skills needed for success of sales

8/9/2019 Skills Needed for Success of Sales

1/19

1 | P a g e

Contents

No table ofcontents entries found.

ABSTRACT

The different types of sales persons and the types of skills required by them are explained. Twelve

skills needed for the success in sales were identified and described in detail. The processes involved

and the levels involved in each skill set are explained. The twelve skills identified are

communication skills, listening skills, conflict management and resolution skills, negotiation skills,

problem solving skills, time management, persuasive skills, organizing skills, questioning skills,

resilience, influencial skills. A case study from bio science pharmaceuticals is included to know the

importance of skills to increase sales. The results before and after improvement of skills are shown

to know the importance of skills for success in sales.


2/19

2 | P a g e

Introduction:

An important ingredient in the successful business is good sales skills. Without it, many sales are

lost - sales that may mean the difference between success and failure. The definition of selling

encapsulates the heart of the matter, because selling is first and foremost transaction between the

seller and the prospective buyer or buyers. Selling skills are the basic needs of a sales person because

his ability to sell depends on his skills. Various types of skills are needed to convert prospects into

buyers. Depending on the buyer, the sales person should use his skills. Companies are focusing this

as a basic requirement during the recruitment and selection process of sales person. The incentives,

benefits and other fringe benefits are also given based on the call conversion ratio and also his ability

to convenience any type of customer using his skills. Skills became the basic need. So various

important skills are identified and described in detail. To many customers, the salesperson is the

business. Therefore, if the sales personnel are good, the business if good. But if the sales personnel

are bad, then so is the firm. Although important to all businesses, effective sales personnel are

especially important to small businesses. Because, it is difficult for a small business to compete with

the big firms on things like assortment, price and promotion. Sales effort, on the other hand, is one

place where the small product or service retail business can compete with larger competitors - and

win.

Effective sales skills doesn't happen by accident. The small entrepreneur must work to achieve a

high level of sales effectiveness in his or her business. In order to work toward this goal, the business

person should be aware of the different types of salespersons, the sales process, and the attributes of

effective salespersons. Applying such knowledge to a business situation should result in the desired

goal of effective sales personnel - the competitive edge.

It is important to note that retailing may involve sales services instead of products. Appliance repair,

beauty shop, lawn service, and photography studio are all examples of service retailing. Even though


3/19

3 | P a g e

services are intangible, personal, non standardized, and perishable when compared to products, they

are sold by retailers either alone or in conjunction with the products. The effective sales of services

has the potential to give a business a competitive advantage.

Types ofSalespersons:

Order-Handler

The ticket-taker at the concert, the checker at the food store - these salespeople are working in a

routine sales environment. But due to the nature of their jobs, they will be asked numerous questions

by customers as well as hear complaints about prices and service. A knowledgeable person with a

pleasant personality is especially needed for this job, because this is usually the person who is

dealing with the customer when the customer's money (payment) is received.

Order-Taker

more creativity is found in this job as compared to the order-handler. The counter attendant at the

fast food restaurant may take the order and then suggest that the customer might also wish to buy a

hot apple turnover. Pleasant personality, fast service, and suggestion selling on the part of the order-

taker can result in many additional sales.

Order-Getter

For many businesses, the heart of the sales process rests with the creative selling efforts of their

salespeople. Of course, one of the greatest problems is that there are numerous order-handlers and

order-takers in sales positions that should have order-getters for optimum sales effectiveness.

Clothing, furniture, jewelry, and appliances are just some of the many items that call for order-

getters (a person who can handle a transaction, take an order, and, most importantly, get an order).

As for services, the home security salesperson, for example, who calls on a prospect because it is

observed that the house has no dead bolt locks, is making that special effort to be an order-getter.

Even though all sales situations do not call for order-getters, all salespeople will be called upon to

sell creatively from time to time. It is for this reason that all sales personnel need to have a working

knowledge of the creative selling process.


