顶级销售团队的17个基本销售能力

有什么reallytake to be successful in sales? Well, the answer to that question largely depends on what your definition of success is.

对于某些代表，每个月获得配额意味着他们正在粉碎它。对于其他人来说，他们在减少一些懈怠之前就接受了120％的配额。销售人员对成功的定义通常受其工作环境，组织的更大目标以及自己的个人动力和倾向的影响。

Though one’s idea of success can vary from person to person, there are some core proficiencies top reps and sales organizations have in common.

Core Competencies in Sales

At a high level, there are core skills that are a must for a career in sales. While possessing these skills doesn’t guarantee success, they are critical for carrying out the daily duties of a sales professional. Let’s break down some of the core competencies needed for a career in sales.

1. Foundational Sales Knowledge

First and foremost, you must have a clear insight into how sales work. If you’re brand new to sales, don’t worry about not having a solid foundation just yet, but make sure it is a top priority on your development plan to support your career growth.

拥有基本的销售知识意味着了解您组织用于转换客户的销售过程的每个步骤。您必须知道个人从铅到客户采取什么步骤，以及您在支持该过程中的角色。

2.沟通技巧

To work in sales, excellent communication skills are a must. What does that mean? It means being comfortable communicating with your prospects, customers, and peers in a variety of scenarios. These instances include effectively sharing messages via email, having a strong presence when speaking on the phone or on video, and being able to ask clear, direct questions during the qualification process.

Essentially, you must be able to communicate with others in an engaging, empathetic, people-focused way. While the ability to share pertinent information in both verbal and written form is important,active listeningis also a critical part of communication for salespeople.

When you are able to actively listen to your potential customers, you can pick up on key information that can help you adequately solve their problem with your product. For example, if you work for a company that sells audio editing software and you have a prospect who does not create audio content and is looking for photo editing support, listening to their needs can disqualify those who are not in need of your offer, freeing you up to engage with customers who are.

Additionally, sales professionals must be able to adequately communicate with their customers and peers in a virtual environment. According to theLinkedIn 2020 State of Sales Report, 77% of sales professionals are holding more virtual meetings. For those who typically sell face-to-face, this could present unique communication challenges.

3. Willingness to Learn

Whether you are a brand new sales rep, a seasoned销售工程师, or an experienced executive, a sense of curiosity and willingness to learn is critical at any stage of your career. Top-performing sales pros are constantly looking for ways to gain additional knowledge and perspective to better serve their customers.

在实践中,这样子问的前景insightful questions during the sales process to truly understand what challenges they’re facing and what they need support with. Or it could entail analyzing the sales process of your organization to look for opportunities to become more effective and efficient. It could also include engaging in regular competitive analysis to gain perspective on what’s happening in your market.

为了在销售中取得成功，您必须对新信息和做事的方式开放，以避免高原和性能下滑。

销售代表能力

既然我们了解了销售职业生涯所需的最基本技能，那么让我们回顾一些对希望发展其角色的销售代表最有益的能力。

1. Prospecting

Many deals begin with prospecting, which is the process of identifying new business often in the form of connecting with potential customers. Connecting with the right prospects can make or break your ability to land the sale. Since42% of reps声称勘探是他们销售流程中最困难的部分，这是许多代表可以从集中发展中受益的领域来提高他们的技能。

Here are the key steps to focus on when prospecting:

Research

During this stage, learn as much as you can about the potential contact. The goal of this is to determine if they are a good fit for your product or service. Many reps find it helpful to have set criteria comparing the contact to their ideal customer profile or other specific data points to determine if the contact would be a likely customer for their product.

Outreach

If you determine a contact fits the criteria needed for qualification, now you can focus on outreach. During the research process, you should have gathered information on the best platform to reach your prospect — often this is via phone, email, or social media. During this stage, B2B reps may also have to communicate withgatekeepersto reach the individual who can make the final purchasing decision.

Connect

After you make your initial outreach to the contact or gatekeeper, your goal is to establish a meeting or call to keep the conversation going. This is often called a discovery call and can be useful for continuing to qualify the prospect to ensure they are a good fit. From there you can evaluate their needs, work with them to determine if your product is a good fit, and establish the deal.

2.产品知识

您到底要出售什么，您对此有多少了解？什么是关键功能？您的产品与竞争对手有何不同？为什么您的产品是客户的最佳选择？

At a basic level, all reps must understand the fundamental knowledge of their product and be able to communicate these points to potential customers in a relatable, engaging way. Ultimately your job is to help your customers solve a problem by implementing your product, and the ability to do so relies heavily on your knowledge and understanding of what you’re selling.

3. Customer Service

While you as a sales professional may not be directly responsible for long-term customer care and service inquiries, having a solid foundation of customer service skills is essential throughout the sales process.

