Selling skills are the capabilities a salesperson needs to be successful. These include the ability to understand and meet customer needs, as well as the confidence to promote and explain product value. Salespeople must also be good listeners and have excellent public speaking abilities. These are essential to gaining a customer’s trust and establishing a rapport with them.
A comprehensive understanding of the market and the competitive environment is another important aspect of selling skills. This allows sellers to identify customers’ potential needs and deliver tailored services (Ahearne and Schillewaert 2000). The ability to effectively communicate with customers also contributes to the success of selling skills, as reflected in previous research on this topic (Amor 2019; Churchill et al. 2000; Futrell 2006).
Finally, customer knowledge is crucial for improving sales performance and helps sellers provide relevant information to customers (Amor 2019; Rentz et al. 2002). Moreover, it allows them to better link the features of a product with customer needs, thus contributing to a stronger product sales performance (Ahmad, Sah and Kitchen 2010).
While some people are naturally gifted in these areas, others need to learn how to improve their selling skills by taking courses or even finding a mentor. One of the most effective strategies is to leverage a sales process that you can follow every time you go out to pitch. Salesflare makes it easy for you to do that by automating your CRM data so you can spend more time on the activities that really matter. Check out our full guide to sales recruiting automation to learn more about how you can save time and find top-tier talent faster. online marketplace