4/19

4 | P a g e

Skill: Learned proficiencies and attitudes necessary for effective performance of specific job

tasks.The essential skills required by the sales person are as follows:

1. Communication Skills- Communication is a process of transferring information from one

entity to another. Communication processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least

two agents. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or interchange of

thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs".

Sales people should possess good vocabulary and also they should be able to express

themselves intelligently to the customer. Good communication skills are required for a

salesperson as they help him in increasing his interpersonal skills. In this modern world,

having good relations is an important aspect. Good relation helps in having a long term

relation and also mutual trust increases which helps in increasing the sales for a salesperson.

The ability to perceive and interpret the customers verbal and non-verbal clues is also

important to answer the customers objections. Not only vocabulary but the quality of the

voice and the pitch of the voice are also important. In order to maintain a long term relation a

salesperson needs to keep in mind five important elements regarding his behavior with the

customer. They are:

a) Truth of words which are being communicated,

b) Predictability of action,

c) Competency,

d) Intent or empathy, and

e) Likeability.

Truth of words can be communicated by the actions which the salesperson does during the sales and

after the sale is completed. His follow-up actions tell the customer how truthful the salesperson was

when he communicated about the product.


5/19

5 | P a g e

The salesperson should be able to predict the customers behavior and act accordingly. This helps

him in forming a positive opinion about himself in the customers mind and leads to a good relation.

The salesperson should have the ability, knowledge and resources to outperform his competitors.

This helps in maintaining a long lasting relation with the customers.

The salesperson should be empathetic with the customer wherein he puts himself in the place of the

customer and thinks about the customers wants, problems, etc. This helps the salesperson to build

up a good rapport with the customer.

Likeability is validated with courtesy and politeness, commonality of interest and positive emotional

feelings. In order to possess communication skills one needs to have knowledge about

communication process. It is defined as a set of activities and systems integrated for an exchange of

ideas, information, etc.

Senders Domain Receivers Domain

Communication process is defined as a set of activities and systems integrated for an exchange of

ideas, concepts, information, and knowledge between the customer and the salesperson through

different channels. In this process the receiver decodes the message and sends feedback to the sender

so that the sender gets to know his effectiveness of his message and then replies to the feedback. But

communication process may be interrupted by noise and disturbances. With regards to the sales, the

communication process starts with the source who is the salesperson who gives entire information

about the product. He gives the information about the product through his presentations, his mails,

etc. So the message is encoded and then sent to the customer. Now the customer receives the

message through a channel and decodes it. He receives the message with a certain amount of noise in

it. The noise in this case may be the salesperson using jargons, his voice, etc. After decoding the

message the customer perceives the message. It may not be the same as what the salesperson has

Intended

Message

Encoding

Sent message

Feedback

Channel

Percieved

Message

Decoding

Received

Message

Noise


6/19

6 | P a g e

expressed. The customer may perceive in another way due to noise. If noise is reduced the customer

will be able to perceive the message in a correct way and now he gives a feed back. Again noise may

exist in while giving the feedback. This is the whole way how the salesperson communicates the

message to the customer. if the salesperson is able to complete the sale then it shows that he has

communicated the message properly and is able to handle the objections of the customer.

Communication skills include not only the language but also the body language. The personal

appearance, posture, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and space distancing are also included

in the communication skills and add to the sales if the salesperson consists of such skills.

2. Listening Skills- In order to have a good sales realization a salesperson needs to have good

listening skills. Poor listening skills may make a salesperson miss important issues in customer

interaction, and this may lead to non-resolution of customers problems. Good listening helps a

salesperson in many ways. It helps in getting new ideas, to stay informed and up-to-date, increased

ability to negotiate, enhances knowledge about the companys product and the competitors product,

and also helps in managing different kinds of customers. There are three types of listening. They are

content listening, critical listening and empathetic listening. Different situations require different

kinds of listening skills. Different situations require different kinds of listening. Objective of

different kinds of listening are different. Content listening helps in understanding and retaining the

customers message. Critical listening helps in understanding and evaluating the meaning of the

customers message at different levels. Critical listening also helps in moving the conversation

further. The salesperson may interact well with the customer with the help of critical listening.

