Skills to Look for in Sales Reps
The skills every sales representative needs are basic selling skills:
- Prospecting
- Qualifying prospects
- Presenting
- Managing objections
- Closing, and
- Following up
More advanced sales skills that should be developed in your experienced sales reps include:
- Solution selling
- Relationship selling
- Partnership sales
- Managing territories
- Managing customers
- Managing the competition
- Planning
- And so on
Experienced sales representatives should have a wide repertoire of these skills. New, inexperienced sales representatives may not yet have developed sales skills or have only rudimentary skills. The trade-off a sales manager makes when hiring sales representatives is immediate compensation versus investment in training. The good news is that you can teach your sales reps the skills they need to succeed.
If you elect to hire a less experienced sales professional, it is usually better to invest in training to develop the skills your sales representative will need to be successful. The return on your training investment should be very good as the skilled sales representative will drive more sales and generate more revenue.
Wallace Management Group works with companies to train their sales reps and sales leaders. Contact us to discuss how we can help you build a successful sales team.
