{"id":84293,"date":"2022-11-21T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=84293"},"modified":"2022-11-22T14:02:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T18:02:34","slug":"most-important-sales-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/most-important-sales-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Most Important Sales Skills of High-Value Reps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the most important sales skills to know? How can you use these skills to increase sales for your company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to business and marketing expert Donald Miller, becoming a high-value employee is the key to leading a successful career in an organization. In Business Made Simple<\/em>, he describes the most important sales skills you should know to make yourself indispensable to an employer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on to learn the three most important sales skills of high-value sales professionals, according to Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The 3 Most Important Sales Skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever asked yourself why you aren\u2019t making as much progress in your business career as you\u2019d like, Donald Miller says he knows the answer: You\u2019re not adding enough value to your company. Businesses always have the bottom line in mind, and they\u2019re much more likely to notice and promote people who quantifiably add value to the company than people who simply do exactly what\u2019s in the job description<\/a> and nothing more. For this reason, Miller argues that you should see yourself not as a mere employee, but as an investment by your organization\u2014and one way you can make a return on that investment is by learning the most important sales skills to bring more money into the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Business Made Simple<\/em>, Miller proposes 11 steps to become a good investment for your company, from developing value-adding personal traits to learning how to effectively execute a plan. In this article, we’ll discuss three of the most important sales skills you can learn to become a high value sales professional, according to Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1: Communicating so Others Listen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Miller, to add value to your company<\/a> as a sales professional, you must excel at basic communication\u2014and especially presentations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When making a sales presentation<\/a>, Miller recommends following a story structure<\/a> where you immediately state what problem you\u2019ll help the customer solve and your proposed solution (your product or service). Explain how your product will change the customer\u2019s life, what next steps they should take, and the key takeaways they must remember. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, for any<\/em> type of presentation, decide what the main point<\/a> of your presentation is and connect every subpoint to that main point. If you don\u2019t show how the subpoints feed into your main point, audiences won\u2019t follow them and will become confused. Miller recommends having only three or four subpoints in a presentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Tips on Public Speaking From the World of TED Talks<\/strong>

Miller\u2019s advice on how to deliver an effective presentation is useful but relatively basic. However, if you want to craft a unique and memorable presentation, consider following some advice from Carmine Gallo based on the TED talk format.

First, if you have time, consider weaving in stories other <\/em>than the one about your product. Gallo agrees with Miller that stories engage people more than any other form of communication, and he suggests you tell your audience a story about your life<\/a> (perhaps your journey to becoming a business owner) or a story about another person (perhaps a happy customer<\/a>). 

What\u2019s more, in addition to connecting subpoints to your main point to keep your presentation logical, Gallo also stresses that your presentation should be short<\/a>\u2014no more than 18 minutes. If it\u2019s longer than that, your audience will tune out, and no matter how logical and well-organized it is, your presentation won\u2019t make an impact. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