Empathetic listening helps in understanding the customers feelings, needs and demands. This helps

the salesperson to provide the appropriate reply to the customer. Similar to the communication

process, even listening skills consists of a process.

Attendance

Interpretation

Remembrance


7/19

7 | P a g e

This process helps us to know how the messages are lost. In the first stage the person makes a note

of the message. In this stage the reception can be blocked by noise, psychological barriers, and

impaired hearing. In the later stage the listener has to assign meaning to whatever he listens to. In

this case the salespersons reference may be different from the customers frame of reference. So the

salesperson should be careful to know what the customer really means. After interpreting, the

salesperson needs to remember the message for further usage of the message in order to complete the

sales.

In the evaluation stage the customer applies his thinking skills to weigh the buyers remarks and

queries. So the salesperson should separate facts from opinions, and evaluate the quality of

judgments. After evaluating the message, the salesperson has to give the response action. This helps

in further getting a message and again listening to the message. Listening has various levels to it

which help a salesperson to listen in a effective way to his customer and understand what he is trying

to say.

Evaluations

Response Action

Feedback

Paraphrasing

Clarifications

Empathetic listening

Active Listening


8/19

8 | P a g e

First level is the feedback which is the reaction of the customer to the sales call. In the second stage,

Paraphrasing, the salesperson tries to paraphrase the question which helps him in understanding the

customers point of view in a better way by the reply which the customer gives to the question. The

next level is the clarifications level, where in the salesperson has to do a harder work in clarifying all

the customers issues and identify his real concerns. In the fourth level the salesperson tries to show

that he understands the feelings of the customer and tries to think like the customer which helps him

in finding answers to the customers concerns. In the last level the salesperson identifies the emotions

underlying the customers words.

Various barriers may crop up in between during listening. They may be physical or mental barriers.

Physical barriers may be the noise which is made in the surroundings which restricts the salesperson

to listen to the customer effectively. Mental barriers may be the assumptions which the salesperson

makes or being self-centered thinking that he is right, etc. all these make mental barriers leaving an

ineffective listening by the salesperson.

3. Conflictmanagement Skills- Conflicts are more evident in the sales organization. Conflicts arise

due to people of different levels who have different goals. Conflict arises when one party feels that

the other party has negatively affected something which the first party cares about. Conflict is a

natural and inevitable outcome in any group. Having conflicts in a group increases the effectiveness

of the group. Conflicts may be of different kinds. They may be functional conflicts which support

the goals of the group and improves its performance. Dysfunctional conflicts hinder group conflicts.

Task conflicts are disputes over the content and goals of the work. Relationship conflicts are based

on the interpersonal relationships. Process conflict is to fight over how work gets done. Frustration

and aggression are the major reasons for the conflict. In many cases, the salesperson gets frustrated

by making large number of inconsequential calls, and it also increases the level of aggression of the

customer. Conflicts consist for various components. They are interests, emotions and values.

Conflicts are likely to arise due to power, status and level of hierarchy which may end up not making

a sale if the salesperson has not understood the interpersonal conflicts between various people

involved in the buying decision in the organization. Interest based conflicts also arise due to

differences in practices, rules and policies, roles, needs, and levels of resource use. Emotional

component of conflict arises with the ever-present feeling that accompanies human interactions. It

includes feelings like anger, resentment, fear, rejection, anxiety, and loss.


9/19

9 | P a g e

But the salesperson should know how to resolve the conflicts. There are various methods of conflict

resolution. They are:

a) Competing,

b) Collaborating,

c) Avoiding,

d) Accommodating, and

e) Compromising.

Competing helps when each party pursues its own interests, regardless of the impact on the other

party. Collaborating is when both the parties in the conflict try to satisfy fully the concerns of both

parties. Avoiding as a resolution happens when one party withdraws from or suppresses the conflict.

