Selling Skills Training

Selling skills training is about giving the tools to sales people so they can become proficient at all aspects to selling. Selling skills can be improved upon by any sales person with some learning and dedication to the art of selling. The modern sales role is a mixture of perspiration and inspiration with usually no shortcuts to mastering all the sales skills needed to become truly successful. Whether the sales role is in SaaS, Inbound, Digital or Old Fashioned sales prospecting, all of these roles require competent sales professionals with a mixture of talents, skills and abilities. However, within the ever changing, digital influenced selling environment, they are some selling skills training that should be delivered so any sales person can exceed their targets and deliver a higher level of sales performance. At The Digital Sales Institute, we have done some research with leading coaches, trainers and sales managers to compile some of the crucial selling skills training that every sales person could benefit from.

So, what does it take to become a master sales person?

Ah, the endless debate on what it takes to master or succeed in sales. Is it having great one liners to every customer question? ability to sell sand in the desert? Or could it be the selling skills that really understand a customers needs and then take them on a journey which ends with the sales person presenting them with a solution they feel compelled to act upon?

Experts say that when you boil down selling to its key parts, it’s about two critical things — Conversations and Commitments. Sounds straightforward enough, right?, but how do sales people kick-start conversations when cold calling has diminishing returns. The stark reality is that buyers just don’t pick up the phone anymore. So getting a sales conversation started with a prospect has become both art and science. In fact, selling in general has become both easier and harder thanks to social media and technology.

In B2B sales today even selling smaller ticket items means a longer sales cycle with probably 3 or 4 people involved in the buying decision. For a salesperson who wants to be in a sales career for the long-haul they must be able to create and nurture relationships over time. This requires that there are certain key selling skills training programs they need to attend so they can master how to have deep sales conversations, and then to get commitments to explore solutions that leads to buying decisions. This is the key to long lasting sales success.

Selling skills training should show any sales person how to network, provide value and build relationships by opening conversation that build rapport. Great salespeople know how to communicate precisely what the true value of their product or service means to each and every customer. They will also know how to walk in a customers shoes, provide unique insights, understand their needs and make buying easier, which in turn helps any potential customer to feel at ease and trust them enough to give commitments to explore in greater detail.

Selling is about buyer motivation. When the potential customer feels valued and understood plus they see the need for the solution, then they will be motivated to take action and make the deal happen. Sales people need to understand the psychology of selling, have a winning mindset, develop a range of soft selling skills and embrace sales training to take them to the top of the sales ladder.

Selling Skills Training Tips.

• Have empathy and constantly use active listening
• Learn to understand a prospect’s needs
• Can engage with customers on their level
• Will use a multi-channel approach to selling
• Can add value to the customers role and make buying easier
• Are skilled at discovery questions to uncover opportunities
• Are comfortable overcoming hesitations or objections
• Can pinpoint the value that their proposal will bring to the customer
• Know their why, why they undertake each action and activity
• Are great at storytelling, stories that resonate with the customer
• Can educate prospects with new ideas and ways of seeing things
• Know that collaboration is critical in the sales process
• Are experts on their product and market
• Are seen as being a helpful, useful and valuable connection by a buyer
• Get Commitments from every sales conversation that moves things forward
• Have a Sales Mindset, comfortable with rejection and goal orientated
• Practice the “Sales Habit Loop” — a consistent approach to everything a sales person does

The selling skills training topics a sales person should undertake may seem like a huge challenge, however once any sales person aligns all the selling skills areas into “Conversation” and “Commitment” lists, then they are not as many or complicated as many sales trainers would lead you to believe. Whether its social selling, sales prospecting or general selling skills, they just take time, learning and determination or even taking a sales course online.