“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect” – W. Clement Stone.
You may have heard the expression that somebody is a ‘natural born salesperson’.
The chances are that this person possesses some or all of the interpersonal skills required to close a sale.
Whether you are a salesperson, or you are hiring manager looking for one, our interpersonal skills list is here to help.
It can assist you with interview questions and help you to identify the most essential people skills and character traits to add value to your sales team.
At Excelerate360, we have interviewed THOUSANDS of sales team prospects for both our clientele and for ourselves.
That’s why we make it our mission to understand just what interpersonal skills a candidate must possess to thrive in a high-pressure sales environment.
To make things easy for you, we have narrowed it down to seven key interpersonal skills a salesperson needs for success in the workplace.
So, without any further ado, here they are:
1) Confidence
Confidence in sales, whilst it may seem obvious, is a huge factor, and one that normally comes with experience.
But how do we define confidence?
Should we allow our minds to paint the ‘stereotypical salesperson’, I’d wager many people would manifest this person with arrogance, which is a poor substitute for confidence.
Confidence, for us at E360, is the opposite of the pseudo-confidence that is arrogance. Confidence is something that can be learned and shaped through experience, receptivity to learning and gritty resolve.
In sales, like all other walks of life, confidence often comes through trial and error. Before we learn to run (close leads), we must learn to crawl (engage), then stand (pitch), and then to walk (negotiate).
2) Growth Mindset
Growth and comfort cannot coexist within a sales environment.
In order to achieve consistent results, we find the personnel that truly excel and deliver results month after month have a growth mindset, both inside and outside the workplace.
Author Carol Dweck, in her book ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’, describes the battle of nature (talent) versus nurture (hard work), with a growth mindset being one that constantly strives for improvement.
She says: “the growth mindset states that a person’s talents and abilities are not fixed at birth but can be enhanced by effort, learning, and persistence.”
Finding a member for your sales team who is not bound by their weaknesses, nor is complacent of their qualities, will leave room for consistent improvement.
That’s why the best salespeople don’t simply desire comfort; they strive for personal and business development.
3) Empathy
Interpersonal skills in sales are all about engaging with the prospect’s perspective.
It’s not enough to simply understand the specifications and details of the product or service the salesperson is selling, but about how this will affect the person or company they are selling it to.
Of course, a salesperson must be fully educated in the product and its unique selling points, but they will benefit greatly from being able to put themselves in the prospect’s shoes, understanding how it will benefit their lives or business.
It’s important to note that not all benefits of a product are simply logical, but can provide emotional solutions, too, which are more likely to peak a prospect’s interest.
To add value to your sales team, you will want members with soft skills, to talk to prospects about the following:
- How the product will reduce stress
- How it will save time
- How it will increase peace of mind
- How it will improve profits
- How it will solve their problems
Increasing empathy and TRULY CARING about the prospect’s results after the transaction will set your sales team apart, increase results and help to establish real, long-term relationships with your clients.
As Jeffrey Gitomer, author and business trainer, says, “Great salespeople are relationship builders who provide value and help their customers win.”
4) Resilience
When starting off as a salesperson, many will naturally feel out of their comfort zone, beginning with naïve enthusiasm only to be crushed by rejection when their skills haven’t yet been honed.
Being able to handle rejection is great for allowing disagreement in the negotiation process.
Hearing ‘NO’ may be jarring to begin with, but will help you identify a sales prospect’s needs and pain points, allowing you to understand how your product will help them overcome these hurdles.
Instead of seeking external validation and a desire to be liked, being comfortable hearing the word ‘no’ will help a salesperson to realise that business is not personal and, in turn, offer an enhanced perspective from the prospect’s point of view.
It will also help when dealing with conflict management.
In order to close more sales leads, failing is our friend.
Only through rejection can we reflect on our own performance to ascertain what went wrong and evaluate how this can be improved moving forward.
That’s why, at E360, we look for indications of resilience when interviewing salespeople, as in order to be able to hit targets and be a high achiever, one must first become accustomed to objection.
5) Adaptability
The world of sales is ever-changing.
Your sales organisation and processes will, at times, need to be altered to align with the moving market.
That’s why your sales team must also be fluid to change and adapt, too.
How adaptable your sales staff are could be the difference between retaining an existing client, or not. It may also be the catalyst for generating new sales.
An obvious example of the need for adaptability is technology. With more and more software becoming available to aid the sales process, long gone are the days of face-to-face sales being the most important factor.
This means a salesperson must be receptive to learning to use technological resources to their advantage. This could be developing a deeper knowledge of the CRM system, for example, or assessing metrics to better define a target market.
It could also mean understanding how to use social media as a tool or other technical skills such as creating a video to make a sales pitch a bit more digestible.
Having adaptable members in your sales team will reap its reward when the unexpected happens, as many businesses will have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
6) Communication
A salesperson with excellent communication skills will be much more likely to generate more prospects and close sales.
That’s because the sales process is completely based around communicating, and the ability to do so effectively.
During a sales process, someone must initiate the communication, then the two parties will discuss to firstly identify a problem, and secondly propose and agree a solution.
For this to happen effectively, the salesperson must be able to quickly generate a connection between the two, which is easier said than done.
One key aspect to communicating effectively and creating this connection is active listening.
No matter the words someone chooses to use, or the way they choose to say them, people always want to feel heard, respected and valued.
Being an active listener will help to make the prospect feel this way.
We are not suggesting a salesperson must psycho-analyse each and every prospect.
We are saying that by making the emphasis of the dialogue on the prospect’s problem, as opposed to making the conversation about the sale itself, the salesperson will gain a deeper understanding of what they need, as well as generating a real connection.
Only when this rapport is established through excellent customer service, will the rest of the sales process and negotiation be able to run effectively.
To put it simply; give, and you shall receive.
7) Relationship Building
This respect and rapport should not be thrown out of the window once the sale has been closed. For a salesperson to thrive consistently, it should be genuine and sustained.
Sales processes can be taught, but it’s difficult to teach the natural desire to be considerate of others and to really care about your client’s needs.
That’s why the interpersonal skills cannot stop once a sale has been closed.
Putting in the extra effort to proactively continue the relationship, putting personal perspective out of the way to decipher what’s working well and what isn’t, will be a huge factor in maintaining post-sale relationships.
Building relationships in sales will include interpersonal skills already mentioned such as communication and empathy, but it will also include, integrity, time management, motivation and emotional intelligence.
A salesperson is not a robot, so shouldn’t act like one either. By actually caring about your client’s needs you will make them feel like you care, and this will sit well with their subconscious.
This is important as, according to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman, ‘95% of purchasing decisions are subconscious.’
Gain Access to Your very own Sales Team, Fully Skilled and Equipped with Software
It takes time, effort and money to build your own sales team that possess these interpersonal skills.
Trust us, we know. We’ve done it.
That’s why If it’s improved sales performance you seek, you’re in the right place.
At Excelerate360, we can offer you your very own sales team, rapidly assembled with all the interpersonal skills needed to align with your business goals.
They will also be generously backed with access to a sophisticated tech stack, designed to generate more warm, qualified sales leads for your business, ready for conversion.
Partner with E360 and get a confident, motivated and resilient sales team, each possessing interpersonal skills such as empathy and a growth mindset to get your business the leads it needs.
To find out more about outsourcing to sales experts, catering for your b2b sales outreach and lead generation process, get in touch today.