Accommodating happens when one party agrees to place the opponents interests above its own. In

compromising both parties agree to give up something. According to the situation the salesperson

has to follow a certain kind of conflict resolution. Also the salesperson can use certain procedures to

handle conflicts. Those procedures may be:

a) Lumping

b) Avoidance

c) Coercion

d) Mediation

e) Conciliation

f) Arbitration

g) Adjudication

h) Negotiation

4. Negotiation Skills- Negotiation occurs when the opposite person has something we want and so

we bargain with them for that. Successful negotiation is an attempt by two parties to achieve

mutually acceptable solutions, which does not result in winner or looser. Skills required to successful

negotiation are ability to define and prioritize a range of objectives, the ability to explore a wide

range of options, the ability to prepare well, and interactive competence. Negotiation becomes very

important in the selling process. Once the salesperson is clear about the objectives of negotiation and

have analyzed the probable objectives, they should be ready to formulate a bargaining strategy for


10/19

10 | P a g e

achieving the desired results. The salesperson should keep his negotiation strategy simple and

flexible. A bargaining strategy helps in hiding the negative emotions and frustrations while

negotiating. In formulating a bargaining strategy, once the salesperson is clear about the objectives

of negotiation and have analyzed the probable objectives, they should be ready to formulate a

bargaining strategy for achieving the desired results. The salesperson should keep his negotiation

strategy simple and flexible. A bargaining strategy helps him to hide his negative emotions and

frustrations while negotiating. This strategy is an overall policy designed to achieve a number of

specified objectives through the process of negotiation. Bargaining involves strategic decisions

before the actual bargaining starts and tactical decisions during the bargaining sessions. During

negotiation a salesperson needs to keep in mind few things which help him in completing a sale

effectively. They are, separate the people from the problem, focus on interests, not on positions,

invent options for mutual gains, and insist on objective criteria.

In the negotiation process assuming that the customer is convinced about the offer, the negotiation

starts. Now negotiation starts off with a discount and both the salesperson and customer negotiate

until both are satisfied and then a sale is made. Some of the commonly used tactics in bargaining are

thefts, bluffs and last chance offers. A perfect salesman has to master the art of tactical bargaining.

Another best tactic is BATNA, i.e., identifying ones best alternative if a settlement is not reached

and sets a standard against which any offer can be measured. It protects the salesperson from being

pressured to accept unfavorable terms. Another normal tendency in negotiation is to push back hard

when pushed against, but the better tactic is to deflect the attack from the person towards the

problem. One should look at the interest of the opposite partys and invent options that can satisfy

mutual interests. However, if other tactics fail the salesperson should stick to BATNA and terminate

the negotiation until the other party ceases to employ unfair tactics.

Sometimes pushing hard may lead to negative results leaving a bad impression in the customers

mind about the product and the company. So in such cases the salesperson should follow certain

things which help him in avoiding such situations. He can let the customer have it in his own way,

step to their side, reframing rather than rejection, letting them take the ownership, and educating

them to senses.


11/19

11 | P a g e

5. Problem Solving Skills- Problem solving skills helps in effective selling. A salesperson should

not be a mere order taker but should be able to solve the problems when problems arise during a

sale. Most sales problems have many solutions. Selecting the appropriate solution is the main skill

which the salesperson needs. In order to be an effective problem solver the salesperson needs to

inculcate certain habits. They are to be proactive, begin with an end in mind, put first things first,

think win-win, seek first to understand, then to be understood, and renewal. Salesmen need to follow

a process to solve the problems.

In the first stage, the salesperson should do on to define the problem. There is a process to define the

problem which can be effectively followed by the salesperson.

i. Find out the origin of the problem

ii. Explore the problem

iii. Present desired state analysis

iv. Dunkers diagram

v. Statement and restatement

vi. Evaluate problem statement.

