Successful business-to-business sales people of today should have a diverse set of abilities. They need to persuade, orchestrate communication, offer advice and guidance, analyze needs, make presentations, negotiate, handle change, and be trusted advisors to their clients.
Such role has become more sophisticated especially with the shift to the remote sales structures that largely emerged post the COVID era, which is the one we are living now in 2022!
In this article, we will go through the top skills that today’s modern sales people need have in order to master their sales game.
Table of Contents
Know your service/product
A solid foundation for a good sales pitch is knowing a lot about your product. To get a customer to buy your product, you’ll need to be an expert in it and know everything about it.
You will be questioned extensively about your product and its unique selling points. The customer’s trust in the quality of your service or product could be affected if you cannot answer the customer’s question. Just master what you’re selling and never be afraid to ask your managers or colleagues for more information when needed.
Know your customer
Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes is the best way to give great service and build the kind of long-term, loyal relationships that lead to repeat business and refferals. Think about the following things, What does your client’s typical day look like? What are their pain points? What could make their lives easier?
After answering these questions and after learning more about your client, you should be able to position your product or service in a way that will appeal to them and address their main pain points through your service/product.
Know your market
You can’t be a good salesperson unless you understand who you’re selling to and how the market operates as well. You should be aware of current trends and what customers are looking for at the time. Another consideration is pricing, for example, your company’s pricing may be expensive to some customers, therefore, you must know how to highlight the features that distinguish your product/service and makes it worth every penny.
When considering your product’s place in the market, you must consider the competition. Look at what other companies are doing in terms of sales and marketing tactics, and then try to outdo them.
Be resilient
Getting the right deal is tough. Each sale can be filled with multiple difficulties, so you must have the confidence to overcome any obstacles that arise.
Usually, decision-making in companies takes time, and you may be rejected after waiting for an answer. This may seem disappointing but rejection is part of the sales game, being a good salesperson is not just about selling, it’s also about accepting rejection successfully. You may have spent a significant amount of time and effort attempting to land a deal, but it did not work out. You must be resilient, pick yourself up, and believe that you will get the next one.
This may seem disappointing but rejection is part of the sales game, being a good salesperson is not just about selling, it’s also about accepting rejection successfully.
Build relationships and master your rapport
One of the most important skills to learn in sales is how to build relationships with prospects and customers.
Relationship-building is-in a nutshell-being able to interact with other people in a way that leads to a connection that lasts longer than just a quick sale and can last for months or even years.
This change in mindset comes from realizing that your prospect’s situation could be very different in just few weeks or months, even if they don’t need your solution right now.
Even better, when these relationships are built on giving value upfront without expecting anything in return right away, they can lead to exciting opportunities like getting referrals to their friends and coworkers or being the first person they call when they get a new job where they could use your solution.
Be a storyteller
Almost every good salesperson knows how to put their pitch in the form of an interesting story that does more than just explain why a prospect should buy.
Storytelling not only helps prospects understand how a product or service could affect their own unique situation by using entertaining real-life examples, but it also helps build stronger connections that go beyond the often transactional nature of a sales conversation.
People buy stories not products
When you put facts, data, and examples in the context of an interesting story, you’re much more likely to keep your prospect’s attention and help them figure out how to apply the main points of your story to their own lives.
A great impact of telling a memorable story to your prospect is that they will remember it better and imagine it. When you’re able to do this, a prospect will think of you when they’re in a situation like the one you described in your story, or when they’re about to be in that situation.
Manage your funnel
Managing your funnel as a salesperson will undoubtedly make your job easier in the long run. The best way to accomplish this is to use proper CRM tools, there are numerous tools available, you will simply need to use it right.
These tools are truly helpful because it will send you reminders and keep you on track. Finally, remember that proper funnel management means a proper follow-up.
Finally, remember that proper funnel management means a proper follow-up.
Manage your time
At the end of the day, your effectiveness as a salesperson is measured by your level of sales volume, it is simply the amount of revenue you can generate for the number of hours you worked in a given period. As a result, the methods you choose to manage your time are critical to delivering the results that your team expects.
Don’t forget to follow up!
Keeping in touch with prospective customers is a crucial part of any successful sales strategy. IRC Sales Solutions reports that after the first attempt at contact, 44% of salespeople give up, despite the fact that only 2% of sales are made.
You are hurting your chances of success if you do not follow up with leads. Always work to improve your ability to follow up with leads so that more of them can be closed and won.
Celebrate your success!
No matter how popular your product/service may be, selling it will still be difficult. It’s not simple to reach out to customers, convince them of the value of your products/services, and then negotiate a fair price with them.
No matter how popular your product/service may be, selling it will still be difficult.
That’s why you should always take the time to celebrate your achievement after each successful sale. For instance, you might give yourself a break at the end of each quarter as a form of reward. Always appreciate your past efforts and use them as a springboard for the following quarter.
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