The skills and abilities of your sales team have a direct impact on your bottom line. After all, if your sales staff lacks the knowledge of how to upsell or close a sale, that’s less revenue that your company earns.

Investing in the training of your sales force is of the utmost importance both for your individual team members and your company overall. Here are the top 7 skills your sales employees should sharpen and how you can help. 

1. Superior Communication 

Arguably the most important skill that a salesperson can have is excellent communication skills. However, good communication is far more than just having the ability to speak eloquently. Your sales team should hone both their verbal communication skills, including how to respond to others, and their nonverbal communication skills. Great salespeople also know when to talk and when to listen.

2. Empathy 

A key component to successful sales is the ability to empathize with the customer. Consumers want to know that your sales team understands the challenges they’re facing and how they feel about it. A lack of empathy can stop a sale dead in its tracks. Help employees understand the difference between sympathy and empathy and practice engaging in showing empathy in a sales context with team exercises. 

3. Relationship Building

Consumers are more likely to purchase from individuals and companies with whom they feel they’ve built a relationship with. Your sales staff should have solid relationship-building skills that help your customers feel good about the ways your business can help solve their problems.

4. Organization and Efficiency

Sales is a job that requires the ability to juggle several different tasks and stay organized. Salespeople need to keep track of their prospects and return calls when promised, send reports in on time, and make cold calls and follow-ups. Make sure your team has access to good time management training. 

5. Negotiation Skills

A large part of sales success is the ability to negotiate well, often without being obvious about it to the prospect. Good salespeople understand not only the basics of negotiation but also how to shift negotiation tactics based on the response of the customer. Help your team learn new negotiation skills by roleplaying sales training interactions with managers and each other.

6. Teamwork

Sales is a team effort and your employees should be able to work effectively and efficiently in a team setting. Set team goals and encourage your staff to work together to accomplish larger tasks. Host get-togethers outside of work to help your team get to know each other, such as a company picnic.

7. A Passion for Learning

Last but not least, one of the most important skills for your sales employees to have is a true passion for learning. Teaching your employees a specific skill helps them learn that skill, but teaching them how to learn helps them understand how to look for and find resources to teach themselves.

Business Watch Network Offers On-Demand Access to Training Webinars

At Business Watch Network, we know that finding the time to train your sales employees in between calls and follow-ups isn’t easy. That’s why we offer a variety of 24/7/365 recorded on-demand sales training webinars so you can train your team individually or together, whenever it works for you. Contact us today to learn more.