Your tasks and actions should prioritize the needs of the customer, and approaching each step of the sales process with the intention of serving your customers is essential for converting and retaining your buyers.

4. Data Analysis

The ability to read and analyze data is critical for making it in sales. Organizations are using data to measure and improve performance. In fact,according to LinkedIn48% of sales organizations are currently relying on data to understand closed-lost deal patterns and 56% of teams use data to drive their prospecting efforts.

随着时间的推移,数据驱动的销售组织re expected to become the norm. For sales reps looking to grow in their careers, understanding the key data used to make decisions related to their sales process and customer journey is an essential skill.

5.面向解决方案

为了成功，销售人员需要成为创造性的问题解决者。作为代表，您的工作是为您的客户提供最佳解决方案来支持您的个人和专业挑战。从面向解决方案的角度出售，并保持客户界和中心的需求是转换潜在客户的必要能力。

6. Upselling and Cross-selling

尽管转换非常重要，但这并不是唯一获得公司收入的方法。bob全站app一些最好的销售代表是高级销售或寻找其他产品和服务以使客户除了初次购买外受益的硕士。进行销售时，您应该寻找补充购买客户最初输入销售流程的产品。

For example, if you work for a company that sells VPN and personal hotspot devices for remote employees, you may want to suggest adding more bandwidth to your potential customer’s package to allow for faster internet speeds and to account for team growth. Upselling typically involves suggested add-ons to what the customer is looking to buy without changing the intent of the deal.

另一方面，交叉销售也是销售代表的重要能力。If you are working with a prospect and realize the initial product you were selling them on isn’t a right fit, you may decide that cross-selling and suggesting a different product category based on another problem or challenge they identified could be a good way to go to land a deal that you otherwise may have lost.

7.谈判技巧

Effective sales reps must have solid negotiation skills. By knowing how to negotiate, you can create a tailored experience for your customer, getting them the products and features they need while also making sure your company is financially benefitting as well.

8. Relationship-Building

The field of sales is all about relationship building. Whether you are building relationships with potential customers, your fellow salespeople, members of your marketing team, or your management, your career largely depends on your ability to build solid bonds with each of these groups of people.

在向客户出售的背景下，以关系为中心的每笔交易的方法可能是推动收入的有效策略。Relationship sellerslook to build trust with their buyers and emphasize their connection to customers as the foundation to each sale.

9.结果驱动

最后但并非最不重要的是,必须一个销售代表mbitious and results-driven. Top sales reps look to deliver results to their customer through the use of their product, and they aim to drive sales for their organization to keep business afloat.

Effective salespeople always have their eye on the end result and plan their course of action based on the desired outcome they would like to achieve.

销售量Leadership Competencies

现在，我们知道在基础和销售代表水平上都需要哪些能力，让我们讨论顶级销售经理和领导者所需的技能。

1.更改管理

To effectively lead a group or organization, those in charge must be comfortable with change management. Sales organizations are facing major changes in the way they work, sell, and connect with customers. Leaders must be able to clearly and effectively communicate and implement necessary change for their organizations to remain competitive.

尽管对所有参与者的变革都具有挑战性，但领导者经常为他们的团队如何管理和导航组织变革定下基调。

2. Strategic Alignment

While interpreting and understanding sales data is important for all members of an organization, sales leaders must be able to develop and implement strategies to keep their teams aligned and working towards goals that are for the best interest of their company.

执行此操作的能力通常需要分析相关销售信息并创建数据信息以推动业务成功的经验。除了制定上述策略外，有效的销售负责人还必须能够将这些策略传达给其团队，并使员工保持一致并负责他们正在努力的目标。

3.教练和指导

A sales leader may have team members of varying skill levels. Regardless of the level of experience of each team member, leadership is often responsible for coaching and developing their employees to improve their skillset and determine the next steps of their careers.

This could entail working with employees to create custom development plans based on their strengths and areas of opportunity, or overseeing the mentorship of newer team members by more experienced team members.

4. Building Trust

对于销售和业务领导者，建立信任应该是他们如何处理团队的重中之重。由于领导者倾向于为组织定下基调，因此他们在创造一个团队成员可以与领导和彼此建立信任的环境中发挥着关键作用。

According to Harvard Business Review, 55% of CEOs believe lack of trust hinders organizational growth, and employees who work in high-trust organizations report having 74% less stress and 50% higher productivity.

5.系统管理

In an engaged, effective sales organization, all members of the team should be well-versed in the systems and processes they use on a regular basis. However, when it comes to management and improvement of said systems and processes, leadership is often accountable for ensuring these areas are as efficient and effective as possible.

Top sales leaders should be able to identify areas of opportunity within the systems their teams rely on, and determine ways to improve these areas to better support the hard work of their teams.

正在寻找为销售团队成员开发和完善这些技能和能力的方法吗？Check out this round-upof training games and activities to keep your organization engaged.