opportunity!
Editor: Amrutha