#2: Making the Sale by Qualifying Leads, Telling a Story, and Sending Proposals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Miller recommends three actions to take when selling: qualifying leads, pitching in a story format, and sending physical proposals to prospects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To avoid wasting company time and money on people who won\u2019t buy your product, qualify leads (verify a potential customer\u2019s likelihood of buying) before engaging further with them. Do this by answering the following questions about them: 1) Do they have a problem your product can solve? 2) Is your product within their budget? 3) Do they have permission from their boss, spouse, or other authority, to buy the product? You can determine these answers by talking to the lead and understanding their situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: For other sales professionals, asking questions is one of the most important sales skills as it’s not only key to qualifying<\/em> leads but is also key to making the sale<\/a><\/em> itself. Instead of pushing your pitch and product onto the customer, ask questions that let the customer decide for themselves <\/em>that they want the product<\/a>, writes Jeffrey Gitomer in the Little Red Book of Selling<\/em><\/a>. But it\u2019s important to ask the right questions<\/a>. These shouldn\u2019t try to uncover how the customer\u2019s currently doing things but rather should make the customer think about how your product could be a better solution. For instance, you might ask: \u201cIf you needed to schedule a video call with team members from all over the world in the next hour, would that be easy?\u201d) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller states that your sales pitch should be made in a story format: First state the customer\u2019s problem and articulate the irritation the prospect feels as a result. Then, explain your proposed solution, followed by a reference to the other clients you\u2019ve helped with the same problem and their testimonials. End by explaining your plan to solve the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Carmine Gallo suggests another reason, beyond their ability to engage, that stories are extremely effective communication and sales tools: When hearing a story, the audiences\u2019 brains go through the same neurological patterns as the storyteller\u2019s<\/a>. This means that if you, as the salesperson, are enthusiastic about your product and its ability to solve the customer\u2019s problem, the listener will become so, too.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, after you\u2019ve delivered your pitch, give your prospect a document or video that succinctly explains what you\u2019re offering. This way, the prospect has all the details they need to make a decision<\/a> even if they\u2019ve forgotten your pitch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Science backs Miller\u2019s recommendation to give listeners a written summary of your presentation\u2014studies show that people retain only a fraction of the content of any presentation. For instance, when students listen to a 15-minute lecture, they retain 41% of its content<\/a>. When they listen to a 40-minute presentation, that percentage goes down to 20%. Either way, listeners don\u2019t retain even half the materials in a presentation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#3: Negotiating Effectively by Determining the Other Party\u2019s Negotiating Style<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Miller writes that one of the most important sales skills to learn is that there are two types of negotiation: cooperative and adversarial<\/strong>. In a cooperative negotiation, both parties want each other to leave the negotiation happy. In an adversarial negotiation, one or both parties want to win and see the other party fail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Someone\u2019s negotiation style<\/a> might correlate to their reciprocity style, a concept Adam Grant describes in Give and Take<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>He describes the \u201cgiver\u201d style as applying to people who give more to others than they receive<\/a>. Meanwhile \u201ctakers\u201d want to receive more than they give, and they feel others must lose for them to be able to gain. If you\u2019re a cooperative negotiator, you might be a giver<\/a>, while if you\u2019re an adversarial one, you might be a taker.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key is to know what kind of negotiators you and the other party are and to become adversarial if the other party is adversarial. To end the negotiation when you\u2019re satisfied, pretend<\/em> you\u2019re dissatisfied with the outcome: This signals to the other party that they\u2019ve won. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To convincingly feign dissatisfaction at the end of a negotiation, you might take a page out of Jordan Belfort\u2019s The Way of the Wolf<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>He recommends playing with vocal tonalities to better deliver a pitch, and you can do the same in a negotiation<\/a>. For instance, inflecting statements as if they were questions makes you seem agreeable but also demands the other party confirm what you\u2019ve just said. You might use this to your advantage by saying, \u201cThis is far more money than I was expecting to pay\u201d with a questioning inflection, which prompts the other party to confirm this and makes them feel satisfied they\u2019ve won.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, think about what factors other than money influence the other party\u2019s decision, and capitalize on those. You\u2019re more likely to seal a deal when you also speak to the other party\u2019s emotional\u2014not just financial\u2014needs. For instance, when negotiating the sale of a used car on your lot, think about what other facets of the car the buyer might care about. Perhaps the buyer wants to look good when driving, in which case you might point out the sleek leather interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To understand what other factors a buyer is considering, develop empathy as a salesperson. Zig Ziglar believes empathy is key in salespeople because it lets them understand how the customer feels<\/a> and tailor their pitch to those feelings. Further, when customers feel their needs are understood, they\u2019re more likely to buy.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the most important sales skills to know? How can you use these skills to increase sales for your company? According to business and marketing expert Donald Miller, becoming a high-value employee is the key to leading a successful career in an organization. In Business Made Simple, he describes the most important sales skills you should know to make yourself indispensable to an employer. Read on to learn the three most important sales skills of high-value sales professionals, according to Miller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":84322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,103],"tags":[806],"class_list":["post-84293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-sales","tag-business-made-simple","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 3 Most Important Sales Skills of High-Value Reps - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What are the most important sales skills to know? 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