Define the problem

Generate alternate

solutions

Decide the solution

Implement the solution

Evaluate the solution


12/19


13/19

13 | P a g e

The first step in implementing a solution is to get the organizations approval for the chosen solution

so that necessary resources can be allocated to complete the project. Later is the planning stage

where time and human resource are allocated along with financial resources. The carry through stage

involves obtaining and maintaining cooperation from other people in the organization for smooth

implementation of the solution. Follow-up is necessary to monitor the progress of the solution on the

basis of time allocated for each part and the time available so that processes and resources can be

organized to complete the implementation.

In the last stage of the problem solving process, the salesperson has to evaluate the solution. It can be

done by measuring its performance against the implementation plan and its ability to solve the

organizational problem. In this stage the salesperson checks whether the real problem is solved or

not, whether the solution arrived is the best available, and whether the solution is innovative and

effective enough so that the same problem will not arise in the future.

6. People Skills:

No one Can Achieve Anything Alone. For every thing they want to achieve in life whether

it's establishing a new business, earning more money there will be other people deciding whether

one will achieve it or not. Everything one do can only be accomplished through and with other

people. To achieve success one must communicate effectively, build relationships, establish

rapport, influence and lead people, make friends, build trust, and demonstrate other people skills. It

will help you maximize the potential in every relationship, be it personal, business-related, or

social. Sales person should be a Positive Person. To empower and motivate other people one

Approval

Planning

Carry through

Follow up


14/19

14 | P a g e

simply need to be a genuine, positive and cheerful person. Develop a positive mental attitude. Be

easygoing, genial, friendly, patient, tolerant and open minded. The person should not use

discouraging words. The person should Understand and Fulfill Needs of customers.

7.Organizing skills:

Organizing is the process of coordinating and allocating a firms resources so that the firm can

carry out its plans and achieve its goals.

y Purposes of organizing:

Implementation of plans and strategies: the plans are just intentions without implementation. To

implement those plans organizing is required. the well designed organizations will work towards

attaining goals.

y To increase efficiency of work:

Properly designed organization assures that the work is done in the most effective and efficient

manner. The work division, proper authority and the persons with different skills are placed in

most efferent manner which will work efficiently.

y Each member will have personal identity, as the organization will define the role of each

member of the enterprise. Thus every member knows where he and his department stands

in the enterprise and in relation to other departments.

y Determination of responsibility

y Determination of authority

y Coordination

y Optimum staff use

y Specialization

y To study human behavior.

8.Questioning skills:

There are six essential question to be asked by the sales personnel in B2B sales. They are:

y Question-1:What do you do?

To know organizations fundamental business goals or the kind of job the person you are speaking to

performs.Knowing these things helps us targeting in a nearer way to his thoughts.


15/19

15 | P a g e

y Question-2: how do you do it?

Meant to determine the means the organization uses to attain its essential business objectives. This

question also throws light on the tactics and strategies used by the organizations.

y Question-3:When and where do you do it?

Covers a great deal of ground. They are menat to determine the time frame and physical location of

the target organizations operations. Seasonal effects can also be known.

y Question-4:Why do you do it that way?

Meant to cast light on the priorities and decision making process at the target organization either on

the group or at the individual level.

y Question-5:Who are you doing it with?

Helps you determine whether another independent supplier is currently working with your target

organization and if so which one.

y Question-6:How can we help you to do it better?

This is an advanced questioning category. It usually should not be posed before you have developed

enough information by means of questions 1 to 5.

9.Resilience:

Resilience is about being able to be flexible and also about the ability to be able to adapt. Its

about the ability to absorb perturbations and still retain a similar function; about the ability of self-

organisation; and also the capacity to learn, to change and to adapt. Resilience for sales people can

be said as an opportunity to show case their ability to work with adversity in such a way that one

comes through it unharmed or even better for experience.

With the advent of the great financial depression people had to be resilient to the changes that

took place, there were many who came across the recession with flying colours that tells about their

ability, passion for their profession. It tells their emotional stability and their confidence level when

the situation is not in favour of the sales people.

