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Sales Core Competencies

Written by: Tony Cole

Article Overview: How do you spend your time now when it comes to your own professional development? Aside from any company sponsored program you might attend, what else do you do and what do you focus on? Certainly, continuing to learn the technicalities of your business is critical, but in all the years I've been working with sales people, no one has ever told me they lost the deal because they were technically unprepared. Typically, the reason people lose business is due to lack of sales “know how”. This includes the failure to help the prospect overcome objections, the inability to overcome price issues, a failure to undo the current relationship and the inability to get someone to act. These are the symptoms that you must address when working on “fixing” the choke points in your sales system.

Sales Core Competencies

Seven Core Sales Competencies:

1.No Need for Approval- By their very nature, people have a need for approval. It's part of our DNA or what we've been taught. This need for approval has an impact on how we conduct our sales business. If we would rather be liked (for example- don't want to upset the prospect or make them mad, or don't want to come across as aggressive) then we won't have the fierce discussions that Susan Scott talks about in her book, Fierce Conversations. We won't challenge people and their closely held beliefs, and certainly when someone tells us they want to "think it over", we will let them. Of all the core competencies that can impact your success in effectively closing business, this and Buy Cycle are the most important ones to address.

2.Supportive Buy Cycle- We all have a "buying cycle" and this cycle is either supportive of effective selling or inhibiting it. Let me explain. If you like to think things over, you will be vulnerable to letting prospects do the same thing. Thinking it over is not part of an "effective selling" strategy. Yes, you might eventually get the business, but we want to focus on a more effective selling process. If you allow "think-it-overs", shoppers, and low price lookers, you must identify if you, in fact, do the same things when you buy.

3.Recovers from Rejection- It isn't about fear of rejection, most of us have some level of that in all situations. The issue is what happens next? How long does it take you to recover? If you hear "no" at 10:00 am and you are still whining about it at 2:00 pm, then you have a problem that WILL impact your ability to perform consistently with high esteem.

4.Comfortable Talking About Money- As bizarre as this may sound for sales people, we are collectively guilty of not talking about money at the appropriate time, and usually have a tough time sticking to suggested pricing (that's another issue). The symptom of the money issue is when a sales person hears money objections during the final presentation. This is a clear indication that a sales person either (1) has incorrectly learned that getting budget issues out of the way is not important in their initial sales process, or (2) they are uncomfortable talking about money. If you have money objections or "think-it-over" about money at time of presentation, you need to address this core competency.

5.Consistent, Effective Prospecting- According to Dave Kurlan's book Baseline Selling, the consistent nature of your prospecting is more important than being effective. If you prospect consistently enough, you will get suspects to turn into prospects. Only once you begin to prospect consistently does it make sense for us to talk about becoming more effective. If your pipeline has opportunities that seem to be stuck, it is probably a result of inconsistent prospecting as much as it is a problem of qualifying.

6.Reach Decision Makers- Your ability to get to decisions at the beginning of the sales process is critical in your ability to quickly qualify and close more business, more quickly at higher margins. If you don't get to decision makers, then you are setting yourself up for long sales cycles, lower closing ratios, and endless time spent on prospecting contacts that cannot tell you YES.

7.Effective Questioning and Listening- If there is one skill that is critical to effective selling, it is effective questioning and listening. This is where it all begins as you deliver your positioning statement on the phone, and continues as you conduct your initial appointment with a new suspect. Here is a key to becoming more effective at the questioning core competency: Pre-plan your meeting and write down the specific questions you will ask to qualify the prospect. The key to listening - stop thinking, stop writing notes immediately when the suspect is talking. Listen to understand. Digest the information. Ask permission to write the IMPORTANT information down. This will help you immensely to ask the right next questions at the right time.

So, how would you rate yourself on these 7 critical core sales competencies?

Related Articles
  Building an Effective Talent Management System
  Benchmarking your Core Competencies
  Align Your Strategy and Operational Plans to Core Competencies
  Building From Your Core
  The Power Of Re-Defining Your Business: Breaking the Boundaries That Bind You

Article Tags: sales, selling, selling process



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