10 Skills Every Salesperson Need To Have
Overview
If you compare an average salesperson with the very best in the world. The difference will be night and day.
They hit all the right spots if you see them in action. You’ll see real-life magic.
These top leaders can sell rocks as if it’s a dime! Not only are they good at selling, but they are absolutely skilled in making people feel this special feeling of actually being cared for!
You might not know what makes them so good at selling. Is it their clothes? Is it their ability to close? Is it magic?
Well, if it’s magic, I'd love to learn about that but in reality, there are only 10 skills that every best Salesperson has!
How The Best Salesperson Thinks
All the world's leading salesperson thinks the same: They know that the only way to make a sale work, it must be a 2-way interaction.
What it means by 2-way interaction is that, unlike the stigma that the public has about salespeople being this trickster trying to rip their money off, 2-way interactions mean there’s a win-win for the salesperson and the customer. Both of them gain something.
Well, that’s obvious, isn’t it? You ask yourself
It’s obvious, but most people don’t think that way. Most people just want to get a cold hard close to getting a tasty profit/commission. Most of us just want to close
The best leading salesman knows that closing is not their goal. It’s to build a relationship out of it!
They know that by building a relationship, they’ll not only immediately get a close at the end but they will have a returning customer who trusts not only the salesperson but the company!
Customers buy from people they trust. Write that in your notes.
The 10 Skills That Every Great Salesman Have
Now that you know that It’s not magic, it’s a skill! It’s time for you to know the skills they have.
There are only 10 skills that you need to become a great salesman:
- Ability To Manage Your State
- Ability To Manage Your Customer State
- Have A Strategy
- Learn To Enjoy Selling
- Ability To Build Trust
- Ways To Create Interest
- Find The Core Emotion Needs That Drives The Person
- Ability To Make Them Justify Buying
- Ability To Take Objections (Question) And Change It
- How To Close The Sale
Let's have a look at each one
Ability To Manage Your State
The ability to control your own emotions is crucial when you have to do a sale.
If you show the customer that you’re nervous or unpassionate about the product, the customer will not trust you. I’ve written an article on why people fail and how to control your own state here
Ability To Manage Your Customer State
If you’ve mastered how to manage your own emotion, you also have to know how to turn unenthusiastic customers around.
Understanding why people buy is crucial in this part. If you don’t know the reason why people buy and their values, it’s not going to work. I’ve written an article recently on why people buy here
Have A Strategy
Don’t go in guns blazing. Your product is not enough to convince them!
You have to put in the work, research about the product! What makes them different? What benefits can the customer have? Go deep into the roots of what makes this sale valuable for the customer.
Also, have a plan for how you’ll approach and find out their values right beforehand. You don’t want to go blank in the middle of the sales just because you’ve got your first customer listening to you
Learn To Enjoy Selling
Don’t think of selling as a chore. If you think like that, the customer can see right through it.
Be enthusiastic! Think of selling as giving a solution to a customer problem, you’re giving value! You’re helping them! Don’t ever think of selling as a job you need to do.
Ability To Build Trust
People buy from who they trust. If you look, sound and act like someone who just wants to rip their pockets off, the customers won’t trust you.
Instead of forcefully trying to build trust. Be genuine, be passionate and really care for them. Actually caring for the customer goes a long way than just getting a close!
Ways To Create Interest
Hooking the customer is essential! If you can’t create interest, there’s no reason for a customer to hear you talking about that next-generation product of yours!
Give them a big hook and reel them in! You only have a few seconds to make an impression, make it count!
Find The Core Emotion Needs That Drives The Person
In my recent article, I talked about the 2 reasons why people do something: They either do it to avoid pain or gain pleasure.
If you know what type of person is your customer. You’ll know how to persuade them and make the sales much easier because you know their value!
Ability To Make Them Justify Buying
If the buyers have no reason to buy, they won’t buy it! Give them a reason that they’ll never refuse!
Don’t show what your product can do but show what the product can do for them.
Customers don’t care about your features, they only care about the benefits. Give them benefits!
Ability To Take Objections (Question) And Change It
If you can’t take objections or immediately tremble when the customer says “Maybe another time”. You have to change your method.
Instead of trying to combat their objection, find out their reason or value behind that objection and try to make your product align with their values and needs.
How To Close The Sale
If you’ve been building absolutely great rapport but you haven't close the sale for 10-20 minutes… You’re not giving the customer a good time, you’re wasting it!
Unless you’re going to take them for a coffee, they have their own lives too. Even though closing is part of selling, knowing and mastering how to sell will absolutely impact your job significantly.
Conclusion
Now that you know what skills the top leading salesperson have, you now have to not only learn about each skill but also master them.
Mastering each skill will not only give you an advantage over other salespeople but also boost your performance in life significantly!
Remember, it must be a win-win situation, don’t make it seem like you only want the close. Actually take your time to build a relationship!