The following behaviours and attitudes are some ways in which emotional resilience can be

demonstrated and measured:


16/19

16 | P a g e

o Have realistic and attainable expectations and goals.

o Show good judgment and problem solving skills.

o Be persistent and determined.

o Be responsible and thoughtful rather than impulsive.

o Be effective communicators with good people skills.

o Learn from past experience so as to not repeat mistakes.

o Be empathetic toward other people (caring how others around them are feeling).

o Have a social conscience, (caring about the welfare of others).

o Feel good about themselves as a person.

o Feel like they are in control of their lives.

o Be optimistic rather than pessimistic.

10.Persuasive skills:

Persistence is a lot closer to a child asking for candy; they keep asking until they wear you

down, completely unimpressed and unmoved by elders objections. It isnt simply that a child doesnt

give up; it is also the frequency with which they make their request. It doesnt mean the sales people

should disturb the clients but request them for making a sale to them politely.

Persistence is the key that will unlock doors to great riches in sales and in all areas of life.

Without persistence sales people will never reach their true potential, attain the goals you so greatly

desire or experience true success. Making the decision to have persistence in sales is not enough;

they have to take action to bring such decision to fruition. Persistence is a essential attributes for

success in any endeavor, especially sales. Being persistent requires the grit and determination to

communicate and to make them with a frequency that is meaningful enough to be effective.Brian

Tracy once said that a person will face the most challenging obstacle just before they achieve their

goal. The most successful people in any industry have learned to face the obstacles that get in their

way. They look for new solutions. They are tenacious. They refuse to give up.


17/19

17 | P a g e

11.Influence :

Influence is one of the most important skills that a salesman should possess, because in order

to make a sale they should first impress the customer and should reach his threshold level and make

the sale successful. Influence is the ability of one person to get others to behave in a particular way

or to carry out certain actions. A Sales Leaders level of success or failure may be determined on

their ability to influence people.

Sales people who use their influencing skills well are exciting to be around and they exude a

positive energy that attracts people towards them. The ability to influence others can empower

people development, accelerate results and ultimately ensures an increase in sales. Influencing is

about understanding oneself and the effect or impact they have on others.

12.Time Management:

y Time Management has five main aspects with respect to sales person:

1. Planning and goal setting

2. Managing your self

3. Dealing with other people

4. Your time

5. Getting results

y The first four are interconnected and interact to generate the results.

y Totally perishable and cannot be stopped or stored for later use.as it is a most valuable

resource it should be properly used sales conversion ratio should be increased.

Essential habits for time management:

y Know where the hours are going.

y Keep focused on the end results

y Work to defined priorities

y Schedule time for important issues

y Delegate routine tasks and responsibility for them

y Confront your own indecision and delay

y Take stress out of work


18/19

18 | P a g e

y Keep applying the essential habits

y Crisis occurs when no contingency plan is ready improper day planning under estimation of

time required, improper day planning.

CONCLUSION:

Observing the above case study and knowing the skills, we can conclude that skills are essential for

the sales persons to succeed in sales. Sales persons may have poor selling skills at the beginning of

their career but, their skills can be improved or enhanced by providing good training. So, a company

which is suffering with decline in sales can recover or improve its sales by improving skills of sales

force.

CASE STUDY


19/19

19 | P a g e

REFFERENCES:

Mc Graw hill- Sales and Distribution Management.

Oxford-Sales and Distribution Management - Panda Sahadev.

Walkers sales force management-9th

edition.

Mark W. Johnston, Greg W Marshall- Sales and Distribution Management.

Sales and Distribution Management-N.G.Nair and Latha Nair.

Stephan Schiffman 2nd Edition, AskQuestions and Get Sales- Close The Deal and Create

long term relationships.

PI World wide case study from Emerald-www.emeraldinsight.com

www.Hbr.com

skills needed for success of sales

Documents