competence

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Understanding the source

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Selling is not hard when you know what you are doing. Sales is a skill and you really need to know how to do it because it’s a skill that will be with you throughout your life. I recently worked with a sales team on 3 key areas:

  1. Attitude - How do you maintain a positive, possible attitude? Taking full responsibility for what you are doing, keeping an expectant attitude in place. How do you manage your attitude when things take a dip and go wrong?

  2. Competence – This is all about selling and understanding the methodology. How do you get buyers to really listen and learn about what the problem really is so you can go about a decision evidence model?

  3. Execution - Doing the things at the right time with the right people.

 

These things in combination are what drives the results you are going to get. The “old school” pitch, persuade and close the deal is the wrong starting point for the modern salespersons. Commit to helping the buyer make the best possible decision that benefits them, and tell yourself, “I’m at my best when I sell in this way.” I think you should always give buyers the room they need in order for them to really understand what they need, want and why from you.

Always be learning

Are you leading an organisations where there are islands of activity? Where finger pointing at who’s doing it wrong in sales, marketing, production or R&D is a common occurrence. It takes strong mental strength to step back and say what is the best thing that I can do as a team to build trust. Are you really spending enough time trying to understand what your team needs are or are you just feeding them information and data?

 

I think confidence is believing you are able, and competence is knowing you are able. Steve Jobs surrounded himself with A+ players, people who were smarter than himself because he wanted to learn, evolve, and grow. He put his faith in his people, not in technology, which for him was just tools that either worked or didn’t. He believed that people were basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them. What are you doing to move the needle forward?

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The competency model for salespersons

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sales team.jpeg

Do you want to have a career in sales? I think a modern salesperson requires these below 9 attributes and 8 skills if they want to be seen as competent sales professional.

The nine attributes are as follows:
1. Self-discipline
2. Optimism (attitude)
3. Caring (other-orientation)
4. Competitiveness
5. Resourcefulness
6. Initiative
7. Persistence
8. Communication, and
9. Accountability.

The skills are as follows:
a) Closing
b) Prospecting
c) Storytelling
d) Diagnosing
e) Negotiating
f) Business acumen
g) Change management, and
h) Leadership.  

While possessing these skills doesn’t guarantee success, they are critical for carrying out the daily duties of a sales professional. Are you interested in reviewing some of the competencies that are most beneficial your sales team? Contact me via e-mail to arrange a meeting or workshop.